Skywald

[Defiant1]

I noticed that the Internet Archive has most of Skywald's output available for download. Does that make them legal for download or are they in violation of copyright law?

[Yoc]

Sorry, I'm not sure.  But they are post 1959 so they couldn't be shared here.

-Yoc

[John C]

Skywald is a weird case, because the comic books have copyright statements, so they're new enough to definitely still be under copyright.  But the magazines (which are basically just comic books and published at about the same time by the same people) don't have copyright statements, so are in the public domain.

[Defiant1]

Skywald is a weird case, because the comic books have copyright statements, so they're new enough to definitely still be under copyright.  But the magazines (which are basically just comic books and published at about the same time by the same people) don't have copyright statements, so are in the public domain.

That is odd. I assumed the comics were just reprints of old stuff for which he had recovered the plates. As in printing plates from defunct companies. I'm sure there was some convoluted reasoning behind what he did.

I've been updating this page I made years ago.

http://comicchecklists.coolpage.biz/Skywald/Skywald_Comics_Index.html

Every once in awhile I'll pick out some company that interests me and I'll start putting together a checklist of everything they produced. Skywald comics interested me because they had a Marvel squarebound look to them. After completing my checklist, I'll decided if there are any rarities or obscurities that I want to own. Charlton is the checklist that will never be completed before I die. EC is the checklist that I'm too cheap to afford. Companies like Skywald are easier to complete, but there isn't much I want to own. King magazine is really the only series I'd like to own, and those aren't comics. At one point, I wanted to have a complete set of the comics made by Atlas/Seaboard. I picked up a copy of My Secret #1 which is pretty darn rare. Then the dealer I bought that from discovered he had the only known surviving copy of My Secret #2. He wouldn't accept my offer on it, so now I'm less interested in their product. I save a LOT of money by just making checklists. 

[Yoc]

GL on the lists D1.
I bought as much of the Atlas-Seaboard books as I could find from $1 bin discards.  The Phoenix and The Scorpion early issues were quite good and Vampire Planet screams to be made into a movie IMO.  I never did see their magazines in there.  But I believe the entire line has been scanned afaik.

-Yoc

[Defiant1]

I'm still hooked on owning what I like. The problem is that I own far more than I really like. I want my comics to take up less space without giving them all away. I still prefer the experience of holding the actual paper.

[Yoc]

Oh I agree reading a physical book is better but like you there's a lot more just average, nothing special content in my collection that 'wow, great book' material.  At least with scans they take up almost zero space!

-Yoc

[Defiant1]

I've been collecting for about 48 years with maybe a 10 year hiatus in the middle. I still have my childhood collection. I prefer 60's, 70's and 80's Marvel with the ongoing continuity that had linking storylines where the events in one comic affected all the events going forward. Modern comics don't appeal to me so much and Golden age are mostly novelty comics to me. That's pretty much where I stand today. I focus mainly on novelty comics, rarities with a twist, affordable EC's, Charlton adult humor comics, and pre-hero Marvel Monster comics. I highly applaud the efforts of the contributors here, but I really don't download a lot. It mostly gives me inspiration and ideas about possible purchases. Making the checklists keeps me connected. The free hosts are flaky and like to delete my websites without explanation, but I'm most proud of my EC checklists (originals and reprints all over the world.) I like discovering things that people didn't know existed. Grant Geissman had nice things to say about some of my content.

http://ec-comics.epizy.com/EC_Comics_Index.html

[Yoc]

I agree there's not much current out there I want to read with superheroes.  Larson's Savage Dragon is the only one I still read.  But I do sample non-hero books to see what's going on and found a few to enjoy.

If you are interested in silverage material, I'd strongly suggest Astro City which while modern is heavily influenced by that era but with more modern story telling techniques.  It's stopped as a monthly but I always read it first whenever I got an issue.

Stay well,
-Yoc

[Defiant1]

I agree there's not much current out there I want to read with superheroes.  Larson's Savage Dragon is the only one I still read.  But I do sample non-hero books to see what's going on and found a few to enjoy.

If you are interested in silverage material, I'd strongly suggest Astro City which while modern is heavily influenced by that era but with more modern story telling techniques.  It's stopped as a monthly but I always read it first whenever I got an issue.

Stay well,
-Yoc

I'm not really a fan of Larson's work or Astro City.
I am very familiar with both.
I think it's interesting that Larson collaborated on a story with Steve Ditko at Marvel.
I saw their credits together and it shocked me.
Larson is old school in his creative beliefs, so I tend to agree with things he's said as a creator. I just can't get past his simplistic art style. It's distracting.

My memory tells me that Astro City is written by Busiek.
He has written some things I like, but we had a heated disagreement online about copyright law and it's modern scope and purpose.
I'll never buy another product he's involved with based upon his views alone.
He feels differently than I do about the way things should be.
Out of respect for his right to feel differently,  I just won't ever touch another product he's involved with.