Charlton Checklist (complete?)

[Defiant1]

Added Comedy Capers #116 to the checklist.

Defiant1

[Defiant1]

Updated the Charlton Comics Checklist to Version 4.64.
Added Popeye E-1 through E-15.

covergallery.sinfree.net/Charlton/Charlton_index.html#P

charlton.herobo.com/Charlton_index.html#P

Defiant1

[Defiant1]

Updated the checklist to Version 4.73. It includes scattered scans for Zoo Funnies, Fightin' Army, Tales of the Mysterious Traveler, sunset Carson & more. Added a cover gallery web page for Sunset Carson. I'd like to create at least one gallery page a month for the next few months.

Defiant1

[Defiant1]

Checklist is up to version 4.75... various scan added.

Defiant

[Defiant1]

Updated the Charlton Checklist to version 4.77.

Added a bunch of scans to the "Space War" series as well as other scattered scans....

Defiant1

[Defiant1]

Updated the checklist to Version 4.81.

Added some scans for Cheyenne Kid, Blue Bird comics & more...

defiant1

[Defiant1]

Checklist updated to Version4.90

charlton.herobo.com/Charlton_index.html

Defian1

[Defiant1]

I've added about 4 Galleries plus other scattered scans. The checklist is now up to Version 4.95.

Defiant1

[Defiant1]

I want to kick myself for buying some of the stuff I bought today. I was frustrated that I could simply not find any scan for Captain Gallant that were worth a d**n. Today I was on the other side of town and they had a copy. I bought it, but I really only wanted to maybe look through it and scan it. The book was priced $20, but I got everything I bought for half price. I don't mind owning it, but it's not really they way I wanted to spend my money this weekend. I guess I'm buying something that barely strikes up some interest because nothing I'm seeing in the stores inspres a real interest. The LCD near my house said I could borrow all their Charlton comics to scan. I was too lazy to sort through their stock today, so that's a future project. Here is the Captain Gallant #3. I bought today (and regretted it!).



To provide perspective, I could've swiped this image from the GCD, but it looks like crap. Washed out AND oversaturated colors. I've already got some images up that I don't like, but I'm trying to focus on high quality images for my checklist. I do not plan on buying all the books, so this is going to take patience. And yes, some compromises will get made.

Defiant1

[Defiant1]

CHECKLIST IS UP TO VERSION 5.00

Defiant1

[Quato]

I was finally able to get some updates to my Charlton page, but as I redirect most of images to a different host, I may have made a mistake restoring some links. Eye-Opener is now on the list.

Defiant1

[Defiant1]

Made a gallery page for Brenda Starr

charlton.herobo.com/Charlton/Brenda_Starr/Brenda_Starr.html

Defiant1

[Defiant1]

BTW, It took hours of searching to find a scan online for Brenda Starr #15 that is better quality than the one at GCD. I ended up finding a .cbr file that had a better quality scan, but it does have browning on the cover. I'm not good enough at doctoring images to remove extensive browning. I was able to doctor #13 which had browning all across the top and side. Anyone who wants to list their sites that feature .cbr and .cbz downloads, I would love to have more options for picking the highest quality images.

I also added a logo for my Zaza the Mystic page. Creating logo's for these pages is also a lot of work because I need both high quality scans and I have to recreate portions that are covered by comics code stamps or any other non-logo graphics that may overlap the logo on the comic. With Zaza, both issues (there are only two) had comic code stamps overlapping the logo. The most difficult web page logo to create was the one for All-American Sports. There was only one issue in the series, it had a lot of fine details, and I had to guess what it might look like if it was not on the cover of the comic. The Charlton page is a huge undertaking. VK's donation of the Eye-Opener comic was an immense help in acheiving my goal of eventually creating a complete visual checklist with print quality images (300dpi or greater).

SG has mentioned to me, my sites are being robbed of scans for eBay ads and online checklists. This does not bother me in the least. I consider it flattering. We are a collective community and to me it's all about archiving this information for future generations and sharing this info before it gets lost in time.

