Custom bound Valiant books just came in

[Syslops]

First off, big thanks to IMJ on these boards. Months ago, he sold me the singles needed to do this.

Up first is Unity. I put a lot of work into photoshopping the cover. I included a lot of extras at the end, like stuff from the original trades and box set.
https://imgur.com/gallery/cFAFigd" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Next is Deathmate. Yes, I did a custom bind of it. Some of you may remember my first post on these boards a little while back was what I called the deciphered reading order of Deathmate. Well, here it is. Probably the only one that will ever exist.
https://imgur.com/gallery/Hmv5Jts" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

And last, Chaos Effect. I don’t love the covers as much as the other two but I also couldn’t find much to work with.
https://imgur.com/gallery/4eu8iIy" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If anyone is interested, I also have some other bound books.

The Empy Zone: The early work of Jason Shawn Alexander.
https://imgur.com/gallery/4FxBcyS" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Prophet Classic volumes 1 & 2. Collecting every appearance from the 90s up until the Brandon Graham series (which I collected and is in another link).
https://imgur.com/gallery/zErEX9L" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
https://imgur.com/gallery/uwbYDeo" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

My first group from last year. The Brandon Graham Prophet series, Cable/Soldier X, X-Statix, Grant Morrison’s New X-Men, Ed Brubaker’s Catwoman, and Bruce Jones’ Incredible Hulk.
https://imgur.com/gallery/igczS" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[greg]

These are very nice!

Who are you using? Those glossy full color hardcovers are super professional for a "fan project".

[Syslops]

These are very nice!

Who are you using? Those glossy full color hardcovers are super professional for a "fan project".

Houchen Bindery. They’re awesome. Takes about 2-3 months door to door.

[David_Cody]

Those are very impressive.

[aj583]

They look amazing! Jealous. Nice work.


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[jmatt]

Beautiful!

[kinggirlfriend]

Beautiful books!

[Jrosen]

These are very nice!

Who are you using? Those glossy full color hardcovers are super professional for a "fan project".

Houchen Bindery. They’re awesome. Takes about 2-3 months door to door.

I'm a huge fan of Toughen Bindery. They did my VEI books.

[TheFerg714]

Oh my god, so *SQUEE* cool! Kudos!

Question for the VH1 fans: How is Chaos Effect? I'm just kind of realizing that I've never really heard anything about it.

[mkb28]

Well done! Houchen is the company I used for all my bound books too.

[Jrosen]

Where was the unity afterward and timeline published? Did you make those yourself?

[Syslops]

Where was the unity afterward and timeline published? Did you make those yourself?

Apparently those were in the tpb box set. I found a download of it online and those were at the end.

[Zhuge1]

These are very impressive. Well done!

[The Dirt Gang]

Super dope!

Love those Prophet (Graham's run) front and back covers. Very well done, sir!

[Syslops]

Oh my god, so *SQUEE* cool! Kudos!

Question for the VH1 fans: How is Chaos Effect? I'm just kind of realizing that I've never really heard anything about it.

I really enjoyed Chaos Effect. I had never read it before but the same board member here that sold me the Unity issues also sold me Chaos Effect, so I went ahead and bound it. It's not as tight of a crossover as Unity, sometimes it would take a little bit for me to figure out how a plotline from an issue was going to actually connect to the overall story. Towards the end there were these sort of "mini story arcs" that would all tie together within themselves and then at the end you'd see them connect to the bigger picture. Some ups and downs but it's definitely worth reading. I read Unity, Deathmate, and Chaos Effect all in a row over the course of a few weeks and that was really rewarding. Seeing things from Chaos Effect call back to Unity, which would have been 2-3 years earlier in real time, was really cool. They all 3 share the common themes of time travel and big world ending events. When I finished Chaos Effect part of me really wanted to keep reading more but another part feels like I have a good ending for my time spent in the original Valiant Universe.

[1st Among Equals]

I really wish they explained how the characters made it back into their timelines. Unless you are to assume that they are sent back into their proper places once Solar ends Unity.

[possumgrease]

Wow. These are incredible.

[jmatt]

I really enjoyed Chaos Effect.

I liked it, too. I have a pair of Alpha Reds I bought off KnobRow, not sure if they're worth slabbing. Great condition as I recall, but not 9.8s.

[Syslops]

I really wish they explained how the characters made it back into their timelines. Unless you are to assume that they are sent back into their proper places once Solar ends Unity.

That’s pretty much it. Like in Shadowman, he makes his way outside the tree that he went under to enter the lost land and the people waiting for him say he had only been gone a few seconds. As if everything happened completely outside of normal time.

[possumgrease]

This may not be the best place to pose this question, but maybe it will draw the attention of those who know how to bind books:

I'm finally going to take the plunge and put together a custom Defiant set.

1) Do tpbs and regular issues bind well together? If so, I can use the tpb to get Plasm 0. I'm looking at the Houchen wesite and it says it works, but I wonder how it affect page turning, gutter loss, etc.?

2) Any suggestions on how to handle the issues where there are only pdfs available online (Glory 0, Good Guys 1/2 and Dark Dominion 0)?

Thanks in advance for any assistance.

[Jrosen]

I've never bound tpbs and floppies together, but I would imagine that it would be fine.

I've printed single pages on photo paper to include in my binds, but I've never tried printing a whole book. I don't know what paper you would have to use, but I don't think you'd want to use photo paper. It would be really expensive and stiff.

[Oxmyx]

.

Next is Deathmate.

Wow. Amazing quality. Well done! It is only sad you can't sell copies

On your link you say you actually did like it. I want you to know I did too, so far. I haven't read all of it.

I'm kinda removed from all the negative associations. They're just a story that's confusing but keeps me interested.

It feels big.

I'm looking forward to trying out your reading order on my complete read, now that I have all the parts.

But question...is the material in the previews not in the regular issues? Do I need those too?

[mkb28]

This may not be the best place to pose this question, but maybe it will draw the attention of those who know how to bind books:

I'm finally going to take the plunge and put together a custom Defiant set.

1) Do tpbs and regular issues bind well together? If so, I can use the tpb to get Plasm 0. I'm looking at the Houchen wesite and it says it works, but I wonder how it affect page turning, gutter loss, etc.?

2) Any suggestions on how to handle the issues where there are only pdfs available online (Glory 0, Good Guys 1/2 and Dark Dominion 0)?

Thanks in advance for any assistance.

Looking at the Houchen website, the DFAB method is recommended for combining TPB’s and comics. They talk about the book lying flat and gutter loss here:

http://www.houchenbindery.com/comic-boo ... tions-faq/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I do remember talking with them about combining trades and comics and they said they do it all the time. I will double check all of my custom bound HC’s to see if I ever combined a trade with the comics.

Edit update: I checked my Green Arrow custom HC’s and “The Longbow Hunters” series was very similar to a TPB format with the thick card stock covers. There is no gutter loss in the book, but it does not lay flat due to the card stock covers. I think you will be fine.

Good luck!

Michael