Book of Death: Legends of the Geomancer

[Shadowman99]

...I guess I'll be waiting until October when Ed ships my order of all 4 issues. Total bummer that I can't join in the conversation after issue #1.

Wouldn't worry about that, I gather there will be enough of us receiving comics from Ed to reignite the LoG:BoD threads once he's sent the packages out

I on the other hand have to wait even longer to read the books and join in the threads whilst I wait for my package to cross the Atlantic...

[kjjohanson]

When I picked up my copy at my LCS (I am the largest Valiant subscriber in their chain of local stores) it cost me $40. They got 100 total copies of BOD for one store, and I believe around 25->50 for the other two.

I've actually read through about 90% of this thread, and all of the arguments either way have already been made. I would be lying if I said I wasn't upset about having to go through this as a fan. I will continue to buy all 9 monthly releases as I look forward to their books more than any other company every week (yes, even the Matt Kindt ones, though I do agree they are currently the weakest books.) If this becomes a regular thing, this is the last time I will personally be participating.

Welcome to the boards!

Kindt can be hit or miss. I think Ninjak is one of the stronger Valiant books right now, but Unity needs a bit of a shakeup.

[Shadowman99]

I've actually read through about 90% of this thread, and all of the arguments either way have already been made. I would be lying if I said I wasn't upset about having to go through this as a fan. I will continue to buy all 9 monthly releases as I look forward to their books more than any other company every week (yes, even the Matt Kindt ones, though I do agree they are currently the weakest books.) If this becomes a regular thing, this is the last time I will personally be participating.

With you on this one. I'm still happy to buy all titles every month because I enjoy reading them (well, except Dead Drop currently, now I think about it ), but I'm really unhappy about how much of a pain in the arse this promotion appears to have been for retailers and fans. Who knows what the feeling is at Valiant HQ in truth? They appear to be happy about it now, but might not be quite so pleased if they start receiving a ton of returns next month...

Overall, I don't think that this retail approach is likely to have been all that successful save for individual shops that are pushing Valiant well of their own accord, and it's certainly got the company's most loyal group of fans knickers in a twist, so I can only imagine that anyone who's buying Valiant more casually couldn't really give a crap about this promotion, or more likely, in the case of the majority of comic readers, didn't even know about it: so how successful can it have been?

I'll continue buying all my Valiant comics every month for now, but if the company pulls some other kind of ridiculous promotion like this again I'll genuinely have to consider giving it a miss. I can't be encouraging the company to repeat this kind of marketing tactic by buying into it just for the sake of owning a few sheets of paper with coloured pictures on them.

[Shadowman99]

When I picked up my copy at my LCS (I am the largest Valiant subscriber in their chain of local stores) it cost me $40. They got 100 total copies of BOD for one store, and I believe around 25->50 for the other two.

I've actually read through about 90% of this thread, and all of the arguments either way have already been made. I would be lying if I said I wasn't upset about having to go through this as a fan. I will continue to buy all 9 monthly releases as I look forward to their books more than any other company every week (yes, even the Matt Kindt ones, though I do agree they are currently the weakest books.) If this becomes a regular thing, this is the last time I will personally be participating.

Welcome to the boards!

Kindt can be hit or miss. I think Ninjak is one of the stronger Valiant books right now, but Unity needs a bit of a shakeup.

Rai was very good as well I thought. Perhaps he's just flagging on Unity a bit at the moment? What else has he written? Can't remember...

[kjjohanson]

When I picked up my copy at my LCS (I am the largest Valiant subscriber in their chain of local stores) it cost me $40. They got 100 total copies of BOD for one store, and I believe around 25->50 for the other two.

I've actually read through about 90% of this thread, and all of the arguments either way have already been made. I would be lying if I said I wasn't upset about having to go through this as a fan. I will continue to buy all 9 monthly releases as I look forward to their books more than any other company every week (yes, even the Matt Kindt ones, though I do agree they are currently the weakest books.) If this becomes a regular thing, this is the last time I will personally be participating.

Welcome to the boards!

Kindt can be hit or miss. I think Ninjak is one of the stronger Valiant books right now, but Unity needs a bit of a shakeup.

Rai was very good as well I thought. Perhaps he's just flagging on Unity a bit at the moment? What else has he written? Can't remember...

The Valiant (with Lemire) & Bloodshot #0

[leonmallett]

I've actually read through about 90% of this thread, and all of the arguments either way have already been made. I would be lying if I said I wasn't upset about having to go through this as a fan. I will continue to buy all 9 monthly releases as I look forward to their books more than any other company every week (yes, even the Matt Kindt ones, though I do agree they are currently the weakest books.) If this becomes a regular thing, this is the last time I will personally be participating.

