Well, the pandemic is here. It’s weird to talk about COVID-19 (also known as the Coronavirus 2019) in such a heightened way. Just 2 weeks ago, we were talking about COVID-19 as a possibility, as a potentiality. Now, multiple comics shows have been postponed or canceled, and containment is out of the question.

SOLRAD is still planning to run as expected, but as we move forward, pieces that we expected to publish may run late due to illness, critical infrastructure concerns, and other pandemic-related delays. As we prepare for the coming weeks, we invite you to check out our archives, which contain a host of great content, and two hours of a great podcast to listen to.

Artists, writers, and arts festival workers are all likely in a hard place financially. The flea-market financial model that independent and small press comics live on is precarious when everything goes right. Many artists don’t have the luxury of missing shows, because missing a show means missing vital income to keep them in food and rent money. Please do your best to support artists with recent book tour cancellations or show cancellations by preordering their work, buying from their online stores, or supporting them on Patreon or Ko-Fi. We encourage those with the ability to spend money to buy comics from independent retailers online rather than on Amazon, so that small businesses get much-needed cash during this difficult period.

Fieldmouse Press expresses its commitment to and solidarity with all cartoonists, arts festival workers, and other creators who are being affected by COVID-19, and we ask you to support others as you can.

If you are a creator whose income has been affected by COVID-19, please get in touch. You can email us at publisher@solrad.co or send a direct message on Twitter to @fieldmousepress.

From a science perspective, now is the most critical moment in the USA and Canada. Our friends and colleagues in Europe are hurting right now, and we’ve seen the results of unmitigated virus transmission; if we want to avoid catastrophe, we must do everything we can to prevent the spread of COVID-19. We felt at SOLRAD that it would be a disservice to our readers to sit on our laurels, so please – practice physical distancing, wash your hands frequently, and clean your filthy cell phone.

To help you in your quest for good hygiene, here’s a infographic on proper handwashing technique set to the tune of the 1999 American classic, “All Star” by Smash Mouth.

Stay safe out there.