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To Bubble or Not to Bubble. That IS my question.
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13 posts in this topic

Even though I have been at this for over 25 years I have never really given the case of "word bubbles" any thought.  I looked through posts for "word bubble" threads and found a few, but mostly relating to what glue to use to put them back on.  I'm wondering if they should be kept on in the first place?  Especially if they are empty bubbles?  I probably haven't pulled the below pictured piece out from behind the bed in over 10 years.  When I did so last night I noticed a bubble had become detached, and they were all yellowing.  This piece would obviously look much better without the yellow, wordless, bubbles on it (and in a more minimalist frame or perhaps just in the art binder).  I have always been in the habit of keeping OA as-is once acquired, assuming that was the best practice.  But is it?  Is there some general rule of thumb for Word Bubbles?

Remove wordless bubbles?
Remove all bubbles?
Keep pieces as-is regardless of bubble state?
Just do whatever you think is best?

I suppose as long as you aren't destroying the bubbles and they are kept with the OA and not necessarily on it there would be no harm and the next owner could do what the want with them.  Maybe I answered my own question?

What does everyone else think?

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15 minutes ago, Local Net Plus, LLC said:

  I have always been in the habit of keeping OA as-is once acquired, assuming that was the best practice.  But is it?  Is there some general rule of thumb for Word Bubbles?

 

My opinion but I think it's acceptable to try and keep OA as close to the original condition/look as possible so in the case of your image, there was clearly text pasted on to create the word balloons. As long as you aren't changing the original image or adding word balloons that weren't ever there, it's acceptable, to me, to try and maintain as much fidelity with the original piece for the sake of conservation. 

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12 minutes ago, Twanj said:

Can you show a picture of just the page?

I will probably be taking several pieces out of frames this weekend.  I posted several pieces in another thread showing how my framing tastes have changed over the years.  I will upload an image of the piece out of the frame once I get to it.  

 

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The yellowing is probably a stain from the glue and it's not good for the paper. You might consider getting it cleaned and restored.

Free advice in the Spoiler text.

Spoiler
In the many threads on paper conservation, the names that recur the most were:
 
  • Robert Dennis
Comic Art Restoration Service (on Facebook)
 
  • Gordon Christman
Gordon doesn't seem to have a web presence, but his snail mail address and phone number are:
Gordon G. Christman
Restoration & Conservation
330 South Horne Street #L
Oceanside, CA 92054
TEL:  760 439 7970
CEL:  760 458 2290
 
  • Tracey Heft - Eclipse Paper
 
 
I've also had one recommendation for each of these:

I would add that most major museums know of paper conservators. You might want to contact someone at a local museum and see if there is a conservator close to you.

 

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1 hour ago, Twanj said:

Neat page!

Can you show a picture of just the page?

Personally, I would leave as is. Keep all parts together.

You could have an acetate overlay with new (not yellow) bubbles on it, covering the yellow bubbles.

When word balloons in my collection have fallen off in the past, I repair them with double tape.  David

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1 hour ago, Local Net Plus, LLC said:

I will probably be taking several pieces out of frames this weekend.  I posted several pieces in another thread showing how my framing tastes have changed over the years.  I will upload an image of the piece out of the frame once I get to it.  

I don't see it there.

I meant just a phone pic of the piece, in the frame if need be, to see how bad the discoloration is and also appreciate the art. But I can wait until it's out of the frame.

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2 hours ago, Twanj said:

I don't see it there.

I meant just a phone pic of the piece, in the frame if need be, to see how bad the discoloration is and also appreciate the art. But I can wait until it's out of the frame.

Here is a closer shot

2020_12_18 16_38 Office Lens.jpg

Edited by Local Net Plus, LLC
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Then there are things like this mess......Painted panels by Ernie Colon.  The top right panel is detached. Acetate overlay with some of the word bubbles.  Most appear to be held on by static and not glue, and a second overlay showing position of said bubbles (overlay is flipped in photo).  Tempted to take each panel off and have this framed in a die-cut fasion so it resemble the printed page (minus the word bubbles).

 

 

 

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1595475900_2020_12_1816_42OfficeLens(1).thumb.jpg.ac487e88e060a6a6252f01414cde9fb9.jpg

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This is one of those areas where you can ask five people and get six different opinions, but I'd probably lean towards the cleaning / overlay route for the framed Valiant piece.  It would have the dual advantages of removing the glue stains and bringing the piece closer to the published form. 

With the painted piece, I'd obviously hold on to all the original lettering bubbles, but since they're loose (and the piece looks great without 'em) I would personally be tempted to simply frame this one without the text.

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That's some really nice artwork. I don't remove anything from art. I've dealt with missing stats or word balloons as part of the hazard of collecting work meant to be discarded or filed away after publishing use. That being said there are restoration experts that can reattach or remove balloons and glue residue. Man really nice art!

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20 hours ago, Local Net Plus, LLC said:

Then there are things like this mess......Painted panels by Ernie Colon.  The top right panel is detached. Acetate overlay with some of the word bubbles.  Most appear to be held on by static and not glue, and a second overlay showing position of said bubbles (overlay is flipped in photo).  Tempted to take each panel off and have this framed in a die-cut fasion so it resemble the printed page (minus the word bubbles).

This is a subject I feel strongly about. Don't forget that you are looking at a piece of a story. Without the text bubbles, it is difficult, at best, to understand what was behind the artist's (and writer's) thinking in his design of the overall layout and of each panel in the page. To me, it is like removing a piece of a Caldor mobile because you didn't like one of the colored bits.

I would either get a restorer to fix it, or use some glue (acid free) to put it back on, after cleaning off the brown residue. 

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Working on my amateur bubble-making-restoration-skills.  First picture is the OA with all bubbles and transparencies removed.  Second picture is a scan of the published page.  Third picture is the bubbles only with all images and color removed, and is hopefully what will be printed on a new archival safe transparency once I get the roll in next week.  Fourth picture is me putting the bubbles only over the OA.  I have another draft or 2 of the bubbles only page to go getting it cleaned up as best I can and a touch of resizing.  I already see I cut off part of the "SQUEE!!" bubble.  But so far so good for proof of concept.  Next test will be to see if how close I can get to "white" to actually print on the transparency or if I need to have the bubbles printed on white vinyl and cut.

 

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