There are not a lot of Charlton comics that I intend on collecting or buying. I would like complete sets of the adult humor titles. I would like to have both issues of Zaza the Mystic. I would like to have a copy of "Let's Read the Newspaper". I would love for people to see this stuff on my pages and know it's the best out there (if possible), and know that the content is as accurate and complete as possible. My Charlton page is the most complete checklist onine. My Continuity checklist is the most complete checklist online. I think my Topps checklist is the most complete checklist online. Thanks to EVERYONE who has contributed or assisted. That thanks is even extended to Brother J and Depluto who helped me create my Ultraverse page. As people know, I don't even like Ultraverse comics.

Sometimes though, I do have to take a break from working on one company, so eventually I'll dig back into one of my other checklists. I'm long overdue to update my Catfish Comics page. Feel free to emails some of these other sites that offer checklist and let them know that their lists are incomplete. I was overjoyed to see that Comicvine was listing some of the rare Catfish Comic variants from my checklist. A collector can't collect this stuff if they don't even know it exists.

Defiant1

[Defiant1]

Made a Yellowjacket logo....

Defiant1

[Defiant1]

Made a Brenda Starr logo....

I spent so much time cleaning this one up, I was afraid to shrink it after I set the transparency. This is a thumbnail.

Defiant1

[superggraphics]

Excellent work on the logos. I would expect nothing less from you.

[Defiant1]

Nov 28, 2009 14:46:04 GMT -5 @superggraphics said:

Excellent work on the logos. I would expect nothing less from you.

Just took patience...



I had to recreate the corner of the star, but that was it.

Defiant1

[Defiant1]

After searching relentlessly for information on Foreign Intrigues #13, I see no proof that it exists. Several websites speak authoritatively as if it does exist, but none offer scans or physical evidence.

Foreign Intrigues (1956) appears to be a continuation of Johnny Dynamite (1955-1956) which had issues # 10, 11 & 12. The character Johnny Dynamite was in Foreign Intrigues.

My final decision to remove it from the checklist comes down to three things.

1) One of the sites mentioning it's existence says the cover date is March 1956.
2) The GCD lists #14 as having a cover date of March 1956.
3) The Jerry Bails Project says that only #14 and #15 are confirmed. The late Mr. Bails appears to have been a bit of a historian with older roots in the hobby than myself. I trust that he did some searching on the matter when such info would have been more easily obtained.

Other factors led to me removing it from the checklist.

1) CPG questions it's existence.
2) Most sites are using the GCD scans (borrowed information)
3) The Johnny Dynamite info seems to all track back to similar or borrowed information.
4) Overstreet references a gap, also implying that #13 does not exist.

If one appears some day, I'll add it back. In the meantime, here is my logo for the web page.

Again, that is a thumbnail. There are a few stray orange/red pixels around some letters, but it's going on a pink background, so I didn't worry about it.



covergallery.sinfree.net/Charlton/Foreign_Intrigues/Foreign_Intrigues.html

Defiant1

[gowaltrip]

Great work on those logos!

Are you using photoshop and using the selection tools in there? What are you doing to fill in missing pieces?

[Defiant1]

