Trying to at least alternate posts between the search for lost links...
So... I don't know if Vanished was on this week or not. It normally airs on Monday night on Fox, but it could be a victim of the same pre-emption that new House episodes are experiencing, thanks to baseball play-offs and the World Series.
Other shows we record to watch later on Monday nights are Heroes and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. Our recording of Heroes had a weird glitch -- about 12 minutes into the show, the recording jumped to the end! And Studio 60 didn't record at all.
We watched Heroes on NBC.com, however... and I'm going to see if I can watch Studio 60 the same way.
In other news...
There's a local furniture company that advertises in the newspaper I work at. They advertise a LOT, and pretty much run the same ads all the time, at the rate of about eight to 12 a week.
These ads use a lot of the Cooper Black font. I really hate Cooper Black, especially when it's used over and over again, like it was in these ads. It's a very 1970s font. The ads also didn't have a lot of consistency in the formatting from one ad to the next. They needed a fresh look, and I figured I was the person to update them.
So, about two weeks ago, I came up with a redesigned look for their ads, and took five current ads and reworked them to use my new design, gave them to the sales rep who handles the account, and waited.
Today, the sales rep let me know that the customer LOVED the new look, and today, we started updating all their ads for my new look!
Also today, I reworked the ad design for a local used car dealership, and I'm hoping they like it as much as the furniture company did!
I've decided to try to pick at least one customer per week whose ads need a freshening up, and see what I can do with them. We'll see how much recognition goes my way with that (I'm shooting to get Employee of the Month again before the end of the year, as I figure it's my best shot at getting Employee of the Year).
Jon
Jon's Random Acts of Geekery is your five days a week destination for old-school geekery!
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Because I haven't much else to talk about tonight...
...and because I've got two hours until bedtime... it's time for more...
Incredible Internet Guide To... Stuff!
This time around, I'm checking on the Fan Art sites!
But first... in case you're catching up on posts here, I'll recap: Last weekend, I got a copy of "The Incredible Internet Guide to Comic Books and Superheroes" for a buck at Half-Price Books, and I've been going through it, page by page, looking to see what sites they list are still active -- why? Well, I was hoping I'd find some really cool site I didn't know about before, but mostly, it's to point out how stupid an idea it is to publish a book listing web pages, since they tend to go away suddenly without warning (whether they just disappear or move somewhere else -- I've given up, for example, on keeping track of where the Bruce Timm Art Archive site is anymore).
The first one, "A Thousand Words - Artwork by Lori McDonald," seems to be completely gone... and so is the hosting site! "ACFAP: Fairchild Fan Art Gallery," which was on Geocities, is also gone. Both "Amalgam Fan Art" and "Amalgam Fan Art II" on Geocities are gone. "Amalgam Masterpieces" (which was part of the same site as the Amalgam Fan Art site) is also gone. The Amalgamations! website is also gone (and it's probably the last Tripod-hosted site I'll check, to be honest).
Askani Son's Home Page: Fan Art is still there, making it the first page in this section that still exists!
The Azrael Fan Art site, which was hosted on www.biss.demon.co.uk, is gone (and that entire domain seems to be gone, too).
Ben Herman's site is still up, although it's not exclusively Captain America art, as this book had it listed. There's some good stuff there, although what I checked out was very small (one of the problems of the limited space Geocities allows, I guess).
Apparently, another free web hosting site, doitnow.com, is another dead domain... that's where Bianca's Ultimate Jean Grey Site: Fan Art was. The Carol Danvers Fan Art Archive is these days called This Woman, This Warror, but it is still there (wow, that's three still-active sites so far!).
The Comics 2 Film Fan Art Archive is no longer around... at least, not on the link provided in this book! Disciples of the Blade: Fan Art (a Witchblade fan art site) is gone.
The Donna Troy Fan Art site is still active!
Dwellers of the Outback: Fan Generated Content is listed at being at Tripod, if you want to click on this link to see if it's active and if so, if it ever loads.
The Fan Art Gallery of Wolverine, which was at Smartlink.net, is gone. So is the Femforce Fan Art page. The Gen 13 Archive: Fan Art page is still there, but all the picture links are broken, so I won't even worry about providing the link. The Gen 13 Fan Art site changed what it was about, moved to a new domain, and then that domain went under. You can see if GlockGal's Fab Fan Art is still up on Tripod if you want, but as I've said in a previous post, the sites that appear to be still up on Tripod take forever to load (and I'm on a high-speed internet connection). The Great Expectations: Fan Art site is gone. The Image Comics Fan Fiction Archive: Fan Art page on Angelfire is gone. The Impulse Fan Fic & Fan Art page is, likewise, history. Jaz's Small Page of Art was on Xoom, so it's gone. The Lost Levitz Issues of LSH was on Compuserve, and isn't there anymore (too bad, I would've liked to check this out). Michael's Fan Art on Geocities is gone. More Than Words Can Say! is gone, as appears to be the host site, hostme.com. My Sketchbook, which was on serv.net, is gone.
Oh! Found a site that's still up! It's Net Alpha: Alpha Flight Fan Art Gallery.
The Online Folio - Troy Westblade is a victim of Xoom. The Savage Dragon Fan Art site was on Tripod -- is it still here? For that matter, is fellow Tripod site Seeing Red - The Scarlet Witch: Fan Works still there? You can check if you want.
