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Fiche Story

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sandmountainslim:
Please inform me about the comics in microfiche form.  When were these scanned and by whom? What was the purpose in preserving the comics in this format? I'm glad we have them I was just wondering when they originated and what they were intended for

crashryan:
The following is "as I understand it." I hope someone with deeper knowledge of the subject will correct errors.

Fiche books date from pre-digital times. It was about the only way to "scan," store, and copy printed comics. I'm hazy on the exact nature of the microfiche process. It was related to microfilm, a photographic process which copied only in black and white.  Libraries kept archives of old newspapers on spools of 35mm film which were viewed on big tabletop machines that projected an image onto a ground glass screen. (Our local library still maintains a microfilm newspaper collection.) I remember that dealers (in the 70s and 80s, I believe) sold Golden Age fiche collections through the mail. What I never understood about color microfiche is why fiche copies are invariably out of focus. Seems to me if you're shooting on 35mm color film you'd get a better image.

The more I write the more I realize both how little I know about fiche comics, and also how important they were to comics history. As awful as fiche copies are, it's good they were made, because many rare and valuable comics are available only in that form. By now the original books have been slabbed and removed forever from public view.

crashryan:
I should have done my research first. Having done so I can now answer some of my own questions. Microfiche differs from microfilm in that super-small images are photographically printed onto 4x6-inch cards rather than strips of film.  Cards are read with a desktop projector similar to a microfilm reader. The operator positions the reader's lens over a page and an enlarged image is projected onto a screen.

All the research I read mentions two limitations to microform images. In the case of microfilm, the high-contrast b&w film can't reproduce grey scale images and is useless with color originals. In the case of color microfiche, the bright lights of the readers degrade the dyes making up the color image and the image fades. On the other hand, one site pointed out that while CD's last 75-100 years, microfiche should last up to 500 years.

One question none of the research answers is why b&w microfilm is photographed only onto high-contrast film. Magazines and comics would benefit from a full range of grey tones.

sandmountainslim:
Thank you!  That answered a lot of my questions.   
I am also thankful the Fiche copies exist even though I prefer reading a paper scan when possible.

Crimson-Blue-Green:
I've noticed Heritage has scans of front and back covers that DCM still only has the fiche versions.  "Captain Marvel Adventures" #1, "Sure-Fire Comics" #1 and too many more to list while I'm using the library's computer.  I think it would be nice to see a minor upgrade for these titles, just so DCM has the best. most complete paper copies (and we don't need to use 2 to 3 websites to search for every page we need to complete a personal edit of a comic we want.  Yes. I'm being selfish here....)  :D   

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