Image Hardcover Deluxe Editions

[Dark-Flux]

I asked Simon Roy about it at a con a couple of weeks ago. He said its something theyd like to do, but theyre not currently working on it.

[QComix]

I asked Simon Roy about it at a con a couple of weeks ago. He said its something theyd like to do, but theyre not currently working on it.

Thanks for the info! Though since there's no definitive plan to release one I might give out and buy the trades... I've been eager to read this series for a while now lol

[awayne83]

Looks like Sunstone is getting a HC

https://www.amazon.com/Sunstone-Book...n%3A7421493011

Don't really hear much on this. I think I'll give it a go when it's released.

After some more research i think I'm going to pass on the upcoming ODY-C HC and the Phonogram HC early next year. I buy almost all the image stuff, but these seem to have people divided on quality, and after reading many a review i just don't think they'll be for me. I've blind bought a couple clunkers here lately which also doesn't help.

[TotalSnorefest]

After some more research i think I'm going to pass on the upcoming ODY-C HC and the Phonogram HC early next year. I buy almost all the image stuff, but these seem to have people divided on quality, and after reading many a review i just don't think they'll be for me. I've blind bought a couple clunkers here lately which also doesn't help.

Yeah those are difficult to blindly recommend. Phonogram is really cool but you ABSOLUTELY MUST LOVE British indierock for it to click even remotely. Also helps if you love the artstyle on Wicked + Divine since it has that similar clean line.

As for ODY-C, I think I'm the only one on this board who consistently loves it; a very acquired taste probably. The art is truly GORGEOUS, but it's ultra-violent, uses unusual speech patterns and it really helps if you can accept a blend of various great works of literature and don't mind some overwrought melodrama. If you're still interested, they reprinted the 1st issue for 1$ recently in the Image Firsts line, should also be that price digitally. Issue 1 is double-sized with a giant fold-out and is a very good way to try out if you'd be interested in reading more.

[nebezial]

Looks like Sunstone is getting a HC

https://www.amazon.com/Sunstone-Book...n%3A7421493011

Don't really hear much on this. I think I'll give it a go when it's released.

After some more research i think I'm going to pass on the upcoming ODY-C HC and the Phonogram HC early next year. I buy almost all the image stuff, but these seem to have people divided on quality, and after reading many a review i just don't think they'll be for me. I've blind bought a couple clunkers here lately which also doesn't help.

i had a death in the family so i didn't write up on this.

anyways, after discussing it with image i gave up on my initial plan of single volume hardcovers. i was never a fan of omnibuses as they are hard to read and heavy. sunstone would have almost 800 pages if made as an omnibus.

so instead we compromised and split the hardcovers into 2 volumes.

first will have volumes 1 to 3

second will have volumes 4 and 5 (volume 5 is larger than volumes 1 and 2 combined)

[awayne83]

Yeah those are difficult to blindly recommend. Phonogram is really cool but you ABSOLUTELY MUST LOVE British indierock for it to click even remotely. Also helps if you love the artstyle on Wicked + Divine since it has that similar clean line.

As for ODY-C, I think I'm the only one on this board who consistently loves it; a very acquired taste probably. The art is truly GORGEOUS, but it's ultra-violent, uses unusual speech patterns and it really helps if you can accept a blend of various great works of literature and don't mind some overwrought melodrama. If you're still interested, they reprinted the 1st issue for 1$ recently in the Image Firsts line, should also be that price digitally. Issue 1 is double-sized with a giant fold-out and is a very good way to try out if you'd be interested in reading more.

You may have swayed my on ODY-C, as i want to like it. Familiar with Ward from Infinite Vacation, he's solid. My main concern were comments on the writing (in verse?) and whether that made the reading experience a slog. I can always sell/trade if I don' like it i reckon. As for Phonogram, being neither British or into that music scene I've come to grips with the fact I'm just not the right demographic to appreciate this lol.

[awayne83]

i had a death in the family so i didn't write up on this.

anyways, after discussing it with image i gave up on my initial plan of single volume hardcovers. i was never a fan of omnibuses as they are hard to read and heavy. sunstone would have almost 800 pages if made as an omnibus.

so instead we compromised and split the hardcovers into 2 volumes.

first will have volumes 1 to 3

second will have volumes 4 and 5 (volume 5 is larger than volumes 1 and 2 combined)

Sorry for your loss.

I didn't realize you were active on the site (or didn't put together who you were), but I've always really dug your style. Was under the impression volume 5 wasn't the end, or is it does it wrap up leaving the option to return down the road?