The Spawn Online Fan Art page is gone. Stragef8's X-Men Fan Art site is now "Strange Rants," if you want to check it out.
The Original Art Fan's Web Page was on AOL, but it's not anymore! The Custom Marvel Airbrushed T-Shirts page is gone, as is the whole of doitnow.com, it seems -- I'm guessing Marvel's lawyers may have had something to do with that. The Titan's Lair: Fan Art Gallery is definitely gone, as is the domain it was on. The Witchblade Fan Art site is gone, and so is the Wolverine Fan Art page. And so is the X-Men Artistry Page.
Comic Book Advertisements
I forgot to check on the two sites that are listed here... They have a Marvel Comics Hostess Fruit Pies Home Page listed... but it's not there (I wonder if that was an old URL for Seanbaby's page, which I no longer have bookmarked?). The Super Marketing Ads From the Comic Books page is still up -- and I still can't help but think that page was "inspired" by my own short-lived "Comic Book Covers & Ads of the 1970s" site that I gave up on a long time back.
Next up will be Photo Manipulation sites!
Jon
Incredible Internet Guide To... Stuff!
This time around, I'm checking on the Fan Art sites!
But first... in case you're catching up on posts here, I'll recap: Last weekend, I got a copy of "The Incredible Internet Guide to Comic Books and Superheroes" for a buck at Half-Price Books, and I've been going through it, page by page, looking to see what sites they list are still active -- why? Well, I was hoping I'd find some really cool site I didn't know about before, but mostly, it's to point out how stupid an idea it is to publish a book listing web pages, since they tend to go away suddenly without warning (whether they just disappear or move somewhere else -- I've given up, for example, on keeping track of where the Bruce Timm Art Archive site is anymore).
The first one, "A Thousand Words - Artwork by Lori McDonald," seems to be completely gone... and so is the hosting site! "ACFAP: Fairchild Fan Art Gallery," which was on Geocities, is also gone. Both "Amalgam Fan Art" and "Amalgam Fan Art II" on Geocities are gone. "Amalgam Masterpieces" (which was part of the same site as the Amalgam Fan Art site) is also gone. The Amalgamations! website is also gone (and it's probably the last Tripod-hosted site I'll check, to be honest).
Askani Son's Home Page: Fan Art is still there, making it the first page in this section that still exists!
The Azrael Fan Art site, which was hosted on www.biss.demon.co.uk, is gone (and that entire domain seems to be gone, too).
Ben Herman's site is still up, although it's not exclusively Captain America art, as this book had it listed. There's some good stuff there, although what I checked out was very small (one of the problems of the limited space Geocities allows, I guess).
Apparently, another free web hosting site, doitnow.com, is another dead domain... that's where Bianca's Ultimate Jean Grey Site: Fan Art was. The Carol Danvers Fan Art Archive is these days called This Woman, This Warror, but it is still there (wow, that's three still-active sites so far!).
The Comics 2 Film Fan Art Archive is no longer around... at least, not on the link provided in this book! Disciples of the Blade: Fan Art (a Witchblade fan art site) is gone.
The Donna Troy Fan Art site is still active!
Dwellers of the Outback: Fan Generated Content is listed at being at Tripod, if you want to click on this link to see if it's active and if so, if it ever loads.
The Fan Art Gallery of Wolverine, which was at Smartlink.net, is gone. So is the Femforce Fan Art page. The Gen 13 Archive: Fan Art page is still there, but all the picture links are broken, so I won't even worry about providing the link. The Gen 13 Fan Art site changed what it was about, moved to a new domain, and then that domain went under. You can see if GlockGal's Fab Fan Art is still up on Tripod if you want, but as I've said in a previous post, the sites that appear to be still up on Tripod take forever to load (and I'm on a high-speed internet connection). The Great Expectations: Fan Art site is gone. The Image Comics Fan Fiction Archive: Fan Art page on Angelfire is gone. The Impulse Fan Fic & Fan Art page is, likewise, history. Jaz's Small Page of Art was on Xoom, so it's gone. The Lost Levitz Issues of LSH was on Compuserve, and isn't there anymore (too bad, I would've liked to check this out). Michael's Fan Art on Geocities is gone. More Than Words Can Say! is gone, as appears to be the host site, hostme.com. My Sketchbook, which was on serv.net, is gone.
Oh! Found a site that's still up! It's Net Alpha: Alpha Flight Fan Art Gallery.
The Online Folio - Troy Westblade is a victim of Xoom. The Savage Dragon Fan Art site was on Tripod -- is it still here? For that matter, is fellow Tripod site Seeing Red - The Scarlet Witch: Fan Works still there? You can check if you want.
The Spawn Online Fan Art page is gone. Stragef8's X-Men Fan Art site is now "Strange Rants," if you want to check it out.
The Original Art Fan's Web Page was on AOL, but it's not anymore! The Custom Marvel Airbrushed T-Shirts page is gone, as is the whole of doitnow.com, it seems -- I'm guessing Marvel's lawyers may have had something to do with that. The Titan's Lair: Fan Art Gallery is definitely gone, as is the domain it was on. The Witchblade Fan Art site is gone, and so is the Wolverine Fan Art page. And so is the X-Men Artistry Page.
