Comic Binding

NuMarvel

I'm just wondering if anyone here gets their comics professionally bound in Ireland? I've seen some examples on-line of US companies and the results look really well.





I'm thinking of getting a few runs bound like this, but I'd be interested to hear if anyone else has done it, what your experiences were, etc.

Fysh

I looked into it a while ago, but most of the US binding companies are geared more to binding big runs (Absolute/Masterworks edition type thing) than the stuff I'd like (6-12 issues or so, most of it stuff that was never collected in trade). They're also not cheap, though you do get something very pretty afterwards.

If you're feeling brave and don't mind buying some random old back issues for trial runs, you could buy yourself a thermal binder and experiment with doing it yourself. Thermal binders are regularly available on ebay for as little as £20 or so, though getting the right type of glue for them may prove a bigger challenge.

NuMarvel

Thanks Fysh. I'm going to try one or two of the professional binders around town first (Dublin), but if they don't work out, I'll give your suggestion a shot. At least then I'd have a justification for the smell of glue coming from my place .

Fysh

Oh, there's no doubt that you'll get a much better end result in a short time from a professional binder. Problem is that you'll be shelling out quite a lot for the privilege. Let us know how you get on either way though, I'm sure this kind of thing is only going to get more popular over time.

ztoical

Fysh wrote: »

Oh, there's no doubt that you'll get a much better end result in a short time from a professional binder. Problem is that you'll be shelling out quite a lot for the privilege. Let us know how you get on either way though, I'm sure this kind of thing is only going to get more popular over time.

I'd be curious to see what the prices are as book binders who bind thesis papers for masters students charge around 35 to 40 per book but that includes printing all the pages from a pdf file, in this case the pages are all ready to go and your not looking for a quick turn around time like a student would be so you may be able to get a good price if you go in and explain exactly what you want.

L1m1tless

They look great. Did you get sorted? show us some pics if you did please!

NuMarvel

I finally got around to popping into the Thesis Centre in Dublin, and prices would start at €35. For that price, I could get about 24/26 issues into one volume. I was hoping to get slightly smaller volumes of about 18 issues per book, but the price would be the same. On the plus side, the woman I spoke to said that the volumes would open out fairly flat, so there would be very minimal loss of artwork, expecially for double page spreads.

For an additional cost, they could also create a specific die of the publisher logo to imprint on the volumes. It would cost about €40/€50 to set it up, but it would be a once off cost and could be used on any future bindings.

I'll have a look around to see if I can find anything cheaper. From looking at the samples of other (non-comic) bindings in the Thesis Centre, it looks like a very professional job, but I was hoping for something smaller and cheaper.