Bound books

Steve Topper · Post by **Steve Topper** » Sat Feb 20, 2010 8:52 pm

A couple of UK binders that I'm aware of:

Blissett Bookbinders,
Roslin Road,
London W3 8DH
United Kingdom
e-mail: admin@blissetts.com

Riley Dunn & Wilson Ltd.
Red Doles Lane
Leeds Road
Huddersfield
West Yorkshie
HD2 1YE
Tel: #44 (0) 1484 534323 Fax: #44 (0) 1484 435048
E-mail: enquiry@rdw.co.uk
Internet: www.rdw.co.uk

Riley Dunn & Wilson Ltd.
Almond Court
Falkirk
Stirlingshire
FK2 9HT
Tel: #44 (0) 1324 621591
Fax: #44 (0) 1324 508611

I've seen photos of work from both Blissetts and Riley Dunn and they look great. Never used them personally as I'm in the US, but I like what I've seen

leonmallett · Post by **leonmallett** » Sun Feb 21, 2010 4:04 pm

Flipping heck Steve - great work there; how do you know about these guys then?

tarheelmarine · Post by **tarheelmarine** » Sun Feb 21, 2010 7:02 pm

xodacia81 wrote:
schnuth wrote:I got my second order back from Library Binding today. Here's a quick photo with my phone. The Morituri isn't Valiant and it's actually dark blue but it looks black in the photo.

These came out really nice again. They took a little longer because they were closed down for Xmas, but that gave me more time to get my next binds together. Can you say addicted boys and girls?
I've read the first few issues of Morituri. It was actually kind of cool.

Very sharp Magnus books. The blue letter lettering really pops.

Steve Topper · Post by **Steve Topper** » Sun Feb 21, 2010 7:13 pm

leonmallett wrote:Flipping heck Steve - great work there; how do you know about these guys then?

I frequent the marvelmasterworks.com message boards and they have a forum dedicated to binding comics. Quite a few posters on that board are from the UK and have shown pictures of the work from those particular binders. Of note are posters named GaryUK and Kenners. Both have been showing pictures of their bound volumes by British binders. GaryUK uses Riley Dunn and Kenners uses Hollingworth & Moss in Leeds, U.K (no address supplied).

http://marvelmasterworksfansite.yuku.co ... 913?page=1

Also, there is a listing of different binders throughout the world the posters are recommending.

http://marvelmasterworksfansite.yuku.com/topic/869

Honestly, if I lived in the UK, Riley Dunn would be getting all of my binding projects -- they look THAT good.

Phantom.. · Post by **Phantom..** » Mon Feb 22, 2010 2:21 am

leonmallett wrote:I se Phantom is looking to DIY his bindings, but I am a lazy so and so, so have any of the UK board members got any experience with getting comic books bound?

I am seeking recommended UK binders, and tips about how to get all the details like matched logo, the cool spine stuff etc.

I am in Cambridge, so lots of thesis binding.

All the local bookbinders hand bind the books. So for comics they would use each individual one as a section, meaning you see more of the middle section of a splash page ( if their is one).

Included in the £30 is obviously binding the book, but also
head and tail bands
ribbons
Any writting you want on the spine.

Just consider what you get for the price, as other binders charge extra for those things.

dholden007 · Post by **dholden007** » Mon Mar 08, 2010 7:33 pm

I am starting to bind my collection as well, some of these look fantastic. Newbie questions:
How do you take the double sided ads/backcover off? Is it better to do that? Just rip them off doesn't that mess up the stapes. Does it affect the binding at all.
What do you do with the flip issues like Magnus 5-8 and Eternal Warrior/Archer & Armstrong etc.
What do you do with the double sided Chromium covers like X-O #0
Fold them over?

IanAlexavier · Post by **IanAlexavier** » Mon Mar 08, 2010 10:03 pm

dholden007 wrote:I am starting to bind my collection as well, some of these look fantastic. Newbie questions:
How do you take the double sided ads/backcover off? Is it better to do that? Just rip them off doesn't that mess up the stapes. Does it affect the binding at all.
What do you do with the flip issues like Magnus 5-8 and Eternal Warrior/Archer & Armstrong etc.
What do you do with the double sided Chromium covers like X-O #0
Fold them over?

