Second Trailer Released for Rise of the Planet of the Apes

My love of Planet of the Apes is well documented and 2011 looks like being a great year for all Apes fans. We've had the relaunch of an ongoing comic book title from Boom! Studios, a new illustrated novel from Archaia Entertainment and a brand new film Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

Yahoo Movies have the second trailer for the film, that opens in the UK on 12 August 2011

Looks great doesn't it - see you there!

The Mystery Of Titanium Rain Volume 2

This afternoon I was checking back through a list of my comic book advance orders and I noticed that I'd ordered and am still waiting for the second hardcover collection of Titanium Rain from creators Josh Finney and Kat Rocha and published by Archaia Entertainment.

Ordered last June. That's a year ago!

Titanium Rain was my favourite comic book of 2009 - and I've written about the book and its creators numerous times since then - and I just can't wait to read the second volume.

I started hunting around online to see whether 1) my shop had overlooked my order or 2) the books release had been delayed, in which case I wanted to know when it's due.

Amazon in the UK simply have the book listed as 'Currently unavailable' (incidentally Amazon in the UK are close to selling out of volume 1 again with just 1 copy currently in stock!); likewise at The Book Depository also have the second volume labelled as 'Currently unavailable' while at Wotnix the book is simply listed as being 'Out of stock'.

I was just about to call my comic shop guy when I stumbled upon 'The Mystery Of Titanium Rain Volume 2' over at Bleeding Cool:

On Twitter, comic reader Lonnie Morgan asked comic creator Josh Finney “Amazon delayed my order for Titanium Rain V2 a 3rd time. Any updates u can clue me in on? Target deliv is now June”

Finney responded “While I can’t state why Titanium Rain Vol. 2 is not on shelves yet, I can say that the book has been ready since December… I’m not a liberty to say what the problem is, but I’m hoping to see the book out by June, too. Also, it never hurts to remind my publisher, Archaia that fans REALLY want their Titanium Rain Vol. 2…please, for the love of dog, BE POLITE. Insulting my editors doesn’t NOT help anyone. You can guess why I have to say this.

At which point Archaia CEO PJ Bickett popped by “Josh, all you have to do is send your finished
files so we can finally print it!”

Josh_Finney: “If ONLY it were that easy, PJ.”

PJ Bickett: “Let me know if you need access to our FTP. We can get it going next week!”

Josh Finney: “Okay fans of TITANIUM RAIN, Archaia’s CEO PJ Bickett appears to be implying the only reason Titanium Rain Vol. 2 isn’t printed is because I have not sent him the files. PJ Bickett is entitled to his opinion, but I completely disagree. There are other reasons. Reasons which neither I or PJ Bickett should discuss in a public forum. Although if he wishes to do so, that is his choice.

PJ Bickett then deleted his tweets. And that was the end of it. For now.

So, while this article certainly appears to confirm that volume 2 hasn't yet been printed - sorry I doubted you 'mail order comic shop guy' - I don't really feel I'm any closer to getting my hands on book 2.

I can only hope that something good can come from this publicity and whatever the problems are they can be resolved quickly.

Titanium Rain at Comic-Con

While we're on the subject of Comic-Con, if you're going along be sure to also stop by the Archaia Entertainment booth - #2635 - where you'll be able to meet the creators of Titanium Rain - Josh Finney and Kat Rocha - as well as catch a sneak-peak of the forthcoming second volume of the book.

The Archaia booth is located in between the Marvel Comics and the Image booths and a full appearance and signing schedule will be available at the convention.

In addition, Josh and Kat will be taking part in the Archaia All Access Panel on Friday 23 July which takes place in Room 9 of the Convention Center. Josh and Kat will be in attendance with the creators of The God Machine, Starkweather Immortal, The Awakening, Hybrid Bastards, and more!

Titanium Rain website
Titanium Rain blog
Archaia

Available Now - Titanium Rain, Volume 1 Hardcover

I received news today that the first hardcover collection of Escape from Tomorrow's book of 2009 - Titanium Rain - has, this week, finally shipped. Following numerous frustrating production delays - none moreso than for creators Josh Finney and Kat Rocha I'm sure - the book shipped to comic stores this Wednesday, and will be in bookstores the following week.

CHINESE GOVERNMENT ATTEMPTS TO CENSOR ‘TITANIUM RAIN’ VOL. 1

When real-world politics clash with four-color fiction.

Los Angeles, CA (April 21, 2010) – In an instance of real-world politics affecting the comic industry, ARCHAIA ENTERTAINMENT's latest graphic novel series, TITANIUM RAIN, had been severely delay when Chinese printing companies refused to print the book. TITANIUM RAIN, which portrays a civil war in near-future China, was repeatedly rejected by Chinese printers, citing "politically sensitive content" deemed offensive by the PRC.

“What I find very telling about the whole situation is at no point does our book criticize the current Chinese government or any of its policies," say author/co-artist Josh Finney. "The scenario I wrote is patterned after the Boxer Rebellion, and is meant to be a statement against ultra-nationalism and ethnic cleansing. In fact, it is ultra-nationalists in the Chinese military who attempt to overthrow the government in TITANIUM RAIN.”

Until now, Archaia Entertainment printed most of its books through China, an arrangement the publisher has had to reconsider. Clearly China's cheap manufacturing costs do come at a hidden price. Censorship.

Controversy over TITANIUM RAIN's publication may have stemmed from a sequence of pages in the book which show events leading up to a Chinese civil war. A sneak preview of those pages is available here.

Written and illustrated by the husband-and-wife team of Josh Finney (Batman, Star Trek: Enterprise) and Kat Rocha (Batman), Titanium Rain Vol. 1 (full color, 152 pages, 6.625” x 10.25” hardcover with dust jacket, $19.95, ISBN 1-932386-72-6) collects the first four chapters of the series. The story is set in the year 2031 and told from the point of view of US Air Force pilot Alec Killian, who is forced to shed some of his humanity in exchange for biotech and machine when a civil war in China spirals into a global conflict.


There's a fascinating article about author Josh Finney and some of his reasons for writing Titanium Rain over at comicrelated.com while everything you want to know about the Titanium Rain story can be found at the official website and blog. My many, many (!) previous posts about the book can be found here.

I really can't remember looking forward to a book's publication more than I have done with this hardcover collection. At times it's felt like 'soon' would never come, but Josh, Kat and publisher Archaia Entertainment have been superb about keeping fans informed all through the delays, so I for one haven't minded waiting.

Now, so long as this ash-cloud that's affecting comic-book deliveries to England - and beyond - stays away, I can finally get my copy - all good things come to he who waits.