Comic Book Advertisements
I forgot to check on the two sites that are listed here... They have a Marvel Comics Hostess Fruit Pies Home Page listed... but it's not there (I wonder if that was an old URL for Seanbaby's page, which I no longer have bookmarked?). The Super Marketing Ads From the Comic Books page is still up -- and I still can't help but think that page was "inspired" by my own short-lived "Comic Book Covers & Ads of the 1970s" site that I gave up on a long time back.
Next up will be Photo Manipulation sites!
Jon
Newly-Discovered Blogs of Interest!
Quick post here... but there's been a few blogs added to my regular daily visit bookmarks I thought I'd let the rest of you know about...
The first one is Patrick Owsley: Cartoon Art & more, which I found thanks to Bubblegum Fink. Patrick is... well, here's what he says about himself on his blog: "I am a Cartoon Illustrator who creates cartoon art for licensing, children's books, advertising, comic books, DVD covers, etc. I have worked with Warner Bros. (Looney Tunes), Hanna-Barbera, Rankin-Bass, Classic Media (Underdog and Mr. Magoo) and more!"
Patrick is amazingly talented... he can match the style of any cartoon he needs to draw, it seems! His blog had illos of Underdog, the Groovie Goolies, and some Hanna-Barbera characters when I checked it... and those are three very different styles, let me tell you! He does an excellent job on all of them, and he told me via an email that he'll be posting regularly (yay!).
On a different note, Making Art the Otto Lange Way" is a blog where Otto Lange displays some pop art paintings he's done... with links to auctions of the same paintings. Even if you don't plan on bid on the paintings, they're definitely worth checking out! Heck, the first time I looked at the blog, I thought he was showing photographs, not paintings -- he's that good. And by "pop art paintings," I mean that his paintings are of items that would be considered pop art by themselves by some -- like a Mego Captain America, or a Ring Pop candy, among many other items!
Jon
The first one is Patrick Owsley: Cartoon Art & more, which I found thanks to Bubblegum Fink. Patrick is... well, here's what he says about himself on his blog: "I am a Cartoon Illustrator who creates cartoon art for licensing, children's books, advertising, comic books, DVD covers, etc. I have worked with Warner Bros. (Looney Tunes), Hanna-Barbera, Rankin-Bass, Classic Media (Underdog and Mr. Magoo) and more!"
Patrick is amazingly talented... he can match the style of any cartoon he needs to draw, it seems! His blog had illos of Underdog, the Groovie Goolies, and some Hanna-Barbera characters when I checked it... and those are three very different styles, let me tell you! He does an excellent job on all of them, and he told me via an email that he'll be posting regularly (yay!).
On a different note, Making Art the Otto Lange Way" is a blog where Otto Lange displays some pop art paintings he's done... with links to auctions of the same paintings. Even if you don't plan on bid on the paintings, they're definitely worth checking out! Heck, the first time I looked at the blog, I thought he was showing photographs, not paintings -- he's that good. And by "pop art paintings," I mean that his paintings are of items that would be considered pop art by themselves by some -- like a Mego Captain America, or a Ring Pop candy, among many other items!
Jon
Monday, October 09, 2006
Tales of My Fanzine Days...
Since I've never talked about it before, I figured I'd talk a bit about some of the fanzines I used to do or participate in.
Star-Zine
This was the first fanzine I ever was a part of... it was supposed to be a science-fiction fanzine, and was produced with a mimeograph. At the time, I was a sophomore in High School, and my co-conspirators were Mark Schellberg (who owned the mimeograph) and Mark Grochowicz, both friends of mine from the Star Trek fan club I used to belong to.
There was a slight bit of comics content in it... each of the three issues had a one-page Star Trek comic that I wrote and drew... that never went anywhere, because I had no idea what the story was going to be about.
Hmmm...
Well, actually, prior to this, there was another fanzine that the Star Trek club I belonged to published, and I had a few pictures and stories printed in it... but I don't remember what the heck it was called!
Parsec
This was a one-shot fanzine that was all me... it had the first (and only) printed appearance of Nightfighter (which some of you may recall seeing drawings of that I posted on this blog a year ago or so), as well as some other stuff. I know I don't have any copies of Star-Zine anymore, but I may still have a few pages from the one issue of this that I produced.
YHAPA
This was the last printed fanzine I had anything to do with... it was an APA - Amateur Press Association - focused on young heroes. I was a huge fan of Infinity, Inc. when this came out, as well as other young heroes... so I was all ready for this!
If you're not familiar with APAS, every member produces their own section, copies it, and mails it off to the central mailer. This person then collates all the sections together, staples them into a unit, and sends them out to everyone.
My section was called Jon's Journal, and some of the art I shared way back when was originally done for this. I also did a Hero History of Nova, plus had (in one issue) a short comics strip featuring some silly super-heroes. A lot of info about my characters was shared here.
Kryptonian Cybernet
This was the last fanzine of sorts I had any direct involvement in... distributed entirely via email, it was all text, no pictures. At various times, I wrote articles (one series covered the super-kids of Superman in comics), reviews (usually of Lois Lane & Jimmy Olsen issues), and even word searches and crossword puzzles! My last feature was called "Web of Steel," and reviewed Superman websites. Sadly, this ended some time ago.
