I’m sorry, Corpse Kid. I wanted Goodbye, Crestfallen! to be out in time for Christmas, too, but it’s just not going to happen. In fact, it turns out the book won’t even be out on the shelves until late January. Ish.

So no new Serenity Rose book for Christmas this year.

What’s that, Corpse Kid? You want to know what went wrong? Well, it’s complicated… It’s a COLOR book this time, y’see, and a color book means working with a new printer in China, and working with a printer in China means shipping via boat across the Pacific, and shipping via boat across the- Yeah, you’re already glazing over a bit there, aren’t you? It’s okay, I don’t really get it, either. It’s just COMPLICATED, right?

What I DO know, however, from this ADVANCE COPY sitting right here in front of me right now, is that the final book will be ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS. SLG has done a tremendous job in putting this one together, and I honestly couldn’t be happier. The colors are stunning, the tones are perfect, all the detail is crystal clear, and the binding -because I know you’ve been wondering- appears STURDY ENOUGH TO WITHSTAND THE FURY OF A LUMBERJACK. (Provided said lumberjack expresses his fury by re-reading comic book compilations, in a normal manner, every few weeks for a reasonable number of years.)

The thing is NICE, Corpse Kid. Very much worth the extra wait. (Now please call off the Halloween Town invasion of China. The Ghost Festival does not need any “gothing up” today, thank you.)

For the rest of you guys…

I’m really sorry about the delay… I know a lot of you were hoping to give someone the book as a gift this year, so this really sucks. One day I will have my own personal armada of ocean-going comic-delivery warships, but, sadly, that day has not yet arrived.

But I CAN offer you this tiny thing:

SEND ME AN E-MAIL, and I’ll put your name on the list to get a SIGNED copy of SR Vol. 2 as soon as they arrive here in the U.S…. And I’ll even include a little goblin sketch with every book. The price will be $19.95 (cover price), plus shipping… but we won’t worry about that until the books are actually here. (And yeah, all you guys outside the U.S. are eligible.)

After you’ve contacted me, I’ll send you a link to a higher-res version of the image above (300 dpi TIF file, 5 x 7.66″) so that you can print it out and, y’know, put it in a card, tuck it in with another gift, whatever you need.

Does that sound okay? I know it’s not quite the same thing as a real, live book, but it’s SOME thing, right? And like I was telling the Corpse Kid up there… all this extra hassle for color printing will most DEFINITELY be worth it come January. (Trust me.)

“See how I transform this old rat inTO a most deLIGHTful hat!”

SERENITY@HEARTSHAPEDSKULL.COM

Happy Holidays!