Freed from IndyPlanet!

Well, hell.  I guess it was worth giving them a seventh chance (give or take).

About two years ago, I wrote a few posts with a common theme; my difficulty in ordering from IndyPlanet, and my inability to get any sort of sort of response from them towards solving that problem.  Unless an alternate method was ironed out with the publishers, I was unable to support them and from their perspective, the purpose of a print-on-demand service is pretty well defeated if they have to mail the book to me themselves.

But after seeing that IndyPlanet had upgraded their website recently, I thought I would give them another try.  And it looks (fingers optimistically crossed) as though my purchase worked.  Shipping charges were more reasonable than I expected, no less. I won't believe it until my books are on hand, but there's promise there.

I only made a small order to start with; something of a test run.  I was finally able to order Group of Seven #1, one of the books that had remained elusive over the past two years or so.  To avoid repeating myself, I won't go into greater detail about the book, just click on the tag under "characters / titles" at right to be taken to previous posts about that team.

From Red Leaf I selected All-Canadian Comics #1 and Red Leaf Presents #1.  I have both books in pdf format but wanted the print versions to display, or to bring to my TSOG Fortress of Solitude (where I neither have, or want, an internet connection).  And of course to continue to show a little support towards the company that has been quite kind and generous to me.

Combining the subjects of Red Leaf specifically and tying up loose ends generally, I'd like to point out that issue #7 of their flagship title, The Leaf, is available digitally (and sports a rather sweet cover, I might add, by Lasalle Québec's Cesare Tatarelli).

The book is particularly noteworthy for the debut Kung Fu Canuck, a character first mentioned here in July of last year. Also, the story takes place in Vancouver, a change from the Leaf's usual base of operations of Toronto.  Here's a look at some of the interior art by Carl Emblazado and Lancelot Catan.

"Man of red".  I dig that.  :-)

So thank you again to those who went out of their way to make their books available to me over the past couple of years while IndyPlanet sorted their stuff out (it wouldn't surprise me if the fix was simply coincidental with their site upgrade as their customer service was non-existent).  In addition to Red Leaf, that group includes the folks at Argo Comics (for copies of Argo 5 and their anthology book) and Two Gargoyles (for the first three issues of Thunder, which I thought were a blast)  It may seem like the very thing that you would expect a publisher to do; get books out in readers' hands, but I can tell you from personal experience that not everyone can be bothered.  Go figure.

I should also mention Sebastian Piccione of Sunday Knight Comics.  We were working out a method by which I might be able to get his Allied Forces book but in the end determined that I would wait until more issues are available before proceeding to save on shipping.  That may no longer be necessary if IndyPlanet comes through for me.