Prelim Post for Thursday

*I'll have a bigger post up later today, but holy smokes -

First Second to publish Paul Pope's THB as a four-volume set of books in 2009!

So, judging from the press release, it seems Pope has actually finished the story (or will finish it in the next year or so), and now all 1200 pages are due, now in color, with an oversized deluxe b&w edition also available (likely for a ton of cash). The whole set will be known as Total THB, and it sounds like it's all coming out at once. I dunno about the color - THB eventually became Pope's most profoundly manga-influenced English work, and I kind of prefer the idea of it showing up in thick b&w paperbacks, but at this point I won't sneeze at any completion of the project. Did Pope really re-draw all the early chapters too? The press release is silent.

Also of Pope note - his two-volume Battling Boy series for First Second will be out in 2008, and it seems both volumes will appear at the same time (unless I'm misreading 'simultaneous')... odd.