Save Big on ComicBase Archive Edition

ComicBase 8 Archive Edition has been getting rave reviews from customers and press alike, and there are only days left to get it for an amazing two thirds off when you upgrade by November 1st. Yes, this double-DVD collection (with a mighty 7 GB of data, covers, and movies) is yours for as little as $129 when you upgrade from an old edition of ComicBase.

• The world's largest comic book database: over 200,000 issues listed from over 1,400 publishers, ranging from the 1890s to the present. No other guide comes close.

• Fully updated pricing for 2003-2004 from Comics Buyer's Guide, the best-researched, most true-to-life guide to current market prices.

• Includes over 55,000 cover illustrations: If you looked at one cover every ten seconds, it'd take over 152 hours to view them all. Luckily, they're accessible right from within ComicBase where you can instantly pull up nearly complete runs of everything from Action Comics to Howard the Duck, as well as helping you track down thousands of variant covers and special issues.

• Almost a hundred film clips: Includes exclusive interviews with Frank Miller, Mark Waid, Sheldon Moldoff, Garth Ennis, Joe Quesada and Jimmy Palmiotti, Jeff Smith, Julius Schwartz, Dan DeCarlo, and more!

• Expanded database with circulation and CGC census data: A dealer is touting their "Rare!" copy of Incredible Hulk #181 in CGC 9.2 condition--but did you know that there were actually 202,592 copies of that issue printed, and that CGC alone has graded over a thousand copies--the best of which was in 9.9 condition? With ComicBase 8 Archive Edition, you'll get the real story on scarcity--as well as seeing historical trends play out for a title's popularity.

• Faster, more flexible data entry: Rearrange, hide, and resize columns, and more easily see which issues you own with automatic issue coloring (Windows version). You can even enter entire runs with a single keystroke

• More customizable reporting and exporting: Improved searching, exporting, and reporting allows you to zero in on just the data you want.

• Handheld support: Take your issue checklists and title reports with you anywhere you go on your Palm or Pocket PC computer.

• Imports data from all previous versions of ComicBase: No matter how old your current version of ComicBase is, ComicBase 8 will load in your old data automatically.

• Runs on the latest versions of both Mac OS and Windows: ComicBase 8 is compatible with both Windows 98 SE and up (including XP) and Mac OS 7.1 and later, including Mac OS X (classic mode).

• A great value at $299 -- AN AMAZING DEAL AT $129: No matter what version of ComicBase you've got now, you can upgrade to ComicBase 8 Archive Edition for as little as $129).

You can order by calling Human Computing at 408/266-6883 (10-5 PST, M-F), or online 24 hours at http://www.comicbase.com. Fax orders can be sent to 408/266-5869.

Got questions? Check out the full product information at http://www.comicbase.com/mycb/Products/Products.aspx, give us call at (408) 266-6883, or email us at support@human-computing.com.

Update Watch: ComicBase 8.0.3 (windows)

We're always busy refining and updating ComicBase, and we're happy to announce the release of ComicBase 8.0.3, a free update for ComicBase 8 users. The update is available at:

http://www.comicbase.com/Updaters/Win/ComicBase_8.0.3_Updater.EXE

It adds a variety of new features and revisions, including a new Pictures column in the issues view, better formatting of edited descriptions, and new command key shortcuts. See the release notes for the full list of changes.

Technical Tips

Q: I've been using ComicBase on my Macintosh, but I'd like to switch over to the PC. Can I transfer my data?

Luckily, ComicBase ships with both Macintosh and Windows versions on the same disk, so you can run the program on either platform.

To move your data from the Mac to the PC:

1. On your Macintosh, launch ComicBase and choose File -> Export (or Export Price List if using a version prior to v6.0)
2. Choose which fields you'd like to export (in general, you'll want to export at least the Title, Issue, Condition, Quantity in Stock, and Cost). Choose to export only issues in stock, and use Tab for your field separator, and Return for your record separator. Click the Export button, and save the exported file to your Desktop.
3. Quit ComicBase
4. Copy the exported file to your PC using either a DOS-formatted floppy disk, a CD-R, or a network connection.
5. Install ComicBase on your PC
6. Launch ComicBase on your PC, and choose File -> Import
7. Select the file you exported earlier, and choose the fields in the order you exported them. (The preview pane is useful for verifying that you're matching the fields in the right order).
8. Click the Options button and check the "Translate Mac to PC ASCII Characters" box.
9. Click the Import button to begin importing the data.