Welcome to binding

There is a bit of art to this... art.

I will let oyu know how I do my binds... everyone does them a little different.

The spine of the book gets destroyed in the production.. as well as the staples.

For double sided covers, I flip the backside so it is face to face with the front cover. Send it in that way and thats how it will be bound.

Personally, I take all of my double sided ads out with my Exacto Knife. Just slice down the page closes to the gutter. Unfortunately, VALIANT didnt double side all of their ads. I hope they do this in the future.

Magnus/Rai books. Yep, you guessed it, slice them down the middle. There is one book.. maybe issue 2? that you will need to copy one of the pages, you will see what I mean.

As far as taking off the back covers. I was using my Exacto to do this, but lately I just started ripping them off very carefully.

Have a plan on how you want to bind your stories. Some people do ONLY the issues from that title. Others include most/all of the issues where the story continues. A few small all of the titles together.. which I am doing for the 'future' books. I just finished laying out my Magnus/Rai #2. It will combine all of those books. Of course I have a Magnus 1 and a Rai 1 that are separate.. but Im sure you could combine those as well. I plan on a Magnus/Rai # 3 and #4 combined.

Titles like Geomancer and Psi Lords are so short, its nearly a waste to spend the cash to bind them. I did.. wish I hadnt. I wish I would have combined them with each other or some other title.

Which title do you want to bind first? let us know and we can let you know how we did ours.

Great to have you in the thread. Be sure to double check our maps.

Also be sure to copy some of the artwork at this site and add that to the end or beginning of your binds. Every bind is unique.

Lightning Strike · Post by **Lightning Strike** » Tue Mar 09, 2010 6:20 pm

IanAlexavier wrote:
dholden007 wrote:I am starting to bind my collection as well, some of these look fantastic. Newbie questions:
How do you take the double sided ads/backcover off? Is it better to do that? Just rip them off doesn't that mess up the stapes. Does it affect the binding at all.
What do you do with the flip issues like Magnus 5-8 and Eternal Warrior/Archer & Armstrong etc.
What do you do with the double sided Chromium covers like X-O #0
Fold them over?
Welcome to binding
There is a bit of art to this... art.
I will let oyu know how I do my binds... everyone does them a little different.

Binding is fun and when they are done and you get them back, they look fantastic!

Also, if you are going to bind, you may want to include some things. Some people, like myself, do table of contents pages which REALLY make your binds look amazing.

If you want me to post some pics of my books and ToC's, just let me know.

dholden007 · Post by **dholden007** » Tue Mar 09, 2010 7:34 pm

IanAlexavier wrote:
dholden007 wrote:I am starting to bind my collection as well, some of these look fantastic. Newbie questions:
How do you take the double sided ads/backcover off? Is it better to do that? Just rip them off doesn't that mess up the stapes. Does it affect the binding at all.
What do you do with the flip issues like Magnus 5-8 and Eternal Warrior/Archer & Armstrong etc.
What do you do with the double sided Chromium covers like X-O #0
Fold them over?
Welcome to binding
There is a bit of art to this... art.
I will let oyu know how I do my binds... everyone does them a little different.

The spine of the book gets destroyed in the production.. as well as the staples.

For double sided covers, I flip the backside so it is face to face with the front cover. Send it in that way and thats how it will be bound.

Personally, I take all of my double sided ads out with my Exacto Knife. Just slice down the page closes to the gutter. Unfortunately, VALIANT didnt double side all of their ads. I hope they do this in the future.

Magnus/Rai books. Yep, you guessed it, slice them down the middle. There is one book.. maybe issue 2? that you will need to copy one of the pages, you will see what I mean.

As far as taking off the back covers. I was using my Exacto to do this, but lately I just started ripping them off very carefully.

Have a plan on how you want to bind your stories. Some people do ONLY the issues from that title. Others include most/all of the issues where the story continues. A few small all of the titles together.. which I am doing for the 'future' books. I just finished laying out my Magnus/Rai #2. It will combine all of those books. Of course I have a Magnus 1 and a Rai 1 that are separate.. but Im sure you could combine those as well. I plan on a Magnus/Rai # 3 and #4 combined.

Titles like Geomancer and Psi Lords are so short, its nearly a waste to spend the cash to bind them. I did.. wish I hadnt. I wish I would have combined them with each other or some other title.

