The Rocketeer

Post by **droosan** » December 17th, 2009, 8:36 am

Just got the deluxe hardcover collection of IDW's The Complete Rocketeer yesterday. It is fantastic! The new coloring is marvelous .. much subtler than the Photoshoppy 'overkill' that modern coloring can sometimes become.

While not quite the size of the 'Absolute' book collections from other publishers, it is still an impressive presentation .. especially when compared with IDW's likewise just-released trade-paperback edition, which is the size of a standard comic book.

The cover price for the deluxe edition is listed as US$75 .. but better deals can probably be found online. The comic-book shop at which I bought my copy sold-out of their entire stock within an hour, though (not too surprising, being Burbank .. four animation studios lie within a square-mile radius of that store)

As previously announced, the bonus materials account for nearly half the thickness of the book .. and are packed with great stuff, most of which I hadn't seen before.

For those with little kiddies who might get their mitts on this, be warned: some of the bonus Bettie material is very PG-13.

Post by **Ben** » December 17th, 2009, 10:21 am

This just shows you what a rip-off English prices and customs fees are!

I was going to order this (the deluxe set) from Amazon.com, at $47.25. Say they add $10 shipping, that's still under $60, which is approx £35. Great deal, but anything over £18 coming into the UK is liable to import tax and they just basically make up a figure (likely the £20 difference between the paid and the UK list price), plus a postage handling fee of £8, so I could be looking at something like £50-60 ($80-100) just to get this home. Only to find it damaged in transit or something.

So I looked at Amazon.co.uk, expecting this to maybe be around the £30 it should be given the pricing differences...and yet it's £44.79 after their online discount, approx $73! Even the non deluxe one is £22.50, a list of $36 in dollars.

It's just so annoying that we can't import things or just pay a one off import fee, but they sting you on every level. Even just trying to buy the book from a retailer over here is a price mockery since they routinely charge whatever the price is in dollars in pounds here. It should come out at around £30, which is still nearly $50, but the actual list price here in the UK is £55.99 - a total of $91 not even counting postage!

I will eventually bite the bullet and pick this up for the £45 asked for by Amazon.co.uk, since buying in a store will be even pricier (especially if some specialist store marks it up even more to £60, which also happens in the London boutiques), but man it can make you mad when they take a specialist item like this and really milk it.

Post by **Randall** » December 17th, 2009, 2:09 pm

I was just discussing this book with Ben over e-mail yesterday. I ordered mine from Amazon, and they don't have it in stock yet. (At $48.82Can, or $40-45US, one of the better prices out there.) But what I've seen here looks gorgeous for sure:
http://ryalltime.blogspot.com/2009/12/r ... ience.html

I love these oversized editions. (I just got Absolute Justice too.)

GeorgeC · Post by **GeorgeC** » December 17th, 2009, 8:31 pm

I splurged and decided to get one of each HC edition of The Rocketeer.

The regular HC edition will probably see a new mass trade paperback within the next year but I don't care -- I want the story in a quality collection now!

I might get Absolute Justice but frankly a lot of the Alex Ross stuff is repetitive and it gets a bit boring after he's drawn the same story for the fourth or fifth time.

At least the guy he painted over for the story wasn't constrained to the same group of models and stock poses that Ross has become infamous for...

(That said, I may get the new Alex Ross book coming out next year. It's got pencils of his art. I like pencils better than finished art most of the time!)

P.S. -- As Droosan said, online deals for these books are much better than local comic book shops. Between the economy and feeling that I have no reason to go to the local comic shop anymore, I save a ton getting things online -- at least 35-40% off hardcovers and sometimes up to 50% off!

(I may yet finish collecting The Spirit Archives from online vendors...)

I'm not plugging anybody in particular, but Tales Of Wonder, Discount Comic Book Service, and Westfield have very good deals on pre-orders. Just pick your poison!

The one thing worth going to the shop for still is Previews (the catalog for ordering comics in the English-speaking world -- at least North America) so you can at least see what the new art books and statues look like. The DC, Marvel, and Dark Horse stuff get posted online before Previews ships.

