All New Marvel Collected Editions

[Mix_Masta_Micah]

Your questions in order:

1) I have a rather large collection so I do care a bit about longevity for some books. Some books I've read so many times I'm surprised they're still good. All depends on the books and the availability of it. But I collect mainly for reading and don't see it as an investment.

2) Nothing that is too OCD (which I can be). I dust the shelves and my books weekly. I kept them covered when heavy construction was in my area. On the "shoe" front, I go back and forth. For a while I was propping up some bigger omnis. Then I moved and only a few things are propped up. No block support has had no real effect (so far) on most of my marvel books. The only noticeable shelf sag is on my bigger DC omnis, even the newer ones like Green Lantern by Johns are sagging. Marvel books are getting bigger an weaker so I will probably eventually want to support them all. I just really make sure things are clean and dust free.

3) I don't store anything horizontally stacked except new stuff that's waiting to go on the shelves. I learned this the hard way with a dark horse book that I had stored horizontally before I have proper shelves for it. I has stacked my mew additions on it for a bit too long. And this was after the CBR boards warned me not to. The spine of the book is fucked and now I want to replace it.

Cheers for the responses and in order no less! I'm mainly a reader first kind of guy too but I do like the comfort of knowing my books are "safe". I keep hearing about the book-shoe. Is there anywhere you can purchase these or do you have to craft them yourself? (I'm assuming hand made because each book has a varied thickness)

[Drakul]

Thought i'd share my second wave of X-Men Dust Jackets. I worked out a few kinks with them, mostly some sizing problems not translating into printing but now they are near perfect. I'm only posting the close ups of editions I've changed, for the most part I only change the spine unless the entire edition needed redoing because it's just TOO ugly (like Phalanx Covenant, that is a fugly book).

Wow! Outstanding job with these covers!
Now you guys are making me want to grab the Alias Omni.....

[Brewman]

Wow! Outstanding job with these covers!
Now you guys are making me want to grab the Alias Omni.....

It is a pretty good book.

[Peter Parker]

Wow! Outstanding job with these covers!
Now you guys are making me want to grab the Alias Omni.....

Don't dawdle. If the show starts getting noticed the books will disappear.

[krisis]

If you would be so kind, can you go in more detail about the "post-it note method"? I haven't heard of it and really would like to taking precautions for my books. Clearly these books need a support!

Generally in hardcover books, the cover boards are what touch the the shelf, the page block is suspended between them. That's fine for most small hardcovers, but for an omnibus the pages are pretty heavy and they're just hanging there! Over time, they could begin to sag, pulling away from the top of the spine. Thus, your mission is for them to rest on something.

Some people simply take a pad of Post-It notes, peel them away until the remaining pile is the right height to sit beneath the page block so that it rests on something rather than hanging, and then slide them under the outside edge of the pages!

Here's the problem with that: Post-It notes are not archival, and usually dyed in some way. They might stop your book from sagging, but they could stain your pages or sap their color. You're better off using folded up comic boards, or some other thing that's meant to interact with print media in a long-term way without harming it.

[Mix_Masta_Micah]

Generally in hardcover books, the cover boards are what touch the the shelf, the page block is suspended between them. That's fine for most small hardcovers, but for an omnibus the pages are pretty heavy and they're just hanging there! Over time, they could begin to sag, pulling away from the top of the spine. Thus, your mission is for them to rest on something.

Some people simply take a pad of Post-It notes, peel them away until the remaining pile is the right height to sit beneath the page block so that it rests on something rather than hanging, and then slide them under the outside edge of the pages!

Here's the problem with that: Post-It notes are not archival, and usually dyed in some way. They might stop your book from sagging, but they could stain your pages or sap their color. You're better off using folded up comic boards, or some other thing that's meant to interact with print media in a long-term way without harming it.

Interesting, I hadn't thought of post-it notes. Upon a little more research I think I am going to go with the Elmer's Acid Free Foam Boards from Walmart. You can but them out to be any size you want them to be and they are acid free. I'm glad you were able to concisely explain that to me. I wish this information was more available on the web and I feel like a lot of collector's don't really know the risks of have the page block sag over time. Thanks!

[The Whovian]

Generally in hardcover books, the cover boards are what touch the the shelf, the page block is suspended between them. That's fine for most small hardcovers, but for an omnibus the pages are pretty heavy and they're just hanging there! Over time, they could begin to sag, pulling away from the top of the spine. Thus, your mission is for them to rest on something.

Some people simply take a pad of Post-It notes, peel them away until the remaining pile is the right height to sit beneath the page block so that it rests on something rather than hanging, and then slide them under the outside edge of the pages!

