The Biggest Update of Them All

The world’s largest comic book database—now with thousands of new titles. Fully updated pricing for 2004–2005 from the field’s best-researched price guide. A completely redesigned interface that blows away the old limitations...

All this would make ComicBase 9 a monumental upgrade, even if we hadn’t overhauled the entire database engine to make ComicBase faster than ever, while adding support for both multiple users and multiple collections. Oh! And did we mention that the Archive Edition now includes a staggering 70,000 cover scans—some 20,000 of which are now in full-size, high-definition format?

These are just some of the new features that make ComicBase 9 the biggest, most important upgrade to ComicBase since ComicBase 1.0. And to celebrate, we’re giving you a change to upgrade to our top-of-the-line ComicBase 9 Archive Edition from any version of ComicBase—right back to ComicBase 1.0—for just $99.95 until November 1st.

“ With ComicBase 9, we got a chance to go back to the drawing board and completely redesign ComicBase from the ground up,” notes ComicBase creator Pete Bickford. “We tried to imagine what our dream system would look like, regardless of the technical constraints. Then we made it happen.”

Manage your Collection with the World’s Biggest comic book database—Now Bigger than Ever!

From Spider-Man to shoujo manga, Tales From the Crypt to Tales of G.I. Joe, ComicBase covers the world of comics like nothing else. ComicBase includes over 225,000 issues in its massive database, with current and historical pricing on each issue, as well as storylines, creator credits, and more. ComicBase 9 also includes more new and independent comics than ever, with over 20,000 issues added just since version 8!

Because so much information is built into ComicBase, adding your own comics is as easy as choosing an issue and saying how many you have. You can even enter hundreds of issues with a single keystroke!

Know your collection’s real value with fully updated comic pricing for 2004-2005

The comic values in ComicBase 9 have been completely updated for 2004-2005, based on data from the Comics Buyer’s Guide. Having gained a reputation as the most hard-hitting, no-nonsense guide to the comic market, the new edition draws on massive amounts of real-world data from retail, convention, and online sales to give users the most accurate measure of their collection’s true value in today’s competitive market.

A streamlined, redesigned interface

ComicBase 9’s streamlined interface lets you get your work done easier and faster than ever before. Among the many new features:

• See title and issue information from a single screenno more flipping back and forth between issues and descriptions views!

• Take full advantage of any size monitor. You paid good money for that big screen—now ComicBase can be resized to fit any monitor showing a maximum of information with a minimum of clutter.
  
• Browse covers with the wave of a mouse. Let your mouse hover over an issue’s Picture column, and its cover fades into view. Wait a moment longer, and it zooms to the show a high definition version at actual size, if available. You can even scroll through a title’s entire run of covers just by waving the mouse.

• Smarter, customizable issues list. Color coding lets you see instantly what issues are hot, standing firm, or losing value You can also Resize, rearrange, or even hide any column just by dragging it.

• Add pictures by dragging and dropping. Want to add a picture to a title? Just drop it onto the title and it’ll be instantly added.

New Grading Wizard lets you grade your comics like a professional

A comic’s grade is the key to its value. With some comics, the difference between “Fine” and “Very Good” can amount to thousands of dollars—but until now, grading has been a difficult, confusing chore. ComicBase 9’s new Grading Wizard takes the guesswork out of grading by letting you evaluate a book simply by making selections on screen. Drop-down menus help you rate each part of the book, from the glossiness of the cover, to the quality of the paper. The Grading Wizard then automatically determines the book’s overall grade

Track multiple collections

Before, if a father and his son wanted to keep their collections separate using ComicBase it was…well, a tad awkward to say the least. Now, you can track as many collections as you want just by using the New Database command. You can even switch between collections with a single click.

Multi-user support

For the first time ever, ComicBase allows multiple users to work with the same database at the same time. Retailers can use this to let several employees update inventory simultaneously. You can also use it with a home network so you can update your collection from a computer in the comic book room, while still being able to review the results on your main computer.
Standard and Archive Editions so you can pick the ComicBase that’s best for you.
Whether you want it all, or you’re watching your wallet, we’ve got you covered. ComicBase Standard Edition contains the entire ComicBase database, as well as over 14,000 cover images on the first of its two CD-ROMs. As a bonus, it also contains a second CD-ROM with thousands of regular and high-definition cover scans, a captivating ComicBase cover gallery screen saver, and tools to let you use ComicBase’s lists on your Palm and Pocket PC handhelds.

