Carrie Nation

Today should have been the 146^th Kentucky Derby, but it isn’t. The race is regularly scheduled to be held on the first Saturday in May, but this year it will happen Saturday, September 5. In its entire history, the derby has never been cancelled, and the only other time it’s been postponed was in 1945, because of World War II. That means the horses ran on Churchill Downs during the Spanish Flu pandemic in 1918, 1919 and 1920. The first Saturday in May is also Free Comic Book Day – the day when comic book stores hand out specially printed copies of free comic books. Of course, that’s not happening this year, either. Diamond Comic Distributors postponed the event until sometime in late summer, saying, “The severity and timing of the impact of the COVID-19 virus can’t be predicted with any certainty, but the safety of our retail partners and comic book fans is too important to risk.”