The collected edition of The Autumnal, from The Autumnal’s chances of selling well on Amazon.
Vault Comics was founded in 2016 and has established a reputation for publishing ground-breaking and challenging comics, by both established and up-and-coming talent. Vault’s offerings range from quirky superheroes, such as The Blue Flame, to horror titles such as I Walk With Monsters. In late 2020, Vault began publishing The Autumnal, an eight-issue mini-series written by Daniel Kraus, with art by Chris Shehan, colors by Jason Wordie, and letters by Jim Campbell. The Autumnal was highly acclaimed by critics, and earlier this week, Vault released the collected edition for sale in print and digital formats; while the trade is available for sale at all major retailers, both Vault’s Publisher and writer Kraus have itted to problems with the book on Amazon.
In a Tweet Tuesday morning, Vault Comics was not allowed to promote it on the site, which he equated to as “not being there at all.” Readers searching for The Autumnal on Amazon will see the book listed in the search results, but the cover is not shown, and they must click on the listing to actually see the controversial cover.
The cover to The Autumnal trade shows a young woman wearing a crown of thorns, floating in water just up to her chin. Leaves are in the water, and something is coming out of her left eye. It is a striking and attention-grabbing cover—but shoppers on Amazon may never see it. Amazon’s move to censor the book is strange, particularly in light of other, far more questionable content for sale on the site—a fact pointed out by a reader on Wassel’s Twitter thread. Amazon dictating what can and cannot be sold on their site due to nebulous and arbitrary “standards” not only stifles freedom of expression but deprives creators of their livelihood.
As of this writing, Amazon has still not shown the full cover for the collected edition of Vault Comics’ The Autumnal, a cover so terrifying they are refusing to help market the book.
Next: Werewolves and Gangsters Combine in Vault's Lunar Room
Source: @DanielDKraus
Source: @DamianWassel