Doing a logo is a very painstaking process. Every one I work on is a learning process for me as to what technique works best. I use a very outdated version of Paint Shop Pro. Version 5.??. I may have one or two updates installed from the version I bought. It does not have transparencies, so I don't know how to mask things and work in layers. The one tool I use more than anything else is the clone tool. The more complicated the image, the more difficulty I have removing crease marks. Basically I constantly adjust the pixel size depending upon which is best. On the Foreign Intrigues cover logo, I took the one logo that had the "E" and the "S" uncovered. I cropped and resized those letter to match the height of the other logo. I cloned the shape of the red "S" over the bottom of the white "S". Luckily I had eyeballed the size pretty close. It took about 3 or four times resizing to make sure they were the same size. I only cloned the portion that was missing. I usually cheat and use the flood fill to even out the colors on the letters. You have to set the saturation right so it blends in as many stray pixels as possible without damaging the outline of the letters. I then went over the border and started redrawing and darkening the specific pixels that came over a lighter shade. A lot of tweaking is done at the pixel level. I just look at an area that looks good, and start matching the gradients an color shades to the pixels that are out of whack. A true professional would probably not use the flood fill tool. I work with all my images as large as possible, because when you shrink them, it'll get rid of a lot of the noticeable imperfections. I am still trying to get the knack of when to apply the transparency. If you apply it when it's large and then reduce it, the reducing process will create slight shade differences and I have to go back and tweak the pixel colors again to make them transparent. I usually make the transparency color something strikingly different from the color scheme of the overall image. So with a green and white logo, I'll use something like purple as the color which will be transparent. Occasionally, I edit the color palette for a gif with a transparency. If certain pixels become light purple, I'll just edit that one color out of the palette. This is about as close to artistic as I really get. With the Brenda Starr logo, I cloned the line for the star out as far as i thought it should go, gradually reducing pixel range as I got to the point at the end. The main thing is to make the line and color transition match the rest of the other lines as much as possible. A lot of saving is required. My version of Paint Shop pro has memory leak problems, so I resave regularly and have to close it regularly and reopen it or it will crash the program. About three times during the Brenda Starr logo, I used up available memory and Windows couldn't redraw the screen properly. If that happens I stop immediately and try to get in one last save. Sometimes I'll have to close a few other windows to get that one last save in. It's a real pain in the butt. I should upgrade my software, but I' think I'm pretty good with the skills I've already learned. I really don't want to relearn from scratch everything I 've already learned.

Defiant1

[gowaltrip]

Sounds intense. I understood most of what you said, however some of the terms are different from Paintshop Pro as compared to Photoshop, so some of your terms were kind of foreign to me. But overall I got the gist of what you're saying. It sounds like your version of Paintshop is a bit more cumbersome compared to what is available today, however, since you have already pretty much mastered the process on the software you have, which is a feat unto itself, I agree that starting from scratch on new software may be discouraging.

I believe doing this kind of stuff involves more artistic elements than people give themselves credit for. You have to be a bit creative, have an eye for it and a exert a good deal of patience. If you want it to look good, it can't be a rush job.

[Defiant1]

Nov 29, 2009 12:57:42 GMT -5 gowaltrip said:

Sounds intense. I understood most of what you said, however some of the terms are different from Paintshop Pro as compared to Photoshop, so some of your terms were kind of foreign to me. But overall I got the gist of what you're saying. It sounds like your version of Paintshop is a bit more cumbersome compared to what is available today, however, since you have already pretty much mastered the process on the software you have, which is a feat unto itself, I agree that starting from scratch on new software may be discouraging.

I believe doing this kind of stuff involves more artistic elements than people give themselves credit for. You have to be a bit creative, have an eye for it and a exert a good deal of patience. If you want it to look good, it can't be a rush job.

I guess the reward is... "Wow. I did it!"

defiant1

[superggraphics]

I agree. In the end you as the artist have to be satisfied with what you see. I still use Photoshop 6 and Illustrator 8 and work on a PC as opposed to a Mac (and no, I'm not a PC, I just use one). The big drawback to using older versions of software is that you have to jump through a lot more hoops and ladders to reach the end result, whereas with a newer version, 10 steps on the old can be accomplished with 1 step on the new. Defiant1 gets excellent results with Paint Shop Pro and I'm amazed and astonished that he can. A true testament to his skills.

