This is great! I see the move to real album size as a good sign. It looks like Collector Volume is about the same size as some of the modern larger hardcover albums in Europe. Of course in Europe this alone wouldn't make any book Special Edition but the bonus material does justify the name. I think going this big was the only option available for Papercutz. The size difference between their original small album and the regular album that you show here would be too little to make the upgrading interesting for example. As for the value(20 dollars) I think it's worth it(with that much bonuses). Once you get hooked by these stories you realize the value is not calculated as dollars/page. Even when using the word genius sparingly Goscinny was one. I am over 50 and still keep re-reading Asterix but laugh at different things than when as a kid. When estimated like this it has been one of my cheapest comics.
We don't get many chances at special editions of any European albums over here. I can't think of a single series that included the art on the spine like this. I know a lot of European series reprints include that. I've seen some pictures of beautiful collections and bookcases over the years, with all those series filling out the shelves wonderfully. Yes, you're probably right about the size thing. If they had gone to normal album size. It's working on me! I probably would have been happy to see it at standard album size, but I wouldn't be buying the series again. This bigger size is enough to get my money. As a bonus, I'm not quite 50 yet, but my eyes appreciate the larger pages. =) Thanks for stopping by -- I enjoy your channel!
Always interesting to see how perspectives can differ across the pond. Thanks for sharing your views! :) Being from Germany, an edition like this is completely standard to see nowadays. But also having some pretty old releases (I suppose 70's 80's) of French comics like Spirou in german, I can clearly see that the premium-ification is a trend of recent decades. Back then, when they used to cater just towards children, they had no additional information in the magazine at all, just the bare story without anything for fans to enjoy besides that. Also very cheap paper and no vibrant colors. And the coloring itself was just lazy, awful! How times have changed :D
I wish we saw more books reprinted at full album size in America. Sadly, they're few and far between. Cinebook's Lucky Luke series stays at full size, but even amazing series like "Blacksad" aren't shown at full size, though it's pretty close. I'm at the point now where I'm buying full-size albums of my favorite series that aren't available in English. Sure, they're still in French, but I get to appreciate the art at its proper size, AND it's helping me learn French. There is a quote from Uderzo in the back of this book about how the coloring has changed in the series over the years as the printing technology has gotten better. I know this is likely heretical to many old school fans, but I don't mind the updated colors. "Asterix" should never be colored with fully 3-D rendered colors or airbrushing, but the modern colors look good on the series. Thank goodness for better paper, too!
20 bucks for this book? Sheesh, I don't think it's really worth it. I mean, it will probably be easy to get it at a discount but still. I wish they had changed the lettering style, even with the larger page format, the lettering is so weird looking to me. Thanks for the in-depth review!
$20 is a decent deal for this, I think. The hardcover British books I bought back in the day had a $15 cover price on them (after conversion from the British pound or Euro). This book is even bigger and with 20+ extra pages. I just pulled out "Asterix and the Chariot Race" which has an American price tag on it of $17.99 and that one has no bonus materials. For a series that has a new book every couple of years, I'm OK with it. What don't you like about the lettering style? The lowercase "i"s everywhere? I admit it took me a moment to get used to it, but I also see it in a lot of European comics. Not sure where that began, though. I've always been curious about that...
This is great! I see the move to real album size as a good sign. It looks like Collector Volume is about the same size as some of the modern larger hardcover albums in Europe. Of course in Europe this alone wouldn't make any book Special Edition but the bonus material does justify the name.
I think going this big was the only option available for Papercutz. The size difference between their original small album and the regular album that you show here would be too little to make the upgrading interesting for example.
As for the value(20 dollars) I think it's worth it(with that much bonuses). Once you get hooked by these stories you realize the value is not calculated as dollars/page. Even when using the word genius sparingly Goscinny was one. I am over 50 and still keep re-reading Asterix but laugh at different things than when as a kid. When estimated like this it has been one of my cheapest comics.
We don't get many chances at special editions of any European albums over here. I can't think of a single series that included the art on the spine like this. I know a lot of European series reprints include that. I've seen some pictures of beautiful collections and bookcases over the years, with all those series filling out the shelves wonderfully.
Yes, you're probably right about the size thing. If they had gone to normal album size. It's working on me! I probably would have been happy to see it at standard album size, but I wouldn't be buying the series again. This bigger size is enough to get my money. As a bonus, I'm not quite 50 yet, but my eyes appreciate the larger pages. =)
Thanks for stopping by -- I enjoy your channel!
Always interesting to see how perspectives can differ across the pond. Thanks for sharing your views! :) Being from Germany, an edition like this is completely standard to see nowadays. But also having some pretty old releases (I suppose 70's 80's) of French comics like Spirou in german, I can clearly see that the premium-ification is a trend of recent decades. Back then, when they used to cater just towards children, they had no additional information in the magazine at all, just the bare story without anything for fans to enjoy besides that. Also very cheap paper and no vibrant colors. And the coloring itself was just lazy, awful! How times have changed :D
I wish we saw more books reprinted at full album size in America. Sadly, they're few and far between. Cinebook's Lucky Luke series stays at full size, but even amazing series like "Blacksad" aren't shown at full size, though it's pretty close. I'm at the point now where I'm buying full-size albums of my favorite series that aren't available in English. Sure, they're still in French, but I get to appreciate the art at its proper size, AND it's helping me learn French.
There is a quote from Uderzo in the back of this book about how the coloring has changed in the series over the years as the printing technology has gotten better. I know this is likely heretical to many old school fans, but I don't mind the updated colors. "Asterix" should never be colored with fully 3-D rendered colors or airbrushing, but the modern colors look good on the series. Thank goodness for better paper, too!
20 bucks for this book? Sheesh, I don't think it's really worth it. I mean, it will probably be easy to get it at a discount but still. I wish they had changed the lettering style, even with the larger page format, the lettering is so weird looking to me. Thanks for the in-depth review!
$20 is a decent deal for this, I think. The hardcover British books I bought back in the day had a $15 cover price on them (after conversion from the British pound or Euro). This book is even bigger and with 20+ extra pages. I just pulled out "Asterix and the Chariot Race" which has an American price tag on it of $17.99 and that one has no bonus materials. For a series that has a new book every couple of years, I'm OK with it.
What don't you like about the lettering style? The lowercase "i"s everywhere? I admit it took me a moment to get used to it, but I also see it in a lot of European comics. Not sure where that began, though. I've always been curious about that...