Last
week I received my copy of Ken Reid’s Faceache published by the new
copyright owner. I am proud I had an opportunity to make a small contribution
to the preparation of the book, and I am pleased that the editor included a
special thank you to me in the
credits.
I
like nearly everything about the book: introductions by Alan Moore and Ken’s son
Antony are an entertaining read and offer some fresh insights; I like the
endpapers and the back cover (not so thrilled about the front one);
reproduction quality is impressive, considering that the stories were scanned
from newsprint comics; it is nice the book is printed on plain paper rather
than the glossy stock used for Marney the Fox collection published
earlier this year.
The
sub-title says “The Ken Reid Years”, so I would have preferred if they had left
out the poorly-drawn pages by the substitute artist (16 altogether) and filled
the book with Ken Reid’s art from cover to cover.
That aside, it’s an excellent
volume, a must for every Ken Reid/Faceache fan! I very much hope it does well
in the bookstores and Rebellion find it worth their while to release Vol. 2, 3,
etc. of this great character that happens to be one of my favourites in British
comics.
P.S.
- Have you noticed that the actual front cover differs from the version used in
the various online articles and blogposts that promoted the book when it was first
announced? Amazon and eBay sellers are still using the first version of
the front cover. I am glad Rebellion changed it because as many as five scrunges in the first version were drawn by the substitute artist, while those
appearing on the actual book are all by Reid!
Nice you've helped...will get it soon..
ReplyDeleteGot Marney and Leopard from lime street too..
I bought Marney the Fox but skipped Leopard from Lime street.
DeleteI've just published my own post about the book, Irmy - only to notice once I'd done so that you got there first. What don't you like about the front cover? I thought it was quite striking.
ReplyDeleteI'm not even sure, the design simply doesn't appeal to me. I think one large drawing would have been more to my liking.
DeleteOops, no I haven't published my post yet - it's sitting in my drafts file. 'Twas the Marvel one I published. I've prepared three posts in advance and lost track.
ReplyDeleteMy copy should arrive from Amazon sometime next week. :)
ReplyDeleteI plan to buy all three when funds allow. Some idiot boasted to Lew Stringer recently that he or she has a bootleg Faceache volume. Lew pointed out that that’s the wrong way to show support: you pay up, even if in my case it means waiting for a while, and also that this sort of thing could go against further releases. Well said Lew.
ReplyDeleteIn the prior absence of an official Faceache volume, does having a 'bootleg' one make a lot of difference though? In the case of Faceache, Ken Reid didn't own the character and his estate wasn't being deprived of royalties or any other kind of income. (And if he were still alive, he wouldn't receive any royalties from the official volume either.) The copyright owner at that time wasn't commercially exploiting the character, presumably on the assumption that no one was interested, so if they weren't prepared to do so, did it hurt anyone that someone else did? In fact, perhaps that bootleg volume helped maintain interest in Faceache and was responsible for Rebellion recognising that it was worth buying the copyright and releasing their own book. If I had a bootleg version, I'd still get the official one because I'd see the bootleg as a mere 'stopgap'. Of course, I'm talking about old, out of print strips (as Faceache once was) that would otherwise be extremely difficult (if not impossible) to acquire any other way, not new work which is readily available and supplies the creators with income. I think the bootleg volume you refer to was produced in such small numbers that even if those who have got one don't buy the official version (and I think most of them will, even if it's just for the introductions), it won't make any real difference to the success (or otherwise) of the Rebellion edition. Incidentally, I'm informed that the bootleg volumes cost a small fortune so would only have been bought by diehard fans. I really do feel that most of them will still buy the new, official edition.
DeleteWhere's the harm if it was out of print?
ReplyDelete