With you on this one. I'm still happy to buy all titles every month because I enjoy reading them (well, except Dead Drop currently, now I think about it ), but I'm really unhappy about how much of a pain in the arse this promotion appears to have been for retailers and fans. Who knows what the feeling is at Valiant HQ in truth? They appear to be happy about it now, but might not be quite so pleased if they start receiving a ton of returns next month...

Overall, I don't think that this retail approach is likely to have been all that successful save for individual shops that are pushing Valiant well of their own accord, and it's certainly got the company's most loyal group of fans knickers in a twist, so I can only imagine that anyone who's buying Valiant more casually couldn't really give a crap about this promotion, or more likely, in the case of the majority of comic readers, didn't even know about it: so how successful can it have been?

I'll continue buying all my Valiant comics every month for now, but if the company pulls some other kind of ridiculous promotion like this again I'll genuinely have to consider giving it a miss. I can't be encouraging the company to repeat this kind of marketing tactic by buying into it just for the sake of owning a few sheets of paper with coloured pictures on them.

Well said. More of this kind of marketing and I will consider jumping off entirely.

Like I said earlier: not fan-friendly as the screw-ups from certain online retailers underscores.

[jeremycoe]

I actually asked them last week by email and they assured they've ordered enough from their distributor, but the distributor came up short.

I bet they tried to order more than 1:25 of their BoD orders, then.

I imagine their conversation with Diamond went something like this:

TFAW: How come you didn't send the 100 copies of Legends of the Geomancer we ordered?
Diamond: Because you only ordered 100 copies of Book of Death.

Turns out I was correct. In a reply email to me they said they hadn't noticed it wasn't an order-all until they didn't receive all that they'd ordered.

I call BS on this since they took down the preorder after a couple days. If they truly thought they could order as many as they wanted why'd they stop letting customers give them money?

[tiredofmyself]

I actually asked them last week by email and they assured they've ordered enough from their distributor, but the distributor came up short.

I bet they tried to order more than 1:25 of their BoD orders, then.

I imagine their conversation with Diamond went something like this:

TFAW: How come you didn't send the 100 copies of Legends of the Geomancer we ordered?
Diamond: Because you only ordered 100 copies of Book of Death.

Turns out I was correct. In a reply email to me they said they hadn't noticed it wasn't an order-all until they didn't receive all that they'd ordered.

I call BS on this since they took down the preorder after a couple days. If they truly thought they could order as many as they wanted why'd they stop letting customers give them money?

This. Also the fact they never put out the pre-ordering for #2-#4, I believe. They've known their mistakes months ago.

[brialt1]

When I picked up my copy at my LCS (I am the largest Valiant subscriber in their chain of local stores) it cost me $40. They got 100 total copies of BOD for one store, and I believe around 25->50 for the other two.

I've actually read through about 90% of this thread, and all of the arguments either way have already been made. I would be lying if I said I wasn't upset about having to go through this as a fan. I will continue to buy all 9 monthly releases as I look forward to their books more than any other company every week (yes, even the Matt Kindt ones, though I do agree they are currently the weakest books.) If this becomes a regular thing, this is the last time I will personally be participating.

Welcome to the boards!

Kindt can be hit or miss. I think Ninjak is one of the stronger Valiant books right now, but Unity needs a bit of a shakeup.

Thanks for the welcome!

I am also enjoying Ninjak and have liked some of Kindt's past work. I also enjoy Rai, though I know its not for everyone.

Unity had a rough patch when Divinity was out (I heard it was supposed to be a Unity story originally, and it was a lot better than the solo stories going on at that time in Unity IMO.)

[brialt1]

I've actually read through about 90% of this thread, and all of the arguments either way have already been made. I would be lying if I said I wasn't upset about having to go through this as a fan. I will continue to buy all 9 monthly releases as I look forward to their books more than any other company every week (yes, even the Matt Kindt ones, though I do agree they are currently the weakest books.) If this becomes a regular thing, this is the last time I will personally be participating.

With you on this one. I'm still happy to buy all titles every month because I enjoy reading them (well, except Dead Drop currently, now I think about it ), but I'm really unhappy about how much of a pain in the arse this promotion appears to have been for retailers and fans. Who knows what the feeling is at Valiant HQ in truth? They appear to be happy about it now, but might not be quite so pleased if they start receiving a ton of returns next month...

Overall, I don't think that this retail approach is likely to have been all that successful save for individual shops that are pushing Valiant well of their own accord, and it's certainly got the company's most loyal group of fans knickers in a twist, so I can only imagine that anyone who's buying Valiant more casually couldn't really give a crap about this promotion, or more likely, in the case of the majority of comic readers, didn't even know about it: so how successful can it have been?

I'll continue buying all my Valiant comics every month for now, but if the company pulls some other kind of ridiculous promotion like this again I'll genuinely have to consider giving it a miss. I can't be encouraging the company to repeat this kind of marketing tactic by buying into it just for the sake of owning a few sheets of paper with coloured pictures on them.

