Okay, colour me confused. I had this preordered with Amazon who emailed a while back to say that they were cancelling the order as they had no idea when it would be printed. This led me to believe that it was cancelled. Needless to say this was disappointing news. Now there is a preview / review on CBR with a September release date. Nothing on the Titan books website and you can purchase it on Amazon for the exquisite price of £999.
So I guess my question is, does anyone have any idea what is going on with this?
Fucked if I know. The Action! collection got dropped as well...
Well, fingers crossed the CBR site is accurate.
Oh my giddy Aunt. You gotta assume that's pretty confirmed. A preview on CBR is a damned sight more reliable than Titan's website which is pretty rubbish. I'm taking this as good news until I hear otherwise.
WAYHEY!!!!!
This is back on Amazon with a September 6th release date. With luck it will come out this time. Perhaps the recent series has been enough to rekindle interest. Not that it should have. Fingers crossed.
Fingers crossed indeed.
Received mine today from Speedyhen.com
Fantastic to hear this is out in the wilds.
I thoroughly enjoyed the first three volumes of Johnny Red but was planning to stop with the third volume as it was the last with Joe Colquhoun and from what I've read, the stories are less consistent quality the longer the series ran. Any thoughts on this? The previews show some color pages too, which I like.
While I can't remember the quality of the stories I can say while John Cooper is no Colquhorn (who is!) it looks pretty great during his time. I've been waiting for this volume for literally years now.
Well I found (apparently damaged so greatly reduced) copies of Johnny Red Books I and II in Traveling Man the other day. So blast you Colin and your recommendation, blast you Ennis for your amazing reboot, and blast Titan books for tempting me in the first place!
Well, Amazon got cancelled after the second round of "we don't when we're gonna get these in" and I took a punt on Wordery off ebay. Very pleasant homecoming this evening with it's arrival, plus it was a couple of quid cheaper than Amazon to boot so I should be grateful. A quick skim this evening and this will be Friday Evening's birthday reading.
What I will say is that Titan continue to do a sterling job on these books. As someone mentioned elsewhere, Titan have ditched the dust covers and gone for European hardback volumes. Plus there is a shift from the Red and Black to Red and yellow on the spine plus volume numbering to really freak out the OCD brigade! As always Titan have done the best they can with the material available but the real treat is the colour spreads. Although the colour is a bit muted in places it comes out well.
As for the artist change, well personally I've always enjoyed Cooper's art work and he continues the same high standards that Colquhoun set with the earlier volumes. To me he has always been part of that set of artists that Battle found that are capable of cracking depictions of the soldiers and hardware of the military.
I wonder what the future will hold for the line though? Rebellion own Johnny now don't they? That being the case I wonder what they'll do with a series that been reprinted so recently? Hookjaw is still coming out so could the allow Titan to continue the line under license? Or have Titan rushed this out before its snatched away?
I'm hoping that Rebellion will have the nouse to recognise the quality of what Titan are doing and either a) continue to allow them to manage the reprints or b) take what Titan have done and build on it. Considering the quality of the hardbacks rebellion have been putting out recently I'd be happy with b. What I would like to see (although I'm not sure my bookcase will take it) is a more reliable publishing schedule. Granted this stuff is niche but then perhaps that's what they need to play to a bit more.
Well read over half of this in one sitting tonight. By god its exceptional stuff. Silly as all fuck but such, SUCH good fun and the craft in the writing is astonishing. Its makes such absolute nonsense feeling so compellingly real. Quite brilliant.
Then we get to John Cooper. Now fair to say if your replacing Joe Colquhoun your on a sticky wocket. You are not going to be as good as whats gone before. Its as simple as that. All that said if you wanted an artist on this strip that was Joe Colquhoun I can't think of anyone better than John Cooper. You can taste the dirt in the air, you feel the lightning movement of his planes and the wripping power of the the bullets. Does anyone one do grim determination and pained commitment like John Cooper. This and perfect planes. He is just an oily delight on this strip.
I like Joe Colquhoun and John Cooper equally. I can't really say I prefer one over the other when it came to Johnny Red.
By the time I was old enough to read comics, Cooper was already the Johnny Red artist, so to me Colquhoun is associated only with Charley's War. Both the definitive artists for the respective strips in my mind.
Did anyone else draw Charleys War? I own all of it and don't think any one other than Colquhoun ever worked on it..
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 17 October, 2016, 01:10:29 PM
Did anyone else draw Charleys War? I own all of it and don't think any one other than Colquhoun ever worked on it..
Not the main run, but there are two or three stories from Battle summer specials and/or annuals drawn by Cam Kennedy...
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 17 October, 2016, 01:54:41 PM
Not the main run, but there are two or three stories from Battle summer specials and/or annuals drawn by Cam Kennedy...
Crikey! I can understand TITAN wanting to keep the reprints exclusively Mills-Colquhoun but Kennedy on Charleys War sounds much too tasty NOT to reprint at some point!
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 17 October, 2016, 02:13:04 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 17 October, 2016, 01:54:41 PM
Not the main run, but there are two or three stories from Battle summer specials and/or annuals drawn by Cam Kennedy...
Crikey! I can understand TITAN wanting to keep the reprints exclusively Mills-Colquhoun but Kennedy on Charleys War sounds much too tasty NOT to reprint at some point!
pinterest to the rescue (https://in.pinterest.com/pin/316448311299590545/) (only one panel, unfortunately).
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 17 October, 2016, 01:54:41 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 17 October, 2016, 01:10:29 PM
Did anyone else draw Charleys War? I own all of it and don't think any one other than Colquhoun ever worked on it..
Not the main run, but there are two or three stories from Battle summer specials and/or annuals drawn by Cam Kennedy...
Wow I did not know that. Now that I'd love to see - thanks for the panel sheridan - does rather wet the appetite!
Cam Kennedy drew Charley in the 1979 and 1980 1983 Holiday Specials (maybe more). Mike Western in 1984.
Unbelievably Ron Turner drew a Charley's War in the 1981 Holiday Special. Not an artist I would ever associate with WW1.
Quite a few of the specials have John Cooper on Johnny Red. Don't know if those are being re-printed.