comics on c-d rom

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

I'll just go and ask her...


---no, I'm not being entirely serious here, either!!!!!!!

[philcom55]

In all these apocalyptic scenarios one thing that nobody's yet considered is that Egmont may already have high quality records of the contents of the original art for Tammy, etc. preserved on film. This would make sense as they operate in many countries where British-style material is still quite popular. Also, the printing on that facsimile of Tammy no.1 that was given away a few years ago seemed much sharper than I'd expect if it was just shot from an old comic.

- Phil R.

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

I certainly hope so , Phil: I seem to remember stories of comics artwork being stored on microfilm [en-masse] as far back as the 70s. It might have been IPC, given they were a Multinational Kong-glomorate.


I visited DCT in the early-mid '80s, and this was in the days before very early comics material was reprinted yearly in annual retrospectives, like we all recognize today. At that time, visitors could browse through archive bound copies of early-period [1930s./40s] comics up on the shelves, but the contents weren't so much yellowing, but brown!


If DCT maintain a comics archive [of original artwork] it must be truly massive and expensive to maintain.

Are there any Thomson insiders reading this who can shed any light on this? Or is a lot of stuff transferred to microfilm?

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

...then the beer turns sour as they realize the discs no longer work and the memory stick is faulty.

Well, I've heard it said that DVD-Rs can last only three years, and flash drives are only guaranteed to work for about ten, aren't they?

Today's digital formats might be very difficult for 22nd Century historians of Sid's Snake to access - unlike well-preserved paper!

Yeah, I hate to think exactly what will make up the ingredients of any 'synthi-beer' on sale in 2062! Also, how much will a pint cost then?!

No doubt any future comics historians will find charm in the 'sixpence' price-tag for early WHIZZER and CHIPS in far-off 1969.......

[philcom55]

From about the mid-1950s DC Comics started to keep photographic copies of their original artwork (though the artwork itself was often trashed or just given away). For anything earlier all they had were bound volumes of the printed comic books - and as these were all in colour it was virtually impossible to reprint their contents with the technology of the day. Then Sol Harrison came up with a technique whereby the printed pages could be physically bleached, leaving reproducable black & white. Thus DC started to reprint Golden Age material for the first time - and destroyed their ultra rare copies of Action no1, Detective no 27, etc. in the process...!

- Phil Rushton

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

.....which was good news for those fortunate enough to have good early copies! [I assume this included the first BATMAN story?

It is heartening to hear than in amongst all this corporate blundering [chucking out or giving away original artwork, rather than pay the heating bill of a large storage warehouse] that some individuals have taken steps to ensure that comics material is held onto in some decent form.

[wilsia]

This subject has been a very interesting thread thanks to those who have contibuted their points of view so well.
I do see where Lew is coming from but I cant help thinking about being a teenager
in the 70s and how I would have taped the top 40 from the radio onto a cassette.
I couldnt afford to buy the singles but when I started working and got some money i stopped the taping and bought the singles. Taping the songs give me an interest in music and as a result the music industry and the artist benefitted.

I would love if Dct and egmont put out official cd roms but it is not going to happen and I have to say I am seriuosly tempted to buy one of these cd roms as I will never ever get a chance to able to purchase them through the official routes. The guy that producing them cant be making much money and I go back to what an ealier forum member said about how the bbc wiped many of the Dr who shows and they only survive because someone taped them on his own video.

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

Thank you for your interest, Wilsia, this has been one of the most passionate threads thus far ever witnessed on COMICS UK, I reckon:

in the early postings, I feared this entire thread itself may have got 'wiped' into oblivion, in the same manner as some old DOCTOR WHO shows: [I'm not especially a fan, but I though wiping this stuff was a blundering, short-sighted act].


Many thanks to Al, Andy and Col for allowing us all to express our views so freely on this subject, that has taken many twists and turns during it's long journey.......

