The main points for me are what appear to be the correct publishing order for the Marvel UK run, or at least as close as possible without inserting a 5 page black and white story every 5 -10 pages of the US comic strips. Colouring of all the black and white strips is maybe an even bigger bonus.

If Im not enjoying any particular volumes I'll drop the sub and just buy the issues I want, The Marvel UK part will still form a complete section of the art on the spines so will look fine on a bookshelf.

 

Not sure why? But you just gave the reasons why it is better! Cheaper and more complete overall! Plus free gifts, background info, potential b&w strips in colour for first time, and will look cool on the shelf!

 

Curiously enough I have read most of Dreamwave's run, and it is mostly pretty poor, apart from the Armada and Energon series, those were both at least interesting seeing an alternative takes on a current toyline.

The Sunstorm saga was perhaps Dreamwave's best work, but most of IDW's work has outclassed WWI for me (There are exceptions obviously, Heart of Darkness and the Ongoing series were painful to read at times.)

 

I....had no idea there was this rift between IDW fans and non-IDW readers....

Hmm, interesting input. I, like Magnus, love HCs.

Again, these can't be worse than the IDW reprints which are garbage. Paper and scanning has to be better. Only thing that could be worse is the release schedule.

 

Lol, glad to have helped  

 

I was going to reply to Chiller's post, but you listed most of what I was going to say. I've never known a partwork get cancelled early - once they're going - even the REALLY obscure ones - they go on to the planned end. They may not get extended, but they get to the original plan.

I also think the "recolouring" line has been taken a little out of context; my interpretation was that all the original B&W/part B&W strips would be fully recoloured not everything else. Which is fantastic, and makes me wonder if they're doing this alongside IDW for an eventual UK Classics 7.

A UK/US Marvel hardcover release in chronological order is basically all I've wanted for years; Dreamwave and IDW - with all their huge variations in quality - are a nice bonus. I've no objection to an eventual extension either.

We're getting value for money - extrapolating on Target: 2006 being "volume 6" (and containing 11x UK issues, and 3x US issues), most volumes are going to contain about 8 (US) issues worth of material for £9.99.

Apparently, Furman has overseen this for Hachette according to his Twitter or Blog. I have faith that the chronology, the notes and the presentation of this are going to be the best we've seen this material.

Like Ryan F, I have the full original run of Marvel UK, but I'll never say no to something like this, that I've wanted for such a very long time!

 

John-Paul Bove has confirmed on Twitter that he is the one doing the colourisations of the b/w stories.

 

Excellent news!

 

Glad my post didn't get completely lost!  

Thought I'd try and sell my Marvel Collection to help fund this. Checked eBay and it looks like people are selling each issue for half the price paid.   That was one collection I thought would hold it's value, but looks like I was wrong.

I'd like to get this series, but if it's going to go the same way as the Marvel one and loose half it's value after completion, I might give it a miss and just pick them up on eBay in a couple of years time. I'm not really a big comic reader and I would just be getting these "because it's Transformers".

I'd be interested to read what other people think of them once they start arriving though.

 

And then it winds up looking like the colourizations from the German comic  

 

Still haven't been able to find this in local newsagents... it clearly is on trial/pilot in only certain parts of the country (despite the rather vague response I got from Jacklin Enterprises/Hachette to this question) - and not around here, which is a shame. Hopefully the national launch won't take too long...

 

There is already an ebay seller with copies of the first issue for sale, and according to their bio they are based in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, so presumably that's where the trial is?

If it helps, I'm a subscriber to another Hachette partwork, 'Doctor Who - The Complete History'. Looking through my emails, I signed up for a subscription for that book as soon as the website went live in April 2015, and the partwork went national in September that year, so be prepared to wait five months, I suppose.

Also, they use the test period to not only calculate what sales figures might be, but they also take feedback in the form of questionnaires and stuff. I know there were a few differences between the trial versions and the retail versions of the Doctor Who books as some (slight) improvements and tweaks were made.

With the Doctor Who book, if you signed up for a subscription early enough (i.e. during the initial trial period), they sent you a free copy of one of the trial issues (picked at random from the opening four installments) as a thank you for taking the plunge so far in advance (and they will also send you a copy of the questionnaire asking what you liked/didn't like about the book). This was in addition to the regular mass-subscription version that eventually turned up when the series started properly. Even if the trial is a complete failure and the book doesn't launch nationally, you will still receive that single trial issue for free.

Just to be clear, I know the welcome email promises a first delivery in 28 days, but I would ignore that if I were you (it's an automated response, and they don't change the wording to reflect the fact that you are signing up before the book has even been launched). There was a lot of nerd-rage on the Doctor Who forums when the first issue didn't start shipping for a full five months after people first signed up!

Hope that helps!

 

Thanks Ryan F. We did get the trial period for Eaglemoss' recent "Star Trek 50th Anniversary Graphic Novel Collection" partwork around here (ran the first four issues), and I remember the questionnaire well. Circa five months sounds likely, though I do remember Hachette's Marvel Graphic Novel Collection (the first 2012 version, not the relaunched one this year!) went from test to nationwide launch in about three.

It used to be that most partworks launched around beginning of Jan, though that's changed a bit in recent years. Ah well, I suppose it doesn't matter when - I'm still giddy from somebody taking a chance with this, and the thought of the Marvel US/UK saga in hardback chronological sequence!

 

Would you happen to have a pic of one of these Hatchette books next to something "American" sized? Maybe a IDW HC or a US TPB?

Curious how it looks and wondering if it's gigantic (or some size much different to the US like the Titan Marvel UK magazine reprints).

 

Your wish is my command (The Doctor Who book is from Hachette...)

 

WOW! Thanks so much for the reply. Those pics help a lot. Using the books you have, I'm assuming the paper is more closer to the IDW HC glossy paper than the UK Classics crappy, thick, paper stock right?

 

I know people hate on Deeamwave artwork all the time (I get it; Pat Lee sucked at expressions and the frequently mentioned "Optimus neck" is pretty bad...but his designs were awesome)...but now people trash the story, too? G1 Volume 2, "War and Peace," is amazing (volume 1 was great too, despite a slow start), and their ongoing was phenomenal...

 

Let's not get carried away......

 

I'd like to know this too. Been enjoying the UK Classics collections for all the liner notes and extras etc, but the actual reproduction of the comic pages is pretty dire. If this set is presented decently I might give it a go!

 

I can't find the trial run anywhere in London; even Forbidden Planet doesn't have it!