For most webstores, they generally list the new books and statues about two weeks after the new Previews Catalog from Diamond ships.

Post by **Randall** » December 17th, 2009, 9:48 pm

So, you bought two copies, George? One reading copy and one to sit on the display shelf? I've got no problem with that, just curious.

The one problem with ordering through Amazon is that they don't seem to get their stock from Diamond, and so one has to wait longer for the "book market" date to arrive. But the other dealers you mentioned would have prohibitive shipping costs for me, so Amazon.ca it is.

Post by **droosan** » December 18th, 2009, 7:21 pm

I'd heard from a friend this morning that the deluxe slipcased edition of The Rocketeer: The Complete Collection (the only version which features the bonus material) is limited to 750 copies .. though, as yet, I haven't been able to 'confirm' that anywhere online.

Still .. it may be a good idea to seek out a copy sooner, rather than later. The deluxe book seems to have completely 'sold out' in the L.A. area .. and (as of this moment) there aren't even any eBay listings for it. :idea:

The regular edition can be found with comparative ease .. but it contains only the comics, and isn't oversized.

Post by **Randall** » December 18th, 2009, 8:02 pm

Thanks for the head's up. I pre-ordered mine months ago, so I'll give it a little time to see if it does ship. It worked for me with the hardcover edition of the Al Williamson Flash Gordon book (which seemed to be an instantaneous sell-out, and Amazon.ca shipped it to me weeks later), and I hope it does here.

If it were planned to be that limited, though, I suspect it would say so somewhere on your copy. It could very well be that they printed only that many, but may go back to press if demand is there. I certainly can't find anything that says this was to be a limited edition, but it could have been a small initial press run.

Post by **Ben** » December 19th, 2009, 4:50 pm

"Temporarily out of stock" at Amazon.co.uk now. Forbidden Planet is out too.

Naturally have ordered anyway, and hopefully they'll get some more in. I did think this was limited in some way, but only vaguely, and certainly not as low as 750 copies. I've also looked online and can't see any reference to this being a "limited edition" in any way, although some places had it marked as a "Volume 1"...!!???

Fingers crossed...or else it's the standard one for me.

Post by **Randall** » December 19th, 2009, 5:20 pm

Amazon.ca has said "Temporarily out of stock" for a while now, including prior to the release date, so I'll be patient. And Amazon.com still calls it a preorder. So, all the Amazons maybe just don't have their copies yet. Comics stuff often gets to bookdealers a couple of weeks or more after Diamond gets stuff to the comic shops. However, I'll be stopping by my comics shop too to see if they have it.

Post by **droosan** » December 19th, 2009, 7:17 pm

FWIW, I have found no markings in the book which indicate it is a 'numbered' limited edition.

I did, however, find out that Electric Tiki's Rocketeer statuette is limited to 750 pieces .. which may be where my friend had gotten that number.

So, hopefully, this apparent 'shortage' of the deluxe slipcased edition is just due to a low first-print run (or -- as Randall suggests -- Diamond's 'comic-book shops first' distribution system) .. and more copies will be making their way to stores, soon!

-----------

Randall wrote:Thanks for the head's up. I pre-ordered mine months ago, so I'll give it a little time to see if it does ship. It worked for me with the hardcover edition of the Al Williamson Flash Gordon book (which seemed to be an instantaneous sell-out, and Amazon.ca shipped it to me weeks later), and I hope it does here.

I had initially missed-out on the hardcover edition of Al Williamson's Flash Gordon: A Lifelong Vision of the Heroic .. for which I'd 'kicked' myself, considering I'd held a (then 'just-published') copy in my hands at the San Diego Comic-Con during the summer; only to place it back on the table thinking, "I'll order this from Bud Plant, later."

'Later' turned out to be the next week .. when I found out the hardcover was already listed as 'out-of-print'.

After several fruitless months of searching, I was almost ready to give-up and purchase the softcover edition, instead .. when Stuart Ng finally managed to locate a hardcover for me (I paid a small 'premium' for that, though).

