DU binding projects

[leonmallett]

I am becoming less and less a fan of dragging books out of comic boxes then bags with boards for re=reading. I prefer re-reading in collected editions, which is why I have so many tpbs and HCs that duplicate single issues that I have.

Late last year I started my first binding project, and despite my preface there, oddly enough issues that I had but were lost/stolen. I was a huge Stormwatch fan in the 90s and have the Ellis HCs that DC put out, but I wanted the stuff running up to then. Which led to my first binding project - there will be two more volumes of SW to take me up to the Ellis-Raney stuff.

Now that I think I have mastered the mechanics of it, the next five sets I will be submitting reflect my fondness for DUs:
- 1963
- Shadow Cabinet
- Sludge
- Rune (first of two volumes)
- Wrath

If anyone else here binds DUs I would be happy to discuss and exchange ideas.

[aj583]

Cool! Put up a photo of your SW hardcover if you can. Would love to see it. I was a fan back in the day as well. Wasn’t Booth an artist on that book? I used to love his Backlash design..


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[leonmallett]

Cool! Put up a photo of your SW hardcover if you can. Would love to see it. I was a fan back in the day as well. Wasn’t Booth an artist on that book? I used to love his Backlash design..


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[Chiclo]

I am in equal parts intrigued and horrified.

[leonmallett]

I am in equal parts intrigued and horrified.

I get that; not for everyone for sure, but will make re-reading easier for me.

[Chiclo]

I am in equal parts intrigued and horrified.

I get that; not for everyone for sure, but will make re-reading easier for me.

On an intellectual, academic level, I certainly can appreciate the practicality of making hardcovers that are easier to store and easier to read and enjoy, which is why we collect comics in the first place, right? Most DU books aren’t worth the paper they are printed on and when you consider the logistics of storage an reading, these HCs are a very attractive option while destroying very little collector value.

But on a lower, visceral level, I am appalled at the destruction on the comics. The academic level is uncomfortable with this gut reaction because it implies that I might not possess my collection so much as it possesses me. That I am a curator and preserver of worthless dross but I cannot or should not free myself of the burden of keeping it all.

This brings to mind a thread 10+ years ago wherein one of the old timers (depluto? Jedi?) destroyed a Turok 1 and he said that the process was very therapeutic and was a good reminder of what the limits of what comics really are.

[leonmallett]

I am in equal parts intrigued and horrified.

I get that; not for everyone for sure, but will make re-reading easier for me.

On an intellectual, academic level, I certainly can appreciate the practicality of making hardcovers that are easier to store and easier to read and enjoy, which is why we collect comics in the first place, right? Most DU books aren’t worth the paper they are printed on and when you consider the logistics of storage an reading, these HCs are a very attractive option while destroying very little collector value.

But on a lower, visceral level, I am appalled at the destruction on the comics. The academic level is uncomfortable with this gut reaction because it implies that I might not possess my collection so much as it possesses me. That I am a curator and preserver of worthless dross but I cannot or should not free myself of the burden of keeping it all.

This brings to mind a thread 10+ years ago wherein one of the old timers (depluto? Jedi?) destroyed a Turok 1 and he said that the process was very therapeutic and was a good reminder of what the limits of what comics really are.

I totally get the destructive nature of these projects, which on some level feels almost sacrilegious, and I think a few years ago I would have been with you. Comic books by and large from the era I am focusing on have little intrinsic value like you say, but they are part of my history, yet once i started I have had no reservations, gleefully pulling runs together to be sent off.

I am not sure whether I am going through a really nostalgic phase, or whether putting a couple of dozen short boxes into storage recently has triggered a thought that I want to read this stuff again, and that shut away in boxes I am less inclined to do that. I want to see fewer short boxes ultimately, and as my wife and I are planning to move, and a new hobby-cave may result from that, I have a vison of shelves of my own binds.

It is also becoming something of a hobby for me; making issue lists for volumes and cleaning up logo images from the 90s, plus scouting usable artwork for the covers. The issue list thing is like a hole rabbit hole journey of itself: for example I decided that Stormwatch #25 will be in both volume 1 and volume 2, because of when it was published (after 10) and where it slots into the reading order. I feel like I am curating my own section of my collected comics reading library, and I do love me some hardcovers! Then there is the fact that i am not making 25 issue omnibuses as many do, preferring something a little easier to read while relaxing in bed or on the sofa reading, and gain that feels even more like I am curating my own take on these books.

I am not sure why, but I am leaning to depluto being responsible for the Turok destruction - I'm surprised it wasn't a short box of them!

[aj583]

Cool! Put up a photo of your SW hardcover if you can. Would love to see it. I was a fan back in the day as well. Wasn’t Booth an artist on that book? I used to love his Backlash design..


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Nice work! Looks great.


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[leonmallett]

...
Nice work! Looks great.


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Cheers; I will learn as I go for sure, e.g. in hindsight I wish I had put the Wildtsorm logo at the top of the spine. thinking about offsetting cover art more etc.

[aj583]

I don’t mind the clean spine look at all. Love the all black. Think this looks pretty solid.

I’d love to do something like this for my Harbinger V1 floppies. I know folks on this board have done great bindings. Wish there was some way to share binding files and printers to mass produce the best looking formats. Assume it is a ton of work.


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[leonmallett]

I don’t mind the clean spine look at all. Love the all black. Think this looks pretty solid.

I’d love to do something like this for my Harbinger V1 floppies. I know folks on this board have done great bindings. Wish there was some way to share binding files and printers to mass produce the best looking formats. Assume it is a ton of work.


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Thanks.

Not as much as you may imagine; cleaning up logos has taken a couple of hours at a time, plus layout etc. Non-graphics covers can mitigate that, and there are options to have die stamps made etc, which can be used across multiple volumes.

[leonmallett]

My first full batch of binds (so binds #2 to #7 in all):
1963
freedom force
Shadow Cabinet
Rune
Sludge
Wrath

[caxiotis]

Looking good!

[leonmallett]

Looking good!

Thanks caxiotis.

Coming up I will be batching the following, in no particular order:

Ruse (CrossGen; two volumes)
Black Hood (Impact Comics)
The Fly (Impact Comics)
Godwheel (Ultraverse; including prelude etc.)
Route 666 (Crossgen)
Codename Strykeforce vol 1 (Image)
The Solution (Ultraverse)
Freex (Ultraverse)
Warstrike (Ultraverse)