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Post by Shiryu on Jun 25, 2006 5:54:47 GMT -5
The "showbiz" website looks quite good. I wonder if they do trans oceanic shipping, it would be great to have those DVDs The "tales of wonder" website seems ok as well. A bit more expensive, but seems to have more stuff.
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Post by dlw66 on Jul 3, 2006 22:39:05 GMT -5
I ordered this on June 20; today is July 3. Van, what did you consider a "timely manner" for the shipping of your DVD? I can't wait! -- this is killing me!!!!
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Post by Shiryu on Jul 4, 2006 5:36:10 GMT -5
You are going to enjoy them much more when they arrive then
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Post by dlw66 on Jul 4, 2006 11:11:09 GMT -5
I am most looking forward to:
1) obviously being able to read long stretches of chronology at a time - in color. Even though I have a complete run, this will be nice to not have to take the individual books out of the bags/boards. 2) the ads, letters pages, Stan's Soapbox, etc. 3) watching the evolution of characters, like the Vision for example. 4) Big John Buscema's Avengers art, all in one nice neat package!
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Post by Shiryu on Jul 5, 2006 7:24:20 GMT -5
I hadn't realized the DVD will contain the ads pages too, and Stan's soapbox. It will be interesting to see what he says knowing what will come in the future !
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Post by Van Plexico on Jul 6, 2006 18:50:40 GMT -5
As I recall, a couple of other folks I know experienced a slight delay in receiving their copies, due to the unexpectedly high demand, I think. In both cases, just as they were about to complain to the company, the package arrived. And mine came pretty quickly, too-- in a matter of a couple of weeks, I think, which is about what it takes to get, say, a DVD from one of the online stores. I wouldn't panic just yet. Soon, maybe, but not yet.
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Post by dlw66 on Jul 7, 2006 14:52:37 GMT -5
A few days ago I sent an e-mail to the company politely inquiring as to when or if it had shipped. Today I received a reply that stated there had been a "mix-up" and that I would receive a tracking number this next Monday. So, hopefully by the middle of next week I will have this! That will make purchase to receipt around three weeks. I guess that's not bad, but I get spoiled by Amazon's 3-4 day shipping that's free when over $25!!
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Post by Shiryu on Jul 8, 2006 5:53:48 GMT -5
This raises a point actually: are these DVDs on sale on Amazon as well ? They might be easier to get there.
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Post by dlw66 on Jul 14, 2006 0:01:00 GMT -5
IT ARRIVED TODAY!!!! So, you be the judge -- June 20-July 13. Is that too long to wait? I did receive a communication from the company (as stated above), and it arrived just four days after that. So, if you want to deal with digitalcomics.biz, go ahead -- I did receive the product, and the price was certainly fair ($34 including S/H). On to the review... I've only had a few minutes here and there to look the DVD-ROM over, but here are some first impressions/bits of information for you who might still want your own copy: 1) The main menu allows the user to choose the issues by decade, and then by year. You will get a screen with thumbnail covers to navigate to the book you want. 2) The older issues are indeed scanned. I looked at issue #34 and the cover image had chips out of the spine! Then I noticed that the inside cover was yellowed! Man, the only thing missing was the musty smell!!! See, this is OK for me. As I've mentioned elsewhere, the Marvel Masterworks and DC Archives are sometimes too bright for my tastes, particularly when reprinting older material. I did pick out an issue from the 1970's to look at, and as Shiryu hypothesized it seems that later material may be shot from negatives or some type of production plates, as it appeared flawless. 3) The latest issue of the Marvel Handbook-Avengers is included, which is a nice touch. 4) In the menu choice labeled "What's Next" there is a page that tells us that the Spidey set is being redone on 1 disc (instead of the 11 CD-ROMs on which it was originally manufactured) and that in 2006 we should see similar DVD-ROMs for Daredevil, the Hulk, and Cap. Those will be cool, too. I'm sure Thor will be just around the corner, as well. 5) As I've only briefly looked at this and not actually read from it, it looks like some of the pages might be a little blurry in terms of the lettering. I have not played with the resolution on my monitor, but will check it out further later. It could be just the older books, too. I know others have not mentioned this, so maybe it is just my eyes getting older . 6) And as Van stated, the packaging is certainly not spectacular. There is no book or "liner notes" in the case. Just the disc. It comes in a DVD case. So, that is that for now. If anyone else has acquired this and wants to chip in their thoughts, please do! If anyone has any questions that I didn't get to, let me know. Overall, I would say this is a tremendous resource for research, trivia, etc. However, it doesn't replace the Essentials or Masterworks (or the original four-color funny books for that matter) for convenience of movement.
