Talk:Grand Comics Database

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I have noted the comment that this article reads like an advertisement. This is my first article for Wikipedia, and I would appreciate any assistance in tweaking the style to meet the standards here. I was attempting to inform people of the history and operations of, and data available on the Grand Comic-book Database, with appropriate links to other similar databases.

- Don Milne


 * EF replies: maybe one thing the wiki admins would like is that "easy to use and understand, easy to retrieve information from, and easy for people to contribute to." be shortened to "easy to use and easy to contribute to."?

Thanks for the thought EF; I will rework that some. - Don Milne

Because the person who originally posted the tag offered no further details, and no one else offered agreement, during an entire day the tag was up, I deleted it as an opinion no one shared. - Don Milne &mdash;The preceding unsigned comment was added by DonMilne (talk &bull; contribs).


 * As the wording of the tag stated, it was placed on there because the article "read like an advertisement". I would not have particularly expected a huge amount of other users simply posting "I agree", the done thing would be to expect others to disagree with this tag when improperly used, rather than the other way round and I could argue that no-one else has offered agreement with your opinion to remove the tag. In any case, it would be good practice to allow longer than "an entire day" in which for other Wikipedians to even notice this article and formulate an opinion. The first version of this article sounded very advertisement like, even including an email address to contact, and I think I was therefore wholly justified with my use of the tag. Also, I believe User:Perfecto had commented that the content needed to be changed away from the text of your website. However, I think you have done a good job in improving the content of the article over the last day, and it no-longer reads significantly like an advertisement so I am happy for the tag to stay removed. For future reference, please visit WP:NPOV. Regards └ UkPaolo/talk┐ 14:52, 28 January 2006 (UTC)
 * PS: to sign your name on talk pages please type four tildes ( ~ ) and it will link to your user page as well as producing a timestamp

Thanks for the additional info. Sorry I had expected comments to arrive in too short a time frame, but I was judging from the speed of the initial comments. I will be hunting down some of the source material in the next few days, and add as I am able. A question: how does one cite sources that are not on the internet? Would I just include appropriate text, as there would be no link? I have been trying to add additional wiki links, and thank you for the ones you have added. 172.150.254.124 20:05, 28 January 2006 (UTC)


 * not a problem, I appreciate you are new here. I just happenned to stumble across the article when it was newly created, and took an interest. It is certainly evolving into a more encyclopedic article now. Regarding references, I would suggest you read the guidelines at WP:CITE for guidance. In essence, just as in a formal report, a title, author and publishing details of other source material would suffice, and help to back up the contents of the article. └ UkPaolo/talk┐ 22:08, 29 January 2006 (UTC)


 * PS: Cite_sources/example_style gives a good example of reference citations. └ UkPaolo/talk┐ 22:10, 29 January 2006 (UTC)

Thanks to Cryptic for fixing my cut-and-past move, so the supporting discussions stay attached. DonMilne 13:28, 4 February 2006 (UTC)

CBDB
Someone has set "CBDB" to redirect to this page. I do not know enough about editing pages to change this; but GCBD and CBDB are different and unrelated databases of comic book information, and should not be linked in this manner.67.21.184.95 03:46, 16 January 2007 (UTC)
 * I agree. the CBDB and GCBD are 2 different websites, and one should not redirect to the other. DemonWeb 22:54, 28 February 2007 (UTC)
 * After 8 months, I have deleted the redirect.24.165.188.30 13:27, 27 August 2007 (UTC)

And yet, Wikipedia recreated the redirect!!!!!!!! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.165.188.30 (talk) 00:07, 4 October 2007 (UTC)


 * It was automatically reverted as blanking of pages raises flags. I notice Comic Book Database redirects here and yet we have the Big Comic Book DataBase too (and there are others out there like the Comic Book DB and CBDB) so my preferred solution is to redirect CBDB to Comic Book Database and turn that into a disambiguation page. If that seems like a good idea I'll sort it out. (Emperor 01:53, 4 October 2007 (UTC))

Template
Following discussion on the Comics project talk page I created a template to allow links to the GCDB to be more easily inserted: - this doesn't mean it should necessarily be hammered into every page but if you do find it useful then this should make linking easier and more flexible. (Emperor 13:34, 22 October 2007 (UTC))