[colcool007]

We only shut down threads where it [the post] can be construed as slander or insult. We want to enjoy the chat as much as you all do. While I have downloaded the odd issue, I am in no doubt that each download is illegal per se, but as in wilsia's analogy of , I use it as a 'cheat' so that I can access a comic rather than dig through 30 plus boxes of comics.

And I agree with Lew that no amount of dancing around the subject changes the fact that each scan is illegal. But it doesn't stop some of us from doing it!

[Marionette]

We only shut down threads where it [the post] can be construed as slander or insult. We want to enjoy the chat as much as you all do. While I have downloaded the odd issue, I am in no doubt that each download is illegal per se, but as in wilsia's analogy of , I use it as a 'cheat' so that I can access a comic rather than dig through 30 plus boxes of comics.

And I agree with Lew that no amount of dancing around the subject changes the fact that each scan is illegal. But it doesn't stop some of us from doing it!

Except it's not. Having a scan of something you own is legal. So you are perfectly entitled to download that scan of a comic stashed away in your vault.

EDIT: removed mention of Lew, who apparently only considers it acceptable, not legal. Or something. My mistake.

I don't suppose we have any copyright lawyers on hand who could tell us what the law actually says?

[Lew Stringer]

And I agree with Lew that no amount of dancing around the subject changes the fact that each scan is illegal. But it doesn't stop some of us from doing it!

Except it's not. Even Lew admits that having a scan of something you own is legal. So you are perfectly entitled to download that scan of a comic stashed away in your vault.

Weak attempt to twist what I said. Again. Must try harder. Or stop trolling.

[Marionette]

No one is saying you shouldn't scan comics to store for personal use.

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

If some of us tried to collect absolutely everything we desired on paper, we'd need very healthy funds, and in extreme cases, some collectors can develop a mania for hoarding that borders on the obsessive: I remember seeing pictures of Denis Gifford's home which was chockablock, stuffed to the rafters with mostly comics and film memorabilia material. It was that bad, people could hardly move in his house.



I doubt if he would have regarded dvd-roms as worth bothering about, but if this option had been available to him in his time, and his collection was on disc only, he may have enjoyed a more habitable house to live in.....


Although DVD-roms are not the prefect way to collect or view comics, the space-saving benefits speak for themselves: hundreds or even thousands of comics can obviously be stored in a minute space.





HOW LONG DO DVD-ROMS LAST?


Well, according to this report, it's better than I expected: [20-100 years, but it's not exactly clear]:


http://www.clir.org/pubs/reports/pub121/sec4.html

[philcom55]

I think I mentioned before an old chap who laboriously scanned his entire collection of Victor and transferred it to disc, knowing that he would soon have to move into a 'home' where there would be no room to store his old comics. In a case like this I can't see why anybody would begrudge him the opportunity to take his beloved stories with him in the only way he could.

- Phil Rushton

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

Sounds like a good idea to me-----image being frail and infirm in an old folks' home, unable to communicate or whatever. A load of dvd-comics discs and a laptop could help keep a person sane in their last days----I doubt if the nursing-home staff would welcome boxes of vintage comics cluttering up their highly-polished rooms:


Oh, we can't have all these boxes on the floor, Health and Safety Regulations, dontcha' know....... if someone trips over this lot , we will get sued, there's bacteria in these old comics, best to just throw them out, hang on I'll do it right now, it's for your own good, Matron will have a hernia if she catches you with this little lot, ------ blah, blah, blah, ----- have a nice day, all the same......... and don't forget to SMILE as we impose these inhuman restrictions upon you, ---- look, we're SMILING as we take your food away from you, before you even get the chance to finish it, *, we're just off to chuck it in the bins outside, along with your smelly old comics, -------isn't life peachy-hunky-dory?!



* I've actually seen this last example happen regularly in an actual Nursing Home: I'm not saying they're ALL like this, but some like this undoubtedly exist........pretty disturbing stuff......