[Defiant1]

I have a version of pagemaker 6 that I bought for $600 and then I upgraded to pagemaker 7 which was another $100 or so. My intent was to use them, but the learning curve was too steep and I didn't have the patience to do it. I've used Paint Shop Pro out of the box for years and I do use it for most graphics editing. None of the editing programs beat Irfanview for viewing when it comes to convenience and speed. I do a lot of stuff with Irfanview. My goal was to switch over to GIMP when it got up to speed. I may need to revisit that. A quick glance at the GIMP page reveals that a they have an animation package available. That seems about 10 years overdue, but progress is progress. My feeling is that open source is the way to go in the future. If you stick with the products from corporate America, you'll have to open Internet Explorer to use Photoshop in the future and the program will be running from a server. It may not be next week, but technology is going that direction.... especially as people are using their phones to do more online activities.

[Defiant1]

I just downloaded GIMP. It is a HUGE improvement from the version I tried using years ago. Here's my gripe. Too much crap. I love the extra tools, but finding them is my problem when there are only 5 I use. I used the program for a half hour and 90% of the time I was looking for basic functions over and over. "Resize" is called "Scale". All these little differences annoy me endlessly. Once I found the rotate or clone tool, they worked beautifully. The problem for me is finding everything. Not just the first time, but the 10th and 20th time. All I wanted to do the entire time I used it was dock the toolbars. I never found a way to do it. I can't stand toolbars floating all around the screen. I'm going to try and start using it more. SG is right about newer tools having more power. For me the question is... how often will I use it? That's why I stick with older tools that have all the core things I need. This applies to everything though, not just software. My mom's vehicle changes the radio station at times it thinks she wants the radio station changed. Crap like that annoys me.

Defiant1

[gowaltrip]

A lot of times you can create a workspace the way you like it and save the layout as a customized preference. Although I've never gotten to where I have done it yet, I find every time I open an editing program, I am moving the same tool bars and floating menus to the same spots. (I also hate floating menus). I think there should be a better way. But I need to look more into saving my preferences so I don't have to do the same things each time I open one of these programs up.

[Defiant1]

I meant to post this image. It was near perfect without editing. I used GIMP. I removed a spine dimple. I removed a brown spot in the middle. I rotated and cropped it. I resized it to 535 pixels tall which is the CPG standard size. I rsized it to 400 pixels tall which is the size I'm using for my Charlton Checklist at the moment.



I'd have gone with larger size images, but I'm going to have a hard time finding larger scans with the quality I want. I did not attempt to remove the browning. That's a bit out of my expertise on a gradient color. I could attempt it, but I felt it'd look better as is. I like there to be a reminder that this stuff is very old. A few flaws accomplish that goal. A spine crease or a tear doesn't.

Defiant1

[gowaltrip]

Nov 29, 2009 20:44:01 GMT -5 Defiant1 said:

I meant to post this image. It was near perfect without editing. I used GIMP. I removed a spine dimple. I removed a brown spot in the middle. I rotated and cropped it. I resized it to 535 pixels tall which is the CPG standard size. I rsized it to 400 pixels tall which is the size I'm using for my Charlton Checklist at the moment.



I'd have gone with larger size images, but I'm going to have a hard time finding larger scans with the quality I want. I did not attempt to remove the browning. That's a bit out of my expertise on a gradient color. I could attempt it, but I felt it'd look better as is. I like there to be a reminder that this stuff is very old. A few flaws accomplish that goal. A spine crease or a tear doesn't.

Defiant1

Other than the light browning, I don't see much wrong with this comic. It looks like a solid copy for it's age. If I seen this at a decent price, I would buy it.

[Defiant1]

Keep in mind that many of the scans I'm using are high quality scans of pedigree comics. I want the best scans out there for my list (within reason), so you may be looking at a Crippen pedigree with the "D" writing removed. In other words, I'm sometimes touching up images of the best copies known to exist. In that sense, I'd hope it would at least interest you a little. My goal has always been to stir collector interest in back issues. What better way than to showcase long forgotten comics that you don't see everyday.

Defiant1

[gowaltrip]

You ain't going to find many collectors more interested in Charlton than me. So this stuff instantly gets my attention. I certainly appreciate high grade Charltons because they are so rare. I have a few and they are the highlight of my collection. Even though the issues are just run of the mill.....the fact they are high grade just makes them so dang desirable!