whitney sorrow

Giles' depiction of The Gentlemen's modus operandi

Buffy the Vampire Slayer is my all time favorite television show. I have seen every episode more times than I’m going to say. There are a handful of episodes that I’ve seen twice as many times as the number of times that I’m not going to say. HUSH is one of those episodes. I love HUSH. I love it as a stand-alone piece, for the part it plays in the fourth season arc, and because of the reasoning Joss Whedon gave for making it.   There is something so intimate about the silence in this episode, too.

I made versions of each and every one of Giles' slides, including one for when Giles started the presentation backwards

I tried to make the book so that to Buffy fans it was immediately and unmistakeably the box from Hush, while to the non-initiated it looks simply like an embellished journal.

When designing the books in the Buffy series, I knew I had to make a HUSH book. And if I was going to make a Hush book, I was going to use the scene with Giles in the classroom with the overhead projector. (All of a sudden I just pictured a Joss Whedon Clue™ boardgame — it was Giles in the classroom with the overhead projector!) Everybody gets a funny in that scene.  Xander at the mercy of his hormones, The Gentlemen are really after “boobies?”  Anya gets her former vengeance demon moment, as she looks nonchalantly at Giles’ depiction of the bloody removal of a human heart.  Willow gets to just be generally adorable as she pantomimes her brainstorm for logical solutions to the problem at hand, the manufacture of a voice.  Whedon even manages to make a masturbation joke (usually far too base for BtVS, that is, unless it’s Spike talking) seem clever, with Buffy frantically trying to find her stake to clarify her grossly misunderstood gesturing.  And then the beautifully executed moment where Buffy reacts to the proportion with which Giles’ drew her likeness – where we all get to laugh because Saving the World is such a commonplace event for Buffy and the Scoobies, that she still gets that moment. I had so much fun making this book.  And yeah, I watched the whole episode again, even though I just needed to do screen captures from one scene.  I hope it turned out to be a worthy tribute.

I love Anya's reaction to these particular slides... eating popcorn and oh so casually nodding as if to say "Yep, that's pretty much how you carve out someone's heart."

The weight of the world is on her shoulders, and as Giles shows the next slide, Buffy looks horrified, and then gestures to her oversized hips

The outside of the book is made to be a pretty literal nod to the metal trimmed wooden box that The Gentlemen use to store all of Sunnydale’s stolen voices. When you open the book, I did something a little different. Every signature has a cover page. Each cover page is made of translucent vellum and is one of Giles’ overhead transparencies from his presentation on his research of The Gentlemen. And I drew them, they aren’t photo copies, so there are some imperfections (really, I don’t draw.) Still, I think they’re pretty awesome. I have to say, every single time I look at these cover pages they make me laugh. This book took a LONG TIME to make. A REALLY LONG TIME. But it was really fun, the whole way through… a labor of (buffy/whedon) love.  I think I want to make another version of this journal and try to send it to Joss Whedon.  After all, Buffy’s birthday is coming up!  So, if anyone out there is reading this, and knows where one should send something intended for Master Whedon with a chance of it maybe actually getting to him, or even quite near to him, please leave me a comment or send me an email.  🙂

It is exciting to finally be writing this blog post. I have been binding and binding and binding this new series of books, all alone in my studio, and one after another putting each completed book silently away on a bookshelf.  I haven’t blogged about them, or listed them on etsy, or shoved them into my friends’ faces (at least not many.)  I have been quietly collecting them.  Until now… I have a fair number of them done (roughly about a quarter of the books I have planned are completed) and I feel like I can now finally release them.  So without any further ado, may I introduce… THE GEEKERY COLLECTION.

selections from The Geekery Collection

And they’re just in time (barely, I know) for your holiday buying pleasure. Within the collection are differently themed series, basically tributes to all my favorite t.v. shows, movies, and other geeky pleasures.  (Let’s be honest, just about half of them are a tribute to my favorite favorite, Joss Whedon.)  Included to date are selections from the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series, the Doctor Who series, the Firefly / Serenity series, and the Comic Book series.  I will be featuring one selection every day or so of the upcoming week; although you can see all released to date in my portfolio and for sale in my etsy shop.  I have tried to make each book with some special, unique detail, to make you smile or smirk. Some of these scream to the world your fanboy/girl status, while others are subtle enough that only those in the know will recognize the reference.  Making these books has been very inspiring for me; ideas for new books hit me all the while I’m obsessively attending to one of the many little delicious details in these books.

Quick, while their eye-stalks are turned!

Ungh... book braaains...

Mr. Pointy - when keeping your book closed is at stake.

The ideas are definitely coming to me exponentially faster than I can bring the books to life, and I have no idea how long I will remain enchanted with these thematic books.  But I can confidently say that you’re likely to see some clever or overt references to LOST, the Evil Dead, Torchwood, Atari games, Pride & Prejudice & Zombies, and others before I’m done.

If you want to see something special, if there’s a favorite show, comic, heroine, hero, villain, episode, issue, or prop you’d like to see referenced, please leave me a comment. I’d be happy to steal your ideas.  Just kidding.  Sort of.  Or if you’re really keen, contact me via etsy to commission a custom book.  I can’t promise that I’ll do your suggestion or request, mostly because I’m not a patient person, and if I don’t like the show/character/prop that you’re requesting, it’s doubtful that I’d be eager to spend as much time concentrating on it as it takes to make one of these books.  But, please, give it a try!  (And, before a bunch of you mention it, I’m already well into the T.A.R.D.I.S. series!)