One Final Thing...
As I alluded to in a previous post, I used to write Lois & Clark fanfic. This was mostly distributed via a mailing list... but one story I wrote (I forget which one) was selected to be published in a L&C fanzine... which I at least used to have a copy of around here, but I don't know if I do anymore! I don't even remember the name of it.
Other Stuff...
That wasn't all of the fanzine stuff I did... there was a Star Trek fanzine I was involved in at the same time I was in YHAPA, but I didn't contribute much to it (mostly an article talking about ranks in Star Trek, plus my reaction to the announcement of Star Trek: The Next Generation).
There were other fanzines that I actually started working on myself, but never published in any form at all.... most of them were when I was in junior high or high school.
However, back in my toy-collecting days, I tried to start up another fanzine for toy collectors, that focused on custom action figures... but I never went very far with it (finances were extra-tight, and I could never get anything going with it).
These Days...
...I don't really have any fanzine involvement at all. I do think that these days, printed fanzines are pretty much a dying breed, thanks to the Internet. Pretty much anyone can publish on the web on the cheap, and reach a much larger readership than any printed 'zine ever could!
Jon
Star-Zine
This was the first fanzine I ever was a part of... it was supposed to be a science-fiction fanzine, and was produced with a mimeograph. At the time, I was a sophomore in High School, and my co-conspirators were Mark Schellberg (who owned the mimeograph) and Mark Grochowicz, both friends of mine from the Star Trek fan club I used to belong to.
There was a slight bit of comics content in it... each of the three issues had a one-page Star Trek comic that I wrote and drew... that never went anywhere, because I had no idea what the story was going to be about.
Hmmm...
Well, actually, prior to this, there was another fanzine that the Star Trek club I belonged to published, and I had a few pictures and stories printed in it... but I don't remember what the heck it was called!
Parsec
This was a one-shot fanzine that was all me... it had the first (and only) printed appearance of Nightfighter (which some of you may recall seeing drawings of that I posted on this blog a year ago or so), as well as some other stuff. I know I don't have any copies of Star-Zine anymore, but I may still have a few pages from the one issue of this that I produced.
YHAPA
This was the last printed fanzine I had anything to do with... it was an APA - Amateur Press Association - focused on young heroes. I was a huge fan of Infinity, Inc. when this came out, as well as other young heroes... so I was all ready for this!
If you're not familiar with APAS, every member produces their own section, copies it, and mails it off to the central mailer. This person then collates all the sections together, staples them into a unit, and sends them out to everyone.
My section was called Jon's Journal, and some of the art I shared way back when was originally done for this. I also did a Hero History of Nova, plus had (in one issue) a short comics strip featuring some silly super-heroes. A lot of info about my characters was shared here.
Kryptonian Cybernet
This was the last fanzine of sorts I had any direct involvement in... distributed entirely via email, it was all text, no pictures. At various times, I wrote articles (one series covered the super-kids of Superman in comics), reviews (usually of Lois Lane & Jimmy Olsen issues), and even word searches and crossword puzzles! My last feature was called "Web of Steel," and reviewed Superman websites. Sadly, this ended some time ago.
One Final Thing...
As I alluded to in a previous post, I used to write Lois & Clark fanfic. This was mostly distributed via a mailing list... but one story I wrote (I forget which one) was selected to be published in a L&C fanzine... which I at least used to have a copy of around here, but I don't know if I do anymore! I don't even remember the name of it.
Other Stuff...
That wasn't all of the fanzine stuff I did... there was a Star Trek fanzine I was involved in at the same time I was in YHAPA, but I didn't contribute much to it (mostly an article talking about ranks in Star Trek, plus my reaction to the announcement of Star Trek: The Next Generation).
There were other fanzines that I actually started working on myself, but never published in any form at all.... most of them were when I was in junior high or high school.
However, back in my toy-collecting days, I tried to start up another fanzine for toy collectors, that focused on custom action figures... but I never went very far with it (finances were extra-tight, and I could never get anything going with it).
These Days...
...I don't really have any fanzine involvement at all. I do think that these days, printed fanzines are pretty much a dying breed, thanks to the Internet. Pretty much anyone can publish on the web on the cheap, and reach a much larger readership than any printed 'zine ever could!
Jon
More Incredible Internet Guide... Stuff!
Wow, am I milking this or what?
Animations
Yep, the next section is on animations - aka animated Gifs.
There's a working X-Men Uncanny GIFs page, which says it's going to go away from those...
But unfortunately, it seems that none of the other pages listed here are still up. Tegan (of the Aquaman page in a previous post) seems to have taken down her Aquaman gifs... and the other two pages listed were Xoom sites.
Cover Galleries
I don't know why they didn't even mention the Grand Comics Database -- which has the hugest gallery of comics covers anywhere -- unless it wasn't around when this book was being written.
Anyway... the first page listed is The Amazing Spider-Man Cover Gallery which seems to still be up... but since it's a Tripod page, it never finished loading for me (the pop-up ad did, though).
Next on the list was Anthony's Comic Book Cover Fan Page, but that's gone (the connection was refused, at least).
