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Robert LaGuardia Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 15 November 2007 Location: United States Posts: 1296
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Posted: 24 May 2014 at 3:03pm | IP Logged | 1
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Any news on the Sam Kieth AE?
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Stephen Churay Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 25 March 2009 Location: United States Posts: 8369
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Posted: 24 May 2014 at 3:41pm | IP Logged | 2
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Not yet Robert. I seem to remember at some point a Sam Kieth MAXX and a Walt Simonson STARSLAMMERS are coming. I know the Steranko NICK FURY is next and after that is a few others. I don't get them all so I'm not sure of everything released or coming.
I know there's a HELLBOY edition and a PEANUTS one. I would assume Kieth's and Simonson's will follow before getting to those announced in the last two months.
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Stephen Churay Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 25 March 2009 Location: United States Posts: 8369
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Posted: 24 May 2014 at 3:44pm | IP Logged | 3
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Thinking about it, I don't believe the Basil Wolverton has been released yet either. So, there are quite a few in the pipeline.
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Robert LaGuardia Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 15 November 2007 Location: United States Posts: 1296
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Posted: 24 May 2014 at 8:46pm | IP Logged | 4
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Thanks Stephen.
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Shawn Harrington Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 24 May 2014 Location: United States Posts: 7
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Posted: 25 May 2014 at 11:23pm | IP Logged | 5
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I received the New Gods Artist's Edition - my first AE - last Thursday. After all the praise that's been heaped on this line over the years, I have to say that I was extremely disappointed, so much so that I've written to Tales of Wonder asking if I can return it for a refund.
The stated purpose of the line is "tomimic as closely as possible the experience of viewing the actual originalart—for instance, corrections, blue pencils, paste-overs, all the littlenuances that make original art unique" and I don't think this book does that at all.
If you've seen any high-quality scans of original art online, you know that they show incredible detail in the inked areas... like, for instance, what you can see here:
http://www.whatifkirby.com/gallery/comic-art-listings/new-go ds-issue-8-page-1 http://www.whatifkirby.com/gallery/comic-art-listings/new-go ds-issue-1-page-2 http://www.whatifkirby.com/gallery/comic-art-listings/new-go ds-issue-8-page-15 The AE book basically homogenizes all of those ink shades into solid, uniform black. Those of you who have the book, do a side-by-side comparison to see what I mean. I guess, if I squint really hard, I can just barely make out some tiny bit of the shading detail... but honestly, the book as published does not look like original art to me without that kind of detail. Maybe if I had never seen scans like that, or didn't know what real original art looks like, I'd be impressed... but I'm just not.
Now I'm really wondering whether I want to get the forthcoming Steranko volumes, if they're going to look like this.
I wouldn't be complaining if IDW hadn't said that the whole point of the endeavor was "tomimic as closely as possible the experience of viewing the actual originalart—for instance, corrections, blue pencils, paste-overs, all the littlenuances that make original art unique". Damn it all, if they're going to say it like that, they should mean it! I should be able to lay their product side-by-side with the original art, and be stumped - if only for a moment - as to which is the real thing.
I think I'm going to seriously suggest to IDW that they make digital scans of the art with the same fidelity to the originals that are seen at those links I posted, and make those scans available online for a fee. I'd pay double what I did for this book to have access to something like that. I'd even be happy to print them on standard 11 x 17 printer paper... which I've done for other such scans which show the inking detail I want, and which have all come out fine. I'm at a complete loss as to why IDW didn't use exactly the same process - except on better paper - for their book.
Edited by Shawn Harrington on 26 May 2014 at 3:57am
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f ron miller Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 03 July 2012 Posts: 22
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Posted: 26 May 2014 at 2:38pm | IP Logged | 6
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If IDW has any ambition to be the standard bearer for these types of volumes then they need to set a standard. Make a mission statement page in the book defining the standards and methods for the scans, then adhere to it. They do the art and their reputation no service otherwise. At that trouble and price, what's the point? When the pages int the Kirby book are at their best, they're glorious when they don't they just looks like photostats. The almost one third of the book looks like a photostat.
I agree, if the folks at the Kirby Museum and WhatIfKirby can pull it off then there's no reason why IDW can't either.
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Shawn Harrington Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 24 May 2014 Location: United States Posts: 7
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Posted: 26 May 2014 at 5:58pm | IP Logged | 7
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Some interesting information at this link about how the book was put together:
http://www.whatifkirby.com/forums/jack-kirbys-artist-edition
They also discuss the same aspects that bothered me and f ron miller.
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Stephen Churay Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 25 March 2009 Location: United States Posts: 8369
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Posted: 26 May 2014 at 7:26pm | IP Logged | 8
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Does the book make a lot of the inks more uniform? Yes it does. Looking a color scan online and then taking that that scan and printing it on paper is gonna give you that result. There is some variation in the blacks in the AE but you're going to lose a chunk of that once you reprint the scan to paper. Can something be done to make the process even closer to the scans you linked? I sure, but is it possible that getting the inks closer might also cost you something else unique about the page? As close as possible doesn't always doesn't mean exactly.
I own 10 of these. Some show more underdrawing some not. Some ha e clean inks some not. How close are they to the original artwork, without seeing all of it, I couldn't say. But, to do what you're talking about, they would have to print every page directly from the computer without ever running through a standard printing process. At that point, the $120 book becomes a $500 dollar book.
Keep this in mind, as I said, I own 10 of them. To own ONE page of original Kirby art, I'd have to sell all of them and maybe, I could get a page with a major character on it.
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f ron miller Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 03 July 2012 Posts: 22
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Posted: 26 May 2014 at 7:52pm | IP Logged | 9
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Stephen I appreciate what you're saying but a properly calibrated scan shouldn't cost any more than one with the contrast boosted to eliminate all tonality. Someone made a choice when those pagese were scanned and, to my eyes, it was an unfortunate one.
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Brennan Voboril Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 15 January 2011 Posts: 1741
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Posted: 26 May 2014 at 8:53pm | IP Logged | 10
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Interesting discussion guys. Frankly, I hadn't noticed this (too jazzed to see the thing). I will do a side by side comparison with the What If Kirby pages later, or tomorrow.
Has anyone from IDW replied to queries on this?
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Stephen Churay Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 25 March 2009 Location: United States Posts: 8369
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Posted: 26 May 2014 at 11:20pm | IP Logged | 11
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Stephen I appreciate what you're saying but a properly calibrated scan shouldn't cost any more than one with the contrast boosted to eliminate all tonality. Someone made a choice when those pagese were scanned and, to my eyes, it was an unfortunate one. ====== It may be the scan. As I wasnt there I could never say for sure. Everything i'm offering is total speculation. My point was the tonality maybe being lost in the reproduction during the printing process, not the scan.
The extra cost I'm referring to is not because of the scan, but having to print straight from the file to a color printer. One page at a time, for every page of every copy. This may actually how they're doing these. If so, maybe they can work on calibration.
If this goes through any form of a normal color printing process for doing multiple copies of a book, then something is bound to get lost in the translation.
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Shawn Harrington Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 24 May 2014 Location: United States Posts: 7
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Posted: 27 May 2014 at 1:13am | IP Logged | 12
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I agree that it may not be the scans that are at fault, but the process of printing those scans on paper. This is why I wish those scans could be made available online. Isn't there some way they could monetize something like that?
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