Wednesday 4 February 2015

Bonus Prints, Bonus Printing


Sean Michael Robinson:

Greetings everyone!

This week I officially started work on Church and State, going through Dave's scans of the first twelve Church and State I pages in the Cerebus Archive. It was gratifying work, getting to look forward instead of behind, getting some sense of the ways in which this project will be easier (more uniformity of materials, materials in significantly better condition) and harder (length, primarily) than High Society.

But also on the horizon! With CANT now shipping, we've started preparations for the third Cerebus Archive portfolio, to be known as CAN3. And while the main plates are already fixed for this project (being the ten earliest C + S pages in the Cerebus Archive), what's still up for grabs are the bonus prints.

So! Here's where you come in. There are a few simple principles guiding our potential choice of bonus prints. Namely, 

1. How great would this look on a wall or in a portfolio?
2. How many folks would be interested in pledging for this?



John "Funkmaster" Funk's Bonus Print Popularity chart

So, maybe it's a bit premature, but I wanted to ask the question-- what kinds of bonus prints are you interested in seeing this time around? Would you be interested in, say, color reproductions of key /iconic pages from Church and State that are not currently in possession of the Cerebus Archive, but that we have scans of? Would you be interested in Dave's commissions and color art from the past few years? Historical color art from the time period represented by the portfolio?

Additionally, we're looking to you all for assistance in acquiring scans for some of these items as well. Do you happen to own a particularly interesting or impressive piece of Dave original artwork? We have scans of some interesting artwork, but just as much is already out there in the world, on a wall or in a private collection.

So-- feedback time. What makes a good bonus print? What would you like to see? What would make you more likely to contribute to the next portfolio?

Say, maybe, I dunno. Something like.... this?




21 comments:

Tony Dunlop said...

Well, the only "bonus print" I've seen so far - although it hasn't actually been offered - that I'd even consider is the colo(u)r drawing of Cerebus and "Prince Violent." (I can't find it, but it was posted here a while back.)

Dave Kopperman said...

http://momentofcerebus.blogspot.com/2014/11/sketches-cerebus-prince-violent.html

jonbly said...

Cirin vs Cerebus - probably.

Prince Violent - nope.

Also depends on what the main CAN3 content looks like (as that's an up front cost to get into the bonus prints).

John Mosher said...

Gimme anything in color. I particularly like the "back of the 6 deadly sins portfolio" thing Dave has showed us.

The basic Cerebus poses don't interest me much. I need something with pizzazz. Like what you posted there.

Not sure about pieces like The Frost Giants Wedgie as I have one of those and don't wish to dilute any intrinsic value it may have as a super limited piece.

I'm in for the CAN3 anyway and I like the bonus prints. I like the color stuff better. I don't care for zombie work at all, but I know I'm in the minority there.

Thanks for all the hard work.

Barry Deutsch said...

I would love it if "The First Fifth" could be made into bonus prints.

Barry Deutsch said...

Would you be interested in, say, color reproductions of key /iconic pages from Church and State that are not currently in possession of the Cerebus Archive, but that we have scans of?

Yes, most definitely.

And also "yes" on recent commissions.

I'd also be interested in a bonus print version of the cover to C&S volume 1.

Ethan Burns said...

I'd like a page from that Epic Magazine tax collector story.

Anonymous said...

How about a page from Strange Death for all us loyal fans and anything from the epics. Thinking outside the box anything with guest appearance like TMNT,SPAWN, SHI etc.
Paul Mckenzie

Anonymous said...

With Cerebus, I'd say the money is in putting a fresh spin on the old stuff.

With that in mind, I would suggest getting Gerhard to colour old pages for bonus prints, or as something else to market to longstanding Cerebus fans. I don't know if this is feasible or an option that Dave or Gerhard would consider, but I know I would definitely pay money for material from Church & State or Jaka's Story coloured by Gerhard.

I would pay for prints of the first four phonebook covers coloured by Gerhard.

I would pay for one of Gerhard's early issues, like issue 69 or 70, newly coloured by Gerhard.

If it were only feasible to do a few early pages of Gerhard's choice, I would definitely pay for those as bonus prints as well.

It may not be feasible, but something like that would be very interesting to me as a fan with a special fondness for the Church & State era stuff and especially because Gerhard's colouring on Cerebus was excellent.

- Reginald P.

Jeff Seiler said...

I agree with John Masher about not reissuing previously signed and numbered prints. I was particularly perturbed that my previously issued print of The Dark Roach from a few years back, that at the time was limited to how many ever ordered it (it was 11 of us, then) was reissued to how many ever ordered it this time around.

That's cheating and it devalues an investment made by a (very) loyal customer.

Dave? Paying attention?

Jeff Seiler said...

Oops!

Meant to type "Mosher".

Sorry, John.

Jeff Seiler said...

Other than having said that, I would say yes to colorized prints of C&S I pages.

M Kitchen said...

I like the BIG prints opposed to the small prints...

Reason being that I want to look up close at all the line work so I can go "how did he DO that?"

Also obscure iconic images that I wouldn't otherwise be able to own... those make for prints I'd want.

Menachem Luchins said...

I think, not as a bonus print but maybe as a stretch goal, since the bonus prints are not "goals" anymore. Remastered Diamondback cards! Fix up the art, have John Funk find some really great cardstock for them...

What does everyone think?

Sean R said...

Thanks for the comments so far, everyone. Keep em coming!

Hey Jeff-- this is the first I've heard of that image being issued as a print before. When/where did this happen? Were there any other prints in this series?

JLH said...

Will the same art prints be available again this time around, or just new ones? I'm thinking it'll be probably just new ones since it wouldn't be financially feasible to reprint the same ones again each campaign.

Sean R said...

JLH-- I think the plan is to "retire" them every two or three campaigns. So there will be ten new ones, along with the ones from the last campaign, differentiated in some way to indicate they were purchased the second round. Maybe Dave will provide some more details tomorrow?

Anonymous said...

AV IN 3-D COVER IN 3-D WITH 3-D GLASSES (or a page from book would work to)IN 3-D WITH 3-D GLASSES.
Paul Mckenzie

Jeff Seiler said...

Sean: "The Dark Roach Returns" was issued in April of 2011, as a"Limited Edition Print to benefit CEREBUS TV", as it is stated in the bottom left corner of the print.

At the time it was solicited on Dave's blog, in early 2011, he said it would be signed and numbered out of just the number of people who requested it and donated the minimum amount required, or more (I don't remember the required amount).

Mine is (er, *was*) number 10 out 11, as stated in the lower right corner of the 11" X 17" print.

For four years, then, that made it the most valuable Sim print (Simprint! I just coined a phrase, or trademark-worthy catch-word!) that I owned, if you go by scarcity.

You can see, I hope, my frustration.

The only other print I have in the CEREBUS TV donation "series" (and, IIRC, the only other one issued) is the unnumbered but signed "Amelia Rules, Cerebus Governs (Reconsiders?)", from August, 2011.

A Moment Of Cerebus said...

Sean,

Since you asked, I'd love to have the bonus prints feature the following:

- The First Half
- The Third Quarter
- Four More Years
- A Glamourpuss With Cerebus T-Shirt

Anonymous said...

Prints of the Cerebus phone book covers would be awesome!