Mad Max Fury Road

At the beginning of the year there was plenty of movies I was looking forward to seeing at the cinema. Mad Max wasn't one of them but after reading so many positive comments I decided to go and see it with a mate.

Well it was enjoyable action packed nonsense. Very little plot got in the way of the set pieces but I expected that. Certainly not a wasted trip to the Showcase.

Varied new purchases

All-new Doop is an X-Static spin-off 5 issue mini-series released in 2014 which I picked-up cheap from ebay for £1.99 plus P&P. More than 50% less than the trade. Not read the X-Static omnibus yet but Doop was apparently a favourite character for readers.

Miracleman vol 3 is supposed to be a classic. Will definitely be reading these collections soon.

Scarlett Couture 1

I bought this from Forbidden Planet yesterday and although I'm pleased with it, it's not the edition I wanted.

Last Feb I ordered a signed varient cover version but yesterday I was emailed by FP to say they couldn't meet my order. This is what they said.

Dear Sir/Madam,
Thank you for ordering:
3305119 Scarlett Couture #1 (Forbidden Planet Variant) - SIGNED  QTY  1
Unfortunately we have had our order cut back by the supplier and we have now been informed that this item has now been discontinued and they will not be able to supply us with this product. The other two variants of this comic are still available to purchase, but please be aware that these are not signed copies.

Our apologies for the delay to informing you of this, we had hoped to complete this for you.

Regrettably this item on your order has been cancelled. Please be assured you’ve not been charged.

I’m sorry for any inconvenience caused by this cancellation.
Kind Regards,
Customer Service Team

I was a bit cross so I replied;

Hi,

Firstly, can I say that I have been very pleased when I have used FP mail order in the past. In fact, I placed a large order last Saturday.

So it is doubly disappointing to hear that you are not able to fulfil my order which I placed on 21 Feb. This was well in advance of the order cut-off date which corresponded to the date that the artist was signing at your store in London.

I know that plenty of copies of the FP variant edition were printed as I’ve see them in the Coventry store. I know this as I made a special trip to the store to buy a copy today (12/5) and there were copies of all the editions on sale. So I can’t accept the reason you have given that the order was cut-back as there were clearly plenty of copies printed.

I can only assume that insufficient copies were made available at the store on the evening of the signing. If so, this is a failure of planning/management as signed copies ordered online should have been available for the artist to sign and then put to one-side. I can also assume that at the very least all on-line orders made after mine have also not been fulfilled. That’s got to be a fair few disappointed customers.

I think myself and the other online customers deserve more than an apology and a cancellation of the order.

I think it’s fantastic that FP arrange signings etc. and it’s so frustrating that I’ve missed out on a signed edition of a new  and talented artist whose popularity is sure to grow.

Regards,

Chris Simpson

But today they have tried to fob me off with this;

Hi Chris

Thankyou for your email

Once again we are very sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused you. It seems that small shipments of the Forbidden planet variant of Scarlett Couture was dispatched to our stores around the country. We were then informed by our suppliers that the availability of the item was far more limited than previously suggested, and learned of this very shortly before the signing . 

I Hope this more detailed explanation helps, and if you have any further questions or feedback please dont hesitate to let us know.

Kind Regards,

Customer Service Team

 

It's clear that I'm not going to get any joy/ compensation for what I see as their mistake, but I've not lost out financially so I suppose there is nothing I can do.

Still well pissed!

I hope they don't make the same mistake with issues 2 and 3 which I've also pre-ordered from them.

Powers Bureau Vol 2

It's been a long time since I've read any Powers but when I do I'm intending to read as much as I can. So I'm trying to stay up-to-date. I suspect I'll re-read of the whole title when I get round to it.

Just got this volume and have pre-ordered the next but that's not due until Sept.

Age of Ultron

Watched this last weekend. Great film.

I think I will enjoy more on repeated viewings (there is no doubt I will be getting the blu-ray!) but I still thought it was great. I particularly enjoyed the team getting together in the first film but this film had the party so that balanced things out.