Please note that if you've added your own titles to ComicBase, you may be prompted during the import process to match each unrecognized title to existing ComicBase titles (in case of a name mismatch), or to create them anew. A dialog will pop up each time an unrecognized title is encountered, which can be a bit distracting if you've added a large number of titles, so it's a good idea to run the import while you're otherwise distracted. From experience, we can vouch that doing this while watching a World Series game (or a Buffy re-run) is just about ideal.

Q: How Can I transfer my ComicBase Data from my PC to a Macintosh?

It's largely the same process as going from the Mac to the PC, although we need to find a way to translate the different ASCII characters used by Macs and PCs. Luckily, this is easily accomplished by first translating the text file with the exported data into Microsoft Word format, then saving it back as a text file once it's been transported to the other computer:

1. On your PC, launch ComicBase and choose File -> Export (or Export Price List if using a version prior to ComicBase 6.0)
2. Choose which fields you'd like to export (in general, you'll want to export at least the Title, Issue, Condition, Quantity in Stock, and Cost). Choose to export only issues in stock, and use Tab for your field separator, and Return for your record separator. Click the Export button, and save the exported file to your Desktop.
3. Quit ComicBase
4. Open up the text file on your PC using Microsoft Word (or Wordpad) and save the file as a Word file.
5. Copy the Word file to your Mac using either a DOS-formatted floppy disk, a CD-R, or a network connection.
6. Open the Word file on your Mac, and use Word's File -> Save As command to save it in text format on your Mac.
7. Install ComicBase on your Mac
8. Launch ComicBase on your Mac, and choose File -> Import
9. Select the text version of the file you exported earlier, and choose the fields in the order you exported them. (The Preview button is useful for verifying that you're matching the fields in the right order).
10. Click the Import button to begin importing the data.

Note: The World Series/Buffy re-run note from the tip above also applies here.

Title News

Here’s how we'll be designating some of the newer titles to have appeared with somewhat ambiguous names. For the full story on naming titles, check out page 16 of the ComicBase manual: “The Black Art of Title Naming” – It’s easily the single most important page in the whole user guide.

• Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 1) will be holding Amazing Spider-Man #500 and beyond. When Marvel redid the numbering on new Amazing Spider-Man issues, they also reset the volume numbering to Vol. 1. (But heck, it’s no stranger than what Dark Horse did with Oh My Goddess!).

• Captain America: Dead Man Running will be renamed to its proper title, Captain America: Dead Men Running.

• The introduction of the new Doctor Fate series is forcing us to retroactively rename our existing titles. Doctor Fate (Mini-Series) will become Doctor Fate (1st Series); Doctor Fate becomes Doctor Fate (2nd Series); and the new title will be Doctor Fate (3rd Series).

• Fantastic Four (Vol. 1) will be holding Fantastic Four #500 and beyond for the same reasons as ASM #500+

• Goon, The (Vol. 2) is now Goon, The (Goon) to help alleviate the confusion caused by Vol. 2 occurring *before* volume 1(!). Yes, it breaks our style guide, but in this extraordinary instance, it seems the option least liable to make everyone crazy.

• The new Hawkeye Vol. 2 will be listed as Hawkeye (3rd Series), since Marvel already released a Vol. 2 of Hawkeye. Worse, this also means that we’ll be forced to retroactively rename Hawkeye (Vol. 1) and Hawkeye (Vol. 2) (the 1994 series) to become Hawkeye (1st Series) and Hawkeye (2nd Series) respectively.

• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (4th Series) – The new series from Dreamwave. Note that we didn't have to add any extra spaces to its name to keep its pictures straight, since the publisher (and thus the Picture Folder) changed. In other cases with very long title names--notoriously the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles titles--we sometimes have to add extra spaces between words to make the title unique in the first 31 characters (a Macintosh System 9 and earlier limitation) – so that we can associate the proper picture with the title.

• Robocop (Frank Miller’s…) – The new title from Avatar. When a title is in the form Creator’s Title, ComicBase (and CBG) convention is to put the creator appellation in parenthesis so that it sorts with the major title. The thinking behind this convention comes down to the test of, “Where would a sensible retailer put this title if they wanted people to be able to find it?” – and the vast majority would rack this with the other Robocop titles under R, instead of under “F”.

• Sad Sack Sack World will be renamed to its proper title, Sad Sad Sack World. (I don't know how we got confused about that one...)

• Silencers, The (Moonstone) – From Moonstone (parenthesized to differentiate it from the earlier Silencers series from Caliber)
  

Mailing List Notes and Administrivia

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Due to the amount of information in this newsletter, we're publishing it in HTML format. (And if you're viewing this as a sea of HTML tags in a non-HTML mail client, we beg your forbearance!). As soon as we can work out the necessary mechanics, we'll be setting up a separate list for folks who prefer to get such mailings in plain text format.