In the actual non-hypothetical world, he's going with the even-more-sensible choice of "neither."

Hmm.

I'll see if I can find an html code that allows it.

I don’t care much either way, but if I was a creator on the book I’d be furious (unless I was told up-front in which case I just wouldn’t be involved)

The Beat has been covering this pretty extensively, and from what I can gather everyone knew how this was going to work out from the start. It should also be noted that the high cost of the book isn't markup, it's about the production values, the size of the print run, the talent involved, etc. If I remember right the size of the book is the biggest factor.

One big book or 40 issues of the Secret Invasion crossover. I know which choice I’d make. ‘Nuff said.

Me too. Kramer's Ergot. Really, it all comes down to what your budget is and what you like to read.

I AM almost certainly gonna try to get it through interlibrary loan, though.

Am hoping to do the same thing. Don't have the cash for the book itself, but would like to sit down and read through should. Given the size and production values it should be gorgeous.

And completely off topic: is there a way to attribute a quote to someone via the html tags? My html skills are not good, and can't quite figure it out.

Only in comics do we even have this conversation. Anyone thinks booksellers complain when expensive coffee-table vanity books come out? No, they just take the money and smile.

I dunno. The conversation about "a book being too expensive in its first printing" is one I've heard from several writer friends of mine. I'm not sure how that figures into coffee-table, almost-an-artifact kinds of books. (Lately I've taken something of an interest in actual rare-book collecting, even though we don't have the money to pursue it seriously, I do read the trade 'zines and such.)

To me the nutty thing about this conversation in comics is that fans are so willing to pay more for only a piece of the completed book. Look how many shelled out for Countdown's entire run, a total of $155.48. That strikes me as a far worse deal than a classy art-comics hardcover for $125.

I mean, I'm not pissed off it exists. I'm fine with the IDEA of comic book as more expensive art object. You can certainly drop 125 bones on a limited edition print of a work by a major artist. But I'm not takin' out a damn mortgage to buy a comic, personally. (And I did buy the last couple issues.)

I wish 'em luck, but I doubt there'll be that many takers. Sure, more publicity is good, but I'd figure that the majority of us who are in the market for this kinda project (Including me) are already aware of it's existence. Talking about a book like this before an audience of 10,000 Flash fans ain't gonna move many copies.