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Susan Cicconi

Started by TrippyMcSkippy-migration,

266 posts in this topic

FFB

FFB

Posted
Posted

Ironically, I will bet you money that as to those two particular books, the opposite is true, i.e., Matt and Kenny's work on the Superman #1 I saw took a lot less time to do the structural work on than your Action #41. Not because an Action #1 "deserves" to have more time spent on it, but merely because the way that Matt and Kenny are doing things now is so much faster and better than the old way.

Could be. But I'm pretty sure an Action #1 :baiting: deserves to get more time.

 

Farking typos!!!! :frustrated:

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Ze-man

Ze-man

Posted
Posted

Ironically, I will bet you money that as to those two particular books, the opposite is true, i.e., Matt and Kenny's work on the Superman #1 I saw took a lot less time to do the structural work on than your Action #41. Not because an Action #1 "deserves" to have more time spent on it, but merely because the way that Matt and Kenny are doing things now is so much faster and better than the old way.

Could be. But I'm pretty sure an Action #1 :baiting: deserves to get more time.

 

Farking typos!!!! :frustrated:

 

Truth be told FFB is closer to the mark then not. If a Supes 1 and Action 41 were both to have Extensive work done the processes are the similar depending on what is wrong with each respective book. The books themselves are not different, and to be honest with you that is how I honestly look at it. Not what book/issue it is in front of me, but more what is wrong with the book and how to best conserve/restore it.

 

Otherwise I might not be able to put a copy of Supes 1 through the ringer, so to speak. :eek:

 

The difference between old school(for lack of a better term) piece fill and leaf casting is night and day. With the japan paper piece fill method you are Piecemealing a cover back together vs leaf casting a cover as a whole page at once. Yes both methods introduce new paper, but having done both methods I would never go back to hand applied japan paper unless a cover was not to be washed. And while leaf casting speeds up the entire in filling process it also introduces many extra steps, but the end result is well worth the time.

 

 

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Ze-man

Ze-man

Posted
Posted
I don't know Susan in any way, shape or form so I can say without any persuasion either way the OP has done a disservice to himself and especially to Susan by not providing an actual accounting. Maligning someone or implying they perform substandard work without providing actual basis of proof is reprehensible. Without the OP actually providing actual details so the readers/commenters can provide comments within context the initial post only implies a maligning of Susan's professional standing.

 

I would agree with this post. It is one thing to bring something up in a thread and then back off what you said. And another entirely to create a thread with damaging content and then let it twist in the wind. Even if completely unfounded, damage is still done simply because people are left to assume what your intent was.

 

Could you at least clarify your initial post Trippy because I do not grasp what it is you are saying other then trying to discredit Susan so you can call your book unrestored?

 

:(

 

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Ze-man

Ze-man

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Posted
I have to agree with FFB. What Kenny & Matt are doing is leaps and bounds ahead of anyone else. Unfortunately, I think the whole field lags in what it can or can't do. Let's say most are stuck in the 19th century, Matt & Kenny are in the 20th century. That's no slight against Matt & Kenny - they do wonderful work. But that's more a statement on how nobody did anything at all to advance the field over the past 3 decades.

 

(worship)

 

That is my frustration as well - it has seemed to me that almost everyone doing restoration work on comics for the last several decades was either (a) a total hack, or (b) learned from Bill Sarill or learned from someone who learned from Bill Sarill and then just tinkered with those techniques a bit instead of trying to think way outside the box and learn the state of the art techniques used in paper conservation.

 

Matt and Kenny are now thinking way outside the box. Kenny's proximity to a world class document conservation center and his anal retentiveness, almost-annoying perfectionism, and natural curiosity are certainly helping to bring the more broadly used state of the art techniques into the comic restoration field. They're also learning that what is possible with some paper artifacts is not possible with comic books, and vice versa. They've only been at it for a relatively short time, but they've made huge strides and it is exciting to watch the progression.

 

You hit the nail on the head. What may be considered typical processes in Conservation/Historical circles does not always translate well to our beloved comic books. For the most part they are leafcasting(or restoring) plain paper type documents, but as we all know a comic book not only can have clay and inks floating on top of the paper, but it also must be folded. This one problem alone was a tough nut to crack when leaf casting. :frustrated:

 

And to pass some flowery praise on to Scott, it was at his suggestion years ago to myself and Matt that we look into leaf casting. We had both heard of it before, but never really considered taking the time to make it work. It was his(sometimes aggressive) prompting that led us to actually get off our keisters and do it.

 

So Scott was actually the original out of box thinker dood. (thumbs u

 

 

 

 

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FFB

FFB

Posted
Posted
I have to agree with FFB. What Kenny & Matt are doing is leaps and bounds ahead of anyone else. Unfortunately, I think the whole field lags in what it can or can't do. Let's say most are stuck in the 19th century, Matt & Kenny are in the 20th century. That's no slight against Matt & Kenny - they do wonderful work. But that's more a statement on how nobody did anything at all to advance the field over the past 3 decades.