[nebezial]

thank you.

as for your question:
sunstone is the first of currently 4 planned interconnected storyarcs. each focusing on it's own couple while expanding on the precious couple's story or straight up continuing it. it will always be published as a webcomic first and then when stockpiled, i convert them for print.

[TotalSnorefest]

You may have swayed my on ODY-C, as i want to like it. Familiar with Ward from Infinite Vacation, he's solid. My main concern were comments on the writing (in verse?) and whether that made the reading experience a slog. I can always sell/trade if I don' like it i reckon. As for Phonogram, being neither British or into that music scene I've come to grips with the fact I'm just not the right demographic to appreciate this lol.

Yeah ODY-C's art is crazy good, issue 1 has a corridor fight scene with the panel borders functioning as pillars that get knocked down and then used as actual weapons whilst essentially tearing down the structure of the sequence. And it's just a lil' throwaway thing at the bottom of the page, they don't even make a big show of it.

Writing-wise let me break it down for you. Fraction's a real chameleon, and he's really adapted to the sources he uses (the Odyssey, 1001 Nights and Moby Dick being the main influences so far), so don't go in expecting his 'voice' from Hawkeye, Sex Criminals or even Casanova.

1. When the characters speak, they do so in a simplified version of dactylic hexameter. Sentences begin with numbers to denote verses sometimes, it flows decently although sometimes there's some staccato-feeling parts to it. I've never actually tried to say it out loud, maybe that would make it flow more naturally.
2. Fraction mixes anachronisms with modern language. This really stands out in swearing particularly, with F-bombs dropping with some regularity. Lines like "flimsy excuses" or "payback's a b----" feel jarring on the same page as stuff like "before all the turmoil and strife, in Great Troiia, Queen Gamem (recall, Menstra's wife) went hunting at dawn and slayed the fair fawn".
3. The parts where the gods speak amongst themselves are radically different, much more free-flowing and honestly they feel very melodramatic in a soap-opera kind of way. I enjoy the air of kitsch around it, these eternal beings squabbling over miniscule events feels appropriate for their pettiness, but yeah don't expect Zeus to drop in and making grand statements.
4. There's a whoooole bunch of characters, I forget many names constantly and just kinda go with the flow and see what crazy cosmic stuff Ward comes up with next, but yeah. Someone made a thread on it a while back.
5. If you have some real love for the source material, like the Iliad, Odyssey or the Oresteia, please note that this is very much the sledgehammer approach. The main storybeats have been addressed so far, but they really shuffle things around in a big way. Especially when it gets to what is essentially a crossover with 1001 Nights, your inner classic scholar may get upset at it lol. I like the approach since most of this material is new to me, so I don't mind when on page 1 all the men in the universe get murdered or how there's now 3 ships leaving for Ithaca etc.

Last point: do note that not only is it a very violent comic, it also deals extensively with sexual violence. Particularly the 1001 Nights stuff pulls very few punches, it's rather difficult to read (for the right reasons). But yeah if you're sensitive to that, maybe stick to the first 5 issues max.

[awayne83]

^Great stuff. Thanks for the in depth analysis. I'm now more intrigued than ever. Time to brush up on my classic literature lol.

[Donald]

How deluxe are the deluxe hardcovers? I looked at the HC versions of Fables and they didn't really impress me and I stuck with regular trades. I usually stay away from having more than one copy of a series, but a extra nice version Sunstone may push me to break the rule.

Thanks.

[awayne83]

How deluxe are the deluxe hardcovers? I looked at the HC versions of Fables and they didn't really impress me and I stuck with regular trades. I usually stay away from having more than one copy of a series, but a extra nice version Sunstone may push me to break the rule.

Thanks.

The Image deluxes (with a few exceptions) are going to be the same size deminsion-wise as the Fables deluxes you mentioned. Most collect 2-3 trades worth of material with some extras thrown in. Usually these consist of scripts, concept art, page breakdowns and/or variant covers among other things. I don't personally care much for the extras for the most part. I just enjoy having the oversized, multiple story arcs in a nice HC format.

[Shinglepants]

Really happy that we'll be seeing Sunstone deluxes. They'll be oversized right? I mean, all Image deluxes are right? I need more oversized Sejic art in my life.

[raskoks]

Really happy that we'll be seeing Sunstone deluxes. They'll be oversized right? I mean, all Image deluxes are right? I need more oversized Sejic art in my life.

Sunstone Deluxe is the must for me
Any chance for smth else from nebezial? I just recently read death vigil - and it was great. And sadly i hear that there will not be contunued

[nebezial]

death vigil will continue but due to it's underperforming sales i'm using sunstone profits to pretty much fund death vigil book 2 and later on ravine book 3