Gregory Hecht

Brother Billy, The Pain From Plains is listed in the database as a comic. It contains illustrations and a lot of text jokes, and isn't really a comic. IMO this should be moved to the Magazine category.

Some retailers (e.g. mycomicshop) don't downgrade a comic if the digital code has been redeeemed. But I agree with Steven that some really picky collectors may feel differently. EDITED TO ADD: I don't know what the policy on this is for professional grading services (such as CGC) but I would assume that they would downgrade if the digital code sticker was not in "unaltered, like new" condition, i.e., the peel-away portion still attached. When I post comics for sale on Atomic Avenue that have a digital comic sticker, I always indicate whether or not the code was redeemed and the expiry date for the code... this way the buyer always knows what they are getting. I agree, although I am more concerned about the long term affect of the adhesive that is used to attach the sticker to the comic book page than I am about the adhesive that is used to attach the outer "peel-away" sticker that conceals the digital redemption code.

I am assuming that these comics from the 1980's or so. At that time, Marvel comics were distributed to the newsstands on a returnable basis and to comic shops on a non-returnable basis (aka "direct sale"). Newsstands could get credit for copies that weren't sold, but to prove that the comics weren't sold they had to send back the covers (in earlier times, they had to send back the entire comic, but sending back just the covers made that less expensive). Direct sales had a bigger discount, but if the retailer didn't sell all of their copies, they couldn't return them. To prevent hanky panky of covers from direct sales comics getting mixed in with claims of unsold newsstand comics, Marvel set up two different covers. The returnable market would receive comics with the UPC bar code. Direct sales comics typically had a Spider-Man headshot in the box, although sometimes other things would be put in the space where the bar code was located (or, in those cases where there was a bar code, there was a thick diagonal line through the bar code). Direct sales comics would usually put issue number and price in a diamond-shaped box in the upper left portion of the cover, and often the price would include Canadian and UK pricing since Marvel had direct sales to comic shops outside of the U.S. Some back issue dealers claim that newsstand and direct sales issues can have different valuations. Theoretically, direct sales comics would be expected to be more rare early in the existence of the system I described above. In later years, newsstands were carrying fewer comics b/c they took up rack space that could be used to sell more expensive items (and newsstands were in the process of dying out as well), and newsstand copies from those years would be more rare. Also, presumably newsstand comics in general would be more difficult to find in higher condition grades b/c casual readers would be more likely to buy from newsstands and collectors who bought from comic shops would keep their comics in better shape. Chuck Rozanski (Mile High Comics) has been a big proponent of different valuations for newsstand vs. direct editions, but he (and other back issue dealers) have a vested interest in promoting the idea that comics that they have in stock are more rare and therefore more valuable. Pete Bickford says that he is not seeing substantial differences in actual market activity for newsstand vs. direct editions, and for that reason ComicBase does not separately track newsstand and direct versions of the same comic issue.

Ah, so not a genuine Mac keyboard. It's probably a thing where Parallels is expecting a regular Mac keyboard.

What Mac are you using? On my Macbook Pro that isn't quite a year old I have individual Fn, Control, Option, and Command keys on the left, but only Command and Option on the right (plus the four arrow keys on the right).

A custom title field might be very useful. I could see myself using it to list other titles or issues where a particular character or series shows up. For instance, the Strangehaven series turns up in some comics other than its own self-titled series, and it would be nice to be able to put that info into ComicBase for my own use when re-reading the series.

Listing it at a high value or actually completing a sale at high value?

The database lists the cover price for Fallen Angel #1 (2nd printing) as $2.50. The cover price should actually be listed as $0.00 since (as stated on the cover) that issue was free.

The AAFES books got scattered all around the database, it is kind of a mess. Personally, I would have handled it as all of the AAFES issues going under one title, but that is admittedly a "hindsight is 20-20" kind of thing. What are your settings for content updates? Do you have the program delete obsolete titles and issues for which your quantity is zero? If not, that might explain why the old listings are available in your database.

Under what category should comic convention programs (Comicfest, for example) be listed? The contents aren't comics, obviously. Should they go under magazines?