I added some more so the list is currently:
 * - the main one which is flexible and most useful for creators
 * - hooks into the series pages (will require searching to find the right ID)
 * - brings up the publisher index (also needs an ID)

Which seems to cover the main usage (see the talk pages for usage and on the first one there are some ideas on improving things and expanding it, most now implemented). (Emperor (talk) 16:27, 22 June 2008 (UTC))

Inducks
Maybe the article shall mention that it has integrated data from other databases, like Inducks? Herve661 (talk) 15:02, 15 January 2008 (UTC)

moving some info to Comic Book Database page
At the moment there is only a disambiguation page under the name Comic Book Database. I think it should be expanded into an individual article, since the topic is important enough. It would be a great place to present it's history and to compare, introduce and give information on international databases also. Since this page contains a lot of information on comic book databases in general, I guess these would fit better over there. I do not know what's the ethical process on actions like that, so I thought it would be best if I brought up the issue. Zoli79 (talk) 11:49, 14 February 2008 (UTC)

Grand Comics Database hijacked? Gone?
I've just tried to go, and www.comics.org takes you to a GoDaddy placeholder at. What's happened? More importantly, what will happen to all those important footnoted links in countless comics articles? --207.237.223.118 (talk) 19:10, 29 August 2009 (UTC)
 * Hi, I responded to this over at WikiProjects:Comics as well, but basically it was just a small interruption while the domain name was transferred. All is well! Bookcats (talk) 15:01, 30 August 2009 (UTC)

Site update
From what has been said from those involved posting on the Comics Scholar mailing list the site has been moved to a newer faster server and they have done the first round of rewriting the code from the ground up. Another wave of this should happen in early 2010 and this one might address the problem of not being to link to a character/creator with a similar name to another (you can link to publishers, titles and imprints through their unique ID and I assume this is what will happen with everything else).

So what does this move mean to us?


 * The URLs have changed to a more search engine-friendly format but checking through the older links we have from here largely work so I won't have to scramble to update the templates we have here as still works, I will update it when I get time for neatness sake.
 * The URLs are now all running off a standard pattern which means:
 * was breaking because they seem to have had to put in a cludgy workaround before and that is now gone so I've update that template and one while I was at it.
 * This standard pattern means that in the future we will probably be able to have the templates working from one or perhaps two templates (the main which allows easy searching of their database and something like "gcdb item" which will allow direct linking to specific items). I'll wait and see how the major rewrite works later in the year before doing this but it should be fairly straightforward and I can make the existing series, publisher and imprint templates work through that so there will be no big need for a change.
 * Some imprint links have broken. This seems to be through some reclassification and might be rare. I've only seen it on Marvel UK, which always had a strange relationship with marvel and is now owned by Panini so this might just be the exception, but if you see any others let me know as it is easy enough to fix.

So, if the links were running through the templates there shouldn't be any big problems and we can quickly switch over to new linking. It also means we can quickly implement the new changes when they come in with little bother. Our links haven't broken and it looks like the GCDB will become much easier for us to use in the future (and it seems a lot faster too) so I think we've won across the board on this one. (Emperor (talk) 16:23, 4 October 2009 (UTC))


 * Ah well, while it was on my mind I've updated the series one too. I may chew over the item one and implement it too so everything is working smoothly before they do the next change. (Emperor (talk) 16:28, 4 October 2009 (UTC))

Additional Citations
I would like to add additional citations to the page, as that is noted as a deficiency and was recently given as a reason for possibly deleting this article. However, I am not familiar enough with the details of editing to attempt it. I have a possible outline below, using some suggestions from the deletion discussion and other sources. Anyone who is proficient is welcome to incorporate whatever is useful. Thank you in advance for helping to improve this article.

Recognition

The Grand Comics Database (GCD) is considered one of the most complete and thorough comics credit sources on the internet, being frequently cited as an information source by writers on the subject of comic books [1] [2] [3]. It has also been used for many years by auction houses and others to identify comics creators [4] [5]. The GCD is used in scholarly research [6] [7] [8] [9], and cited as a source by various by prominent libraries and universities [10] [11] [12].

Additionally, it contains original third-party information from Jerry Bails' "Who's Who" [13] which he developed for 25 years. Jean Bails, Jerry’s widow, donated his database to the Grand Comics Database after his death and the GCD now maintains the data, with plans to expand it as resources allow. Former DC Comics editor Julius Schwartz’s editorial records were donated to the GCD [14] and major companies such as DC and Marvel have utilized (and credited) the GCD with helping to identify unknown creators of reprinted material so that proper remuneration can be given [15].