GeorgeC · Post by **GeorgeC** » December 21st, 2009, 10:17 pm

That's pretty much what happens to most of us when we wait too long, Droo!

The good news is that most of these things come and go in cycles.

Who knew that DC would reprint the whole original Spirit run?

Who knew that The Monster Society of Evil storyline would be reprinted by DC 20 years after the Titan Books edition?

It's likely that more Flash Gordon -- in addition to what people care for -- will get reprinted if something new gets done with the property.

We're already seeing that begin to happen with the Green Hornet. I seriously doubt a new comic book series, let alone the original serials on DVD, would have happened without the new movie coming out. Granted, I think the film's cast poorly -- not a Seth Rogen fan and I find him oddly offensive/repellant for whatever reasons -- but even a bad film can have positive effects for a while.

It's too bad, though, that a failure of a major film does tend to drive studios away for at least two decades before they give it another try... In the meantime, buy the books, toys, and statues if you like the character!

Post by **Ben** » December 29th, 2009, 9:35 am

UGH!

Amazon.co.uk wrote:We regret to inform you that we have been unable to obtain the following item:

Dave Stevens "The Rocketeer: The Complete Deluxe Edition"

This item has now been cancelled from your order and we can confirm that you have not been charged for it.

We are no longer able to offer this item for sale. Our supplier has informed us that this item has been discontinued and is no longer available.

Please accept our apologies for any disappointment or inconvenience caused.

Okay...I wouldn't have minded if Amazon had had it in stock at one point and I'd just been too late to order, but they never seem to have even had any to begin with! Even when I was comparing prices it stated "not currently in stock", implying that it would be (before release date) but it never actually stated "In Stock" at any time.

I'm now between a rock and a hard place: Amazon in the US also now says "In stock on December 31, 2009", whatever that means, though I know I'll end up paying north of $90 if I try and import that.

Post by **Randall** » December 29th, 2009, 7:35 pm

I just checked--- my preorder was done on June 17. If IDW can't fulfill an order placed 6 months prior to release, then they have problems (unless it WAS a limited edition, though info on that is sketchy at best). I still suspect that copies will be available eventually, as suggested by Amazon.com's listing.

GeorgeC · Post by **GeorgeC** » December 29th, 2009, 8:54 pm

According to Bud Plant, the Deluxe Edition is already out-of-print.

They still have the regular edition in-stock, though.

The Deluxe's I'm sure flew out the warehouse when people realized they were going to be oversized and have extras not in the regular HC.

No doubt the Deluxe was planned to have a lower print run from the start.

Still, I wouldn't be surprised if another print run gets done if the demand is there. DC has reprinted most of its oversized Absolute's already. Absolute Watchmen is on at least its 3rd or 4th print right now...

I would be very surprised if a European edition of this isn't released.

Ben, you sure none of the local comic shops in London aren't carrying this book? I'd be surprised! I'm pretty sure they deal with the American distributor (Diamond) to some extent. Some of them have to have ordered this book.

Other than that, all I can say is wait for a European edition. It's bound to happen.

I suspect retro-comics like this are more popular overseas than they are in the US.

P.S. -- I haven't gotten my copies of this book yet. I pre-ordered from a discount service in the state of Indiana and I generally get my books anywhere from 3 weeks to a month-and-a-half after street.

Still, it's worth the 35%-50% off of buying them in-store!

DCBS has been good to me and I'm not abandoning their store any time soon. I've pretty much given up on the LCS because of costs and the fact that I just don't enjoy monthly comics and the constant crossover series... I like reprints and HC collections much better!

(Statues are also a lot more affordable from online, too!)

Post by **Randall** » December 29th, 2009, 9:57 pm

I don't doubt that the Deluxe edition is out of print, with a short press run that underestimated demand. Hopefully, though, copies are still finding their way through the distribution system.

I haven't been to my LCS for a few weeks. If I see it there, I may have to grab it just to be sure.