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My First Book Binding Batch of 2008

I received this batch of bound volumes from Single Bound Studios last week.  It was my first order since David Banks formally established Single Bound Studios and I was pleased to see that he is running everything as smoothly and professionally as ever.  It had been nearly a year since my last binding job which was really a result of the fact that many of the volumes in this batch were a bit more complicated than the average job.  In this case, I had some easy ones (She Hulk 1-25) and some hard ones (X-men The Secret Years with 24 issues from 10 titles + some cover scans).  I've inserted photos of the books taken by David Banks below along with some commentary. 

Original X-Men Vols. 2-4

These books are each 25-issue volumes running from original X-Men 26-100, inclusive of the reprint years.  I am admittedly a nostalgic completist, so I felt compelled to include the reprint years, especially since some of those reprint issues were my first exposure to the original X-Men.  Many of the reprint books also have fantastic new covers by Gil Kane, so that's an added bonus.

X-Men The Secret Years Vol. 1

This volume, which includes all of the in-continuity appearances of the X-Men during the reprint years, has actually been in the works for at least three years.  It took me quite a while to research all of the X-Men appearances during those years and then assemble the run.  The "Secret Years" title is a reference to the evil Secret Empire plot that is something of a common thread throughout.

X-23 Vol. 1

I admit to being skeptical when Wolverine's teenage female clone appeared on the scene a few years ago, but I have really enjoyed this concept and the growth and development of X-23's back story and character.  This volume includes the NYX, X-23 and X-23: Target X limited series as well as X-23's appearances in the Uncanny X-Men, Marvel Team-Up and the adjectiveless X-Men.

Marvel Universe Vol. 1

Ah, good times.  I was recently reading a message board thread that wondered when the Marvel Universe was "perfect".  To me, it truly was perfect in the early 80s when you had a confluence of strong editorial direction driving both innovation and continuity as well as great creative teams on all of Marvel's flagship titles.  The Marvel Universe handbook is a fond reminder of those days.

Generations Vol. 1

This book assembles John Byrne's three Generations limited series runs plus the Captain America-Batman one-shot in chronological order from 1939 to 2925.  This job was definitely one of the more complex ones in this batch as Single Bound Studios had to remove the prestige stock covers from 9 comics and break up the Generations I and II issues in order to put them all in the right order.

She-Hulk Vol. 1

By contrast, this book was certainly the simplest one of the batch as it had no special instructions, no logo die, etc.  The volume includes the full run of She-Hulk nos. 1-25 from the original series, which I recently bought on eBay.  This series is up there with Dazzler as one of my fondest guilty pleasures from the 80s.  Next, I'm looking forward to starting on John Byrne's She-Hulk run.

Civil War Vol. 1

This weighty volume includes the main Civil War and Civil War Frontline titles as well as all the key one-shots from the series.  I found Marvel's Civil War storyline to be a riveting and fast-paced read with some absolutely amazing art.  So, despite my horror at what I saw some of my favorite characters saying and doing over the course of the story, I generally enjoyed the series.

New Mutants Vols. 1-3, 5

New Mutants Vol. 5, including the New Mutants Annuals, Special Edition, Summer Special and the two limited series titles that followed the end of the initial 100-issue run, was the only new volume shown in this picture.  Volumes 1-3, which include issues no. 1-75 were actually sent back to get the new New Mutants logo die stamp that was recently completed by Single Bound Studios.

Posted by 1407graymalkin at 09:06 PM | Permalink

Hell Hath No Fury!

This commission is the fourth in a series of pieces I've commissioned from John Byrne, each of which involves a team of Marvel heroes, their headquarters and at least one really cool team vehicle.  In this case, I asked John to do a piece with the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier under assault by the hordes of Hydra with Nick Fury in his flying convertible fighting back along with the rest of his team.  As you can see below, the result is fantastic with a great cast of characters including Nick Fury, the Contessa, Dum Dum Dugan, Barron Von Strucker and lots of Hydra goons along with incredible renderings of the Helicarrier and Nick Fury's convertible.  Truly an action-packed scene!

"The piece is 20" x 30" and John Byrne said it was the largest S.H.I.E.L.D.
Helicarrier he'd ever drawn - larger even than in the She-Hulk Graphic Novel"

I've commissioned a number of pieces from John Byrne over the past few years and I continue to be amazed by the results.  I initially started giving very specific instructions for my commissioned pieces:  this character here, this character there, this position, this expression, etc. But, not surprisingly, what I've found over time is that John Byrne does a far better job of bringing a concept to life based only on a high-level description than I possibly could ever conceive.  He apparently can almost immediately picture a scene in his mind's eye when it's described to him and render it perfectly, which is a skill I find truly remarkable.

 

Hooked On A Theme

The commissions that John Byrne has done for me with the theme of a team of heroes, their headquarters and vehicles are among the favorite pieces in my original comic art collection.  At the heart of it, these commissions embody so many of the fun and exciting things I dreamed about as a young boy when I pictured myself in the Marvel Universe.  How cool would it have been to go to school at Professor Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, live in the Baxter Building or the Avengers Mansion or be an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. stationed on the Helicarrier?  These commissions definitely bring out fond memories of the 12-year-old in me.

What's Next?

At this point, I've done the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D., so I'm trying to figure out what - if anything - to do next.  I've given some thought to the Defenders flying up up and away from Dr. Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum, but they don't have a cool team vehicle other than Valkyrie's horse Aragorn.  I also thought about doing the Champions since they have a great flying vehicle, but they don't really have an iconic headquarters.  As much as I love Alpha Flight, their team vehicle is a ripoff of the Avengers Quinjet and they don't have an iconic headquarters either.  So, I'm thinking about flipping the theme a bit.

"Perhaps the Fantastic Four attacking Castle Doom or the Invaders
attacking Hitler's Eagle's Nest. Ah, delicious food for thought."

I was tempted to move into the DC Universe with the Batcave, Hall of Justice, Fortress of Solitude, Watchtower, etc., but my true love from my early days of comic reading is really the Marvel Universe.  So, rather than doing the heroic team's headquarters, I'm thinking about commissioning an assault on a villain's headquarters.  I can definitely imagine a piece with the Fantastic Four attacking Castle Doom with Dr. Doom blasting away and an army of Doombots flying through the air.  Or maybe the Invaders attacking Hitler's Eagle's Nest from above with Master Man, Warrior Woman and the other Axis supervillians leading the counter-assault.  Ah, delicious food for thought.

Posted by 1407graymalkin at 04:54 PM | Permalink