Which title do you want to bind first? let us know and we can let you know how we did ours.

Great to have you in the thread. Be sure to double check our maps.

Also be sure to copy some of the artwork at this site and add that to the end or beginning of your binds. Every bind is unique.

Thanks. I am really excited...plus I finally clear my boxes. I love seeing the completed collections here.

I actually started binding my comics- I sent 4 sets in last week to librarybinding (Bendis's Alias, Pulse, Frank Miller's Robocop- the 9 issue series from Avatar and Shadow Strikes 1-23). This was sort of a test, but I already regret some things like not taking off the back covers... at least for Alias and the Shadow The ads I don’t really mind as much.

As far as the Valiants I want to make sure I do it right. I have been reading all the Valiant universe mapping posts... but I am still indecisive. I am also not sure if I should buy the latter issues which I missed. I do have complete runs of Eternal Warrior, Shadowman, A & A. those are easy anyway. Magnus however could be done several ways I was thinking… Book I: 0-20 + Magnus/Nexus and Magnus Vs Predator and (Book II)- Magnus/ Rai - Malev War (Magnus Robot Fighter 21-30
Rai & the Future Force 9-11, and 15-23-but these would have alternate as the stories really continued into each other. Also this book would be huge! Would have to take the ads, back covers off.

Also Rai book I - Magnus Robot Fighter 5-8, and 25
Rai 0-8
Rai Companion…I actually have 2 copies of Magnus 5-8, should I still cut the books in half, I just don’t want the Rai hardcover to look so narrow compared to all the other sets.

dholden007 · Post by **dholden007** » Tue Mar 09, 2010 7:35 pm

Lightning Strike wrote:
IanAlexavier wrote:
dholden007 wrote:I am starting to bind my collection as well, some of these look fantastic. Newbie questions:
How do you take the double sided ads/backcover off? Is it better to do that? Just rip them off doesn't that mess up the stapes. Does it affect the binding at all.
What do you do with the flip issues like Magnus 5-8 and Eternal Warrior/Archer & Armstrong etc.
What do you do with the double sided Chromium covers like X-O #0
Fold them over?
Welcome to binding
There is a bit of art to this... art.
I will let oyu know how I do my binds... everyone does them a little different.

Binding is fun and when they are done and you get them back, they look fantastic!

Also, if you are going to bind, you may want to include some things. Some people, like myself, do table of contents pages which REALLY make your binds look amazing.

If you want me to post some pics of my books and ToC's, just let me know.

Yeah, Definitely would love to see the pics.

Steve Topper · Post by **Steve Topper** » Tue Mar 09, 2010 8:28 pm

I posted pics of my bound Valiant collection here

viewtopic.php?t=25002&highlight=

dholden007 · Post by **dholden007** » Tue Mar 09, 2010 8:33 pm

Steve Topper wrote:I posted pics of my bound Valiant collection here

viewtopic.php?t=25002&highlight=

Very Nice set! I saw those. Since you make your own dust jackets, you save money on not having to add additional dies and cover writing. ( I couldnt pass up the Shadow dies for spine and cover, but its going to add up.)

dhudson1 · Post by **dhudson1** » Tue Mar 09, 2010 8:36 pm

Maybe I will start a new trend. I am going to take my DC Archives and Marvel Masterworks, have covers printed and make floppies out of them.

Lightning Strike · Post by **Lightning Strike** » Tue Mar 09, 2010 9:15 pm

dholden007 wrote:
Lightning Strike wrote:
IanAlexavier wrote:
dholden007 wrote:I am starting to bind my collection as well, some of these look fantastic. Newbie questions:
How do you take the double sided ads/backcover off? Is it better to do that? Just rip them off doesn't that mess up the stapes. Does it affect the binding at all.
What do you do with the flip issues like Magnus 5-8 and Eternal Warrior/Archer & Armstrong etc.
What do you do with the double sided Chromium covers like X-O #0
Fold them over?
Welcome to binding
There is a bit of art to this... art.
I will let oyu know how I do my binds... everyone does them a little different.

Binding is fun and when they are done and you get them back, they look fantastic!

Also, if you are going to bind, you may want to include some things. Some people, like myself, do table of contents pages which REALLY make your binds look amazing.

