Which Artist's Editions you would buy (if IDW actually made them)?

[jonjesper]

I got one. Looking forward to going!

I think it sold out this morning? I ended up purchasing late last night after seeing the BC article.

[faust1103]

Hi,

 

does enay1 know when when the "Hellboy" and "Nick Fury" AE books will be showing up in the LCS?

 

They were supposed to be delivered this week but nothing has come out so far?

 

 

[J.Sid]

Hellboy got held up at the docks while being imported into the country. Should be here soon, if it didn't come out already yesterday.

[mamatsch]

I got one. Looking forward to going!

I think it sold out this morning? I ended up purchasing late last night after seeing the BC article.

 

Lucky…this sounds very cool - would love to hear about it and see a pic of your book!

[Knut R Knutsen-migration]

So ... Enemy Ace, Spirit 2, Goon, Mister Miracle and Best of EC 2 up soon? Nice.

 

I just hope they include some Severin in the Best of EC book, he's always been a favorite, but I'm not sure if he's popular enough to get an AE on his own.

 

I wouldn't say no to a Joint AE with selections of Marie and John Severin's Marvel stuff either, but I guess that is even more of a long shot. Their work, separately, was some of the most inspiring stuff to me as I read it in my youth. Very expressive and natural.

[Terry Doyle]

Generally, I prefer Severin inked by Will Elder for his EC stuff (his own-inked stories can be uneven during that period). To my mind, he began to develop, as an inker, during the later Two-Fisted Tales issues (when Kurtzman had departed the title to concentrate on the Mad comic-books).

 

After EC, when Severin had overcome his inking shortcomings, his work became more confident and assured.

 

He's certainly a favourite with me, so I agree he shouldn't be overlooked

[Cyclops]

Great news about another Best of EC book. Hope we get some Feldstein. I hope Feldstein gets his own edition one day.

[mangbus]

I know it isn't IDW

 

From Graphitti Designs

For the Kelley Jones Batman - here is what I found from the solicitation:

 

BATMAN: KELLEY JONES GALLERY EDITION HC

Written by DOUG MOENCH

Art by KELLEY JONES, JOHN BEATTY and others

Cover by KELLEY JONES

Advance solicit • On sale NOVEMBER • 248 pg, FC • 12” x 17” • $125.00 US

Graphitti Designs proudly launches their new, large-format hardcover book series with BATMAN: KELLEY JONES GALLERY EDITION. For the first time ever, Dark Knight fans and collectors will have the opportunity to see and own museum-quality reproductions of memorable Batman art...as it was originally conceived by the artist. Printed in color from high-resolution scans of the actual original art, this first entry in Graphitti Designs’ new Gallery Editions line replicates the look, feel and attitude of the artwork. Every page is reproduced at original size on heavy paper stock, capturing the artwork – stray pencil marks, whiteout, coffee stains and all! The pages are alive with all of the subtleties and nuances one would expect from investment-quality original comic art.

BATMAN: KELLEY JONES GALLERY EDITION is the first in a series of deluxe, hardcover books from Graphitti Designs that faithfully reproduces the original art from select, key DC Comics series. This inaugural volume contains the covers and interior pages from BATMAN #515 through #525, minus the interior of issue #520, which Kelley did not draw. These stories are written by Doug Moench, with most pages inked by John Beatty.

Graphitti Designs’ Gallery Editions reproduce the look, feel and attitude of the original art as it was originally created by the artist. Though it appears to be printed in black and white, the contents of these books are sourced from high-resolution, full color scans taken directly from the artwork. Each high-quality, Smythe-sewn hardcover book captures every detail of the art at actual-size, and are printed at 200 line-screen on a rich, heavy paper stock. Replicating the original art experience is our goal. Our Gallery Editions are the next best thing to holding the original art in your hands – and easier on the wallet, too!

 

 

As a Batman fan, I look forward to seeing this in person. I hope these are made well.

 

http://www.graphittidesigns.com/_GalleryEditions/

 

[Knut R Knutsen-migration]

The one I'm most curious about is the "Neil Gaiman's Sandman" volume. Simply because the decision to buy will be based on the artists. Hopefully a broad selection with a sampling from every artist/storyline.

[AKA Rick]

I'd like to see the full sized B&W original art treatment for:

 

Neal Adams "Green Lantern / Green Arrow"

 

Neal Adams "Strange Adventures" (Deadman)

 

Neal Adams "X-Men" (#56-63 & 65)

 

Neal Adams "Avengers" - Kree / Skurll War

 

John Byrne "Uncanny X-Men" - Dark Phoenix Saga as well as the other issues

 

George Perez "New Teen Titans" - The Judas Contract

 

Keith Giffen "Legion of Superheroes" - The Great Darkness Saga

 

 

 

 

[Brian Peck]

I can not see a Uncanny X-Men Byrne Artist Edition since it has been so broken up and not sure if Terry would allow his pages to be scanned.

 

Many of the list would have to be Artifact Editions since getting complete issues would be tough.7

[J.Sid]

…kinda like Xerox or Kleenex, they are all now "Artist Editions"

[mister_not_so_nice]

Don't know if this has been brought up before.

 

Are the companies putting out these books getting permission from the original publishers? Or are they simply putting out "art books" that, coincidentally, tell a comic story of their trademarked character?

 

And would the scenario change any if an AE was put out of a comic that was originally published in black and white?

