The Dark Knight Returns TP (30th anniversary edition): bad printing

[Knight_without_fear]

Hey dear fellow Bat fans

Just a question for you.

Do any of you have the trade paperback version (the most recent) of The Dark Knight Returns (30th anniversay edition from 2016)?
I had an edition from the early 2000s. Now I recently decided to purchase the most recent trade paperback: the 30th anniversary edition.

I expected the print quality to be better, as you would normally expect from a 30th anniversary edition. Nothing is noticeable in the first part of the book. But in the second part, especially in the section where Batman fights Joker underground, the gray speech bubbles sometimes become unreadable. The letters are no longer black, but almost illegible, 'white'. I would have liked to show a photo of it, but my smartphone is not working at the moment and I have not been able to put it in because of the known corona problems.

I just wanted to ask: are there still people here who have a copy of that edition, and who have the same problem with the readability of the text in the speech bubbles?
How could that be? I notice that my old version of the book does not have it and also the digital version online has normal, clear, dark black legible letters.
The new version is printed on 'glossy paper', the old one is not. Could it have to do with that?

I looked on the DC website to see if they have a service where books with 'issues' such as poor print quality can be reported. However, I have not found a Helpdesk that can appeal to you. A bit unfortunate, because if you have a book with a reason that the distributor cannot do anything about, you should in principle be able to contact DC directly with your question. That is why I appeal to you.
I just wanted to know if it was a 'production error' from all TP of that release or just mine. I think it is a pity, because it is such an iconic book and a 30th anniversary and that the print is so bad.

Thank you very much in advance for peeping into your copy and letting me know!

Greetings

[charliehustle415]

Hey dear fellow Bat fans

Just a question for you.

Do any of you have the trade paperback version (the most recent) of The Dark Knight Returns (30th anniversay edition from 2016)?
I had an edition from the early 2000s. Now I recently decided to purchase the most recent trade paperback: the 30th anniversary edition.

I expected the print quality to be better, as you would normally expect from a 30th anniversary edition. Nothing is noticeable in the first part of the book. But in the second part, especially in the section where Batman fights Joker underground, the gray speech bubbles sometimes become unreadable. The letters are no longer black, but almost illegible, 'white'. I would have liked to show a photo of it, but my smartphone is not working at the moment and I have not been able to put it in because of the known corona problems.

I just wanted to ask: are there still people here who have a copy of that edition, and who have the same problem with the readability of the text in the speech bubbles?
How could that be? I notice that my old version of the book does not have it and also the digital version online has normal, clear, dark black legible letters.
The new version is printed on 'glossy paper', the old one is not. Could it have to do with that?

I looked on the DC website to see if they have a service where books with 'issues' such as poor print quality can be reported. However, I have not found a Helpdesk that can appeal to you. A bit unfortunate, because if you have a book with a reason that the distributor cannot do anything about, you should in principle be able to contact DC directly with your question. That is why I appeal to you.
I just wanted to know if it was a 'production error' from all TP of that release or just mine. I think it is a pity, because it is such an iconic book and a 30th anniversary and that the print is so bad.

Thank you very much in advance for peeping into your copy and letting me know!

Greetings

You may get a better answer on the DC collected editions boards


https://community.cbr.com/showthread...art-3/page1278

[Mace Dolex]

I went through my copy too, its a first printing BTW and my copy shows no signs of that print error you describe and I have lots of versions of TDKR going back to 1990.

One thing I do notice as you mentioned is that the reproduction is a tad too washed out and has that "out of focus" look to it which sucks as this is a 30th anniversary of a seminal Batman story.

[Bad Witch]

My dark knight saga deluxe edition has no issues! I highly recommend that version.