It's that time of year again. In what's become an annual tradition here at iFanboy we have our version of Shark Week on Discovery. It's STACK WEEK!
What exactly is STACK WEEK? It is identifying that lurking sense of dread in your own home. You have invited a sinister element into your home and it isn't leaving anytime soon. Books…made of pictures.
I can report little headway in my ongoing struggle against the stack. Many of the titles listed a year or even two years ago remain unread, not dormant on my shelves, but whispering. Chanting. Besmirching my scholarship.
You are shallow, they sneer. Weak-willed and materialistic are you, neglector! We are all spines, but you are spineless! Go, they snarl, Drop your dollars at the feet of the pretty young things. Bring them here to be unread like us. For we are Legion. Of Super-Heroes, even. We are the unread. You, the ungrateful, building up a tomb of pulp!
But that's okay, because those books buzz from shelves in physical halls and chambers. I, as you may have surmised, exist solely in the code of this website. No pangs of guilt infect my source code of zeroes and ones, ones and zeroes. I hop-skotch the digital synapses, forever forward.
Alright, so maybe that's not true. Maybe I do feel shame over this stockpile of books. I read a lot. I review a lot. But the ratio of reading to purchasing, or even borrowing, isn't where it ought to be. Like Jason, I take some pride in my shelves, even if I'm insulating the walls of my home rather than adding on additions to my imagination.
The amassment of unread books is something like our lifetime's accumulation of acquaintances. People with whom we associate, but not souls with whom we retire. Only our trust friends, or our cherished books and experiences, might be there with us in the end, so vivid when we're all but blind and unable to acquire more. We are what we eat. We are what we read and understand. And all else is just furniture.
There's my piece on books. And I must figure out a way to practice from this pulpit.
But there's another matter. Twelve people have made their confessions this week, and so too have you in the comments. All on the subject of books unread. Books, though, are not the full weight and pleasure of this hobby.
There's also the art.
Last October, I spent a weekend in New York amidst the hustle and bustle of Comic Con. I returned to Philadelphia with a galley for work, but I'd spent no money on comics at the Javits center itself. Though I did hand over a number of green-tinted presidential portraits I spend a lot of time worrying about. I bought art. I bought whole heaps of it, which I kept in a big mylar sleeve.
Some of those sketches and prints and things remain in that sleeve. But this week I liberated a few of them. Luckily my local A.C. Moore was running a 40% off sale on select frames. It's one of those invisible expenses of conventions like postage for the shipment of goodies if you live far away, or batteries for your sonic screwdriver. Claiming the art is one thing, but we sometimes forget or deny we'll likely want to display the art. Framing can be pricey. Then there's the question of space. It's simple enough to stash a mylar sleeve full of Man-Thing and Captain Marvel prints up above a bookcase, but securing the wall real estate for a framed image can be daunting. Especially if you share a room, apartment, or home.
I've got two limited edition Jamie McKelvie prints still rolled up in tubes, stashed away in one of those hollow cube-shapped foot-rests. I'd much rather they be on the wall, but like a lot of art pieces, they're not of a standard size. And I'd hate to just afix that elementary school blue gunky stuff to hold them fast to the wall. So they get pushed back a bit for easier framing projects.
The three I chose this week? Easy. Three 11" x 17" pieces, two of which are original pages from Marvel comics. The other's a lovely Catwoman print signed in purple by the even more lovely Amanda Conner. And one new piece that fit a frame I purchased by accident months ago (wrong size for a different piece, but kept it knowing I'd find a match at some point).
Here's that piece, a Thor sketch by Dan Hipp. You'll recognize it from yesterday's Sketch-Up. Hipp does these daily drawings, colors them digitally, then sells the original inked drawing. For smaller sketches like this, I go with a floating frame.
Here's my first original page, a scene from Avengers vs. Atlas #3, drawn by Gabriel Hardman. It's page 4. Gorilla-Man and a Hulk punch on the same page? And a great showcase for most of the core Avengers as well. I love it.
Here's my McKelvie page from One Month to Live. This is like have a commission of each member of the Heroic Age era Avengers. Well, one of the teams anyway. Also cool because it's one of the last projects he worked on by hand before making the transition to digital. What matters most is it looks badass.
Same style frame, but this time a landscape. Here's that Amanda Conner print I mentioned earlier. I love that it tells a little story. I don't own an original page of hers yet, but this is the next best thing.
Once it warms up a little more I'm going to be doing some painting in this room. Then I'll have to take an inventory of these prints and pages and figure out the best way to organize them. Conor likes to build his own custom shelves, a project I truly admire. While I'm not building my own custom frames out of driftwood, decorating the walls over my shelves with all of these pieces sounds like a fun challenge to me. I'll share the finished product (or at least a major revision of an ongoing project) in a few months.
Until then, it's all about grabbing a frame or two at a time.
