What’s the difference between the Express, Professional, Archive and Blu-ray Editions?

The ComicBase Express Edition comes on a single CD-ROM.  It includes the entire database with over 5,000 cover images. ComicBase Express supports barcodes for faster data entry and includes a year of free downloadable price & issue updates.

The ComicBase Professional Edition comes on two CD-ROMs, and includes the entire database, everything in the Express, plus 20,000 cover scans. It also includes great bonuses like Batch Barcode entry, Palm and Pocket PC tools, as well as a sampler of a few thousand pictures from the Archive Edition (many in full size, high definition), and a cool screen saver which cycles through all your available comic images.

The Archive Edition has everything the Professional Edition has, plus about five times more content packed onto two DVD-ROM disks. (Note: this requires a DVD-ROM drive—if your computer doesn’t have one, you can get them for as little as $20 online, or at your local electronics store). The huge capacity of DVD-ROMs lets us include over 205,000 images—the majority of which are in full size, high definition format. These are not only gorgeous to look at, but valuable for helping identify variants and special comics. The Archive Edition also includes an expanded version of the database with CGC census data and circulation figures for tens of thousands of issues. It also includes almost a hundred video clips and exclusive interviews with some of comics’ most influential creators, including Mark Waid, Frank Miller, Julius Schwartz, and many more.

The Blu-ray Archive Edition is the mother of all comic collection software.  Over 26 GB of content and our complete library of more than 205,000 high quality cover images.  The Blu-ray edition has all the expanded features of Archive, including expanded creator fields for storyline, writer, penciler and more as well as the ability to export to Palm Pilot or Pocket PC, customizable fields, and Four year price histories with graphs for each comic.  You will also receive four blu-ray discs quarterly with picture updates.

For a complete list of the program features and differences, check out our ComicBase Product Comparison Chart PDF (492 kb) for a detailed rundown! Visit our What’s New section for full desriptions of the latest ComicBase features.

How do I renew weekly updates after my subscription has expired?

You’ll need to upgrade to ComicBase 12 first. When we released ComicBase 12, we specifically designed it to be updateable in ways that previous versions of ComicBase had never been before. In addition, the most current Microsoft operating systems caused problems for older versions of ComicBase. As such, you’ll need to upgrade to ComicBase 12 in order to get all the cool new stuff (including Atlas).

That said, there is some very good news: You can use your old ComicBase serial number to get ComicBase 12 at a huge discount. You’ll also get a year of free updates with the upgrade, and the ability to get Atlas for free when it’s released.

Archive Edition users will also be able to renew their subscriptions online, as well as download new program updates. Due to the huge amount of picture and movie information bundled with the Archive Edition (over 20 GB!), we’ll also be sending out the new Giant-Size Archive Edition DVDs to anyone upgrading to or renewing an Archive Edition subscription.

Can I install ComicBase to work on my Vista machine?

Yes, but only if you are running or ComicBase 11 or later (including ComicBase FREE and ComicBase Express). Vista support for ComicBase 11 software was released as a program update for 11.0.1 . Vista support for Comicbase 12 is built into the program. Unfortunately, due to extensive changes in the Windows Vista system, ComicBase 10 and earlier versions of the program do not install or run properly on the Vista OS.

For best results, we recommend formating your computer and installing your new Vista operating system from scratch rather than upgrading to the Windows Vista OS from the old OS already in place. If ComicBase 12 is not working on your upgrade install of Vista, please try formatting and reinstalling before contacting Tech Support.

Can I use my old Bonus/Pictures Disks with ComicBase 12?

Absolutely. However, you’ll only want to do so with the Professional Edition. The new Archive edition includes everything from all the Bonus Disks ever published, plus about twice again as much new content, including full-size/high-definition images which were never available before in THREE packed, dual-layer DVDs.

When is ComicBase 13 coming out?

There is no planned release for a ComicBase 13.

Instead, the newest release of ComicBase coming out this summer is ComicBase 12.1, the Atlas release. Unlike in previous years, this year’s program upgrade will be made available for free to all users who have upgraded to the current ComicBase 12 program. If you’re already using ComicBase 12, you don’t need to buy anything or go through a big upgrade process to start using Atlas. The official release of this version is planned for late summer 2008 and will be available for download for free from our ComicBase Support section.

