Strange Weather by Joe Hill

[khaos]

This is one I wished I'd ordered when it was first posted. I think I'd ordered too much else or money was tight. I asked if any were available now even though the tax bill hit hard. Very little of me is glad there were none available. Looks like a great book(s).

[RonClinton]

I received my STRANGE WEATHER set the other day, and was glad to finally see it. It's really a very nicely done set- even better than I expected, honestly. Certainly a larger trim size. A couple of things:

The slipcase is VERY loose. I haven't Brodarted the books yet, and am hoping that'll make it a bit better fit, but there is quite a bit of room to make up. Has anyone put covers on each volume? Is it still loose or just right?

I wasn't as worked up about the lateness of this set as some others (with our beloved CD- I know the books will come, eventually, and if I'm ever tired of waiting- I know a quick refund will be granted. I don't fault others for feeling differently for good money paid and expecting timely delivery, but that is how I roll with CD. Usually. Not to say I never grow impatient: I have no idea how long I waited for the PRINCE OF STORIES Gaiman book, but when it finally arrived I took one look at it and threw it in the "To Bookstore For Credit" box- I had already read the trade edition twice! But, I digress), and I lost the plot on what the holdup was on this. I know it was one of the artists' dragging their feet on either the art or the sig sheets, and there were some folks here saying to just produce it without the signature (or the art?), but- it seems that there is art- and an artist signature in all four volumes, so my question is: what happened exactly? Just for posterity. The books are here, they are all signed and beautiful... I still don't know what happened exactly. In the back of my mind I was expecting there to be something... lacking, but I can't find it. Can anyone illuminate?

Anyway, it must be said that CD produced a really neat set of books for this title. I know it took forever, but I'm glad to have them on my shelves.

My recollection is that there was one contributing artist who continued to stonewall the signature process and not return the dig sheets. No idea who (though it was an international artist, IIRC), and no idea why anyone would be so unprofessional. Clearly that doesn’t account for all four years of the delay, but it was reported here to be a primary factor. Delays in slipcase manufacturing were also cited, and given that this slipcase seems a bit more flimsy than other CD releases suggests they did job it out to someone other than their usual manufacturer.

I have put mylar dj covers on all four books, and it is now very snug…I believe that’s why the extra space was provided. In fact, it’s now so snug that I’m a little concerned about the long term viability of the lighter weight slipcase. But it is what it is, and I can’t bring myself to worry about this set anymore…in the end, it looks nice and I’m just glad to finally have it.

[sholloman81]

Delays in slipcase manufacturing were also cited, and given that this slipcase seems a bit more flimsy than other CD releases suggests they did job it out to someone other than their usual manufacturer.

I have put mylar dj covers on all four books, and it is now very snug…I believe that’s why the extra space was provided. In fact, it’s now so snug that I’m a little concerned about the long term viability of the lighter weight slipcase. But it is what it is, and I can’t bring myself to worry about this set anymore…in the end, it looks nice and I’m just glad to finally have it.

Yeah, can't lie, I was a bit underwhelmed by the slipcase as well. Feels very flimsy and isn't really that pleasing to the eye. With a four year wait, I was hoping for a bit more, but, much like Ron, I'm about at the point where I can't worry/complain about this set anymore. Really hope in the future that CD goes the Lividian route and chooses slipcases with thicker boards. I'd be willing to pay a few bucks more as they feel much more likely to last the tests of time. All this being said, I do really like the books themselves and am happy to finally have them and to be able to cross this pre-order off the list!

[swintek]

My recollection is that there was one contributing artist who continued to stonewall the signature process and not return the dig sheets. No idea who (though it was an international artist, IIRC), and no idea why anyone would be so unprofessional. Clearly that doesn’t account for all four years of the delay, but it was reported here to be a primary factor. Delays in slipcase manufacturing were also cited, and given that this slipcase seems a bit more flimsy than other CD releases suggests they did job it out to someone other than their usual manufacturer.

I have put mylar dj covers on all four books, and it is now very snug…I believe that’s why the extra space was provided. In fact, it’s now so snug that I’m a little concerned about the long term viability of the lighter weight slipcase. But it is what it is, and I can’t bring myself to worry about this set anymore…in the end, it looks nice and I’m just glad to finally have it.

Thanks, Ron. So- it's safe to say that the books (finally) arrived exactly as advertised? Without changing out an artist? Again, just curious for posterity's sake. Glad the Brodart's helped, but I am surprised that now you find it snug; it looks like I've enough room for another slim volume in mine! I will hold further comment until i cover the books.

[Dan Hocker]

So the looseness of the cases was not intentional. Something happened in manufacturing, we're not really sure what, but they weren't loose enough to warrant sending them back to the manufacturer and delay the project further. As the manufacturer would have to have remade them from scratch. Delaying the project another 6 months. As far as the cases go it's the same case production we use on all of our slipcases. They are no more or less "flimsy" than any other slipcase we produce.

To address the delays, there was a number of delays on this project. Covid delays, receiving the final artwork, receiving signed signature sheets. On this project Joe picked the artists and those were the ones we had to use. All 4 artists where new to us, and not used to this process. So artwork took awhile. Then the signatures had several issues. Gabriel Rodriguez lives in Chile, and the first round of sig sheets we sent him just disappeared in Chile's postal system. We then waited for him to be in the US for something and mailed him replacements to where he was staying. A set of sig sheets to another artist also had to be reprinted because we had no idea that artist was actually two different artists doing the comic book inking and coloring thing, so we had to reprint those and send them out again. All in all it was just a lot of little delays that piled up.

[fanatic]

Hi Dan, do you know when Dark Regions Press will get copies? My order is through them.

[RonClinton]

Thanks, Ron. So- it's safe to say that the books (finally) arrived exactly as advertised? Without changing out an artist? Again, just curious for posterity's sake. Glad the Brodart's helped, but I am surprised that now you find it snug; it looks like I've enough room for another slim volume in mine! I will hold further comment until i cover the books.

I’ll defer to Dan in the posterity info, but, yes, it’s very snug with all four books in mylar.

[Splync]

As far as the cases go it's the same case production we use on all of our slipcases. They are no more or less "flimsy" than any other slipcase we produce.

I think the "flimsy" feeling is because of how fat they are, in order to accommodate the four novellas. It gives the impression of them being flimsier, when it's actually just the dimensions playing tricks on people.

[Martin]

I think the "flimsy" feeling is because of how fat they are, in order to accommodate the four novellas. It gives the impression of them being flimsier, when it's actually just the dimensions playing tricks on people.

Received mine today and did a comparison. The thickness of the boards matches the recent Best of CD2 case exactly. On several older titles the top and bottom appear thicker, but the side boards match Strange Weather. A few older titles, Bad News for example, appear thicker but that may be a result to the material used to cover the cases. I think the perception is different due to the width of the case and the fact that the books fit so loosely. I only had to Brodart wraps available, so I wrapped the first two books. With two wrapped the fit in the case is perfect. I agree with Ron that all four wrapped will be snug. When I pick up more Bodart, I plan to wrap one more and check the fit. It is possible I will stop at three books with Brodart depending on the fit.

Love the books. I will say that when they added the interior art, I assumed they would use the same artist as the cover art. Turns out they used a different artist, who did all interior art. I think that adds another level of consistency in the set and I really like it.

[Dan Hocker]

Hi Dan, do you know when Dark Regions Press will get copies? My order is through them.

Their copies would've shipped out to them last week.

[fanatic]

Thanks Dan!