I'm with you here. I'm a "Valiant" completionist from a story standpoint only (I don't chase down all of the crazy 1:x variants unless there is something unique or I just love the cover art for whatever reason).

I do like Dead Drop though , I understand Ales Knot isn't for everyone (I believe hes very young, and some of his stuff can be killer-good). A bit sad my first post ended up being a negative one. It would take a lot for me to "drop" any Valiant books right now (I buy around 10-15 new books a week between publishers) as they are almost always the best of the stack. I'm not paying $40 again for a short story though...

At least it was a good short story.

[Dallow Spicer1]

Just ordered a copy of LOTG for £15 ($19?), common price in the UK is £20-25 (some £30+), however, how much will this book be in 1 years time? Book of Death is a 70k run book so the LOTG 1:25 is relatively common in VEI terms 2800 copies for a harcore fan group of 5000-6000. Unity had a massive print run and the Bart Sears 1:30 Unity 1 is relatively easy to buy for under £10.

So the price of LOTG #1 in 12 months time....under $10??

Thoughts?

[tiredofmyself]

Just ordered a copy of LOTG for £15 ($19?), common price in the UK is £20-25 (some £30+), however, how much will this book be in 1 years time? Book of Death is a 70k run book so the LOTG 1:25 is relatively common in VEI terms 2800 copies for a harcore fan group of 5000-6000. Unity had a massive print run and the Bart Sears 1:30 Unity 1 is relatively easy to buy for under £10.

So the price of LOTG #1 in 12 months time....under $10??

Thoughts?

It depends on whether you are a collector, speculator or reader.

[bygranddesign]

Just ordered a copy of LOTG for £15 ($19?), common price in the UK is £20-25 (some £30+), however, how much will this book be in 1 years time? Book of Death is a 70k run book so the LOTG 1:25 is relatively common in VEI terms 2800 copies for a harcore fan group of 5000-6000. Unity had a massive print run and the Bart Sears 1:30 Unity 1 is relatively easy to buy for under £10.

So the price of LOTG #1 in 12 months time....under $10??

Thoughts?

I think LOTG will maintain its value much more than something like Bart Sears Unity #1 1:30 variant ... And I think has a good chance of increasing in value over time.

The Sears Variant is 1 of 20+ different variant covers for Unity #1. Its a variant cover whereas LOTG #1 has ONLY one cover for this story/title. The fact that it is a new story that introduces a new character and has importance to the origin of the geomancer's and the immortal brothers adds significantly to the collectability.

Once LOTG gets into collectors hands - I don't think many of them will want to let this comic go.

I have a couple of 1:30 Bart Sears variants and I could sell them all and not miss it. Its just one of many variants for that same comic.

LOTG is title that collectors will want and hoard if they see them going for cheap on EBAY - they will gobble them up. So I think it will maintain 15-20 bucks value and might even go up as collectors hoard them.

[kjjohanson]

Just ordered a copy of LOTG for £15 ($19?), common price in the UK is £20-25 (some £30+), however, how much will this book be in 1 years time? Book of Death is a 70k run book so the LOTG 1:25 is relatively common in VEI terms 2800 copies for a harcore fan group of 5000-6000. Unity had a massive print run and the Bart Sears 1:30 Unity 1 is relatively easy to buy for under £10.

So the price of LOTG #1 in 12 months time....under $10??

Thoughts?

I think LOTG will maintain its value much more than something like Bart Sears Unity #1 1:30 variant ... And I think has a good chance of increasing in value over time.

The Sears Variant is 1 of 20+ different variant covers for Unity #1. Its a variant cover whereas LOTG #1 has ONLY one cover for this story/title. The fact that it is a new story that introduces a new character and has importance to the origin of the geomancer's and the immortal brothers adds significantly to the collectability.

Once LOTG gets into collectors hands - I don't think many of them will want to let this comic go.

I have a couple of 1:30 Bart Sears variants and I could sell them all and not miss it. Its just one of many variants for that same comic.

LOTG is title that collectors will want and hoard if they see them going for cheap on EBAY - they will gobble them up. So I think it will maintain 15-20 bucks value and might even go up as collectors hoard them.

Also, the Sears variant is not even the most limited variant.

[ilzuccone]

And I think has a good chance of increasing in value over time.

this is true only if valiant remains relevant right?

[Dallow Spicer1]

Just ordered a copy of LOTG for £15 ($19?), common price in the UK is £20-25 (some £30+), however, how much will this book be in 1 years time? Book of Death is a 70k run book so the LOTG 1:25 is relatively common in VEI terms 2800 copies for a harcore fan group of 5000-6000. Unity had a massive print run and the Bart Sears 1:30 Unity 1 is relatively easy to buy for under £10.

So the price of LOTG #1 in 12 months time....under $10??

