by Matthew Russell - Posted 4 years ago
Salutations vigilante compadres. Since we are all closing ourselves indoors and now living full-time in our hazmat suits, I figured that this would be a great time to address the elephant in the room the Coronavirus.
Wait, am I the only one too paranoid to leave the shelter that my house provides? Am I the only crazy one?
OK, since I’m not, let's discuss this virus and see how it affects my favorite industry; comics. When I first heard about it, I was more worried than ever because I didn’t know anything about it. Can you get it from drinking my favorite beer? (Get it, Coronavirus, Corona. Ba Dum Tss)
Thank God, you can’t. You can’t get it from reading comics either. There is only 1 way to get it. Breathing the shared air as an infected person. In other words, its "freaken" easy to catch.
Turns out that the Coronavirus has been around for a lot longer than we realized. According to the WHO (World Health Organization, not the EPIC band) “Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) are two highly transmissible and pathogenic viruses that emerged in humans at the beginning of the 21st century. “
So we had it for a while. It had mutated through various animals such as bats and camels much like the Swine Flu or Bird Flu. Now in Wuhan, it mutated through reptiles. Yep, blame those Chinese Mutant Ninja Turtles.
It was eventually traced to a single outdoor vendor. I would hate to be that guy. By the way, he’s fine.
Wuhan China is a gorgeous city in the Hubei providence. As you can see from the map below, it is in the heart of China. It is known as the “City of Design.” It truly is a stunning place. I wish I could have visited before the outbreak.
It is considered the cultural center of China with over 10.8 million residents and a top-notch technology college. Its outdoor markets are commonplace in Eastern countries. Think of the Pikes Place Market turned up to 11.
Well, a tourist went there and caught it. It takes about 14 days to fully incubate, so they had no clue when they left. The airport became contaminated and it spread to places like Italy, and the United States. Way to go!
Many US-based companies are seeing their stock prices drop due to the Coronavirus. For example, Coca Cola usually gets shipments of ingredients from China. Since the US and various other countries have placed a ban or quarantine on Chinese goods from that region, manufacturing has slowed. No product, stocks fall.
Cryptocurrencies have shifted due to the volatile market. For the first time since January, the average was below $9000 but since it has jumped over 20%. With the stock market on a steadily downward trend, cyber coins seem to be holding their value on average.
This means you should watch for the sudden dips and buy buy buy! Also, it is a great time to invest in various stocks. Do you really think that Coke won’t simply start purchasing “home-grown” ingredients?
Well, you can guess, CryptoComics will not be going to any Wuhan Cons this year. I don’t even know if they have one. It wasn’t on our calendar.
Unfortunately, Washington State has been hit hard. According to KIRO News 7 in the Seattle area:
"On Sunday, the death toll in Washington state reached 19 and the confirmed cases, reported by the Washington Department of Health, hit at least 136."
Normally I would make a joke or quip about this, but I can’t in good conscience do so. We here at Cryptocomics feel for their loss. Many of us have family and friends in the affected area. I, myself, have several aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends there. I grew up in Bremerton.
Emerald City Con has been postponed due to the sudden illness. In 2019 Reed Exhibitions (the group behind the magical convention) posted record attendance numbers at around 98,000 attendees. This was a HUGE moneymaker for them.
With some of the bigger venues closing their doors, I wouldn’t be surprised if bigger names head to the smaller cons that don’t normally see that level of notoriety.
Just be sure that as soon as Emerald City opens their doors again, I will be there. I will probably be backpacking that particular convention in order to canvas all the great creators, but I’ll be there.
Until we see each other next, join us on the Marketplace and check out all the comics that you ever wish for! See you soon.
