Blog

The Running of the Balls and Reindeer Romp (I got third in my age group) have been run, the company feast has been devoured (at KPot), and Love Actually has been watched while the tree was trimmed, so I guess it’s officially Christmastime! We always want to be as available as much as possible as an oasis of last minute gifts or an escape from your own holiday harriedness, so we only have a few minor changes to our hours:

• Sunday, December 24th • Christmas Eve • 11 AM - 2 PM - opening an hour earlier than usual & closing a little earlier (five years of sales data show you guys are usually done with us by then).

• Monday, December 25th • Christmas Day • CLOSED

And that’s it! We’ll be back to regular hours on December 26th and, if everything goes to plan, that’s the way it will be until Thanksgiving 2024. Unlike in years past, there’s also no “skip week” for new releases between Christmas & New Year’s, meaning it’s a typical full wall of books hitting the shelves on Tuesday & Wednesday, including G.I. Joe’s official entry into the shared Energon Universe with Duke #1, the final issue of the timely-released Batman/ Santa Claus Silent Knight, and the Something is Killing the Children tie-in Book of Butcher.

The new axe calls for new picks featuring everyone’s favorite jailbird, Snips! When they come in, if you’d like one as a keepsake, just let me know!

Also, over on Instagram and Facebook, Mike & Austin are getting into the weekly recommendation game! Having just graduated UNCG last week (congratulations), Oz is tied in to all things artistic and cool, and Mike has some of the most eclectic and hilarious tastes on the newsstand, so pay attention to what they’ve got to say!

I’m so truly impressed by the excitement that the Energon Universe (G.I. Joe & Transformers at Image’s Skybound imprint [owned & overseen by Walking Dead’s Robert Kirkman]) is generating, especially without any direct or immediate movies or TV shows to tie in. Six months since the first title was announced, and new readers getting on every day!

A-List creators telling incredible stories with a genuine appreciation and innovation for properties that are or are almost forty years old, it feels like would should be an easy formula for a genre with so many iconic characters. Transformers #1-3 have been my three favorite issues of the year, Duke’s introduction in #2 has me pumped for his new series out December 27th in a way I never would have imagined, and we sold four times more copies of the 301st issue of Larry Hama’s Real American Hero epic as we did of the latest Avengers (but that will change with Avengers Twilight in January).

If you haven’t tried Transformers or Void Rivals or haven’t pre-ordered the new G.I. Joe titles, make that your gift to yourself this holiday season!

Thanks to everyone that picked up their pulls, shopped the stores, came out to the final warehouse sale, purchased something on eBay, or took part in all of our Black Friday Sales, leading to our most successful November of all time! It was truly a whirlwind, and we can’t wait to keep the good vibes going to round out the year!

On the personal side of things, my guitar, pictured above, has been clear-coated out in San Diego, bringing it one step closer to back home, I just borrowed Super Mario Bros. Wonder from Smitty, I’m halfway through the first novel of Phase III of the High Republic, and I have an essay’s worth of positive thoughts about Scott Pilgrim Takes Off on Netflix!

Normally I try to keep everything on the blog in the spirit of “everything is great all the time”, and not to take away from what anyone else has been going through lately, least of all my friends and family, but I have been having a rough time of it the last few weeks. So I wanted to take this day of Thanks to sincerely show my appreciation for everyone that has been there for me, from my wife Carly that has to deal with me every moment of every day, to my parents, brother, and sister-in-law that have never stopped being encouraging, and my closest friends that have given everything they’ve got to not let me fall.

Even you, for liking my posts about last weekend’s Greensboro Half Marathon, shooting the spit about comics, or taking a hearty recommendation from a guy that just needed a win at that moment whether you knew it or not. Call it seasonal affective disorder, overstimulated, stretched thin, or whatever else you will, but I’m trying to put in the work every day and be the best I can be for everyone.

Now with that out of the way, let’s all get pumped for our Black Friday Sale, featuring Buy 2 Get 1 FREE graphic novels, toys, and back issues from Friday at 11 AM through Sunday at 5 PM, plus our 50% OFF regular back issue doorbuster starting Friday at opening!

Our final Warehouse Sale of 2023 is this Friday, November 17th from 3 PM - 7 PM and Saturday, November 18th from 11 AM - 4 PM in the back of Field Trip at 929 N. Church St. in Greensboro, and believe me when I say everything must go! That’s right, there will literally be someone there with a truck to take it all away from we close up on Saturday afternoon, so get in while the getting is good! We’ve got more than 35 long boxes of $1 books with the option to fill a short box for $100 (about 175 comics), and premium back issues for $5 each, 10 for $25, or fill a short box for $200!

And I also wanted to let everyone know we’ll be open our regular business hours of 8 AM - 7 PM next Wednesday, November 22nd with a full slate of new releases, then we’ll be closed on Thanksgiving Day, and back at it on Friday, November 24th for Black Friday deals that cannot be missed, including a doorbuster special at 11 AM!

As I’ll typically do around this time of year, I’ve given the ol’ PC (personal collection) a long hard look and started bringing in some items that I’ve acquired over the years to put out for sale. Some are beloved series that I just don’t have space for with my ever-expanding collection of Star Wars canon novels and I’m happy to offer at a deep discount from the retail price, and some, like the JLA Avengers Dynamic Forces Slipcase hardcover pictured above that I got for all of $7 in a sale years and years ago have become straight up collector’s grails!

it gets addictive seeing new people enjoy all the things I’ve carried around with me for years (and putting a little extra scratch in my pocket), so you never know what else I might bring in as this first assortment sells down between now and Christmas!

Man, what a difference a day makes…but much, much more on that tomorrow as we prepare for the spontaneous debut of a brand-new collection the likes of which we’ve never had at Ssalefish before! You’ll have the weekend to get first crack before we make them available to rest of the world online next week. Plus we’ve got boxes and boxes of new Amazing Spider-Man, Incredible Hulk, Deadpool and Punisher back issues going out over the next week, and it’s the perfect time to pick up something extra with as light as this week’s new releases were.

Come by this Saturday, October 28th from 11 AM - 7 PM to take part in Trick or Read 2023! Try a free sampling of Marvel and horror titles including James Tynion & Michael Avon Oeming’s Blue Book, Scott Snyder & Hayden Sherman’s Dark Spaces, Star Wars High Republic, and Spidey & his Amazing Friends (while supplies last)! And what’s a Halloween celebration without some free candy, too, right?!

Plus we’ll be hosting a pop-up Video Game Estate Sale out front from 12 PM - 3 PM with all the proceeds benefiting our Comics For Kids charity, where we purchase multiple additional Free Comic Book Day books for every student at select Guilford County Title I schools! There are a ton hidden gems and surprises you won’t want to miss out on!