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Post by Shiryu on Jul 14, 2006 6:28:06 GMT -5
*drooling*
Sounds great ! The blurry problem may be due to the resolution, or you just have to zoom with the Acrobat viewer (I assume the files are in PDF format).
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Post by dlw66 on Jul 14, 2006 9:14:56 GMT -5
Yes, it's all PDF. And I was looking at issue 130 after I typed my last post, and there is clearly a staple in the middle of the book, hence the scanning. So, as someone said earlier, THAT IS A LOT OF SCANNING!!! And I would also restate that the absence of the Giant-Size issues is a glaring omission!! Given the newness of New Avengers, I would gladly have traded those issues (ha ha -- see the various NA threads elsewhere ) for the GS. The Celestial Madonna arc will be incomplete for new readers without those issues, thus forcing those people to wait for the Essentials that covers that arc or to seek out the CM tpb.
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Post by dlw66 on Jul 14, 2006 15:08:18 GMT -5
I feel like a kid on Christmas morning...
I am going to recommend that you longtime Avengers fans get your hands on this DVD-ROM. The ability to point and click to any issue in the entire history (again, barring WCA, the GS issues, etc.) is amazing. If you just want to surf the issues that Big John Buscema drew, you're there. Want to see how Ultron has evolved through time? Not a problem. Hank's various costumes and personality implosions? All here.
We've had some threads going on here called "Know the Classics". Now you can. "Know the Runs" for writers or artists? Right here. The colors are vivid, the covers (both), ads, letters pages, Bullpen Bulletins are all complete.
I think at Wizardworld Chicago I will try to cut a deal with the gitcorp.com (the manufacturer -- I think it was these guys that had a booth set up last year) people on a couple of the other sets that are either out or will be by August. My next "gotta have it" will be FF.
Buy this!!
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Post by dlw66 on Jul 24, 2006 17:28:06 GMT -5
Among the older issues, some of the books scanned were in great shape, others with notable cover wear and even page yellowing. While this prompts me to of course wonder "whose collection did they scan??", I would say that it also adds quite a bit of charm to the product!
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Post by Shiryu on Jul 28, 2006 6:31:25 GMT -5
It's a good question, because I doubt they have originals in their archives. I wouldn't be too surprised to find out they looked for at least some issues on the internet, with the p2p softwares.
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Post by balok on Sept 2, 2006 16:46:48 GMT -5
How about searching by character appearance? Probably too much to hope for as that would have required substantial work.
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Post by dlw66 on Sept 3, 2006 20:13:22 GMT -5
Balok --
If you are asking if there is a way to search through a database, filter, sort, etc. -- I am sad to say there is not. There is not on the FF DVD-ROM either. However, I understand that there is a Mad Magazine DVD-ROM and it is searchable, so there might be hope for subsequent editions of these Marvel products. Still, I highly recommend these for any collector!!!!!
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Post by Shiryu on Sept 6, 2006 13:20:06 GMT -5
I had a look on the p2p softwares and the whole Avenger's, FFour, Thor, Daredevil and Captain America series can be found, so I suspect that at least some of the older issues may come from there. A proper database would be nice on the DVD, but after all, with 500+ Avengers' issue, we can't really ask for more !
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Post by Shiryu on Sept 15, 2006 11:00:02 GMT -5
I've got mines ! From a guy on Ebay Europe, 1 DVD for Avengers, 1 for Fantastic Four and 1 for... Thor The latter had no nice box or cover though, so I kind of suspect is, well, "home made", but everything until the end of volume 1 is in there, so I can't complain. Only thing is... it will take a lifetime to read it all !
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Post by dlw66 on Sept 15, 2006 12:18:31 GMT -5
You will love it, shiryu!! I actually stopped reading off the Avengers DVD with issue #16 and started on the FF after the conclusion of Essentials volume 4. I am up through issue #121, right in the middle of the 4-part Galactus story. I am thoroughly enjoying this long run of John Buscema art!