I was surprised to find that the Avengers Assemble: Art, Covers & Images page is no longer up at the original link (when I was on the Avengers list, this was part of the offical list site). Not so surprised that the Avengers Cover Images page on Geocities is gone.
The Bulletman gallery was on Xoom, so you know it's gone.
Next on the list was a Captain America Cover Gallery, but it appears that was part of the Chris' Comic Book Collection site, which I've provided the main page link for (since the one in the book doesn't work anymore).
Next is a Challengers of the Unknown gallery, and a Classic X-Men gallery... but they were Xoom sites. Next was a Geocities page called "Classics Nederland Superhelden Cover Gallery," but that's also gone. The Comic Book Church site is also gone.
The Comic Masterpieces page is still up, but it was last updated in 2003.
The Comics DB: Brose Covers page is history, as is the whole of Comics DB (not to be confused with the GCD).
Davo's All-Star Comics Page was on Vicnet, but apparently all Vicnet pages are gone these days. Another domain that's history was rover.wiesbaeden.netsurf.de, which had the Dick Grayson Cover Gallery.
The Doom Patrol! page is still up... but doesn't seem to be much of a cover gallery, but rather devoted to the Vertigo version of the DP. Still, if you were a fan of that series, it's a good site for you!
The Dr. Fate, Hourman and Starman Comic Book Cover Gallery was a Xoom site. The Exploits of the Thunderbolts site is gone. The Gallery of Comic Book Covers from the 1940s is gone. So is the Golden Age Batman Cover Gallery. So is Gordon's Little Maxx Page.
Also among the missing are the Great X-Pectations: Cover Gallery, the Green Goblin Cover Gallery, and the Image Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Cover Gallery.
Hey! I found one that's still up! The Infinity Inc Cover Gallery is still there on AOL!
Then there's another missing page... Inner Circle: Covers Gallery (X-Men)... the Invincible Iron Man Cover Gallery, Lady Pendragon's Gallery, the Marvel Silver Age Comic Cover Search...
My Marvel Scrapbook on Geocities is now LODS Development, a Dark Shadows game site.
The Pixy Stix Comics site is still up, surprising for a Tripod site... except that when I close the advertisement pop-up, the page changes to "Loading..." -- so I won't even bother with Tripod pages for the rest of this, I think.
More AWOL pages follow... Preacher's Divinity: Covers of Preacher, Quality Comics Covers, Robin's Next: Covers, Sandman Covers, Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos covers, Silver-Age Sub-Mariner cover gallery, the Star-Spangled Site: Captain America Volume 1 Covers...
However, the Darkness is still up... but the other Darkness Cover Gallery is down.
(by the way... the author of this book decided to alphabetize sites that begin with an article -- i.e., a, an, or the -- as if the article matters for alphabetizing)
The Man Who Was Once Magneto: Pictures page is gone. But The Symbiote Cover Gallery is still up. But the Wonder Man Cover Gallery is gone. And so is the X Book Covers site.
And that's all the cover galleries sites they listed!
Next up: Fan Art sites! Whenever I get to doing those, anyway.
Jon
Animations
Yep, the next section is on animations - aka animated Gifs.
There's a working X-Men Uncanny GIFs page, which says it's going to go away from those...
But unfortunately, it seems that none of the other pages listed here are still up. Tegan (of the Aquaman page in a previous post) seems to have taken down her Aquaman gifs... and the other two pages listed were Xoom sites.
Cover Galleries
I don't know why they didn't even mention the Grand Comics Database -- which has the hugest gallery of comics covers anywhere -- unless it wasn't around when this book was being written.
Anyway... the first page listed is The Amazing Spider-Man Cover Gallery which seems to still be up... but since it's a Tripod page, it never finished loading for me (the pop-up ad did, though).
Next on the list was Anthony's Comic Book Cover Fan Page, but that's gone (the connection was refused, at least).
I was surprised to find that the Avengers Assemble: Art, Covers & Images page is no longer up at the original link (when I was on the Avengers list, this was part of the offical list site). Not so surprised that the Avengers Cover Images page on Geocities is gone.
The Bulletman gallery was on Xoom, so you know it's gone.
Next on the list was a Captain America Cover Gallery, but it appears that was part of the Chris' Comic Book Collection site, which I've provided the main page link for (since the one in the book doesn't work anymore).
Next is a Challengers of the Unknown gallery, and a Classic X-Men gallery... but they were Xoom sites. Next was a Geocities page called "Classics Nederland Superhelden Cover Gallery," but that's also gone. The Comic Book Church site is also gone.
The Comic Masterpieces page is still up, but it was last updated in 2003.
The Comics DB: Brose Covers page is history, as is the whole of Comics DB (not to be confused with the GCD).
Davo's All-Star Comics Page was on Vicnet, but apparently all Vicnet pages are gone these days. Another domain that's history was rover.wiesbaeden.netsurf.de, which had the Dick Grayson Cover Gallery.
The Doom Patrol! page is still up... but doesn't seem to be much of a cover gallery, but rather devoted to the Vertigo version of the DP. Still, if you were a fan of that series, it's a good site for you!
The Dr. Fate, Hourman and Starman Comic Book Cover Gallery was a Xoom site. The Exploits of the Thunderbolts site is gone. The Gallery of Comic Book Covers from the 1940s is gone. So is the Golden Age Batman Cover Gallery. So is Gordon's Little Maxx Page.
