Why Zuda (and other Flash Image Viewers) distort text in Web Comics

Disclaimer:It's going to seem like I'm picking on Zuda, but that's not my intention. However, the Distorted Font Question keeps coming up again and again when people talk about Zuda, so I'm going to try and explain why it happens and how you as a web comic creator can minimize the effect.

Note: I had to post this information on another page altogether as blogger doesn't seem to like Flash files, so here is the link to the full article...

Why Flash mucks with your fonts...

What's Scanned and Unscanned in the DC Universe

I was asked via email about exactly how many comics have been scanned thus far (which is really such a hard question to answer because people scan the NEDOR comics for gosh sakes, so when you ask that question, I'm at a lost for a frame of reference...)

Anyway, I'm going to attempt to answer at least *part* of the question by posting the latest version of What's Scanned and Unscanned in the DC Universe - consider this a partial answer...feel free to examine the linked file and come back here for discussion...you can navigate the page by clicking along the tabs at the bottom.

http://www.flashbackuniverse.com/LeftToScanInDC-DEC012007.htm

NOTE: I did not create this list. It is maintained by someone called the Phantom Stranger who does a remarkable job keeping up with all the new scans!

One of the first things you'll notice is that there are apparently only 3002 DC comics left to scan, and then ALL of DC publish content will have been scanned! Pretty amazing when you consider how long DC has been around.

I believe that the scanners are doing a good thing btw, as I doubt DC will ever get around to reprinting Binky, Bob Hope, ect...I'm glad someone is preserving those comics in some fashion.

A lot of the Unscanned stuff are Romance comics - not surprising as there lot a lot of sentimental attachment to those titles for the majority of the scanners.

If you click on the Scanned tab, be prepared to wait as that page loads - its a 15 meg html document... :P

Comics On Paper?

So a lot of people ask me am I totally down on printed comics? Well, that depends on what you might be talking about.

If you are talking about the 22 page stapled advertising supplements that Marvel puts out that *just* happen to have 1/6th of a complete New Avengers story in them, then yes - I hate those things.

If you are talking about Hard Cover collected editions of the same storyline or complete runs of a book, then no. I LOVE collected Trades of comics! For those of you wondering what to give me for Christmas, hint, hint...

Not only do you get a complete story without being bombarded by *Music is my AntiDrug!* ads, but they also appreciate in value!

Behold the power of limited print runs!

Marvel's Recent Annihilation Vol 1 HC is climbing in value on eBay...



This btw was a GREAT little mini-series!

As is Morrison's run on New X-men



This is funny because it's almost a testament to how little attention the Cult of Morrison pays to Previews...

Finally, the reigning champ of Quick Increasing in Value Hard Cover Collections - The Eternals Omnibus!



Now here are my picks for things I *think* will be out of print soon...

The Daredevil Omnibus by Frank Miller and Klaus Janson


I really think this book has a lot of promise for increasing in value as 1) Frank Miller's fan base will probably increase as he continues to do movies and 2) Marvel will probably do another Daredevil movie one day.

My next pick is cheaper than the Daredevil Omnibus, so it might be a better bet for selling out...

The Brubaker run on Captain America



Finally, my off the wall bet is this little gem that was recommended to me by Chris Sims at the ISB...


I picked that one because its cheap AND its Kirby. It's also a kick ass collection of comics! The Kirby fans are driving the price of the Eternals Omnibus up, so I'm guessing the same thing will happen with this collection eventually.

Feel free to speculate... :D

Zcult AfterMath Screenshots

First a quick update on my problem with PullBoxOnline:
A reader pointed out last week that the screenshot I posted showed the charge was pending and maybe I would get my comics once the payment was approved by BankOfAmerica. Well, by this latest screenshot, you can see the payment was approved.



However, I still have not gotten the Pullbox email with the link to the comics OR a reply to my request for help email.

TakeAway 1: Pullbox Online Sucks.

Meet the New Zcult...

Check out the current list of comic torrents on Zcult now that they are abidding by the DC/Marvel Cease and Desist letters...Quite an interesting assortment of titles to say the least.







What I think is telling is that according to Serj, the admin at Zcult, he had 74K registered users of ZCult. That number does not include the number of people who accessed the torrents via direct links to the trackers OR referrals from other Torrent-Tracker sites...

It will be interesting to see what this newly established audience of comic downloaders does now that it is harder to find Marvel/DC comics in easy to read cbr format. Will they stop reading cbr comics altogether or move on to other titles?

I suspect that a large majority of them are going to download and try out some of the comics they've never heard about. It'll be interesting to see what happens then.

Also notable was the huge amount digital ink that the Zcult situation generated. Over the past 2 weeks, I think Zcult has gotten more press coverage than it has in its entire existence. Over at Newsarama, the various threads discussing the situation went on for pages and pages.

TakeAway2: It's safe to say we've come a long ways from the days when such a topic would have just resulted in a small handful of posters saying, 'I just want to read my comics in paper format...' The age of the Digital Comic Readership is definitely here.

Meanwhile, what's going on with a.b.dcp?

Well, here's a screenshot of the dcp newsgroup's posts from last week. I've just filtered on those files ending in .cbr. Looks like the group is still alive and kicking hard.



And if that wasn't enough, other people have taken to posting the dcp scans to other groups. Here is a screenshot of files ending in .cbr in the a.b.boneless group.



TakeAway 3: Two people scanned Scooby-Doo? That should definitely say something about the number of scanners around the globe. :D

And finally, the screenshot to end them all..

Here is the torrent site that laughs at cease and desist orders: Pirate Bay. On their site, they actually have a link to all the cease and desist orders they've gotten from various companies. I don't know exactly how they are able to operate so brazenly, but there you go.



TakeAway 4: I don't see illegal comics downloading abating until legal comics downloading is a reality.

Heidi downloads comics?

So check this out - from the Beat - which btw is a GREAT blog if you've never checked it out.

http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2007/11/29/torrents-and-so-on/

We’re especially sad about all this because we’ve been getting rid of tons of books we had around the house for reference, thinking “Well, if we REALLY need it, we can just go to Z-cult”…and now THIS happens. Sheesh.

I wouldn't have pegged Heidi as being *one of us.* :D

Pullbox Online part 2

So yesterday at 5:30 am I sent an e-mail via the Pullbox Online *Contact Us* form where I asked them when would be able to get the comics I paid for.

Check out this half assed Contact Us form by the way...



Anyway, this morning this is what I got in my in-box:

Hello,
Thanks for checking us out!
This is just an automagic reply to let you know we've received your message and
we'll get back to you as quickly as possible after that.
pullboxonline.com

Still no comics, or a real response from a human being...

So far, this online digital comics experience has pretty well sucked.

Suddenly the Marvel Online Digital Universe doesn't seem so bad. :D

While I wait on Pullbox Online...

Having mentioned Eyemelt several times last week, I thought I also take some time this week to review IDW's Online initiative: www.PullboxOnline.com...

So, last night I purchased 5 comics from the Pullbox website. The steps were simple enough:

1) Enter in your email address
2) Pick a password to use when visiting the site
3) Select your comics
4) Enter in your credit card info and hit Submit...

Well, I got a confirmation screen saying I'd be e-mailed a link to download the comics (which is similar to how Eyemelt does it.)



However, that was last night, and now, 8 hours later, I still haven't gotten that e-mail.

Hm, but they were kind enough to charge my Visa card already. :P



When I tried to login to the Pullbox site to check the status of my order, I found my username/email wasn't recognized by the system. :P

Not Cool.

I'll keep you posted on this while I get the situation sorted out.