If you want me to post some pics of my books and ToC's, just let me know.
Yeah, Definitely would love to see the pics.

IanAlexavier · Post by **IanAlexavier** » Tue Mar 09, 2010 9:25 pm

Great pics, LS!! I never thought of doing that at the beginning of the books.

I so want to do a JLA book!

MoonChild · Post by **MoonChild** » Wed Mar 10, 2010 1:17 am

Look Great Lightning, can't wait to share with you guys all my extra goodies in mine, once I get them bound lol, been on a photshop tear!

robb77 · Post by **robb77** » Wed Mar 10, 2010 1:28 pm

very cool

dholden007 · Post by **dholden007** » Wed Mar 10, 2010 8:28 pm

For the first Rai Book.... is it better to cut Magnus 5-8 in half or just leave the Magnus flip issues as is...I have multiple copies anyway...so it would include Magnus 5-8, Rai 0-8 & Rai companion… I just don’t want the Rai hardcover to look so narrow compared to all the other big bound books.

IanAlexavier · Post by **IanAlexavier** » Wed Mar 10, 2010 10:32 pm

dholden007 wrote:For the first Rai Book.... is it better to cut Magnus 5-8 in half or just leave the Magnus flip issues as is...I have multiple copies anyway...so it would include Magnus 5-8, Rai 0-8 & Rai companion… I just don’t want the Rai hardcover to look so narrow compared to all the other big bound books.

Im working on mine right now. Be sure to add the Unity 0 and 1, and the Rai 0 and Rai yearbook. It ends up being a nice size book. Also, be sure to print up some art from this site to add to the front or back or wherever

Steve Topper · Post by **Steve Topper** » Thu Mar 11, 2010 6:52 pm

dholden007 wrote:For the first Rai Book.... is it better to cut Magnus 5-8 in half or just leave the Magnus flip issues as is...I have multiple copies anyway...so it would include Magnus 5-8, Rai 0-8 & Rai companion… I just don’t want the Rai hardcover to look so narrow compared to all the other big bound books.

I cut mine and flipped the pages so that they read coherently. Personally, I hate rotating books while trying to read them.

IanAlexavier · Post by **IanAlexavier** » Thu Mar 11, 2010 7:13 pm

For the Rai book.. I didnt like having the first issue be Magnus...well, at least the first cover.. so I took a Rai 0 cover and have laid it on top of the first Magnus book. What are your ideas??

Phoenix8008 · Post by **Phoenix8008** » Fri Mar 12, 2010 9:48 am

Steve Topper wrote:
dholden007 wrote:For the first Rai Book.... is it better to cut Magnus 5-8 in half or just leave the Magnus flip issues as is...I have multiple copies anyway...so it would include Magnus 5-8, Rai 0-8 & Rai companion… I just don’t want the Rai hardcover to look so narrow compared to all the other big bound books.
I cut mine and flipped the pages so that they read coherently. Personally, I hate rotating books while trying to read them.

I wouldn't want to rotate my book around to read it either. I'll end up cutting and flipping them as well I suppose. Unless I get the TPB of it instead and use that in the binding.

Phoenix8008 · Post by **Phoenix8008** » Fri Mar 12, 2010 9:52 am

Another question for those that have bound books already: Has anyone tried removing the staples from the spine before sending them off for binding, and if so did you notice any less gutter loss in that book compared to others that still had the staples in them?

IanAlexavier · Post by **IanAlexavier** » Fri Mar 12, 2010 11:55 am

Phoenix8008 wrote:Another question for those that have bound books already: Has anyone tried removing the staples from the spine before sending them off for binding, and if so did you notice any less gutter loss in that book compared to others that still had the staples in them?

I have not done this. I would like to know if the results are significantly different.

Lightning Strike · Post by **Lightning Strike** » Fri Mar 12, 2010 1:14 pm

Phoenix8008 wrote:Another question for those that have bound books already: Has anyone tried removing the staples from the spine before sending them off for binding, and if so did you notice any less gutter loss in that book compared to others that still had the staples in them?

I don't. Library Binding trims (I think) 1/8" off the spine and then binds them. All I do is put my books in order (checking and rechecking) and add a ToC and send them in.