Also among the missing are the Great X-Pectations: Cover Gallery, the Green Goblin Cover Gallery, and the Image Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Cover Gallery.
Hey! I found one that's still up! The Infinity Inc Cover Gallery is still there on AOL!
Then there's another missing page... Inner Circle: Covers Gallery (X-Men)... the Invincible Iron Man Cover Gallery, Lady Pendragon's Gallery, the Marvel Silver Age Comic Cover Search...
My Marvel Scrapbook on Geocities is now LODS Development, a Dark Shadows game site.
The Pixy Stix Comics site is still up, surprising for a Tripod site... except that when I close the advertisement pop-up, the page changes to "Loading..." -- so I won't even bother with Tripod pages for the rest of this, I think.
More AWOL pages follow... Preacher's Divinity: Covers of Preacher, Quality Comics Covers, Robin's Next: Covers, Sandman Covers, Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos covers, Silver-Age Sub-Mariner cover gallery, the Star-Spangled Site: Captain America Volume 1 Covers...
However, the Darkness is still up... but the other Darkness Cover Gallery is down.
(by the way... the author of this book decided to alphabetize sites that begin with an article -- i.e., a, an, or the -- as if the article matters for alphabetizing)
The Man Who Was Once Magneto: Pictures page is gone. But The Symbiote Cover Gallery is still up. But the Wonder Man Cover Gallery is gone. And so is the X Book Covers site.
And that's all the cover galleries sites they listed!
Next up: Fan Art sites! Whenever I get to doing those, anyway.
Jon
Sunday, October 08, 2006
Incredible Internet Guide...: The Cartoons
OK, so I wrote the last section faster than expected, so I'll continue!
Batman
This section completely ignores the Filmation Batman series, and focuses solely on the excellent Bruce Timm/Paul Dini Batman series...
...and aside from the official WB websites (which you can find by clicking here), and the usual AllMovie.com listings (why no IMDB listings here? God only knows... they included them for the movies, but not tv shows... very inconsistent)... all of them are dead.
Except for Joker - In the Mouth of Madness -- which has dark purple text on a black background, which I can't even read.
The Incredible Hulk
The first site listed in this section is for a Xoom.com page -- but all the Xoom pages are history... completely gone!
The second site is site that was at the University of Arizona's web site, presumably a student site... and it's also gone.
I have no idea if either of these sites were for the NBC animated series or the more recent animated Hulk series that had Lou Ferrigno doing the Hulk's voice!
Spawn
Wow, this is weird. Two sites listed -- the official HBO one (which is gone) and the Animation Art Gallery site (which redirects you to the main page, and it's a site that sells animation art).
Spider-Man & His Amazing Friends
Geez, these people got lazy here... two sites listed... except that they're both the same site! It's just that one is the episode guides on that page.
Oh, and it's all gone, because it's a Geocities page that was abandoned.
Miscellaneous Superhero Cartoon Sites
So... the first one was an Adventures in the DC Universe site, and it's a dead Xoom page. Then there's the Animated Swamp Thing page -- but that's part of the aforementioned CultTV Man page from the TV shows listings! Then there's the Spider-Man: The Animated Series episode guide... but that's an abandoned AOL page. And there's also the Animation Art Gallery page, but you know about that already.
Fortunately, the Superman/Aquaman Hour of Power page is still up and running... and hey, it's Tegan's page! I read Tegan's blog every day (bloggity-blog-blog-blog).
Superfriends
The first page listed here is for the Cartoon Network's page -- but that's gone (it may be up on the Boomerang page, but doesn't redirect).
The second page is the Challenge of the Superfriends" website, but their link is outdated, and I've provided you with the updated one here!
The Superfriends Archive: Wonder Twins site is also completely gone.
Superman
This section starts with the predictable Allmovie.com listing, then there's a dead Geocities page that was supposed to be Superman Animation Cels & Collectibles...
Then there's the official WB site -- which is from the same start page as the Batman one I listed above. Which they also list.
X-Men
Let's see... the first listing is for the AnotherUniverse.com site -- but AnotherUniverse.com is history. The "Pryde of the X-Men" X-Men pilot page on Geocities is gone.
CST's Comic Pages: X-Men Sounds is gone, but Southern Sounds has relocated from Geocities (and I provided the current link to you).
Morlock Sounds was a Xoom site. The Best X was a Tripod site that's gone. And the X-Men - The Animated Series Episode Guide is another Xoom site.
So, seven sites (right?) and only one of them exists in any form any more.
Sheesh...
Conclusion
It's amazing how pathetic they were with this whole section of Movies, TV Shows and Cartoons... I don't see how anyone would think that the writer of this book really saved them a lot of work searching and scouring the internet finding these sites... oh, well.
Next up? Galleries and Software! Let's see if any of those are still up!
Jon
Batman
This section completely ignores the Filmation Batman series, and focuses solely on the excellent Bruce Timm/Paul Dini Batman series...
...and aside from the official WB websites (which you can find by clicking here), and the usual AllMovie.com listings (why no IMDB listings here? God only knows... they included them for the movies, but not tv shows... very inconsistent)... all of them are dead.
Except for Joker - In the Mouth of Madness -- which has dark purple text on a black background, which I can't even read.
