Randall J. Paske

Unfortunately, I don't have a backup that shows the "before" state. I only have them from before I entered those issues and after the condition got changed to NM. I'll try to remember to make a new backup just before installing an update from now on.

I'll try to watch this more closely going forward. All I can really do right now is point to a few issues that still have the grading notes from the grading tool but conditions of Near Mint. I don't know if that would help with anything. In my current database, I've noticed this with Uncle Scrooge #59, 84, 114, and 147. I haven't tried to fix them yet.

The latest update seems to have overwritten some of my Condition field entries. Specifically, at least four issues of Uncle Scrooge that I assigned conditions to using the grading tool have been switched back to "Near Mint." The grading notes are still there, but the grades (and values) are now wrong. It is an inconsistent problem, because other issues of the same title that I entered on the same day still have their correct lower grades assigned. I suspect the update only because I entered these issues a few days ago and then noticed the problem after last night's update. I thought this happened to me once before with an issue of Captain Marvel Adventures, but I wasn't sure at the time and decided to ignore it, redoing the grade. I entered these Uncle Scrooge issues just a few days ago, so I know the switch is not in my imagination. Hard to say if it's happened with other titles/issues. Has anyone else encountered this? Is there some factor or step I'm missing?

The entries for Escape to the Stars (Infinity) and Escape to the Stars (Visionary Graphics) should be merged. The publisher changed a few times during the course of the five-issue series. I do not have the first two issues, but cover images show the Infinity logo on them. For #3, which I do have, there's a Works Associates logo on the back cover and the indicia says "Published by Works Associates by special permission of Infinity Visual Productions." I don't have #4 and the cover image doesn't have a publisher's logo, so I don't know what that issue indicates, but #5 says Visionary Graphics in the indicia. I'm pretty sure it's all one series and not a case of any reprints.

Caliber published what amounts to three "series" called Calibrations. The first was a single-issue preview of 1990 releases. The second was a single-issue preview of 1992 releases. The third was a 1996 five-issue series of science fiction comics. In ComicBase, the data for the first series is inaccurate. It wrongly contains the five issues that belong to the 1996 third series. It does not contain the 1990 preview that I have. The second and third series appear to be accurately represented in ComicBase. But for the first series, there should only be that one issue. Technically it is not numbered, and there is no indicia, but an interior text piece refers to it as "the first issue of Calibrations." I considered deleting issues #2-5 from the first series and changing the data for #1, then submitting the corrected data. But I thought maybe an explanation was warranted. If it would be better for database admins to make this change, I could submit a cover image later on.

The link to the ComicBase forum at the end of the FAQ page (https://www.comicbase.com/mycb/FAQ.aspx) goes to an old forum instead of this one. It's not a huge problem because that page has a link to this one, but it would be better to link directly here.

My CB 2021 version was older. Upgrading now...

Well, it happened again with the latest update: nearly 800 "not a valid image file" error messages that I had to click through, one after another, before the update was complete. Not fun.

I have no zero-byte image files. My error messages do not cascade like Andrew's, though that did happen to me once as a seemingly separate issue. The last two times I have updated, I have had to click through the hundreds of error messages similar to the one I posted. (I wish there were a "Yes to All" option.) I don't want to go through that again if I don't have to, so I'll wait for the next update to see if it happens again.

It's Acme Comics in the indicia of #8 as well. I just dug the first seven issues out of a magazine box (they're all roughly magazine size, while #8 is the size of a standard comic). It's Acme Comics on the covers and indicia of the first seven issues as well. I don't think I have #9 or #10, but from pictures on the Internet it looks like #9 omits the word "Comics" from the cover, while #10 includes it again.

The database entry for Acme Comics has gotten messy, and I think I'm partly responsible. I'm new to entering my collection. When I looked for Acme Comics, I did not see the existing entry for Acme. So I added Acme Comics as a new title. Later, I discovered the entry for Acme and entered some creator and publication data for issue #8. I also made a title modification using the "Edit Title Information" button in ComicBase. The title should correctly be given as Acme Comics, not just Acme, as it is Acme Comics on all of the covers. I also fixed the publication dates, which are correctly 1982-1992. I'm a little unclear on some of the details about which pieces of information get replicated to other users and which stay on my end, but after the last database update, I'm now seeing a bare-bones listing for Acme #1-10 and a second entry for Acme Comics which contains only #8 and the info I entered for it. These listings need to be merged. To summarize: there should only be one listing for this title; the title should be Acme Comics, not just Acme; the dates of publication are 1982-1992, not 1987-1989; and the details I entered for Acme Comics #8 should be preserved. I'm sorry for any part I played in this confusion and I've already learned to be a little craftier when checking the database for titles before I go trying to add one.

After I do an update of ComicBase, I am forced to click through a couple hundred error messages stating that certain images are "not a valid image file." Why is this happening and how can it be fixed? Thanks.