Thoughts?

I think LOTG will maintain its value much more than something like Bart Sears Unity #1 1:30 variant ... And I think has a good chance of increasing in value over time.

The Sears Variant is 1 of 20+ different variant covers for Unity #1. Its a variant cover whereas LOTG #1 has ONLY one cover for this story/title. The fact that it is a new story that introduces a new character and has importance to the origin of the geomancer's and the immortal brothers adds significantly to the collectability.

Once LOTG gets into collectors hands - I don't think many of them will want to let this comic go.

I have a couple of 1:30 Bart Sears variants and I could sell them all and not miss it. Its just one of many variants for that same comic.

LOTG is title that collectors will want and hoard if they see them going for cheap on EBAY - they will gobble them up. So I think it will maintain 15-20 bucks value and might even go up as collectors hoard them.

Also, the Sears variant is not even the most limited variant.

All good points! Especially if there's a first appearance of a character which subsequently becomes key. My only reservation is the volume of the books (circa 2800?), which is a lot of copies. Time will tell!

[nycjadie]

Just ordered a copy of LOTG for £15 ($19?), common price in the UK is £20-25 (some £30+), however, how much will this book be in 1 years time? Book of Death is a 70k run book so the LOTG 1:25 is relatively common in VEI terms 2800 copies for a harcore fan group of 5000-6000. Unity had a massive print run and the Bart Sears 1:30 Unity 1 is relatively easy to buy for under £10.

So the price of LOTG #1 in 12 months time....under $10??

Thoughts?

I think LOTG will maintain its value much more than something like Bart Sears Unity #1 1:30 variant ... And I think has a good chance of increasing in value over time.

The Sears Variant is 1 of 20+ different variant covers for Unity #1. Its a variant cover whereas LOTG #1 has ONLY one cover for this story/title. The fact that it is a new story that introduces a new character and has importance to the origin of the geomancer's and the immortal brothers adds significantly to the collectability.

Once LOTG gets into collectors hands - I don't think many of them will want to let this comic go.

I have a couple of 1:30 Bart Sears variants and I could sell them all and not miss it. Its just one of many variants for that same comic.

LOTG is title that collectors will want and hoard if they see them going for cheap on EBAY - they will gobble them up. So I think it will maintain 15-20 bucks value and might even go up as collectors hoard them.

Agreed 100%.

[nycjadie]

Harbinger 0 Pink had a print run of about 6500 and it now commands about $250 in 9.8. Raws are in the $60 range. This book is like Harbinger Pink, in my opinion.

[depluto]

Everything depends on the movies. If those are blockbusters, then all this *SQUEE* is going through the roof. If not, well, it will get easier to buy. Either way, we win.

But I'm hoping the movies are freaking awesome.

[bygranddesign]

And I think has a good chance of increasing in value over time.

this is true only if valiant remains relevant right?

Yeah, I assume a year from now, Valiant will at least maintain its current popularity.

And so a book like this should have more value than the typical 1:25 variant cover (even with the print run being higher than the normal 1:25 cover for Valiant).

If Valiant took off in popularity -- this book could be pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty huge.

[bygranddesign]

Harbinger 0 Pink had a print run of about 6500 and it now commands about $250 in 9.8. Raws are in the $60 range. This book is like Harbinger Pink, in my opinion.

Yeah .. agreed. Its comparable to Harbinger #0 Pink. Which still I think maintained some value even when Valiant wasn't publishing comics anymore.

I think LOTG would have only a 2800 print run? So I think this will be a pretty sought after comic years from now (especially if Valiant starts breaking through to the mainstream).

[bygranddesign]

Everything depends on the movies. If those are blockbusters, then all this *SQUEE* is going through the roof. If not, well, it will get easier to buy. Either way, we win.

But I'm hoping the movies are freaking awesome.

Hell yeah!

[lorddunlow]

Everything depends on the movies. If those are blockbusters, then all this *SQUEE* is going through the roof. If not, well, it will get easier to buy. Either way, we win.

But I'm hoping the movies are freaking awesome.

What a great way to look at this.

I definitely have been thinking about picking up another copy.

[nycjadie]

Agreed. Think about a sought after comic that has a print run of sub-3000. That's smaller than any V1, Acclaim or VEI print run for a regular unique comic that I can think of. Sure, there are rare variants, but there is always a common issue that you can obtain as an alternate.

[Elveen]

Everything depends on the movies. If those are blockbusters, then all this *SQUEE* is going through the roof. If not, well, it will get easier to buy. Either way, we win.

But I'm hoping the movies are freaking awesome.

If the movies are good (even if one of the 2: Bloodshot and Harbinger) then the possibility of rocket ship is there. One good movie means more movies, 3+ movies = rocket ship (IMO)

If the movies are just middle or even bad, then, we still have great books to re-read.