Kirk Kiefer

My full set of custom-bound Wally West Flash books. Includes all annuals, one-shots, and cross-overs. Why wait on DC when you can bind books yourself?

Here’s a video my girlfriend shot from Nez’s first show of his 2013 tour, of “Some of Shelly’s Blues.” We had cabaret seats so were right up by the stage. I’m still in shock.

This Thursday, March 14, I will be doing one of my rare solo shows. Like, Bigfoot rare.

It will take place at The Bard’s Town, 1801 Bardstown Road. Door is $5 and the show will start at 8:00.

Also on the bill is my buddy Lance Whalen, coming all the way from Nashville. The man knows his way around a tune, I can guarantee you that.

I’ll be throwing out some new tunes, as well stuff from Sailing Stones and some Yardsale chestnuts, maybe a cover or two if I feel frisky. After not having played a show since my release show back in the Fall, I’m pretty psyched to get back out there. 

So come one, come all, and have yourselves a good time. If Lance or I can’t do it for you, there’s booze there so you’ll have no excuses.

Today’s reading material. And probably tomorrow’s, Wednesdays, and many further days.

life-death-doughnuts:

kirkkiefer:

My recently-received collection of Young Justice bound books. Love ‘em!

Holy crap where did you get these I need them in my life

I had my single issues bound and made custom covers for them. See my reply here: http://kirkkiefer.com/post/42318656633/schnickledooger-wafflesforstephanie

Glad you like them!

shigekijkp:

kirkkiefer:

My recently-received collection of Young Justice bound books. Love ‘em!

How the heck did this happen… EXPLAIN PLEASE? :D I would LOVE to own Young Justice bound and collected like such!

I had my single issues bound at a bindery - see my post here:  See my reply here: http://kirkkiefer.com/post/42318656633/schnickledooger-wafflesforstephanie

• Question: I was looking into having some of my old 90's Superboy comics bond, but I am curious as to how much of the page is lost in the binding process. If there is a 2 page spread (or dialogue close to the edge) will there be an odd missing section? Or am I over thinking this and the difference isn't very noticeable? - Anonymous
• Answer:

  It depends on what type of binding you go for, but even using oversewn (which has the most gutter loss) you’d be okay more than likely. I use oversewn for my books and it’s not an issue at all. Some binderies can do DFA binding, which is a very strong glue (much stronger than typical trade paperbacks) which has less gutter loss than oversewn. If you don’t plan to remove any ads or have loose pages you can have them smythe sewn as well, which has less gutter loss than oversewn too but is a bit more expensive. I highly recommend checking out the FAQ thread on the Uncollected Editions board for some examples: http://marvelmasterworksfansite.yuku.com/topic/8900/Comic-book-binding-FAQ#.URUV8FrHcVw

  But as I said, I go with oversewn and have not had any problems. If you’re interested I can post some pics from some of my other binds that are oversewn. 
  
  You can also choose to have your books untrimmed (where the bindery does shave the edges of the pages to be even) if you’re really worried about losing text, but I know at Herring and Robinson Book Binders, who I use, they won’t trim the edge if it would cut off text, but it has never been an issue for me and I’ve had quite a few books bound at this point (25 or so now.)   

• Question: How much total cost does something like your Young Justice set come out to (sans comics)? Because it costs more for custom covers and the like, correct? Plus shipping books off and everything. I had no idea this was a thing so I'm legitimately blown away. This is so so cool! I've wanted to have Robin properly collected for ages. - myleswillsaveus
• Answer:

  I also got tired of waiting for DC to collect certain books, and since Chuck Dixon and DC are on the outs, I figured it would be a long time, if ever, before any kind of Robin omnibus happened. I had all the individual issues, and then I saw someone post a custom bound book of Secret Six and next thing I knew, I was binding all my back issues. I’ve done the Wally West Flash run, Cass Cain Batgirl, tons of Batman, and have all of the first volume of Birds of Prey ready to roll too.

