Who do you use for comic/magazine binding?20880
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 Not trying to be an ass since February 12, 2020.
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HulkSmash private msg quote post Address this user | |
| I have a couple series I’d like to have bound. One is the MAX series Punisher that I’d like bound in its individual story arcs. It’s a good read and would save space as bound copies. Who do you have experience with for bound copies and (1) what has been the long term quality of their work? (2) what type of binding do you like or is most durable? (DFAB, PUR, oversew, smith sewn, etc) (3) do you prefer rounding or a flat spine and why? Given the types of binding recommended to only be used for one or the other (4) have you had issues with trimming for rounding cutting into panels of the most outer books on larger volumes or is it even possibility? |
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 COLLECTOR
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dielinfinite private msg quote post Address this user | |
| I’ve done quite a few bound books through Houchen Bindery but the most recent was a few years ago and it seems they’ve been bought by a larger company though still offer Comic Book Binding. The first ones I did were these simple case wrap hardcovers for some cousins’ Christmas presents. I think they stopped offering the illustrated end-sheets you see on the Wolverine book. I should note that while they do offer some graphic design services, I handled it myself on all the books shown here. Also, I try to use TPBs as my source whenever possible. Mostly because I don’t have to worry about ad pages but also because they’re typically nicer paper quality and sometimes come with little bonus features like variant cover galleries, concept art, etch that can be added at the end of the book. When a trade is not available I’ll use the regular comic, usually with back covers and ad pages removed. I also tend to print out custom table of contents and in some cases collect features and art from elsewhere and have it printed and included.     After that I had bound the remaining Marvel Knights Punisher Run, complete with die stamping and dust jackets to most closely match the official releases. Unfortunately the official releases (top three books in the picture below) are slightly larger but they seem pretty close   I subsequently collected the Marvel Knights Daredevil and Elektra runs in a similar fashion   These are three omnibus-style collections collecting the first few Black Widow series, Garth Ennis’ Nick Fury series, and all the original The End one-shots and miniseries (approx 40 issues) by Marvel   I collected the Robocop: Last Stand mini-series so I could have all of Frank Miller’s Robocop in hardcover   My most involved set was this Fables collection I had made for a year’s worth of my best friend’s gifts. This one included having custom die stamps manufactured and each book having different colored marbling. The only thing I really cheaped out on was going with bonded leather instead of genuine leather for the partial binding. The six books all spell out FABLES when placed together. Each book was about $150 at the time but the rest of the books here were much cheaper.    The last books I’ve done were these two collecting the Marvel vs DC/Amalgam/Access events      |
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 I'm a #2.
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BigRedOne1944 private msg quote post Address this user | |
| Wow! Those are some seriously cool book! |
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COLLECTOR
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dielinfinite private msg quote post Address this user | |
| Now, to answer your questions: 1) I have been very happy with their work overall. Some of these books are pushing a decade old at this point and the worst I’m seeing is maybe some slight issues with the matte laminating on the omnibus books but this might be normal and just be more visible due to the matte finish i stead of gloss.  Like I said though, they seem to have changed owners since I’ve last used them so I can’t say for certain if everything is the same, service and quality-wise. 2)Over the course of these books I’ve used DFAB, Smyth Sewn, and I think oversewn and they’ve all performed very well. Each method has its pros and cons and it depends on what you’re binding. PUR adhesive binding I think cannot be used with glossy pages so I couldn’t use it on moderns and tpb. Smyth sewn books use the existing staple holes which works great unless you remove back covers, ad pages, etc. Oversew is fairly versatile but it uses up more space in the gutter. The two sewing options are also more labor intensive and thus more expensive. DFAB is a good all-around choice that balances versatility and price. 3) I tend to leave the spines flat unless I’m trying to match another book or if I want that classic old book look, like with the Fables set. No particular reason but I do believe most retail hardcover collections are flat except for large omnibuses. 4) Trimming isn’t used exclusively for rounding. The top or bottoms of the text blocks will probably need to be trimmed if the books are not all the same size. I found a pretty large variation in book heights even in books from the same era. The outer edge trimming is optional. Just like with book heights, book widths can have some decent variation. If you leave it untrimmed you can have the outer edges looking ragged while trimming them will give you a nice even edge  For the most part the gutters and the edges have survived fairly well as far as text and content goes. I have had some text bubbles at the extreme edges or in the gutters get cut off or lost but it is rare. If there is text along the spine in a two-page spread, you’ll almost certainly lose a little |
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COLLECTOR
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dielinfinite private msg quote post Address this user | |
| @BigRedOne1944 Thank you! | ||
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Not trying to be an ass since February 12, 2020.
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HulkSmash private msg quote post Address this user | |
| @dielinfinite thank you all the info! | ||
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