Titanium Rain Book One - Well Worth the Wait!

A month or so after its delayed publication - blame Chinese sensitivities and the unhealthy state of my own bank account - I have now received my copy of the hardback volume of Titanium Rain Book One ... and I've got to say I think it's one of the most beautiful books I own.

Coming from a print and publishing background myself I can appreciate the often unrecognized amount of work that goes into 'producing' a printed volume - beyond the core material of course - and it's immediately clear to me that creators Josh Finney and Kat Rocha, along with their editor, will have put a lot of work into this book above and beyond the core Titanium Rain story.

I've been trailing this publication for some months now with the promise of somewhere in the order of 50 pages of bonus material but I've got to admit I wasn't expecting anywhere near this level of quality.

I picked up a 'special hardcover edition' of a book from one of the major publishers recently and, for my extra £5 or £6 I got a dozen or so extra pages of bonus material including some concept sketches and variant covers - 'nice' to see but if I'm honest not worth the extra cost.


The quantity and quality of additional material in Titanium Rain, on the other hand, is such that I feel I've been doing a disservice by referring to it simply as 'bonus material' - what we have here is a back story, an origin, extended reading ... recruitment posters, periodical extracts, weapons specs, short - and not so short - stories ... beautifully illustrated throughout.

If I'm quiet for a while now then you'll know why - I never did receive my copy of the prestige format issue #3/#4 from my comic shop so I'll be absorbing every detail from every page of this book ... and taking my time in doing so.

Try as I might I feel words alone just aren't doing justice to this publication - if you're even slightly intrigued by any of my previous posts then you simply have to go out and treat yourself to a copy of this book.

Titanium Rain
By Josh Finney and Kat Rocha
Published by Archaia Studio Press, April 2010, 152 pages, full colour

Links:
Titanium Rain is available from a number of online retailers including The Book Depository and Amazon in the UK.
Links for Titanium Rain - website and blog.
Click here for my previous posts about Titanium Rain.