A few months ago, we announced The Groo Treasury, a $24.95 repackaging of old Groo stories by Sergio Aragonés and me. At the moment, the only copies that seem to be available have a startling price of $999.00 apiece on Amazon. That does not include an additional $3.99 for shipping. A third-party seller named "stevensbooks" of North Carolina is asking that much for each of the two copies they have, which are "used" and in "acceptable" condition.
This is an amazing price, not because they're asking so much for a used paperback but because they're asking that for a book that has not even been published yet. We've had a production delay and The Groo Treasury has never gone to press. When it does, there should be plenty of brand-new copies available for $25 or less.
I don't think this is a scam of any sort. Assuming "stevensbooks" is the Stevens Book Shop of Raleigh, North Carolina, they have a fine reputation as "one of the world's largest used Christian and theology bookstores." No one is dumb enough to order this book at that price…and if someone did, I'm sure the seller would quickly issue an apology and a refund. I mean, it's not like they can possibly deliver the item.
I only mention this because, first of all, I think it's a funny mistake. Also, I'm receiving e-mails from Groo fans wondering how they could have missed the book's release and wondering what's up. One wants to know if we're planning on reprinting it because he really wants a copy but isn't about to shell out a thousand cheeseburgers for a pristine copy, let alone a used one in "acceptable" shape. Hey, I wouldn't pay that either, fella. Not even if Sergio and Mark hand-delivered it to my door in full costume and performing an interpretive dance number. We do that for new material but never for reprints.
I've dispatched an e-mail to the bookseller on Amazon to try and clear this up. I shall report on what happens. And whenever The Groo Treasury goes to press, you'll read about it here.