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Post by bobc on Sept 16, 2006 13:28:02 GMT -5
I'm with you, Dlw (as usual). I think John B's work on the early 70's FF was some of his best. Nobody could draw the Thing like John--the amount of emotion he could convey on Ben's craggly face was really astounding. Nobody's been able to do that as well since! And Sue never looked more beautiful--in fact, they all looked great. John could really achieve a look of drama.
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Post by Shiryu on Sept 16, 2006 17:04:00 GMT -5
Indeed I do I've only had time to read through a few issues here and there, but they are stunning... the first battle of Cap's kooky quartet, the clashes between Reed and Namor for Sue, the 1st appearance of Ego, the origin of Galactus... there was some astounding material in those days. It's also interesting to compare the writing styles. For example in the early Avengers' issues by Stan Lee, both Quicksilver and Clint spend half an issue thinking "with time, my speed will make me boss of the Avengers" or "why is it him the boss of the Avengers ?". You can clearly see Cap is not quite the guy he will soon become (or not considered that way anyway).
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Post by dlw66 on Sept 16, 2006 23:23:30 GMT -5
bobc -- Right on with Big John! While Perez might have drawn an overall better Thing, I wholeheartedly agree with you on ol' Benjy's facial expressions!
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Post by Engage on Sept 27, 2006 1:08:50 GMT -5
I'm nearing the end of the FF disc and have a question about the Avengers ROM.
How many stories are interrupted by being concluded in WCA or GS? The FF had a problem when their sales went down because things started ending in other books. Is this a problem on the set? Was the Avengers self contained during the WCA years?
For those with both, how do the Avengers and FF sets rank against each other?
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Post by dlw66 on Sept 27, 2006 7:26:26 GMT -5
My major bone of contention with both the FF and Avengers discs is that neither contain the GS issues. Whilst that is not a major deal with the FF, it is a huge loss on the Avengers due to the Celestial Madonna arc, which intertwined with three GS issues.
If I recall, Avengers and WCA mainly crossed-over between annuals, so that is where the reader will be lacking. No major continuity missing...
I have been reading from both discs, but the FF disc more. That is primarily due to the fact that I have a complete run of Avengers, and have been enjoying reading the FF issues in between Essentials vol. 4 and circa issue #140 (where my FF collection really started to be regular).
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steed
Reservist Avenger
Posts: 215
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Post by steed on Sept 27, 2006 11:20:39 GMT -5
I'm with you, Dlw (as usual). I think John B's work on the early 70's FF was some of his best. Nobody could draw the Thing like John--the amount of emotion he could convey on Ben's craggly face was really astounding. Nobody's been able to do that as well since! And Sue never looked more beautiful--in fact, they all looked great. John could really achieve a look of drama. I liked Big John's pencils but I always thought it was Joe Sinnot's inks that kept the artwork in the FF looking great.
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Post by dlw66 on Sept 27, 2006 11:56:50 GMT -5
I assume that since we've been talking about this for so long, that no one has the 11-CD-ROM Amazing Spider-Man set? They are re-issuing it in DVD-ROM format soon. I wondered, if anyone does have it, if some of the same drawbacks that we've mentioned about the Avengers and FF discs (no search feature, lack of GS issues, etc.) were found in the Spidey product as well?
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Post by Shiryu on Sept 27, 2006 13:27:21 GMT -5
I'm considering about buying the ASM DVD when it comes out, but I'm a little uncertain. Despite Avengers and FF, Spidey has had 2 or more books for years, and in the 80s the crossovers were fairly common. I'm afraid there will be too many issues without beginning or conclusion Oh, for the Avengers ROM, the lack of GS and WCA is definitely due to space reasons. The DVD is nearly packed full
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Post by dlw66 on Sept 27, 2006 13:50:23 GMT -5
Excellent point on Spider-Man; however, to own the complete issues from 1 up through the early 300's might be worth the pricetag...
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Post by dlw66 on Sept 28, 2006 12:00:24 GMT -5
Ask and ye shall receive!! Saw this today on eBay, listed as a "presell" item. Goes from AF 15-December 2006!
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Post by Shiryu on Sept 28, 2006 12:58:16 GMT -5
Awesome ! Well spotted !
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