I would like to apologize for spelling and grammatical errors before hand. (o_0)

I have been studying traditional bookbinding and printing for the last 2-3years. My primary focus is finely bound, short-run (1-100 copy) handmade books. I also want to publish books that large publishers would not take seriously, like comic books. I'm not saying that large comic companies don't take their products seriously but there are only a few examples of reverence toward a specific work (Dark Horse - Akira, Vertigo - Absolute series). At the end of the day, even those products are for mass consumption. I love BIG heavy books. I am a huge fan of antiquated features like raised bands, wooden covers, corner furniture/bosses and clasps. I would like to see modern works presented with old treatments.

Examples:




As a huge fan of Nihei's work, I am proposing to create a treasury/tabloid sized series of Blame!, something like 2-3 LARGE volumes. 18"h x 12"w x 3-5"d per book. I have been obsessed with this idea for the last year and have attempted a 8.5x11 xerographic codex from scanlations on the sly. I kept jamming up school printers and toner coverage didn't go unnoticed... (o_0)

COPIES: 1-10. One copy for sure but more depends on interest from patrons/investors (if the price doesn't cause altitude sickness and massive blood loss from noses bleeds ).

TIME: 1-2 years. I currently have about 6-7mo before I return to my hometown to furnish my book studio. I will be attending book related schools for the next 6-12months. Assuming, licensing isn't a huge issue, ink on paper in 9-12months. Depends on permissions and work needed to apply translations.

COST: Arm, leg or first born! Cost per book should be cheaper as more books are made. Without license estimates, I estimate $1,000.00 - $1,500.00 for paper and ink. Leather - up to $700.00 (assumes 1.5 hides ). It could be less if the leather just covered the spine. I've thought about using circuit boards over wood (). Everything else like wood/bronze/thread are relatively small. There are other costs involved but I will be covering them anyway [printing and binding equipment]. I have the funds to cover all cost assuming only one copy is created. When the per copy cost are finalized, I can post it to elicit more patrons.

The biggest hurdles I see are licensing and translation. I have read around online but am still lost on how to approach this... Translations: should I ask TokyoPop for permission to use theirs or solicit the online community?

I want to get input/guidance from fellow Nihei followers, share design ideas, and maybe elicit more patrons.

What do you think...?

Woah, that's quite an idea. Quite funny, you picked up one of my favorite books for this, so if i would spend money on something like this, it would be a Nihei Manga. In fact i printet out some chapters of the first Volume of a NOiSE scanlation and decided to make a quite nice Wallpaper for my room. Niheis Art is something, that I can see and enjoy almost everyday.

On the other Hand, though a got my hands on a little money these days i simply cannot dare to invest it in art like this. How can I put it... You are going to create a magnificent piece of art, I simly would love to own, but I'm affraid, this is some magnitudes beyond my capabilities.

But please do it, perhaps someday I can affort things like this.

Thank you.

I am going forward with the project in small steps. On 12NOV I email Kodansha USA, who in-turn summarized and forwarded my request to Kodansha Tokyo. They said Kodansha Tokyo would be in touch with me but I haven't heard anything yet. I will follow up soon.

If I acquire a green light, I will announce it on the forum and ask again if anyone wants to participate.

WOW! I have so much to update you all on...

I never made it anywhere with Kodansha or anyone else for that matter. Its hard to communicate my idea without a physical reference... So I went ahead and started this project with NOiSE.

It took about a month to scan an clean up all of the pages. I organized the pages to print in signatures that read right-to-left.

Printed it on fine paper, but not the full cotton. When I get a copy of Blame and so on with color, I'll reprint on cotton.

Link:

Thus far has taken two incarnations: 17" spine version and 11.5" digital press version. If I were to reproduce this on a commercial level, the 11.5" version is the way I would go. But quality wise, the 17" is far superior. Hands down. Its like reading in HD!!

Neither book has been bound yet. I have just been focusing on printing, collating, folding and pressing. I'm sewing up the 11.5" now, so if i screw it up, its not that big a deal..

Link:

Here is some of my progress with the smaller version (11.5 in x 7.5in).


The foredge needs to be trimmed.

That's amazing, man!

I checked your Ipernity profile and there are loads of interesting pics in there. Are you using the omanga scans for it, or do you have the american edition of Blame!?

I would love to purchase a copy from you but the probable price is too much for me at this moment. Do you work as a bounder or is it a hobby?

I recently purchase this book called "Medieval Illuminators and Their Methods of Work" and it was pretty interesting.

Thank you sir.

I love these stories so much and think they deserve this kind of treatment!

I used the US Tokyopop version. The resolution of the Omanga scans are to low. I took the book apart, scanned and cleaned up every page. It took about a month and so far has cost about $85 USD (ink/paper).

On the larger tabloid format book, I have stop working on it because, I recently purchased a copy of Blame and so on... so I think I'm going to pull it apart and insert some color images into the current project..

I'm currently a printer by trade and I am a bookbinder by hobby. I am working on starting a publishing company that issues one of a kind publications. As a 'unknown', I have found that its hard to get the attention of larger publishers though. My dialog with Kodansha USA dropped off. When I have wrapped up more projects I'm going to restart my inquiries.

I really think you should share that on facebook on https://www.facebook.com/TsutomuNihei. It certainly would attract a lot of attention to your project.

pretty damn cool man

So I have been VERY busy at work, but I finally forked out the cash and purchased Blame vol 6. Scanning will commence soon. I built a NAS to store scans. The scans from NOiSE totaled 79G. I can see Blame taking up to 800 GB...

That's great news wintermute, your project is awesome. I imagine doing the scans alone is plenty of work already.

Keep us posted on this project!

I am so sorry for the long delay... I have be making efforts to reclaim my time and complete old projects... So rather hastily I have completed my reprint of NOiSE...


Cover art is from BLAME! and so on artbook. (oops... forgot to print the authors name)




The binding isn't my preferred method but it very strong and efficient. The next binding will be .

I can't express to you how beautiful the prints are..

The Blame series has been started but with the release of the new edition, looks like it can be produced with a higher quality (larger source material)!! crap!! Have to buy the whole thing all over again but now it will need to be translated!!!


Here are some test prints of BLAME! with production notes. I am checking the results of various settings in my cleanup procedures.

Good to know you're still working on these! It looks great. So you intend to purchase the big magazines to do your own version of it? They're still been released right? Are you getting through a japanese website or something?

Keep us posted, I check this forum at least once a month.