So, here’s my Geekery Collection.  Enjoy!

Oh, and if you’re lovely enough to buy something from my shop as a Christmas gift, be sure to purchase it before 6pm Monday December 20th so I can get it to you in time for the holiday.

This project was serendipitous on a couple of levels. My husband, who is a comic illustrator and an avid comic collector, and I had been talking for awhile about making my blank books using comic books. Sometime during these musings of ours, I was contacted by someone on Etsy about doing a custom photo album. It started off as a common enough request. But then the potential customer told me she wanted a Superman theme. A bell went off; this would be a perfect foray into the new comics series. Then she told me that she and her husband had called their late son their little Superman. And another bell went off; this would be a very important book for these people. Their son had been born with a larger than life spirit, but tragically with a number of complications. They only had a few months with their gorgeous little boy. His name is Beck and he was his parents’ Little Superman, and of all the bookbinders on Etsy, they had found and chosen me to make the photo album that would catalog the photographs of his all too short life. His mother, Lindsey, is an inspiring, positive and open woman, with strength that I can only admire awestruck. She has blogged about her life with and after Beck, just follow the links if you would like to read more about their story.

So I began making a book that I felt not terribly qualified to make. My dear husband immediately recognized the importance of this new book to me, and jumped online and with some help from his other comic collector friends, found me a beautiful reprint of the very first Superman comic, Superman no.1 (not to be confused with the first appearance of Superman in Action Comics no.1!) It wasn’t in the best of shape, even for a reprint, but that just added to the authenticity of the retro look of it (and honestly, made it affordable enough to be used for the book.) We bought the reprint on Ebay and when it arrived, it was perfect.

So, the front and back covers are the front and back cover of Superman no.1.

With a simple light blue as pastedowns.

I used some random internal pages for spine- and fly-papers, which turned out to be an affect that I really enjoyed, and have since employed on a number of my new comics books.

On the spine, I tried to sew the central bindings in a shape that would be a nod to the Superman emblem, but I’m afraid it got a bit lost in translation. I was actually envisioning this to be much clearer and at one point nearly tore the book apart and started the sewing over. Thankfully, my husband can talk me back from the ledge when necessary.

I’ve included a couple of step-by-steps shots for this post. When I sew bindings in any way but straight horizontal lines across the spine, I use a white charcoal pencil to mark where to punch. Although the top and bottom bindings are straight horizontal lines, the center binding is a (vaguely) in the shape of the Superman emblem.

Prior to sewing, I punch each signature by spreading it along a cardboard box.

As long as I’m divulging Eyes Only details… I’ll show you what I use instead of a bodkin. I use bodkins, but rarely for what they’re intended. Instead I pull the blade from an Exact-O knife and insert whatever size needle I’m choosing to sew with in the blade slot. That way, the holes punched are no bigger than I need.

I think the book turned out pretty darn cool. And how cool is the subtitle of Superman no. 1? The parents really seemed to like it, too. I don’t think any book could have been quite special enough for this little boy, but I tried my best to at least make it pretty darn cool.

This book is made from a Prince and the Revolution “Purple Rain” record cover. The front and back covers are made with the front and back record covers, with the interior covers featuring the artwork from the record sleeve (which contains the lyrics.) The book is made with 25 pages of premium Strathmore Bristol paper, ideal for sketching, drawing, pen and ink, and heavy enough to support plenty of photos to be used as a photo album. The fly- and end-papers are made with a deep violet silk lace paper and lavender pearlescent paper. The edges are finished with purple duct tape. The book is sewn using an eight needle Greek method with purple waxed Irish linen thread. This book is for sale on my etsy site.

This is a collaborative series… the covers feature original linocut relief prints by none other than my awesomely talented and generally wonderful husband, Casey Sorrow. The above book features a portrait of the revolutionary Ché Guevara, simply titled, “Ché.”

The first “Ché” book measures 10.5″x6.75″ and is bound at the top. The image has a white border. The book block is made of premium Strathmore Bristol, a high quality artist paper for sketching and drawing with a smooth finish perfect for pen and ink drawing with no bleeding.

The second “Ché” book measures 7.75″x5.75″ and is bound on the side, in a conventional journal style. The image on this book goes right to the edge. The 96 page book block is 32lb 25% cotton rag paper, a high quality writing paper.

Next is the first in a series of four books featuring Casey’s artwork inspired by old war comics. All of these books are journals, measuring 7.75″x5.75″ with 96 pages of 32lb 25% cotton rag paper.

Below is “Blood Groove.”

The next in the series, “BOHICA.” (An acronym for Bend Over Here It Comes Again)

I especially love this next one, “A New Day.”

And finally, “Gun Bunny.”

The artwork on the front covers are original Artists Proofs of the relief prints, they are not photocopies. You’re getting the real art here!

Casey’s website also offers these and other prints for sale individually, ready to frame. There is a limited run of each print, but I believe he still has some for sale of each image.

All of these books are for sale on my etsy site.