[Eric Seffinga]

They would be sued out of existence if they didn't have permission. Especially for the majority of these volumes that have characters owned by major companies. If you don't think Marvel/Disney would sue to maintain control of their properties you'd be very mistaken.

 

My understanding is it's much less about protecting reprint volume revenues. It's all about the kinds of dollars on the line tied to their burgeoning movie empire, and the legal entanglements that could crop up later. So it becomes a matter of police it or lose it, legally speaking. They would have to go after anyone that was reproducing this work. I don't have one in the office, but I am sure the ownerships are spelled out in the legalese in the books.

 

This is why DC is now pursuing their own version of the IDW art volume treatment. They have been noticeably absent from the treatment overall, and are now clearly going to be sticking their toes in the same waters to see if they can make money at it. If so, they have a trove of IP to work with, assuming they have access to the material for quality scans. I'm curious if they hold up to what IDW's been doing for years now. To me, it's all in the quality of the reproductions of the original boards in all their various states.

[miraclemet]

I listened to an interview with Walt Simonson before his came out and he said that he went to Marvel after seeing the first AE from IDW and suggested they do something similar since he had so much of the OA from his Thor run.

 

They reached out to IDW (or the other way around I cant remember) and agreed that IDW was better suited to do these "niche" collections, so IDW did it.

[Knut R Knutsen-migration]

I'm not sure who supervises the DC/Graphitti Gallery Editions, but if Mark Chiarello is still the Art Director at DC Comics, presumably he'd be the first to put his foot down if the DC editions were not "competitive" in quality.

 

And Graphitti depend on their reputation for quality for their very existence, as they are dealing with other people's trademarks and copyrights all the time.

 

Of all the various second generation "gallery editions", the ones from DC/ Graphitti are the ones I worry the least about.

 

Some of the stuff that's started popping up, cheaper stuff, has me worried, though, Especially when the descriptions of the format are vague.

 

Although several french publishers have started doing pencil art artists editions (which have to be planned when the books are in the pencil stages and therefore are released as deluxe variants at the same time as the regular books) and some of those have been comparatively cheap, about 20 euros (25-30 dollars) for an album-sized (48 page) comic, some with between 10 and 40 pages of other sketch material.

 

For instance, the latest Asterix, "vs the Picts", was published in a de luxe HC version at AE size with the entire 44 page album in full colour, every single page in penciled form and a 30+ page sketchbook detailing every part of the design, scripting and art process,

 

Price? 35 Euro (45 dollars). It's still available at that price from Amazon France many months later.

 

Sales on Asterix are of course high enough to justify planning out such editions, but this type of contamperaneous AE, an upscale version of the Marvel "Rough Cut" editions, is precisely the advantage that an in-house Gallery Edition production team can have over a licensed Artist Edition team.

 

It doesn't look like DC are about to go down that road, but one can always hope. Can you imagine a full pencil/ink AE of a miniseries by, well any one of the greats still doing work with pen and paper?

 

 

[alxjhnsn]

And would the scenario change any if an AE was put out of a comic that was originally published in black and white?

 

Jeff Smith's Bone was originally B&W and the Great Cow Race segment has been brought out as an Artist's Edition.

[F For Fake]

They would be sued out of existence if they didn't have permission. Especially for the majority of these volumes that have characters owned by major companies. If you don't think Marvel/Disney would sue to maintain control of their properties you'd be very mistaken.

 

My understanding is it's much less about protecting reprint volume revenues. It's all about the kinds of dollars on the line tied to their burgeoning movie empire, and the legal entanglements that could crop up later. So it becomes a matter of police it or lose it, legally speaking. They would have to go after anyone that was reproducing this work. I don't have one in the office, but I am sure the ownerships are spelled out in the legalese in the books.

 

This is why DC is now pursuing their own version of the IDW art volume treatment. They have been noticeably absent from the treatment overall, and are now clearly going to be sticking their toes in the same waters to see if they can make money at it. If so, they have a trove of IP to work with, assuming they have access to the material for quality scans. I'm curious if they hold up to what IDW's been doing for years now. To me, it's all in the quality of the reproductions of the original boards in all their various states.

 

I was beyond surprised, but also incredibly delighted, that a Kelley Jones Batman book is coming out so soon. I wouldn't have ever guessed that it would be one of their first selections, but it is one of the ones I would have most requested. Super excited about it. Love Kelley's work so much, but since I'll probably never have an original (other than a con sketch I got a couple of years ago) this will be a nice substitute.

[BitterOldMan]

Bob Chapman owns Graphitti Designs and will do a stellar job on the DC Artists Editions. I saw Bob at Big Wow speaking to various big OA dealers looking for material. Bob's company has produced the official SDCC tshirt for decades.

 

[falseface-migration]

I've yet to purchase any of the IDW AEs, though I came very close to buying Mazzucchelli's Daredevil: Born Again (which I've never read) and Schultz's Xenozoic Tales. The first OA reproduction art book I'll be getting is Miller/Janson's Dark Knight Returns Gallery Edition.

 

I think the Mignola Hellboy AE brings up an interesting aspect about printing more recent material in that without word balloons on the page you can only enjoy the book as an art object and not as a story experience. Which is the whole point, I guess.

 

The only thing on my wish list right now is Mazzucchelli's Batman: Year One.