Keith Giffen's TRENCHER

[Augie De Blieck Jr.]

Hey gang,

Just got in my copy of the first TRENCHER collection from BOOM! Studios.

Avoid it.

It's an awful reproduction of the series. It looks like someone took a digital picture of each page, ran that image through a haze filter, and then printed the book from that. On top of that, it's four books for $18. Ick.

Plus, I forgot how wretched the lettering is.

If it's not too late, cancel any pre-orders on volume two.

-Augie

[kevhines]

There is a volume 2?

I enjoyed that series when it came out (and when I reread it a while ago) and I think I missed one issue, so I planned on getting this....But the price and the poor quality of the reproductions (and the price!) scared me off (and the price!).

But how many issues of Trencher were there? It didn't last long I think....

[Augie De Blieck Jr.]

There is a second volume coming. It's already been solicited. I think. Now I need to double check myself.

The main series only lasted the four issues, but there were a couple of specials after that, including one for a company that everyone thought went under months before it really did. "Black Ball Press?" "Eight Ball Press?" Something like that.

-Augie

[De Carabas]

Trencher appeared in:
Trencher #1-4 (Image)
Images of Shadowhawk #1-3 (Image)
Trencher: X-Mas Bites Holiday Blow-Out (Black Ball comics)
Blackball Comics #1 (Black Ball Comics)

Or at least, that's everything that I ever bought. The only one that I thought wasn't worth bothering with was the last one I listed. Trencher getting into a slugfest with some baboon I don't recognize.

I'm with Augie when it comes to being seriously disappointed in the production value of the first trade. Everything he described smacked me in the face when I opened the box, plus no extras. I mean not even an intro from Giffen. A simple "Hi. This is a book I did ten years ago. Enjoy." The gorram thing doesn't even have a proper title page or verso for cataloging.

Now I realize that last thing may not matter to everyone else, but it's big to me. It means Boom! is to lazy to follow accpeted publishing practices and that I will have next to no chance whatsoever of getting it for the library. That screams fly-by-night, amatuer hour operation to me. As much as it will most likely make me laugh, I don't think I'll pre-order vol. 2. I'd rather spend the five hours looking for my back issues in my mom's house.

::sigh::

EM

[Augie De Blieck Jr.]

And I don't think the SHADOWHAWK stories are in the second volume, either.

I remember when that book first came out, my local comics shop hosted a signing for Keith Giffen to help promote it. He was the first or second comics pro I ever met. Very cool. He signed an issue of one of his JUSTICE LEAGUE books for me -- it's the one with the toilet running around inside it. It was my favorite at the time (I hadn't read them all yet).

Ah, memories. . .

-Augie