Generally speaking, the primary determinant as to whether an item goes into Books or Comics is the content, not the construction. Somewhere along the line, a lot of titles got moved from Comics to Books, presumably either by an over-eager intern or an over-eager algorithm. Many of the items were moved appropriately, but many others were moved inappropriately. Great Comic Book Heroes may have been one of those items that was moved that should not have been.

Would you be able to use the custom fields for this? (I am assuming that you have the Professional version of CB or higher) You can enter the name of the person to whom you lent the book in the field.

The items listed under The Invincible Gene Colan are listed as TPB and TPB/LE. This item is a hardcover, so the entries should be changed to HC and HC/LE.

The Misadventures of Jane is listed in the database as a book. It primarily contains reprinted comic strips, so it should be listed in the Comic Book category. Wally Wood: Dare-Devil Aces, Commandos & Other Sagas of War is listed in the database as a book. It reprints comic book stories, so it should be listed in the Comic Book category.

These two items are still hanging around. I did find my copy of Ed Hannigan: Covered. It is indeed a comic book in terms of its construction. There are no comics in the content, it is a few articles and lots of artwork (including comic book covers). Hopefully that helps you determine whether this should be listed as a book or a comic. Still not seeing the rationale for the Ka-Zar the Savage omnibus getting its own title rather than being listed under the existing Ka-Zar the Savage title.

Not only that, but all of the titles that are marked as changed are the titles that get marked as changed in *every* update even when they have no changes.

Thanks, Steven, this is very helpful. At a minimum there should be an update to the Notes field to clarify this. There may be problems in changing what is now 1/C to 1/B... so maybe delete 1/B and change what is now 1/B to 1/C-2? (that way 1/C can stay the way that it is)

And while we are on the subject, what is the difference between Star Wars #1/B and Star Wars #1/C? The Notes field for both issues indicate "Whitman variant" and the scans both show the same cover price in a white diamond and no UPC code in the lower left box. Assuming these two issues are in fact different things, I'm not seeing anything in the Notes field or in the scans that allows one to tell the two variants apart.

The database lists an issue #4 for the title Blackjack (Vol. 1). This was only a three issue series, so issue #4 does not exist. The title also lists Special Edition #1, published in 1998. What is this? I don't see it listed anyplace else. Also, ca. 2015 Dover apparently published a trade paperback of this series under the title Blackjack: Second Bite of the Cobra (see here and here, for example). I don't have a copy, but if somebody does, it should probably be listed as Book #1 under this title.

Sounds like this will be addressed at this week's ComicBase Livestream!

The database includes the title The Heroines Showcase Art Portfolio. There are a number of corrections that are needed here: This title is listed under books. It is a periodical, so I think that it should really be moved to Magazines. (It definitely isn't a comic.) The database includes a listing for issue #1. There is no issue #1 that should be listed under this title. The first issue was actually published as The Heroine Addict Art Portfolio #1. So issue #1 from The Heroines Showcase Art Portfolio should be deleted. The notes field for issue #2 state "ca. 1981". This should really be "ca. 1979". "ca. 1981" should be added to the Notes field #2 (2nd printing). "ca. 1985" be added to the Notes field for #3. The publication date listed for the title states 1985. It should really be 1979-1985.

I own Gates of Eden #1 (and it is listed in the database), but I just came across an advertisement on the back cover of the Fantaco Chronicles Annual that advertises Gates of Eden #2 as being available for order. (Photos attached.) ComicBase, mycomicshop, Mile High, and comics.org all list Gates of Eden #1 but not #2. eBay includes listings for #1 but not #2. A quick Google search comes up with a few listings of #2 as never having been published. I find it odd that Fantaco would advertise #2 as being for sale (including a cover image) if it was never published, but I am unable to find evidence that it exists. Is anybody able to shed more light on this? (Please note that I am only looking to confirm whether or not issue #2 exists, and in the absence of evidence I am NOT advocating for it to be added to ComicBase.)

What dpi are your scans?

I am running Archive. What version are you running? Some older versions of Archive aren't fully compatible with the app. If you aren't running the most recent version of Archive, updating might solve your issue.

Are the contents prose or comics? The contents are the primary determinant as to the whether an item belongs in Books or Comics. Looks to me like these are reprints of Harvey Comics issues and that they should stay in Comics.