ComicBase Atlas includes information on over 75,00 new issues, expanded sales features, and international currency support all downloadable at your fingertips. Users can also extend the dates of their subscriptions instead of buying a whole new program upgrade. Thanks to a partnership with Heritage Auctions, we can now provide reality-based pricing for high-end collectible comics as well. But perhaps most exciting of all, ComicBase 12 Archive users will soon be able to download cover scans straight from our servers at will, or include them as a set with your weekly update download.

To read more about the specific features of Atlas, please check out our latest Atlas news release.

What do upgrades cost?

Updates in the past have been priced at $49.95–$69.95 for Professional Edition (CD) upgrades; and $129.95–$149.95 for Archives (DVD). You can order the current version online from our web store. Price may vary from year to year and during promotional specials, however, so check in with a Human Computing representative if you want the latest deals available.

Can I download updates from the web?

Program updates (e.g. 11.0.1, 11.0.2... ) can be downloaded for free from our web site’s software Support section. The newest ComicBase Atlas release, available Summer 2008, will also be available for download, for free, to all current Comicbase 12 users.

Weekly price and title updates are available to users of ComicBase 10 or later with current subscriptions. Simply go to the Internet menu in ComicBase and choose Check for Program Updates to download information on the latest comic releases.

Can I download pictures from the web?

ComicBase 12 Archive users using the latest Atlas release will be able to download picture updates as part of their current subscription service. Once Atlas is released, Archive edition users will also be able to download pictures at will by right-clicking on the issues they want pictures for and selecting the “Download Cover” command.

What’s the difference between a content update and a program update?

Program Updates change the ComicBase program to a new version (e.g. 12.0.1, 12.0.4, etc.), usually to fix bugs or add new program features. These are posted on the ComicBase web site in the Support section, and also appear when you use ComicBase’s Internet menu to Check for Program Updates.

Note: Program updates only work within the same major version of the program. E.g., ComicBase 11 users can update to 11.0.1, 11.1.2, etc., but these updates will not work with ComicBase 10 or earlier. You can upgrade from ComicBase 11 or earlier to ComicBase 12 at special upgrade prices by entering your current ComicBase serial number when ordering at our online store.

Content Updates are posted each week (usually by Thursday night or Friday morning) and include all the changes to the data inside ComicBase, including all the new information on comics that came out that week, as well as corrected and expanded entries. They also include up-to-the-minute pricing data for all your comics, direct from Comics Buyer’s Guide.

You can check for new content updates manually using the Internet Menu’s Check for Program Updates command, or use the Setup menu’s Preferences command to choose how often ComicBase will automatically check for updates.

Bonus Tip: Content updates normally take only a few minutes to download and run. If yours is running slow, download the most current version of ComicBase and make sure to use ComicBase’s File -> File Tools command to Compact and Verify your Database. You can also have ComicBase automatically Compact and Verify your database (strongly recommended) using the Setup menu’s Preferences command.

Will the titles I’ve added to the old version be picked up by the updater?

Yes. If you’ve added a title which is named the same as one in an update, your data will be carried over and updated as appropriate. If you’ve added a title which didn’t make our update, it’ll be carried over as is. The updater will also write a log of the titles which it didn’t find a match for, so you can determine if your title was simply named differently than the one on the update. For the best chance of having the updater recognize your new titles, try to go by the same title naming conventions we use when adding titles. For more information on this, see our title naming section.

What happens to the notes I’ve entered when I run the updater?

Notes “stack”: if your notes are identical to the ones in the update, (e.g. "1st appearance of John Constantine") it’ll be listed as such. If your notes are different, both your original notes and the notes from the update will be listed in the updated issue.

Does ComicBase include every comic ever published?

No.

But we do have an awful lot of them—over 385,000 issues as of ComicBase 12, ranging from Golden Age super-heroes to mini-comics to manga. With over 28,500 different titles covered in ComicBase 12, our program is by far the most comprehensive comic book database that has ever been published. And while we’ll never actually be able to cover every comic, each edition of ComicBase brings us closer to that ideal.

How do you decide which titles to include in ComicBase?

Our goal is to come as close to covering every English language comic as possible. Over the years, our definitions of what is included have expanded considerably, and ComicBase now even boasts titles that are not traditionally considered comics, but which are related to comic books and are of interest to the comic book reader. Such listings include comic strip collections, promotional materials, comic magazines, art books, and books about comics. A notable example would be the book Seduction of the Innocent, a nonfiction book, for its extraordinary significance in comic history.

How far back do the titles go?

