Can't seem to get an answer from Dark Horse...

[sephiroth61787]

Dark Horse comics solicited Yoshitaka Amano's "The Sky: The Art of Final Fantasy" for release in March of 2011. The release date has been pushed back quite a few times (the last estimated release being January 10th, 2012).

Since my initial preorder at Amazon was canceled, I've been trying to get some information from Dark Horse about whether this has been canceled or if it will be resolicited. I haven't received any word whatsoever on it. I've emailed, tried calling, contacting via twitter, nothing. I had a preorder on Barnes and Noble for the book. The page has been taken down, but my preorder is still in place. I haven't received a cancellation notice on it.

If you're interested at all in this book (it covers Amano's artwork from Final Fantasy I-X), I've set up a thread at the Dark Horse forums. It can be found here.

Is there any other way to contact Dark Horse to get an answer about this? It is frustrating to try to get answers and come up empty-handed on a release you were looking forward to.

[SeymourGuado]

Great, I'm not the only guy out there waiting for this book!
I've sent a message to Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Dark Horse. Amazon talks about short supply and Barnes & Noble says it's unavailable.

Amazon wrote me:

"I understand that you want to know the availability of the book "The Sky" by Amano Yoshitaka on our website.
I've checked for the details and see that unfortunately, we don't have any more stock of this book right now, and we're not sure when we'll be able to get more.
I see that the release date is listed as January 10, 2012 on our product detail page. The release is not postponed again.

But currently due to a shortage in our supply side this book is currently unavailable on our website. Please understand that the availability of products depends upon our suppliers and we cannot predict when our suppliers will be able to supply this to us. However, I understand that you want this book as soon as possible.
I've forwarded your concern to our concerned department. I'm sure they'll look into this and will make sure we get the stock of this book as soon as possible."

Barnes & Noble was just as unhelpful. Dark Horse hasn't responded and it's been almost a week.

The alternative is buying the Japanese edition... not cheap!

[IsaiahPLG]

Dark horse sucks when it comes to communicating with its readers! I have never gotten a reply from them on any question I've ever asked. I hope this book wasn't canceled, I want it!

[sephiroth61787]

I've posted on their forums, emailed them, asked them on Twitter, asked them on facebook....ignored every single time.

Why can't they just provide an answer? I guess they don't care about their customers.

I have thought about purchasing the Japanese version, but it's just insanely expensive. That's why I was excited when this was announced and preordered it immediately to show my support.

[Johnny P. Sartre]

Oh man... reading this puts me down in the dumps

[DonC]

I've posted on their forums, emailed them, asked them on Twitter, asked them on facebook....ignored every single time.

Why can't they just provide an answer? I guess they don't care about their customers.

Or maybe they don't have the time to answer the hundreds of fan emails they get every day.

[lasraik]

Or maybe they don't have the time to answer the hundreds of fan emails they get every day.

Obviously they can't. But if they are getting multiple questions about the same book they could post an announcement of some kind.

[sephiroth61787]

Obviously they can't. But if they are getting multiple questions about the same book they could post an announcement of some kind.

This.

Even if they take a few seconds to look at the topic I created in their forums (which is the second thread in their main forum and had over 1000 views) and post an answer there, it would be appreciated. Somebody there has to know what's going on.

[SeymourGuado]

Okay, this is just getting ridiculous.
There are 3rd party sellers selling it on Amazon now.
http://www.amazon.com/Sky-Amano-Yosh...6914478&sr=8-1

Barnes & Noble too:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sky-...ano/1100401421

But Amazon and Barnes & Noble aren't selling it directly. How did they get their hands on this book?

[sephiroth61787]

Thanks for the links Guado. I'm going to contact those sellers and see if we can get some pictures. I'd like to know if it's the dark horse version.

Absolutley ridiculous.

[DonC]

Obviously they can't. But if they are getting multiple questions about the same book they could post an announcement of some kind.

I count three people wondering where this book is. Only one of whom has stated specifically that they contacted Dark Horse about this. Editors are busy people. They don't have time to answer every question sent to them.

[IsaiahPLG]

I count three people wondering where this book is. Only one of whom has stated specifically that they contacted Dark Horse about this. Editors are busy people. They don't have time to answer every question sent to them.

Image and IDW always seem to find the time to answer most of the questions I ask them. Maybe thats why I they get more of my money every month.

[SeymourGuado]

I count three people wondering where this book is. Only one of whom has stated specifically that they contacted Dark Horse about this. Editors are busy people. They don't have time to answer every question sent to them.

Actually, make it three. Sephiroth, another guy on Facebook, and me. And over 1000 views on the thread Sephiroth made on the Dark Horse forum. So there is an interest in this book.

Someone at DH should have noticed by now.

[sephiroth61787]

I count three people wondering where this book is. Only one of whom has stated specifically that they contacted Dark Horse about this. Editors are busy people. They don't have time to answer every question sent to them.

I've emailed them over 6 months ago when the release date was first pushed back. They have 5 different categories in which to submit a question. I submitted it under both "General" and "Feedback". By now, someone should have at least seen it.

Not only that, they don't get that many wall posts to their facebook page. Three people have posted to that in the past few days asking about this book, including myself. 6 different people posted to their wall today and another 6 yesterday. It's not like 100 people post to their wall a day. Someone from the company is running that page, I'm sure they can take the 5 minutes to email someone who knows to get an answer.

If Marvel, DC, Image, IDW, etc can provide information on products and whether they were cancelled/will be solicited, so can Dark Horse. Why have a contact page if you're not going to bother replying?

[emb021]

If Marvel, DC, Image, IDW, etc can provide information on products and whether they were cancelled/will be solicited, so can Dark Horse. Why have a contact page if you're not going to bother replying?

More then that, I go on the Image Forum page, and many of the creators and lead people from the company post and respond to posts. Its great seeing, say, Erik Larsen answer a question about an upcoming comic or the like.

IDW's Forum has been ok. We had a thread there for the Library of American Comics, but they were only recently informed of its existence. Now they post and respond there, which is great.

When there was a forum at The Comics Journal site, we would get people from Fantagraphics comment there.

Dark Horse? They have a forum, but its like no one at the company takes a look or responses. I've posted several times on topics like their John Stanley reprints (Little Lulu & Tubby) and various comic archive series, and several times gave suggestions of new titles or ask questions. ZERO response.

So I understand your frustration.