Because why hide art? It should be in our houses and outside our houses. We should be tripping over it, and glad we did.
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Stack week seems to be designed to make me jealous of all the awesome set ups you guys have. Those sketches sure are swell! Love the Hardman piece!
Also, where is the Paul Levitz DC book? I was interested to see where that cinder block was displayed.
@Andrew I have risers under my bed to give me a little extra storage space. I slide the big DC book under there when I’m not reading it.
I like the different take on the topic, Paul. I had a very small stack of sketches that we didn’t have wall space for in our apartment, but did find space for it in our new house. My wife and I spent the day yesterday getting stuff framed and hung. I’m pretty happy with it. Perhaps I’ll pick up more art at C2E2, but I tend to spend my money on books and trades.
Your stuff does look good though!
I’m looking to get some stuff framed (some original pages and some sketches). How much do you guys tend to spend on a frame? Do you get custom frames or off the shelf from an Aaron Bros type of place?
Thanks
@Paul That pic of Saul Tigh is awesome. He was my favorite character.
I’ve got a pretty massive book stack right now, but I’m feeling you on the art stack woes, I don’t have ANY of my stuff framed 🙁
Look upon my works ye mighty and despair….. For I have NO stack. But only ‘cos I have 3 kids and can’t afford one.
@mlilien Sort of regretfully, I buy frames off the rack and don’t indulge in custom framing. There’s just too much to be framed. The black frames pictured above retail for $25.
@Paul love the Amanda Conner print. Did you frame it yourself or did you take it to a store and have it framed? It looks awesome.
I feel Paul’s woes on the having a stack of things to hang and not hanging them. Hopefully no one takes any of my original art because it’s not framed.
@RocketRacoon See my previous comment.
I’m the complete opposite to you – as of yet I have NO art. Do want to start buying some, though. I really want something by Lemire.
That Catwoman “strip” is exceptional.
Dammit, Paul. Way to make us all jealous. The Hardman & Conner pieces are beautiful.
As for frames. It’s crazy how expensive they are. Especially if you have something custom framed. Hidden cost, for sure. Paul has the right mindset in just getting pre-made frames. Ikea is very good for that. If I remember correctly, they have decent frames for around $15.
I’ve got that very same Connor Catwoman strip awaiting a frame. I never knew 11 x 17 was such a hard size to come across. Thanks for the AC Moore tip, Paul.
@Dan Keep looking. You’ll find one. But you’re right, they’re few and far between.
Love that catwoman piece. I finally just bought my first original art by Rafael Albuquerque, and I think i’m addicted now.
I also own the same limited edition ‘balancing girl’ print by Jamie McKelvie pictured in your photograph, like you mine is still in the carboard tube waiting to be framed somehow, sometime when I can afford to frame it.
Thanks for the framing suggestions. I think I’m going to go with some cheaper, off the rack stuff, at least until I can afford to upgrade individual pieces. My biggest concern is that I’ve heard some frames can damage pieces by letting in moisture (though, that might have been the expensive frame sales woman trying to convince me to buy an expensive frame)
@PaulMontgomery –That is sacrilege to keep that Taschen DC book hidden under a bed! I have these bookshelves from ikea…i forget the name but they are tall and skinny and can be used either horizontally or vertically..they fit the DC book and my other oversized artbooks quite well. Its part of one of their big shelving systems…pretty cheap too.
That is one impressive art collection sir.
@wallythegreenmonster I assure you it is rarely under there. The box is there, but the book itself is usually propped up against another shelf by my chair. I’ve been reading a little each morning lately.
How dare you, Paul, my prints are totally standard size in almost every country except the US and Canada! 😀
@jamiemckelvie Bah!
Paul, one thing you might want to consider are sectional framing kits.
http://www.michaels.com/Sectional-Frame-Kits/ae0630,default,pg.html
Just get the pieces mounted on foamcore, then buy the frame pieces you need.
@pyynk —OMG don’t mount any original art on foamcore!!! that stuff has so much acid in it..it’ll just eat through the art in a few years. (yellow spots, discoloration etc) Also it warps incredibly easy and will damage the art with it. Foamcore is not archival in any way and should not be used for any art that you want to exist down the road. Not to mention any of the adhesives (spray, glue, etc) that you’d use to mount are equally un-friendly. Perfectly fine for a presentation, disastrous for archival art.
They make various dry mounts (some you need a heat press) that you can use on acid free illustration board that are archival. Some photo places offer the service. That is a much better option.
Always use acid free backings, hangers etc when dealing with original paper art, and it will last for a long time. Owning original art has responsibility that comes with it. Its not just some poster you get at the shop.
fave piece: Gabe Hardman’s Avengers vs Atlas.
Paul, looking at the Conner print, three words come to mind:
I. Hate. You.
Just kidding, but it is beautiful! I am jelly!
@kennyg Just go to a con she’s attending and get your own!