Pleased and Pissed

I'm a little bit tweaked about this book that I just received today. I was very much looking forward to getting the hardcover version of The Fountain graphic novel, partly because it was kind of my 'official' birthday present from Jen and partly because I was just really looking forward to it. I haven't seen the film in its entirety yet but I loved what I saw, and I didn't want to settle for the paperback edition of the graphic novel because of the original art that was commissioned for the hardback, including a piece by Seth Fisher who we lost recently and who was very much admired by Darren Aronofsky.

I ordered the book that is featured on my sidebar at the end of last week, I read the product description, I checked (or I thought I checked) the publication details and did my level best to make sure that this was the one that I wanted to get.

I'll admit that I should have picked up on the cover image not being very Kent Williams-ey, and I should have also noted the lack of any Vertigo mention or logo anywhere visible, but I guess the heat of the moment had me clicking away through the checkout process and instead I received a coffee table book.

I'll give you it's a beautiful coffee table book. From the cover to the original screenplay embedded in the back cover, this is a really purdy package. The art pieces inside are also remarkable, all based on scenes from the film manipulated in a computer to give slightly different interpretations of the story and the images within.

To ease the 'pain', I managed to find this very nice little piece in The New York Times that offers a slideshow with some commentary by the artists themselves. A nice little extra touch that I wouldn't have gotten from the book had I managed to actually buy it. I particularly enjoyed the commentrary by Barron Storey while loving the pieces by Seth Fisher, James Jean, Phil Hale, and Dave Gibbons.

I will eventually get my hands on the book I intended to buy, hardcover or softcover, I guess it's not a huge deal anymore. Especially since the hardcover is out of print now and it will require some extensive searching on the internet to find one for a reasonable price. In the meantime, though, I think I'll just finish the movie, check out my book with the screenplay, and be glad for happy accidents. I think more than anything I just needed to rant and ramble until I felt a little better about my purchase.

Onwards and Upwards!

mike

P.S. I just hit the Rizzoli site (which is the publisher of the book I bought) and it says that there is supposed to be commentary by Ari Handel and Darren Aronofsky in the book. Othe than a brief End Comments at the back of the screenplay, there isno commentary to speak of.

Urgh.