A reader gave me a hard time about a comic book review recently.

I deserved it. He was right.

The review for “American Gods” failed to mention the hard-covered collected edition didn’t contain a complete adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s best-selling novel. 

Like the Starz television show of the same name, the edition was more like Season 1 of the ongoing Dark Horse Comics ongoing series.

So, a person pays $30 for a prestige format book and doesn’t get the full story arc. Not a good surprise to discover on the final page.

This is rare with packaged collections. Most of them, even the less expensive trade paperback versions, contain a complete story arc or story arcs. So, a reader pays his money and gets a full storyline.

But there are occasions when a book collects some storyline that is so “epic,” or so long, the volume ends on a cliffhanger. The reader has to shell out more money to learn how the story arc ends.

Drop $25, $30 and in some cases more, a reader should expect to get the full story between those expensive covers. Again, they usually do but on the occasions when they don’t, well, they may feel cheated.

And rightfully so.

Granted, the “American Gods” comics edition is marked as Volume 1. For readers familiar with the novel that should serve as a warning that the whole story is not inside. Volume 1 does suggest there will be a Volume 2, after all. 

That said, I’ll try doing more than suggest in the future and mention whenever a prestige format book does not include the full story.