Swiped from deefilly at Flickr. Thanks.
It’s been about 9 months since the release of Ragbox, Vol. 1. It’s time to get back to work.
It’s time to round up artists for Vol. 2. It’s time to start scripting the next book (a totally different storyline). It’s time to clean up this website. It’s time to find a really stupid picture (done!).
Flatten your staple-bound books with this tutorial
When we received the copies of one of our books from the printers, the books’ spines had an annoying habit of popping up in the middle two pages. In retrospect, we’d probably pushed out luck in making a 72-page book saddle-stitched (a.k.a. staple bound). You can only fold so many pieces of paper and expect it to lie flat. But I’ve seen this same problem plenty of times with homemade comics.
There’s no point in spending all that time inking and lettering just to have your books come out looking unprofessional, so here’s a (relatively) quick and dirty DIY way to build a reusable book press that will flatten the hell out of your comics’ spines.
The guiding principle in this project was to build it as cheaply as possible. In the same spirit, you should feel free to replace materials as you see fit, and as you can find them.
Total cost for the version detailed below: $67.87
I’m sure you can do better if you can shop at a big box store rather than pricier, independently-owned city stores (much as I love local business).
Sample from Joel Christian Gill's Strange Fruit
I’m happy to confirm that Joel Christian Gill will be illustrating Chapter 4 of The Ragbox. Joel is not only an excellent comics artist, but also the Foundations Chairperson at the New Hampshire College of Art.
The chapter introduces the character of Mr. Davis, an old man from the “older, darker” part of The Ragbox district. The 12-page chapter works as a standalone story, so you won’t need to have read Volume 1.
I’m very excited to be working with Joel on this project, having already seen his great work on his own comics, as well as the amazing craftsmanship on the Hellbound: A Boston Comics Horror Anthology (click over there to see the making of this giant-sized, screenprinted book).