 

(worship)

 

That is my frustration as well - it has seemed to me that almost everyone doing restoration work on comics for the last several decades was either (a) a total hack, or (b) learned from Bill Sarill or learned from someone who learned from Bill Sarill and then just tinkered with those techniques a bit instead of trying to think way outside the box and learn the state of the art techniques used in paper conservation.

 

Matt and Kenny are now thinking way outside the box. Kenny's proximity to a world class document conservation center and his anal retentiveness, almost-annoying perfectionism, and natural curiosity are certainly helping to bring the more broadly used state of the art techniques into the comic restoration field. They're also learning that what is possible with some paper artifacts is not possible with comic books, and vice versa. They've only been at it for a relatively short time, but they've made huge strides and it is exciting to watch the progression.

 

You hit the nail on the head. What may be considered typical processes in Conservation/Historical circles does not always translate well to our beloved comic books. For the most part they are leafcasting(or restoring) plain paper type documents, but as we all know a comic book not only can have clay and inks floating on top of the paper, but it also must be folded. This one problem alone was a tough nut to crack when leaf casting. :frustrated:

 

And to pass some flowery praise on to Scott, it was at his suggestion years ago to myself and Matt that we look into leaf casting. We had both heard of it before, but never really considered taking the time to make it work. It was his(sometimes aggressive) prompting that led us to actually get off our keisters and do it.

 

So Scott was actually the original out of box thinker dood. (thumbs u

 

 

 

 

Much as I'd like to take credit for it, it was actually Vince Scipior who got the ball rolling by actually doing it. I just thought the idea sounded neat when I read an article on JAIC, but I probably wouldn't have ever gotten around to trying it. Vince did.

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FFB

FFB

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Posted
I know Tracey Heft leaf casts paper.

 

hm

 

 

Yes, but Vince Scipior was doing it first. :baiting:

 

Also, leaf casting paper is like making pancakes. There's lots of different ways to do it and some ways are way better than others. I have only seen pictures of one example of Tracey Heft's leaf casting jobs, and it was an interior wrap, which anyone would admit is a lot easier than doing a cover - so I can't comment on how good his end product is.

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tb

tb

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Posted

Susan did an absolutely fantastic job on a rare comic for me. The quality of the work was superb and she did it exactly on time. I am just about to submit another book to her because she did so well the first time. I've had a lot less success with one of her competitors.

 

I only read the first post in this thread which prompted me to reply. These threads that badmouth professionals by extrapolating from a single negative experience are in very poor taste. It is a different story if there is a consistent pattern of problems but that is certainly not the case with the Restoration Lab.

 

Case closed for me.

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buttock

buttock

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Posted
I know Tracey Heft leaf casts paper.

 

hm

 

 

Yes, but Vince Scipior was doing it first. :baiting:

 

Also, leaf casting paper is like making pancakes. There's lots of different ways to do it and some ways are way better than others. I have only seen pictures of one example of Tracey Heft's leaf casting jobs, and it was an interior wrap, which anyone would admit is a lot easier than doing a cover - so I can't comment on how good his end product is.

 

I got to flip through a book Tracey had done a huge amount of work on, lots of leaf casting on the interior. The interior was superb. Unbelievable work. I didn't pay much attention to the cover itself, but I'll make it a point to next time I see it.

 

 

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TrippyMcSkippy-migration

TrippyMcSkippy-migration

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I am not trying to discredit Susan...She is a pleasure to deal with and very talented. I was curious as to what others thought of her work. She has had a lot of very good professional reviews and I was just disappointed in how two books turned out. I have had work done by three other restorers in the past so I had an idea of what to compare Susan's work with as well. I just humbly think she is over rated these days.

 

As for detecting restoration, I actually believed the dealer over her. Susan is very zealous about disclosure which is an honorable thing, she said she would actually speak with the dealer and she never did. Thats fine. Just don't tell me you are gonna do something and later just forget about it, especially if it is something you feel strongly about. It didn't matter anyhow since I returned the book.

 

I suppose every book can come out different depending on what is done. I just won't use Susan anymore--but nothing personal. Heck, I am not gonna use anyone anymore!

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Transplant

Transplant

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Posted
I am not trying to discredit Susan...She is a pleasure to deal with and very talented. I was curious as to what others thought of her work. She has had a lot of very good professional reviews and I was just disappointed in how two books turned out. I have had work done by three other restorers in the past so I had an idea of what to compare Susan's work with as well. I just humbly think she is over rated these days.

 

As for detecting restoration, I actually believed the dealer over her. Susan is very zealous about disclosure which is an honorable thing, she said she would actually speak with the dealer and she never did. Thats fine. Just don't tell me you are gonna do something and later just forget about it, especially if it is something you feel strongly about. It didn't matter anyhow since I returned the book.

 

I suppose every book can come out different depending on what is done. I just won't use Susan anymore--but nothing personal. Heck, I am not gonna use anyone anymore!

So you started a thread to say it might be restoration work. Then it was just detection. Now you're insinuating that she did work. By all means, please keep us in the dark. If all you wanted was to get opinions on her work or detection skills, that's all you had to ask. Now, nobody knows what you were getting at.

 

Confusion achieved.

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