yeah, ok whatever you say.
yeah, ok whatever you say.
I understand your point, that once you have added glue to the book it is no longer in its original condition, and it could be viewed as having its condition compromised and its value reduced.
But in this case the book's condition was already compromised, seeing as the binding was defective.
I can't imagine that any potential buyer would be very impressed if I tried to re sell the book in the condition that I received it.
And I would contend that anyone with a modicum of common sense and manual dexterity could perform a similar repair that was invisible/ seamless to anybody examining the book.
Certainly, looking closely at the repair, I can't see any difference between it and the spine of a 'new' omnibus.
Also, I'm a collector too. I don't intend to sell any of my Omnibi or OHC.
Hey Zevious,
If you're really thinking of repairing your 'The Stand' Omnibus, there are perhaps one or two other points I would mention.
1. When you are applying the glue, you want to apply it both to the back of the signatures and the inside of the paper lining so that all of the unglued area is covered, but apply it sparingly.
When you press the paper lining down onto the spine (using something like a flat knife or a stiff ruler), you will get excess glue emerging at the top and bottom of the lining.
If you have applied the glue too thickly then the amount of excess glue will be greater, and there will be more chance of making a bit of a mess at the top and bottom of the spine.
2. I used some kitchen roll to wipe away the small blobs of glue that did emerge.
Honestly, just take a little bit of care when doing this and once everything is dry you'd never know that there was any excess.
3. Be VERY careful not to get any glue on the outside of the paper lining, even a few small spots which can be easily missed.
If you do then when the glue dries the inside of the spine cover will be glued to the outside of the paper lining and will bow inwards, as the lining does, when the spine is flexed.
Actually, some of the DC Omnibuses are designed this way, with the spine cover stuck to the spine lining (I think the Infinite Crisis Omnibus is built this way).
But the Marvel Omnibi shouldn't be like this! Just carefully wipe away any spots of glue on the outside of the paper lining before putting the book on a shelf (on its spine) to dry and everything should be o.k.
Edit: Finally cracked the shrink wrap on the Infinite Crisis Omnibus and I was wrong.
The lining is not attached to the spine cover, there is a gap between the spine lining and the spine cover.
However, depending on how you open the book, the spine cover will bow inwards as if it WAS attached to the lining.
Last edited by Cerd the nerd; 08-12-2014 at 12:49 PM.
It's a book to read and the binding comes apart, you can fix it. Grade it VG and just be done with it. I don't completely get the whole collection mentality thing on many of these omnibus other than they quit making them, as they are reprints and they keep reprinting the same material again. I'd figure having a hardcover reprint's cool thing should be that it is one big honking book of comics and ready to read over and over again.
I think it's kind of weird for Marvel or DC to even keep some of these things out of print. It's a big sale item with largely evergreen material, they should be kept in print.
Last edited by earl; 06-17-2014 at 07:40 PM.
I hate this, saw it on the DMZ deluxe vol 2. not a huge book but the non-flexible spine makes it hard to lay flat and stay open. I was trying to separate the lining paper from the cover spine, as I thought there had just been too much glue. But it makes sense that i could not fix it, if it is intended.
It really is a bad decision from DC, the book is hard to open, and it makes the spine of the cover "flex inwards" when opened to a flat - not pretty
Also, i have used Cerd the nerds method to fix the first Criminal hardcover, I did it before i read this thread. I talked to a professional hand-bookbinder, who told me to go ahead with it myself as it would be hard to do a bad job with such a minor repair.
I have also fixed my Sandman Omnibus vol .1 when the paper lining was loose.
Last edited by Lasborg; 07-22-2014 at 03:00 AM.
My Busiek IM and Miller DD both have a small part of the lining on one edge slightly away from the block. Maybe just a missed spot when gluing the paper on? I don't think it matters unless you're throwing the book around and yanking the pages apart while reading.
Collectors who are that particular about their omnibi, should stick to just buying new books still wrapped in the plastic. If you honestly consider a book more valuable in it's original (but compromised) state than the repaired version shown in this thread , than you have OCD issues. If this is a trend with all the marvel omnibuses you've bought, maybe just stop buying them.
The collector mentality is a funny thing. I consider myself a collector but I would not count the type of repair discussed in this thread as "amateur restoration." It's a minor fix that anybody could do with bookbinding glue. Amateur restoration could be anything from cheap adhesive tape fixes to resetting the text block to the cover. Obvious amateur restoration with tape , markers etc is far more egregious than this simple fix.
I recently noticed that the cloth lining had detached from part of my colossal conan:
image.jpg
I think it's the entire cloth (super?) that has detached, not just the paper lining. Would the fix posted here work?
If I ignore it and read the book anyway will any damage come to the book? Does anyone else's colossal conan (or bid damn sin city) look like this?
Last edited by canadianaidan64; 08-01-2014 at 07:17 AM.
Well, I don't have Colosslal Conan or BDSC so I'm not entirely sure of their structure.
From what I can see in your photo, it seems as if the headband has become detached from the spine, and presumably the lining has as well.
Whether the lining is cloth (I.e crash, super or mull) or paper, the principal is the same, you need to re attach the
lining to the spine/ back of the signatures.
So yes, the same type of repair should work for your book.
Make sure you spread the glue evenly over both surfaces, I.e the back of the signatures and the inside of the lining.
You need to press the lining against the spine with a flat ruler or something similar, then carefully wipe way any excess glue.
This is probably one of the most important steps. You don't want any dried excess glue ruining your book!
As to what will happen if you do nothing, probably not very much on a single read through.
As you flex and extend the spine, it will experience more stress and eventually the signatures will start to come apart.
But this is something that takes place over multiple openings/ readings, and is very unlikely to happen on a single read through.
This is great thread and very helpful since I'd guess about a quarter of the Marvel omnibuses I've owned have had this problem after one reading. My The Stand omnibus had this problem before I got to the halfway point while reading. While I don't if the new Marvel omnibuses with the cheaper paper are more prone to this due to cheaper construction--since I've stopped buying them--I do think it's a shame buyers are having to repair books they've read once or twice and then let sit on a shelf.
Now I've worried about the bindings giving out on these gigantic books since I first started collecting, Cerd. But would happen if you didn't do this kind of repair? Is this only cosmetic or will the binding get worse with age and multiple readings? I notice that most of my omnibuses want to sag in the middle of the text block because the block is so massive. Should I put supports under the block like some people here do? I don't know if it's damaging the binding by doing this or not?
Ideally thick books should be stored horizontally. if you must store them vertically because of space constraints or for aesthetic reasons, then you should support the text block. Book shoes exist for this purpose and you can find more info about them, including how to make one, here:
http://www.nedcc.org/free-resources/...ption-and-uses
if you store thick heavy books vertically without any support then the text block will sag down and put stress on the binding, which will lead to damage, especially on such poorly bound books as DC Omnibi (Marvel are a little better but still not perfect).
I'm not sure. I'm going to leave my absolutes alone for now, but if a gap appears at the top of the binding I'll put some kind of support in the slipcase.
I've always played it smart and stored my IDW Artist Editions horizontally due to the massive page size, but I doubt anyone with as many omnibuses as I have would have the space to store them horizontally. I've read about book shoes and have even mentioned them in the old Marvel threads. They'd be a great solution except for the time, cost and skill to build them to the measurements of each individual book.