In the current edition of ComicBase, the oldest comic is Pluck and Luck #1, dating back to 1898.

Does ComicBase cover independents?

Definitely! We make a special effort to cover independent publishers, and as a result, list titles from over 1,400 publishers in the current edition of ComicBase.

Where can I find a list of all the titles in ComicBase?

Yu can find it on our homepage, or go directly to the Titles in ComicBase 12 list via this link.

Can I add my own titles?

Absolutely! Just use the “New Title” command in ComicBase’s Comics menu.

Where are the rest of the X-Men (or Justice Leagues, or...)?

Marvel’s X-Men are listed as X-Men (1st series) until issue #142, after which they went through a little-noticed name change to become officially The Uncanny X-Men (where subsequent issues are listed). Justice League America/International/Europe went through numerous such mid-title name changes, and issues are listed under the appropriate titles (although the shifts still make us dizzy). We generally try to smooth such transitions by noting where series are continued in the notes of the last issue of the original run, as well as where they are continued from in the first issue of the renamed series.As a final note: we probably would have continued listing the X-Men under the original series name had Marvel not introduced a second title (also called X-Men) which ran simultaneously with the newly renamed Uncanny X-Men. Oh, those wacky publishers...

Why isn’t (my favorite title) listed in ComicBase?

First, make sure that the title isn’t listed under a different name. Checking the book’s indicia for the proper name, and using the Find -> Title Name command is very useful in determining if you’re looking in the right place for a title. If the title still does not appear to be in ComicBase, it’s generally due to one of three things:

1) The title was too new to make it into the current edition.

2) We haven’t found a copy of the title to review yet.

3) We’re working on it, and will have it in a future content update for ComicBase.

#3 deserves some elaboration. Unlike a price guide, which can get away with simply jotting down "The Incredible Manga-Man: #1-12: Cover price or less", we have to go to much more effort to cover a title in ComicBase. We have to physically get our hands on a copy of the comic, do art production, send it out for review, edit the review, index the series, derive both current and historical pricing for the series, then (finally!) add it to ComicBase. To make things ever more interesting, current trends in the comic industry seem to make virtually every comic title a limited series, one-shot, or special edition. (Oh for the days of yore when the same series would run 500 issues, and we’d only have to do a lot of this work once. Sigh.)

What Is ComicBase’s pricing based on?

ComicBase is based on independent pricing research, drawing on surveys of retail comic stores, as well as mail order and auction sales, combined with over twenty years of in-house comic-pricing experience. In 1999, it joined pricing resources with Comics Buyer’s Guide to produce the world’s most accurate and comprehensive database of comic values.

What is ComicBase’s pricing stance?

The prices in ComicBase represent our best determination of what:

1. A savvy buyer
2. With some choice of sources

…would pay if they were looking for a specific comic.This should also be the price at which the comic in question could change hands between a potential buyer and seller, without either one feeling used. It’s not meant to be the price at which the comic would sit on the dealer’s wall for another year, waiting for a desperate or uneducated buyer to come along.

How does ComicBase price comics of low value?

Even though many comics can be found in quarter, dollar, or 1/2 price clearance boxes, ComicBase tends to use cover price as the basic price for low-value comics. The reason is that clearance boxes represent comics as an interchangeable, "bulk" commodity, whereas ComicBase’s price represents what you would pay if you were looking for a specific comic. With few exceptions, retailers demand at least cover price for comics that they’re willing to bag, board, and organize as regular stock (as opposed a comic which "might be in one of those boxes over there.") For a comic to be listed below its original cover price, it must be in such extraordinarily low demand that it would be hard to sell—even to a relatively interested buyer—at its cover price.

How does ComicBase’s pricing compare to Wizard’s?

ComicBase’s pricing tends to be much more conservative, particularly in the area of special issues, variants, and "hot" comics. We see these markets as much softer and shallower than Wizard’s pricing has tended to indicate. ComicBase is particularly suspicious as to the true worth of many "manufactured collectibles" which have been making the rounds in recent years (e.g. 1/2 issues, chromium promotional editions, etc.). Perhaps the most important difference, however is in our pricing stance: ComicBase’s pricing is meant to reflect the price a smart buyer would pay for a comic, given some choice of suppliers. Wizard’s pricing stance appears to be more in line with what a person might pay when their choice is limited to a single retailer—and perhaps a somewhat speculative style of business.

How does ComicBase’s pricing compare to that in The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide?

