Like most comic readers, I've amassed quite a few books over the years. I'll dig through long boxes at cons or at my local stores, picking up anything I've heard was good or even something that just looks vaguely interesting. After picking up and reading a couple of issues of a series and discovering I really like it, I'll continue to get more issues whenever I can. But I find myself not reading it anymore until I've completed a long run of consecutive issues or have finished off the entire series. Though, even once I have all the issues, they will sit in a box, not readily available to flip through or to loan out to friends. It sucks to sing the praises of a series to someone, then drop a stack of single issues on their lap. So this has lead me to a hobby I've had for the last few years....
COMICBOOK BINDING!
I've had a number of hardcover volumes made since I started about three years ago (31 volumes to be exact). It's been fun mapping issue by issue continuity and tracking down stray floppies to complete the volumes. It's especially exciting to complete a series that hasn't been collected yet and, in some cases, might never be collected. Heck, even with a series where I could easily pick up in trades, it's still nice to have my own customized hardcovers. I'll add or leave out issues, include creator interviews, or design a table of contents to make the bound volume more personalized.
Unfortunately, I've had way too much stuff to read and not enough time in the day to read them. I have yet to go through the majority of my bound volumes... but I plan on changing that! As I go along I'll post a short review and breakdown the contents of the bind. Anyways, enough talk, time to crack open those hardcovers and get some reading done!