Here's the problem with that: Post-It notes are not archival, and usually dyed in some way. They might stop your book from sagging, but they could stain your pages or sap their color. You're better off using folded up comic boards, or some other thing that's meant to interact with print media in a long-term way without harming it.

I guess I'm a little behind on this whole thing, but you guys are saying that unless I put pads under my omnis, the pages are going to sag?

[alb2009]

Thanks for the input guys. I'm glad I asked here before i watched the show (netflix keeps waving it in my face). I'm already done with 6 issues and planning on finishing it by tomorrow.

[titansupes]

I guess I'm a little behind on this whole thing, but you guys are saying that unless I put pads under my omnis, the pages are going to sag?

Eventually, yep. It's unfortunate but easily solvable with the method outlined above.

[The Whovian]

Eventually, yep. It's unfortunate but easily solvable with the method outlined above.

Okay, thanks

[Sean Whitmore]

3) I don't store anything horizontally stacked except new stuff that's waiting to go on the shelves. I learned this the hard way with a dark horse book that I had stored horizontally before I have proper shelves for it. I has stacked my new additions on it for a bit too long. And this was after the CBR boards warned me not to. The spine of the book is fucked and now I want to replace it.

Ah, hell. I've been doing this for about a year now.

[Dayle88]

My Ultimate Spider-man omnibus didn't even take time to sag, when I first got it and started reading it I had it sat horizontally on a desk and when I finished it I put it up on a shelf (before I had any bookshelves in that room) and after about three days I thought I was imagining the top of the book being flat and the bottom curved. I pulled it out to check something in one of the issues and it turned out I wasn't imagining it at all.

I wondered about the coloured post-it notes affecting pages, it's why I haven't used them yet. All of my big books are fine being stored horizontally though and I check them regularly. Maximum two to a stack though and I'm careful with what I stack where.

Would folded plain printer paper be safe to use under the page blocks in place of post-its or are they coated with something?

[kodave]

So i hurried up my order for the alias omni after someone said demand would skyrocket after the show. Thankfully got it from IST before they removed the 45% discount. I was planning to read it before watching the show but it has only gotten here today. To those of you who have watched or are watching the show currently, which do you think i should tackle first? The omni or the show? Does the show follow the book too closely or might it ruin some things in the book?

I'm 2.5 episodes away from finishing the Netflix series. Obviously she's a P.I. in both. Part of her origin is the same in the show. Part of the storyline with Purple Man in the show is similar to what's laid out in the Omnibus, but the show does it 1000x better than Bendis did in the book (I say that hoping the final two episodes are as good as the rest). Luke Cage is in both the show and the Omnibus and while there's some similarity to their interaction in the Omnibus, the show handles that relationship much differently for the most part. They replace Carol Danvers in the Omnibus with Patsy Walker on the show, but it's not a substitution where Patsy does whatever Carol did. It's entirely different.

And essentially none of the main cases from the book are in the show aside from the Purple Man arc - mainly because many of those cases involve characters and concepts that are too big for a Netflix series.

Like others have mentioned, the Omnibus builds up to some big reveals for the Purple Man story at the end, and really the show would spoil that for you too.

Personally, I think if I watched the show first THEN read the Omnibus, I'd be let down because I think the writing on the show, especially involving Jones and Purple Man, is much better than in the Omnibus. Obviously the show has a tremendous advantage of drawing from the source material and fine tuning the stories and characters and then present it all in a different medium. So it's an inherently unfair comparison. But it is what it is.

So I'd say read the Omnibus first and then watch the show.

[mtop2036]

Just ordered Inhumans by paul lee(i think thats his name lol) OHC. I know nothing about the inhumans except what I read in hickmans infinity. This was a blind buy for me based off reviews. Sounds like its viewed as pretty damn good. But is there any other books I need to understand whats going on in here?

[DantonR]

My Ultimate Spider-man omnibus didn't even take time to sag, when I first got it and started reading it I had it sat horizontally on a desk and when I finished it I put it up on a shelf (before I had any bookshelves in that room) and after about three days I thought I was imagining the top of the book being flat and the bottom curved. I pulled it out to check something in one of the issues and it turned out I wasn't imagining it at all.

I wondered about the coloured post-it notes affecting pages, it's why I haven't used them yet. All of my big books are fine being stored horizontally though and I check them regularly. Maximum two to a stack though and I'm careful with what I stack where.

Would folded plain printer paper be safe to use under the page blocks in place of post-its or are they coated with something?

If these books (omnibus volumes -- the massive ones) require this kind of upkeep, what's the point of buying them?