The Incredible Hulk
The first site listed in this section is for a Xoom.com page -- but all the Xoom pages are history... completely gone!
The second site is site that was at the University of Arizona's web site, presumably a student site... and it's also gone.
I have no idea if either of these sites were for the NBC animated series or the more recent animated Hulk series that had Lou Ferrigno doing the Hulk's voice!
Spawn
Wow, this is weird. Two sites listed -- the official HBO one (which is gone) and the Animation Art Gallery site (which redirects you to the main page, and it's a site that sells animation art).
Spider-Man & His Amazing Friends
Geez, these people got lazy here... two sites listed... except that they're both the same site! It's just that one is the episode guides on that page.
Oh, and it's all gone, because it's a Geocities page that was abandoned.
Miscellaneous Superhero Cartoon Sites
So... the first one was an Adventures in the DC Universe site, and it's a dead Xoom page. Then there's the Animated Swamp Thing page -- but that's part of the aforementioned CultTV Man page from the TV shows listings! Then there's the Spider-Man: The Animated Series episode guide... but that's an abandoned AOL page. And there's also the Animation Art Gallery page, but you know about that already.
Fortunately, the Superman/Aquaman Hour of Power page is still up and running... and hey, it's Tegan's page! I read Tegan's blog every day (bloggity-blog-blog-blog).
Superfriends
The first page listed here is for the Cartoon Network's page -- but that's gone (it may be up on the Boomerang page, but doesn't redirect).
The second page is the Challenge of the Superfriends" website, but their link is outdated, and I've provided you with the updated one here!
The Superfriends Archive: Wonder Twins site is also completely gone.
Superman
This section starts with the predictable Allmovie.com listing, then there's a dead Geocities page that was supposed to be Superman Animation Cels & Collectibles...
Then there's the official WB site -- which is from the same start page as the Batman one I listed above. Which they also list.
X-Men
Let's see... the first listing is for the AnotherUniverse.com site -- but AnotherUniverse.com is history. The "Pryde of the X-Men" X-Men pilot page on Geocities is gone.
CST's Comic Pages: X-Men Sounds is gone, but Southern Sounds has relocated from Geocities (and I provided the current link to you).
Morlock Sounds was a Xoom site. The Best X was a Tripod site that's gone. And the X-Men - The Animated Series Episode Guide is another Xoom site.
So, seven sites (right?) and only one of them exists in any form any more.
Sheesh...
Conclusion
It's amazing how pathetic they were with this whole section of Movies, TV Shows and Cartoons... I don't see how anyone would think that the writer of this book really saved them a lot of work searching and scouring the internet finding these sites... oh, well.
Next up? Galleries and Software! Let's see if any of those are still up!
Jon
Today's Incredible Internet Guide to Comic Books and Super-Heroes Look
Today, I start with the Television section!
Batman
This part of the book covers sites devoted to the Batman TV series with Adam West. They only include five sites on this list... and one of them is the AllMovies.com page!
The ones that are still up and running are The 1966 Batman TV Tribute Site, which I've long had bookmarked; AdamWest.com, Yvonne Craig.com, and Ty's Yvonne Craig Page.
Only five sites? Seems like they could've found more. In my own bookmarks, I've already got the following:
The Bat Pages
The Original 1966 Batmobile Website
CultTVMan: Bob Kimball's Batcave
The History of the Batmobile (well, it's not all about the 1966 series' Batmobile, but it's included)
1966 Batmobile Paper Model
Of course, some of those may not have been up back in 2000.
The Flash
Only two websites listed for this -- the Sci Fi Channel's site, and someone else's site... guess what? They're both gone. So here's a real, working website that focuses on the TV series for you!
The Incredible Hulk
Three sites listed... and the only working one is the Sci Fi Channel's page.
Swamp Thing
Yes, there's a section for the short-lived Swamp Thing TV series! The first link works (it's for the Cult TV Man page), the second one (which is a Geocities page) is just a fanfic archive, and the third one is dead.
Miscellaneous Superhero TV Show Sites
Yes, that's right... this 2000-published book goes right to "Miscellaneous Superhero TV Show Sites" -- no web pages for the original George Reeves Superman series, no Wonder Woman page!
So... the first site is on the 1970 Legends of the Super-Heroes Special, and that's a Geocities site that no longer exists!
The second site (which does work, despite being a Geocities page) is a Superboy TV series page.
The third site they list is on the JLA 1997 Unaired TV pilot... but since that was part of the same person's site as the Legends of the Super-Heroes Special, that's also gone!
The fourth site is a Spider-Man TV series page, but it's part of the Pazsaz Entertainment Network site, thus making it a good overall site for info on TV shows based on comic books (they even had a Batman page and a Superboy page, among many others).
Next up is a defunct Generation X: The Movie page, and a defunct Super Hero & Comic Book TV Shows Geocities page. Then a Nightman page (but that link now brings you to a Newport Beach Criminal Lawyer's page), a defunct Power Pack Pilot page...
...and finally Sarah Wood's Lois & Clark Episode Transcripts -- which is still running, and amazingly, is the ONLY Lois & Clark website listed! Heck, I know there's a L&C Fanfic Archive out there still (which also includes some of my own L&C fanfic, too (you can find my stories here in case you're interested, all written while the show was still on the air).
