Customer Reviews

Absolute League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: The Black Dossier

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I just received the Absolute Edition after over a year of delays. If anyone is wondering what the difference is between the Absolute Edition ($99.00 list) and the HC edition of the Black Dossier ($29.99 list) content-wise, the answer is NOTHING. That's right, the Absolute Edition is about 30 percent bigger, and does have a slipcase, but all the extras that one normally gets in a Absolute Edition have been removed. Look at this product as Alan Moore's way of saying " up yours" to DC Comics (which purchased Wildstorm). The Absolute Edition was originally solicited to include a 45-rpm vinyl recording of the song "Immortal Love," sung by Alan Moore himself! This and any other additional material has all been cancelled. There are no scripts, and the sole additional material that I have noted in comparing the regular edition with the Absolute edition is that when you first open the cover of the Absolute edition there is a black and white sketch spread drawn by Kevin 0'Neill (a Gulliver's Travel postcard) as well as a 3D black and white sketch spread inside the end cover page of all the characters from the 3D story of the dossier. That is it. Yes, the art looks tremendous, blown up 30%, and the different types of paper are used as well just like in the original Black Dossier. Only buy this edition if you are a completist, and just have to have a copy of the Absolute Edition Black Dossier to go with your Absolute Editions Volumes I and II of the LOEG. The fact that I preordered this from Amazon over a year ago for $47.25 takes the sting out of the fact that this is the most worthless Absolute Edition I have ever seen in the entire series. Buyer Beware.

...about this being an Absolute waste of money. It is a pale shadow of the previous Absolute Editions, and even completists purchasing this to go along with the other two LXG volumes will find that it doesn't look right sitting on the shelf alongside the others, as they haven't bothered to include the additional volume of scripts this time around and in the company of volumes one and two it looks exactly as malnourished as it really is. Unfortunately, you are wasting your money with this purchase. Stick with the $20 hardcover unless you have more money than sense.

As another reviewer has already mentioned, this Absolute Edition is an Absolute rip-off. I also preordered this edition well over a year ago, so ended up paying only $47.25, but there is no way this is worth even that let alone the $99.00 price tag if you're unlucky enough to pay full price. It's about 0ne-third the size of the other Absolute editions in this series (which are brilliant).

This review pertains only to the Absolute Edition of The Black Dossier.

In comparing the Absolute against the standard edition I found it to have inferior image quality. Here's where the former suffers in comparison with the standard:

The artwork in the Absolute is softer and seems to have poorer color registration than the standard edition. Up-rezzing art to a fairly sizable larger size can definitely provide a challenge, but I find it surprising that 20 year old books like Watchmen and DK look so good in this oversized format, while a book like this which was tagged to be printed in this format from the get-go comes out looking so cheaply done.

The blacks are contaminated and have a milky brown/purple cast. This extends to the linework as well as the text pages. The text and linework should be a separate element which should overprint the process backgrounds, and everything looks great in the standard edition. I'm baffled as to why what seems to be separated into a unique black plate in the standard edition is built from process colors for the Absolute.

The pressman on the Absolute edition really leaned on the magenta. Skin tones are overly pink, and the entire book has an unnatural pink cast. Again, the standard edition looks great.

The bulk of the Absolute's printed on glossy paper, while the standard is on a nicer (though thinner) semi-gloss stock. This is a personal preference, of course, but I'm not a fan of glossy stock and once again prefer the standard edition in this area.

I highly recommend the regular edition of this book, and I consider it up there with the top comics works released this year.

As both the reviewers before me stated, this edition is a complete ripoff. For those that bought the regular edition hardcover, the only noticeable difference beyond the larger format is the larger price tag (we're talking a $70 difference). What's absolutely infuriating about this edition is that wildstorm still has the solicitation up on their website, listed with all of the bonus features (including the Alan Moore vinyl 7"). As someone who owns and loves other Absolute editions (Long Halloween, New Frontier), I feel exceptionally cheated, and I'm surprised that nobody has raised a fuss with DC themselves. Not only is this Absolute edition much smaller than others, it's also more expensive. The Long Halloween Absolute edition is $75 compared to the $100 list price of this clunker.

Whatever feud there may be between Alan Moore and DC should not be taken out on the fans. If you want to read the story (which is great by the way), save yourself some serious dough and buy the normal edition.

I guess this edition just shows to you a tip of the iceberg of the attitude Alan Moore had to deal with under DC publishing. DC tries to cash in on Moore's reputation. High price tag but nothing new. No scripts, no 7" single song as previously announced and were led to believe would be during purchase. Same as previous edition of black dossier just slightly bigger and 4 times more expensive. What a waste!

This is not a review of the actual Moore/O'Neil's newest enrty into the league series (see the Amazon listing of the standard edition for that) but rather of the Absolute Edition of the Black Dossier. As has been said in the uniformilly negative reviews that have preceeded mine, this book is a not only a cheat to fans who have supported the series (and DC) this far but also a blatant (and continuing) bait and switch. The first 2 Absolute League volumes included a hardcover of the series as well as a hardcover of the complete scripts with sketches throughout and where priced at $75. This tima around the scripts have not been included and the price has been increased to $99. Add to that, DC advertised, and still advertises, this book including a vinyl record that is not included. The book is houses in a black slip case that is shipped in shrinkwrap, dispite this mine came with scuff marks on the back and sides. It does include the 3-D glasses and Tijuana Bible but those are the only extras. Don't let the DC site fool you, the cut-away of the Nautilus is simply a double page spread within the book, not a pull out or fold out. I bought this as I have the other 2 League volumes and Amazon offered a heafty discount for pre-orders. Its no wonder Moore has jumped ship to Top Shelf as its clear that DC has as little respect for its customers/fans as it does its artists. See Top Shelf fantastic 3-volume slip cased edition of Moores Lost Girls for an example of how good an oversized hardcover comics collection can be. Or, for that matter just look at their previous Absolute League books to see what they where capable of when they still put a litte effort into it. This is a rush job aimed at getting every last cent out of their remaining Alan Moore work.

Yes, the other reviewers say all that is to say about this major disapointment. Aside the absolute absence of anything that could justify the major price, there are changes from the cheaper edition to this one, like the minor "Sexjane" insert that is now inserted before "Faerie's Fortune Founded" instead of between the pages of "The crazy wide forever". In a piece of work like this one that's a change that alters everything.
I think that DC owes my money back, and I'll ask for it.

I'm a french reader and I've the two previous absolute version of LOEG. So, like other unhappy fans who have preordered this item I 'm feeling cheated. No LP, no scripts, no sketches. Plus, DC sells this one for the same price even though it is twice smaller than the previous absolute.
Absolutly dishonest, period.

THE ABSOLUTE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN: THE BLACK DOSSIER is basically the same thing as the regular THE BLACK DOSSIER. There are no new extras. The only difference is that the book is larger and comes in a slip case. That's it. This is an item that only an obsessive compulsive completist should have. For anyone else, just get the regular THE BLACK DOSSIER edition.