Thursday 31 March 2016

CEREBUS COVER ART TREASURY:BEHIND THE SCENES

The latest -- and, I've decided, last -- proof for the IDW covers book has arrived clocking in at 350 pages.  As I've written to Justin Eisinger, in light of his decision to override my last three suggestions of what needed to be done with the book, I'm doing a LOT of left-handed typing to explain what I think needs to be changed in the book with no guarantee that anything will be done.

That's fine.

CEREBUS COVER ART TREASURY has been a lot more work on IDW's side than my side and we're now coming up on the fourth anniversary, so at some point, rationally, we have to just say "close enough for government work" and let it go.

It's as much Justin's project as it is mine so it seems sensible to have one more "kick at the can" on my part and then let Justin finish it up.

So, what I've decided to do is to type my last set of recommendations in the form of an AMOC article called CEREBUS COVER ART TREASURY: BEHIND THE SCENES and have Sandeep e-mail it to Tim W at the same time that we send it back to Justin along with the pages that I think "need work". Tim W will hang onto it and post it here when the COVERS book arrives in stores so people can see what was done and what wasn't done.

I don't know how much left-handed typing it's going to be, but just explaining WHAT the image they have for the CEREBUS No.1 cover IS as opposed to what it's SUPPOSED TO BE is...lengthy.  Lengthy, and I think, of interest to long-time CEREBUS fans, which is where I got the idea for "double duty":  hopefully we get a more appropriate image in that space and AMOC viewers get the thorough "cover of No.1 story" that there just isn't going to be room for in the book itself.   Or, if they decide to stick with the image they've got, at least I'll be "on the record" about why I thought it inappropriate. And anyone who buys the book can judge for themselves.

This is, I'm sure, going to be a full-time job at least for the next few days, so I won't be posting here as often over the next week or so.  I really want to get back to THE STRANGE DEATH OF ALEX RAYMOND full-time as soon as possible.

I WILL do an Impossible Thing #7 post next Wednesday and many thanks to Erick for his patience!

5 comments:

Steve said...


Dave -

I simply want you to know how much I appreciate your greater involvement in the AMOC blog.

For me personally the greatest appeal of the COVERS book would be your commentary, memories, and personal stories related to the covers, the comic stories, and the times you were living and working through while the covers were created.

Knowing that you'll be providing even more 'bonus material' than what will eventually be printed I believe speaks highly of your awareness of the value we fans place on such stories and behind the scenes information.

Thanks, in advance, for sharing -

Steve

Max West said...

I still look forward to seeing the cover collection!

Anonymous said...

To this day, I remember the line of Dave's when asked about doing a collection of covers.
It was in the 80's and his response was--'Sounds like one of those dumb DC ideas."
I'm still looking forward to seeing it!

Anonymous said...

"Sounds like one of those dumb DC ideas" was part of his response to my letter in Cerebus No. 100.

Does this mean you'll be sending me a comp copy of the book, DVS, since I was right after all?

--Claude Flowers



Anonymous said...

Personally my lust for the Covers book comes down to the covers were an integral part of the Cerebus experience as a reader. They also showcase the evolution of the graphic design sensibility (& the Aardvark-Vanaheim "house style", in addition to the evolution of the printing facilities at Preney press)... I've lost & rebuilt my entire collection twice over the course of my life, and the single greatest loss was all the individual issues.

I still have the first six Swords reprints (including the supplement to 6) and all the individual issues of C&S II, but otherwise it's all phone books now. So I miss the covers. I'm hungry for the covers. Everything else is supplemental.