Although both companies do their own pricing research, ComicBase and Overstreet share similar pricing philosophies, leading to many similarities in pricing. These similarities grew stronger in 1998, when Overstreet did a large-scale repricing of its Silver Age issues, knocking down the prices of many non-key issues to the levels ComicBase had kept them all along. Significant differences between ComicBase and the Overstreet price guide exist in the areas of war, romance, and funny animal comics, where ComicBase tends to be somewhat more conservative.

More importantly, ComicBase is aiming at a different target than the Overstreet guide: Overstreet prices are meant to reflect what a typical shop owner might have a comic priced at; ComicBase’s values reflect what a smart buyer would actually pay for certain issue. Increasingly, we are finding evidence that many shop owners have grossly overpriced certain slow-moving comics. Usually, these comics sit in shop inventory for ages until a particularly desperate buyer shows up, or the store places these comics in a 75% off bin. With the rise of online services like eBay, it has become possible to determine more realistic (and surprisingly consistent) price levels for such comics. Unfortunately, it is out opinion that many store owners—and the Overstreet Guide—continue to list these comics at the unrealistically inflated asking price.

What is the difference between an issue’s cost, value, and selling price?

The cost of an issue is what you paid for it. As it ships, ComicBase has zeroes for the “quantity in stock” of every issue in its database, and blanks for the cost. If you want to track the cost of your collection, you should fill in the cost fields as you add issues to the database.

An issue’s value is its “guide price”: the estimated price at which it could be reasonably expected to be bought or sold. ComicBase tracks the near-mint values of all its issues for the past four years, from which it can calculate the value of that issue in other conditions (see Grading Setup in the ComicBase user guide).

Finally, an issue’s price or selling price is the price at which you are offering the issue for sale. As ComicBase ships, this is set to its current value, although you are free to set the selling price higher or lower. The default price for an issue that’s not in near mint condition may also differ slightly from its strictly calculated value, due to price rounding (see below).

On reports, why are the totals for “Current Value” and “Selling Price” different?

ComicBase calculates the value of a comic strictly, using the grading values table. (You can go to the Setup menu to customize your Grading Setup.)The default price of an issue is rounded to “sensible” values. For instance, a certain very good-condition comic might have a strict value of 88¢, but its default price would be rounded to 90¢. Similarly, a comic with a strict, graded value of $218.25 would be given a default price of $220.

How do I use ComicBase to keep track of multiple collections?

With ComicBase 12, just use the File menu’s New command to create a new database to track the collection. You can then use the File menu’s Open command (and quick pick list) to quickly move between them.

With older versions, things are a bit more complicated...

For ComicBase 6 and earlier, Just run the ComicBase Setup program from the CD again, and choose to install into a different directory.

For ComicBase 7 and 8, just copy the ComicBase folder to a different location.

You’ll probably also want to make different shortcuts for easy access to either ComicBase (for instance, if you and your son "Dave" want to keep separate collections, make a shortcut to the first ComicBase and call it "My collection", and a shortcut to the other copy and call it “Dave’s Collection”). You’ll probably want to put both shortcuts on your desktop (or in your Apple/Start menu) for easy access.

How do I go directly to the next comic’s issue detail screen when modifying several comics?

Just select all the issues you want to work with before beginning to modify them. If you’re working from the grid view, select the issues you want to modify, then press the Enter key. If you’re working from the Comics Menu’s "Modify Issues" window, select the issues you want to modify, then click the "Modify" button (or press the Enter key). Each issue will appear up in turn after you save your changes to the previous one. Pressing Cancel stops the process.

I’ve got a bunch of variant comics. How do I know what to call them?

Once upon a time, variants were a rarity, and were easily handled by just designating comics as, for instance, “#1” for the regular edition, and “#1/GO” for the “Gold Logo” edition of issue #1. Today, with publishers like Avatar regularly publishing over a dozen variants for every single issue, we’ve shifted away from the more descriptive variant abbreviations (e.g. “1/PL” for “#1 Platinum Edition”, “1/SI” for “#1 Silver Edition”, “1/Nude” for “#1 Nude Edition”) in favor of the simpler “1/A”, “1/B”, “1/C” etc. as it was becoming increasingly silly trying to concoct meaningful abbreviations to designate “Skeletal black light nude limited edition with ruby red foil logo” and the like.

If there’s a known “regular” edition of a given comic, we’ll refer to it by just the number (e.g. “1”) with variants listed as “1/A”, “1/B” etc.). If there is no real “regular” edition—only variants, we’ll tend to go straight to the “1/A”, “1/B” stuff.

