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Seven to Eternity Thread
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Anyone pick up any of the NYCC sketchbooks? Interesting that not one person I talked to, or sales I've seen listed, have mentioned that it's not conventional size. It's ashcan size. Cool little book to own, but a bit misleading when looking at prices.

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I just got the blank cover I ordered off of eBay, noticed the spine was sort of split down towards the bottom. Don't know if this is normal for this book because of the stiff cover paper stock, but the seller sent me a bonus copy of the C cover along with it free of charge so I can't complain.

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I have two copies of the sketch that I got at NYCC, and the cover is over cover A. Yes, there seems to be a significant crease along the spine of the cover, some chipping at the corners, and almost a split in part of the spine. That split does not go all the way through, but breaks the finish of the paper. To me the sketch cover seems to be Bristol board and very heavy stock, if you have folded Bristol board that kind of damage is almost unavoidable. Both of my copies have the same issue, and I looked though many copies at the table, they all seemed to have it to various degrees.

 

As for the sketch book, it is ashcan sized, but honestly I did not notice till I got home. This was printed more as a sketch book than a comic, and I have seen many artists use this size for similar items.

Edited by drotto
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Its my favorite new series of recent releases. I bought 5 of the regular covers in 9.6-9.8 condition. I also bought one of each variant along with multiple #2. I love the #2 regular cover. Im just about to send them all off for grading.

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I finally caught up with this series.

 

I'm reading digitally, so maybe there was some issue there... but the coloring on the first issue was appeared far too saturated to me. It was to the point that it constantly distracted me from the lines of the art. The odd thing about it, only the first issue was produced this way as issues two and three seemed toned down to a reasonable level. Even still, every now and then Hollingsworth's coloring choices still made me scratch my head a little, even if it is technically very solid. That isn't a bad thing or a knock on him, just an observation. As I considered it more, I wondered if some of the more vibrant color choices were due to the fact that the villains, in many instances, looked a bit dull and drab.

 

Outside of that, I have no complaints with Opena's art, but I am a bit surprised at how drab the main villain looks, but then... yeah, his name is the Mud King, so I guess it's hard to complain too much. Some of the other characters were quite interesting and visually dynamic and I really like the idea of Patchwork.

 

Overall, the book hasn't hooked me right out of the gate. I'm a bit disappointed that Remender has decided to "tell" us so much (via diary exposition) instead of "show" us in a slower paced, building story. This directly contradicts some back matter that he wrote describing that he and Opena were actually planning a slow burn, but that isn't how it read to me in the first three issues.

 

I've read in the past that Remender likes to have an explosion of information, or world building, up front since he knows that most comic books need to get readers invested quickly, so I think that is what these first three issues were considering that, at the end of issue three, all of the pieces seem to be in place for the title to make sense.

 

 

Anyway, that's my rambling unfiltered thought on the first three issues. Over all it looks like the books aren't really a big hit on these boards, but I'll keep reading even though it wasn't the instant hook that, say, Black Hammer, or Manhattan Projects, or East of West sunk in to me. If Remender is being honest, then maybe the slow burn starts with issue 4, now that the world and objectives and some of the motivations of the characters are established.

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Overall, the book hasn't hooked me right out of the gate. I'm a bit disappointed that Remender has decided to "tell" us so much (via diary exposition) instead of "show" us in a slower paced, building story. This directly contradicts some back matter that he wrote describing that he and Opena were actually planning a slow burn, but that isn't how it read to me in the first three issues.

 

I've read in the past that Remender likes to have an explosion of information, or world building, up front since he knows that most comic books need to get readers invested quickly, so I think that is what these first three issues were considering that, at the end of issue three, all of the pieces seem to be in place for the title to make sense.

Hmm, dunno why he'd feel the need to do that. I think world building's part of the fun/journey. Heck, see Harry Potter. Always something new every school year. Granted I'm sure there's a fine line between leaving readers wanting for more and frustrating them with extremely slow pacing.

 

I haven't read much of Remender's other works. I picked up Seven to Eternity because it sounded interesting but it turned out to be a bit of a disappointment. I just started reading East of West (volume 1 via Comixology Unlimited). East of West definitely left me wanting for more so I plan on picking up later volumes (thank goodness for Comixology sales).

 

Errata:

East of West is Jonathan Hickman, not Rick Remender. Only other work of Remender I've read is Black Science. Alas, didn't care much for that either.

Edited by aerischan
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Overall, the book hasn't hooked me right out of the gate. I'm a bit disappointed that Remender has decided to "tell" us so much (via diary exposition) instead of "show" us in a slower paced, building story. This directly contradicts some back matter that he wrote describing that he and Opena were actually planning a slow burn, but that isn't how it read to me in the first three issues.

 

I've read in the past that Remender likes to have an explosion of information, or world building, up front since he knows that most comic books need to get readers invested quickly, so I think that is what these first three issues were considering that, at the end of issue three, all of the pieces seem to be in place for the title to make sense.

Hmm, dunno why he'd feel the need to do that. I think world building's part of the fun/journey. Heck, see Harry Potter. Always something new every school year. Granted I'm sure there's a fine line between leaving readers wanting for more and frustrating them with extremely slow pacing.

 

I haven't read much of Remender's other works. I picked up Seven to Eternity because it sounded interesting but it turned out to be a bit of a disappointment. I just started reading East of West (volume 1 via Comixology Unlimited). East of West definitely left me wanting for more so I plan on picking up later volumes (thank goodness for Comixology sales).

 

Basically the view is that, unlike a novel, a writer of a comic only has a limited space in which to grab you, so many view #1s as different animals and pace them very differently.

 

I agree with the view from a sales perspective. Few audiences are as fickle as us.

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Basically the view is that, unlike a novel, a writer of a comic only has a limited space in which to grab you, so many view #1s as different animals and pace them very differently.

 

I agree with the view from a sales perspective. Few audiences are as fickle as us.

Fickle or not, I still think it's possible to grab the audience's attention without necessarily giving the store away. East of West is one example.

 

Even for novels, if the first chapter doesn't capture my attention, I stop reading the book. I can't remember how many times I've fallen asleep trying to read the first chapter of Twilight. At least it was just a library book. Meanwhile, I've forgone sleep for Harry Potter.

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Basically the view is that, unlike a novel, a writer of a comic only has a limited space in which to grab you, so many view #1s as different animals and pace them very differently.

 

I agree with the view from a sales perspective. Few audiences are as fickle as us.

Fickle or not, I still think it's possible to grab the audience's attention without necessarily giving the store away. East of West is one example.

 

Even for novels, if the first chapter doesn't capture my attention, I stop reading the book. I can't remember how many times I've fallen asleep trying to read the first chapter of Twilight. At least it was just a library book. Meanwhile, I've forgone sleep for Harry Potter.

 

I think we're talking semantics here. A book doesn't have to be an immediate hook to be successful. I do believe it helps a great deal though. I wouldn't argue with the tactic to a creator, but as a reader I'd prefer a slow build.

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