For the ultimate in comic book software, the new Archive Edition packs the ComicBase database, plus an amazing 70,000 regular and high definition cover images on two DVD-ROMs, along with bonus materials, Palm and Pocket PC tools, and almost a hundred movie clips and exclusive interviews from some of comicdom’s greatest creators, including Frank Miller and Mark Waid.
Upgrade Savings for ComicBase Customers

Already own a previous version of ComicBase? Enter your current serial number when ordering and save up to 70% when upgrading to ComicBase 9. Best yet, you can upgrade from any old version of ComicBase—even the ComicBase Encyclopedia of Comics­—to the new ComicBase 9 Archive Edition for just $99.95 until November 1st, 2004.

Give us a call, or visit on the web!

Want to know more about ComicBase 9? Check out our web site at www.comicbase.com. There you’ll find a colossal compendium of ComicBase goodness, including demos, documentation, and more. You can order ComicBase straight from the web site, or give us a call at (408) 266-6883.

The Making of ComicBase 9, or “We Have to Scan How Many Covers?!”

“You know, if had ComicBase to do all over again, we could really make it cool…”

It was spring of 2003, and we were sitting at a table in San Jose’s Cardinal Diner. Like so many Silicon Valley types, we couldn’t resist talking about work, even while the busboy came to scoop up the remaining dinner dishes. “If you look at a screenshot from ComicBase 1.0, and a screenshot from ComicBase 8, they don’t look all that different. Sure, the graphics are better, and there have been a ton of improvements over the years, but the basic ideas are the same.”

No more constant flipping between issues and title views when you want to enter your comics; and a much more modern interface, replacing the CD-ROM-influenced design of the original ComicBase.
Perhaps the best idea of the night was lifted straight from the movies, and gave ComicBase 9 its code name, “Minority Report.” In one scene, Tom Cruise’s character forces the desk clerk of a futuristic hotel to let him view the hotel’s computerized guest register. As he waved over the list of names, the picture of each guest would float up next to their entry, letting him quickly spot his prey.
“ That’s what we should do” Pete said, drawing telescoping lines over the scrawled-on napkin, “—but with comic covers instead of hotel guests.”

As we prepared to leave the diner, someone made a fateful observation: “You know…if the covers just appeared when you needed them and don’t take up screen space all the time when you didn’t, it also means we could make the pictures as large as we wanted...”

We were doomed.

You have to realize, our art library encompassed some 55,000 cover images, and a few years back, we’d already had to rescan thousands of them in order to save them in the larger format used by ComicBase 5. ComicBase’s standard image size was now 5.3” tall at 72 dots per inch—the largest they could possibly be and still fit on a 640x480 screen. But while these cramped the layout of a 640x480 display, they were starting to look downright puny on the larger monitors in use today. It was a source of growing frustration for us, and with the new design, the reason for the old limit had just gone away...
No. Absolutely not. Out of the question. There was no way we were going to go back and rescan all those covers again. Fuggeddaboutit. The issue was definitely closed.

But of course (purely for the sake of science), we had to work up a prototype and see what ComicBase would look like if it included high definition, full-size scans.

Oh man, did it ever look cool.

From the moment we held a copy of the Crisis on Multiple Earths trade paperback in our hands, then pulled up the same issue in ComicBase and saw Alex Ross’s gorgeous artwork zoom out to full size, we were hooked.

Pete called Carolyn in to see the prototype, and both stared at the screen for several long seconds. Finally, he heaved a weary sigh. “Well, I guess we better hire some more help. We’ve got a lot of scanning to do...”

The new ComicBase Archive Edition features over 20,000 of the new, high-definition scans as part of a massive library of over 70,000 covers on DVD. (Due to the space constraints of CDs, the Standard Edition of ComicBase uses only regular-sized images, although the second CD does include thousands of additional images, many in high definition, as part of its Archive Sampler. Both versions also include the very slick ComicBase Cover Gallery screen saver, which cycles through all your available pictures in a dazzling display of comics from the 1890s to the present

Mailing List Notes and Administrivia

This note is being sent out to ComicBase customers, and members of the ComicBase Mailing List only. To change your subscription, visit

http://www.comicbase.com/ComicBase_Mailing_List.html.

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.