The database has also been referenced in a variety of publications [16] [17] [18] [19], ranging from general audience articles in newspapers, to research guide books, to comics-oriented blogs. As a consequence of these types of uses and mentions, the Grand Comics Database has had significant impact on the comic book community.

References

(included the 3 currently used)

1. Allred, Will (1999). "Credit Where Credit Is Due". Quantum Zone. Retrieved January 28, 2006.

2. Gabilliet, Jean-Paul; Beaty, Bart; Nguyen, Nick (November 19, 2009). Of Comics and Men: A Cultural History of American Comic Books, p. 357. University Press of Mississippi, ISBN 9781604732672.

3. Isabella, Tony (October 15, 2009). 1,000 Comic Books You Must Read. F+W Media, ISBN 9781440213342.

4. James L. Halperin, editor (May 28, 2004). Heritage Signature Auction #811, Session 2, p. 95. Ivy Press, ISBN 9781932899122.

5. Maloney, David J., Jr. (December 18, 2003). Maloney's Antiques & Collectibles: Resource Directory, p. 269. KP Books, ISBN 9780873497329.

6. Keltner, Howard (1998). Golden Age Comic Books Index 1935-1955 Revised Edition, Howard Keltner. Retrieved May 26, 2011.

7. Lopes, Paul (April 7, 2009). Demanding Respect: The Evolution of the American Comic Book, p. 196. Temple University Press, ISBN 9781592134441.

8. Eury, Michael; Anderson, Murphy (July 13, 2005). Justice League Companion, p. 219. TwoMorrows Publishing, ISBN 9781893905481.

9. Grost, Mike. “Calling 2-R”, Classic Comic Books. Retrieved February 13, 2013.

10. Scott, Randall W., editor. "Captain America Stories 1941-1943", Michigan State University Libraries, Special Collections Division, Reading Room Index to the Comic Art Collection. Retrieved February 13, 2013.

11. “Comic Arts Research Websites”, Virginia Commonwealth University, VCU Libraries. Retrieved February 13, 2013.

12. “Writing About Comics and Graphic Novels”, p. 4. Duke University, Duke Writing Studio. Retrieved February 13, 2013.

13. Jerry Bails' Who's Who of American Comic Books 1928-1999. Retrieved February 13, 2013.

14. I contacted the GCD regarding a receipt for the records DC donated to them. I have seen a copy of the records.

15. This information is contained in several of the DC Archives editions, but I have none at hand.

16. Schelly, Bill. "So - You Want To Collect Comics Fanzines? - Part Two". Alter Ego (6), pp. 47–50. TwoMorrows Publishing.

17. Serchay, David (2009). The Librarian's Guide to Graphic Novels for Adults. Neal-Schuman Publishers, Inc. ISBN 9781555706623.

18. McGinn, Andrew. “Comics superhero has local ties”. Springfield News-Sun. January 12, 2012. Retrieved February 13, 2013.

19. Hobbs, Matthew R. (2005). “Grand Comics Database“, Holy Hypertext!. Retrieved February 13, 2013.

Bibliography

As existing, plus these two from the “Further Reading” section:

Grand Comics Database (November 30, 2000). Grand Comics Database Adopts Charter, Elects Board of Directors. Press release.

Grand Comic-Book Database (November 11, 2002). Grand Comic-Book Database Initiates Online Indexing. Press release.

DonDMilne (talk) 01:55, 15 February 2013 (UTC)

added infobox to article
Article in Category:Websites_about_comics, so added Infobox website:
 * Put language as "English (and incomplete versions in Dutch, German, Italian and Swedish)" because (for example):
 * the Dutch startpage has "Zoeken" (translates to "To search") but with English-language dropdown menu (from "Everything" to "Indicia Publisher Name")("Everything" instead of "alles"), and the obits at the Dutch startpage are also in English.
 * Similar issues with the German, Italian and Swedish startpages.
 * Put website launch_date as 2004? (because article says "Since 2004, comic book fans can index their favorite comic book using the convenience of a web-based interface.") -EarthFurst (talk) 01:59, 11 January 2023 (UTC)