  As far as cost, they come out to be about $30 a book once you factor in shipping and stuff. At Herring and Robinson they charge $18.50 per book with custom cover and shipping is usually $5 or so a book to ship back to me. I go to Kinkos to print the table of contents pages and for a full-color standard laser sheet it’s like $.60 a page. When I ship packages to the bindery I use Fedex and insure the books. It’s more expensive than MediaMail but I trust FedEx not to lose my packages, especially with the insurance. But that’s personal preference really, you could do MediaMail from USPS and get a tracking number and it’d be cheaper. ANYWAY, I just shipped 10 books and it came out to $45 so it’s about $5 a book, if not a little less. $18.50  + $10 shipping (to and from the bindery) and $1.50 for the TOC = $30.

  It actually ends up being cheaper for the custom covers. Where the cost of bound books gets really high is in the stamping and text if you’re getting leather or buckram, like in this pic:

  

  With a custom cover you don’t have to worry about any of that. Since money is a consideration for me, the fact that custom covers were cheaper was enticing, plus I felt books like the above, while nice looking, resemble encyclopedias more than comics (though you could always make your own dust jackets for them if you wanted.) Again, it’s personal preference.

  Sorry this ended up being so long :) It’s become a really fun hobby for me and I love talking about it so feel free to keep using the ask box if you decide to take the plunge. Lord knows I had a zillion questions when I first got going.

myleswillsaveus:

elfgrove:

kirkkiefer:

herophile:

kirkkiefer:

My recently-received collection of Young Justice bound books. Love ‘em!

Where. Did. You. Get. These?!

And where can I find them!??!

I made them. Got all the single issues and tie-ins etc, the Sins of Youth trade, and sent them to a bindery. Many binderies that bind comics let you custom-design covers, as I did here. It’s a lot of fun and super-addictive, and you end up with not only a cooler looking collection but also a much easier to read collection.

This is pretty smart. (On the assumption you don’t intend to try to ever resell the issues as collector pieces.) It’s a bit tempting to look into doing the same to mine.

Yeah, I’m reading in to it, since the likelihoods of getting this, the entire run of Impulse, and a huge chunk of Robin ever printed. However, it definitely seems like an investment. No super expensive, but not easy peasy either.

The way I look at it, modern comics are most -likely never going to increase in value, due to high print runs and the increasing popularity of digital comics, so ruining their collector value isn’t a concern for me. Plus, you end up with a one-of-a-kind collectible; I’d be shocked if I put these on ebay and didn’t get more money than I’d get for just the individual issues bagged and boarded.

As far as getting into binding, the Uncollected Editions message board is an amazing resource:

http://marvelmasterworksfansite.yuku.com/forums/2

Their FAQ thread answers a lot of questions. The books above are oversewn and have as many ads removed as I could, plus custom made table of contents pages with custom covers. The process is basically going through each book and removing staples, ads, and back covers, getting them in order, and sending them to the bindery. The bindery gives me the dimensions of the cover/spine so I can make the art, which I send to them, and that’s about it. Cost is about $20 a book. I use Herring and Robinson and they are phenomenal and do a lot of comic binding so are super-familiar with the process. Their site is here - http://www.herringandrobinsonbookbinders.com/html/comic_books.html

 And I’m happy to answer any questions.

I just sent my Robin books off (one bind of pre-ongoing stuff, two volumes of Chuck Dixon, and one of Jon Lewis) and will post pics when those come back too.

2014supernova:

wafflesforstephanie:

kirkkiefer:

My recently-received collection of Young Justice bound books. Love ‘em!

:O

(when we’re these released?)

THESE EXIST?!?!?!?!?! ASFGJHJKL

They exist at my house only :) See my reply here: http://kirkkiefer.com/post/42318656633/schnickledooger-wafflesforstephanie

But seriously, book binding is a blast and easy to get into, there are lots of great resources out there. I’m happy to answer any questions.