Next up: Cartoons!
Jon
Batman
This part of the book covers sites devoted to the Batman TV series with Adam West. They only include five sites on this list... and one of them is the AllMovies.com page!
The ones that are still up and running are The 1966 Batman TV Tribute Site, which I've long had bookmarked; AdamWest.com, Yvonne Craig.com, and Ty's Yvonne Craig Page.
Only five sites? Seems like they could've found more. In my own bookmarks, I've already got the following:
The Bat Pages
The Original 1966 Batmobile Website
CultTVMan: Bob Kimball's Batcave
The History of the Batmobile (well, it's not all about the 1966 series' Batmobile, but it's included)
1966 Batmobile Paper Model
Of course, some of those may not have been up back in 2000.
The Flash
Only two websites listed for this -- the Sci Fi Channel's site, and someone else's site... guess what? They're both gone. So here's a real, working website that focuses on the TV series for you!
The Incredible Hulk
Three sites listed... and the only working one is the Sci Fi Channel's page.
Swamp Thing
Yes, there's a section for the short-lived Swamp Thing TV series! The first link works (it's for the Cult TV Man page), the second one (which is a Geocities page) is just a fanfic archive, and the third one is dead.
Miscellaneous Superhero TV Show Sites
Yes, that's right... this 2000-published book goes right to "Miscellaneous Superhero TV Show Sites" -- no web pages for the original George Reeves Superman series, no Wonder Woman page!
So... the first site is on the 1970 Legends of the Super-Heroes Special, and that's a Geocities site that no longer exists!
The second site (which does work, despite being a Geocities page) is a Superboy TV series page.
The third site they list is on the JLA 1997 Unaired TV pilot... but since that was part of the same person's site as the Legends of the Super-Heroes Special, that's also gone!
The fourth site is a Spider-Man TV series page, but it's part of the Pazsaz Entertainment Network site, thus making it a good overall site for info on TV shows based on comic books (they even had a Batman page and a Superboy page, among many others).
Next up is a defunct Generation X: The Movie page, and a defunct Super Hero & Comic Book TV Shows Geocities page. Then a Nightman page (but that link now brings you to a Newport Beach Criminal Lawyer's page), a defunct Power Pack Pilot page...
...and finally Sarah Wood's Lois & Clark Episode Transcripts -- which is still running, and amazingly, is the ONLY Lois & Clark website listed! Heck, I know there's a L&C Fanfic Archive out there still (which also includes some of my own L&C fanfic, too (you can find my stories here in case you're interested, all written while the show was still on the air).
Next up: Cartoons!
Jon
Weekend Wrapup - Bullet Point Edition!
Krypto has gone through a growth spurt -- you'd think that he, being a bit over a year and a half old, would be done growing... but apparently not!
My dad will be coming home from the hospital tomorrow, presumably. He's already halfway through reading the first of the Zane Grey novels I bought him (strangely, we can't find proper copyright info on those books, so we don't know when they were printed).
Jessi wasn't feeling well today... either a head cold, a touch of flu, or seasonal allergies. She was feeling better after taking a few Advil Cold & Sinus pills, though... I think she'll be even better on Monday.
Our washing machine broke down -- well, not completely. It would fill and agitate... but that was it. No draining or spin cycle. We pulled the clothes out of it, wrung them out as best we could, and ran them through the dryer so they wouldn't mold or mildew (even though it took two or three cycles to get the clothes dry). Fortunately, my parents' garage had an extra washing machine in it (we're not sure if it belongs to my mom or my sister -- way too long a story there to go into), and my sister Debi ran it down to us today, so we could do our laundry (wow, long bullet point!).
The other book I bought for me at Half-Price Books was Krause Publications' Comic Book Checklist and Price Guide -- got it for a buck, and I can see why it wasn't serious competition with Overstreet... although the checklist aspect seemed to me to be a good idea! Perhaps if they reworked the idea to produce volumes by era, it would have sold better.
That's it for bullet points!
Jon
My dad will be coming home from the hospital tomorrow, presumably. He's already halfway through reading the first of the Zane Grey novels I bought him (strangely, we can't find proper copyright info on those books, so we don't know when they were printed).
Jessi wasn't feeling well today... either a head cold, a touch of flu, or seasonal allergies. She was feeling better after taking a few Advil Cold & Sinus pills, though... I think she'll be even better on Monday.
Our washing machine broke down -- well, not completely. It would fill and agitate... but that was it. No draining or spin cycle. We pulled the clothes out of it, wrung them out as best we could, and ran them through the dryer so they wouldn't mold or mildew (even though it took two or three cycles to get the clothes dry). Fortunately, my parents' garage had an extra washing machine in it (we're not sure if it belongs to my mom or my sister -- way too long a story there to go into), and my sister Debi ran it down to us today, so we could do our laundry (wow, long bullet point!).
The other book I bought for me at Half-Price Books was Krause Publications' Comic Book Checklist and Price Guide -- got it for a buck, and I can see why it wasn't serious competition with Overstreet... although the checklist aspect seemed to me to be a good idea! Perhaps if they reworked the idea to produce volumes by era, it would have sold better.
That's it for bullet points!
Jon
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