If the publisher actually listed or labeled which variants are which, either on their covers or in some sort of index inside, we’ll respect that labeling (as in Nobel Causes’ labeling the “A” and “B” editions on their covers). Unfortunately, most variants are spewed out more or less randomly by the publishers, marketing different editions to various collectors’ markets, and sometimes going back to print years after the fact to release new variants of old comics. Typically, even the publishers themselves don’t possess a comprehensive list of these variants, much less any sort of classification of the different editions.

In such cases, we’re forced to simply designate each comic as we discover it, noting the distinctions between each edition in the Notes field of the comic, and compiling photo reference of the different editions whenever possible. (ComicBase Archive Edition is especially useful for variant identification, as it includes photo reference for thousands of variant covers, making issue matching much easier).

What’s the best way to backup my database?

For daily backups, it’s best to just let ComicBase save its automatic backup. You can control whether ComicBase backs up your database each time you quit and where the backup is saved using the Setup menu’s Preferences command. It takes an extra minute or two to save the database when you quit, but this extra copy can be a lifesaver if your regular database is damaged by a disk error or virus.

If you’ve got more than one hard drive, it’s a good idea to have the backup save to a different drive than your regular database. This can save your tuchus should you hear the terrible “whirr-click-thunk! Whirr-click-thunk!” of your hard drive deciding that today was a good day to die.

In addition to the daily backups, we also recommend periodically burning a copy of your database off to a CD or DVD (or using a tape backup). Doing this every month is a good minimum, although the key question to ask yourself is how much work could you stand losing if your computer got wiped by a virus, hit by lightning, stolen, ruined in a flood, or destroyed by a spouse who resented all the time you spent with your comic collection.

Please note since CD and DVD recorders aren’t quite as simple for Windows to write to as a hard drive, you normally can’t burn a copy to CD by just using the File menu’s “Save a Copy” command from within ComicBase. Generally, you’ll need to Save a Copy to your desktop first, and then use your CD or DVD recorder’s disc-writing software to “burn” it onto the CD/DVD.

How do I restore from a backup?

First, install ComicBase if it’s not already on your computer. Move your backup copy onto your hard drive—we’d suggest putting it in your ComicBase folder. (See our Tech Notes if you don’t know where your folder is.) Finally, launch ComicBase, and use the File menu to Open the backup from that same folder.

How do I transfer an older database to ComicBase 12?

If you have an older version of ComicBase installed on your computer, ComicBase 12 will automatically offer to upgrade your older database to the newest version. You can also ask ComicBase 12 to upgrade any older database by using the File menu to Open your older ComicBase database file and ComicBase 12 will take it from there.

How do I post comics to Atomic Avenue for sale?

If you’ve got your comics already entered in the database, all you really have to do is use the Internet -> Sell command. Then, just fill in your Atomic Avenue user ID and password (or click “Sign Up” if you don’t have one yet). Choose any other options that apply in the dialog below and click the Sell button.

I can’t find my picture folder. Where did it go?

Microsoft has made recent changes that no longer allow ComicBase to use the default folder it has for so many years.  The new default location of pictures and movies is: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Shared Documents\Human Computing. For more details and other new file locations, check out our Tech Tip on ComicBase 12: New File Locations.

What do I do when I get an Error 1710, Error 2738 or “Installation ended prematurely” error?

Click here and follow the directions.

I need to download ComicBase Express again. How do I do that?

First thing to do is to log into your ComicBase account and find your serial number. Take this number and enter it into the field at www.comicbase.com/DownloadProduct.asp.  This will allow you to download ComicBase Express again.

I’m a user getting an OCX error. Help!

OCX errors are caused by incomplete installations of the program and are easily fixed.  Simply uninstall ComicBase, turn off all anti-virus, spyware, etc. and reinstall.  This will not affect your data unless you go to the extra effort of deleting all your files.

Vista Users: Before starting the uninstall/reinstall process, be sure to turn on UAC (User Accounts Control) and reboot your machine, as it is necessary for UAC to be on for ComicBase to function properly.

I have a tech issue not covered in this FAQ!

Try our Tech Tips section for details on how to problem-solve specific issues, or you can visit the ComicBase/Atomic Avenue forums for previous discussions from other users.

To contact Human Computing Tech Support directly, please e-mail support@human-computing.com.