Comic Section re-design - completed and uploaded!! :)

Site Discussion Team Discussion
1

Hi all,

Having spent so much time in front of my computer that I feel like I don’t want to go near it for a week, and using much trial-and-error, I have created the new-look Comic Section index page for when the site redesign launches in December! :slight_smile: My partner-in-crime Kyle had been going to do this, but due to his pressures I decided to have a crack at it myself, and I have to say I’m pretty pleased with the result! :slight_smile:

Even more exciting is that, again by using trial-and-error and also drawing on all my (scant) knowledge of these things, I’ve been able to upload the page for you guys to check out!! :slight_smile:

http://www.thundercatslair.org/comics/comic_trial1/index/

A couple of comments - first of all, I could do with someone making me three buttons to complete this page, for the UK Marvel Comics, DC/WildStorm Comics section, and for the Original Comic Art Gallery. Secondly, the links to those sections are currently completely fictional, but hopefully now I’m getting the hang of this they won’t be for long! :wink:

I have been working on this for literally the last 6 HOURS - not just doing the HTML (which, as an HTML newbie took me ages!), but also creating those images out of comic covers, enhancing them and tweaking them just right - so, hopefully you guys will like it! :wink: Whilst it does look different from the other areas of the site I really like how it showcases the different styles of artwork from the different comic series, and provides viewers with a visual cue as to where to go. I’m really, really, really, really, really proud of this!!! :slight_smile:

Neil: If you read this, this is why I wasn’t able to get on Skype tonight! :wink: My apologies, my friend, but I wanted to prove to myself that I could do this! I’ll catch you on there very soon I promise! :slight_smile:

Take care, all, and speak again soon! :slight_smile:

2

That looks truly brilliant Chris. Really nice work mate!

Wanted to drop you a quick note to point you to a scanned copy of the original comic art that I said I had for you:

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b318/Grizzlor18/LionO_DogsofWar.jpg
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b318/Grizzlor18/mummra_DogsofWar.jpg

I don’t have the pieces with me so i don’t know the pages off hand.

Cheers, and again, section looks amazing!

Grizz

3

Chris here…

Thanks for the kind words, Mark, and a special thank you for those fantastic comic pages!! :slight_smile: I’ll add those to the gallery for certain - please can you tell me how you’d like to be credited for these (i.e., by your real name or as “Grizzlor”)? Please can you LMK? Many thanks! :slight_smile:

Take care… :slight_smile:

4

Just use Grizzlor please

5

Chris here…

Cool, thanks Mark - that’s what I’ll use! :slight_smile:

Take care… :slight_smile:

6

That’s ok Chris. Well done on putting that together, I knew you could do it :wink:

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Chris here…

Thanks Neil! :slight_smile: Just so you know as well, I think I’ve got the hang of adding and replacing pages - this is the other page I’ve created (for the Cartoon Section), I substituted Kyle’s placeholder page for this one:

http://www.thundercatslair.org/cartoon/cartoon_trial2/special/announcement/index.html

Again, I’m really proud of the way this looks! :slight_smile:

UPDATE: Also, Kyle has very kindly created 5 new buttons for display on the revamped Comic Section index page - click on the link in my first post (you may also have to refresh your browsers) to see how it looks now!! :slight_smile:

Take care… :slight_smile:

8

It looks great Chris. :slight_smile: Looks like you’re doing well on your own!

9

Kudos to you Chris, I knew you could do it. Excellent job, looks very nice

10

Chris here…

Thank you, Manny & Manny! (Sounds like a designer label for clothes, LOL!) :slight_smile: Your kind words are very much appreciated guys! :slight_smile:

Here’s my latest creation, a page for the Special Features subsection of the Comic Section - it’s a page that Neil specifically asked me to create and I’m happy to oblige, it’s about a very rare (it could be argued only) appearance in a story by the rarest of all TCats characters, The Stinger! :slight_smile:

http://www.thundercatslair.org/comics/comic_trial1/features/stinger.html

LMK what you think! :slight_smile:

Take care… :slight_smile:

11

Excellent Chris! You have really got the hang of it now.

Do you need to watermark those 2 comic pics?

12

It looks great Chris! :slight_smile:
I’ve really been looking forward to your comic section.

13

Chris here…

Yes please, if someone could watermark those images and re-upload them for me that’d be fantastic - I would happily do it myself but unfortunately as yet don’t have the ability (or the software, even though I know MannyC has made it available to download) to do proper TCL watermarks… :frowning:

EDIT: Just to add, although I can’t do proper TCL ones with the outline, I am able to do simple watermarks using Arcsoft PhotoStudio and so am going to try and come up with a slightly less intrusive watermark for the pages of original comic art that I’ve been asked to watermark. You guys will hopefully see my results soon! :slight_smile:

EDIT 2: Maybe something like this (left deliberately large so that you guys can see what I’m talking about):

http://www.thundercatslair.org/staff/Comic%20Section/Watermarked%20original%20comic%20art.jpg

Take care… :slight_smile:

14

I’d go with MannyC’s watermark as that is see through and looks better.

Hopefully Manny will do them for you if he sees this message.

15

Chris here…

I’d like to see how that image would look with Manny’s watermark instead of mine by comparison - here’s where the unwatermarked image can be found: http://www.thundercatslair.org/staff/Comic%20Section/WIP/Chris/Special%20Features/Anthony%20Snyder%20-%20original%20comic%20art/agsmtc1c.jpg

I’ll be honest and say that at times I find the watermark used for some of the stuff on this site a little “heavy-looking” - for photos it looks fine but for artwork like this I think something a little lighter-looking could be needed. However, it’ll be good to see a comparison pic! :slight_smile:

EDIT: Here’s an image that the owner, Rich Cirillo, requested he watermark for us - this is the kind of effect I was looking for:

http://www.thundercatslair.org/staff/Comic%20Section/WIP/Chris/Special%20Features/Rich%20Cirillo%20original%20comic%20art/tcats1cvr1.jpg

Take care… :slight_smile:

16

I bet you can change the colour tone of text so I’m sure you should be able to match those watermarks the owner of that piece had used.

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Chris here…

Maybe something like this? :slight_smile:

http://www.thundercatslair.org/staff/Comic%20Section/Watermarked%20original%20comic%20art%202.jpg

Take care… :slight_smile:

18

Here’s what i got…22% opacity and Comic Sans font. To save just right click and save http://star.walagata.com/w/rodzm/agsmtc1c.jpg

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Chris here…

Many thanks for that, MannyC - I’ll have a play around and see what I can come up with! The only thing I’d like to change for these comic art pieces is the Comic Sans font, but I see what Neil means about the “see-through” effect, which is definitely something to try and obtain! :slight_smile:

Take care… :slight_smile:

20

UPDATE! Original Comic Art Gallery index and first “sub-index” pages both done!

Chris here…

Apologies for the double-post - I just thought you guys would like to see my latest creation, the index page for the Original Comic Art Gallery! :slight_smile:

http://www.thundercatslair.org/comic…ery_index.html

This one only took me 3 1/2 hours to do, so I’m definitely improving! :wink: My one request to you guys is, please can you LMK if the “About ThunderCats Original Comic Art” link at the bottom shows up with the correct font and doesn’t look too weird? Getting that how I wanted (with the image and the link side-by-side and centered) took AGES, plus I actually had to look up the coding for enlarging the text, and making it the font I wanted, on the Internet - this coding isn’t anywhere else that I can see in the rest of the HTML that’s been being used on the site, so I need to know that it works OK in all browsers and not just mine! Please can you LMK? Many thanks! :slight_smile:

EDIT: Oh yes, and just to add that I will need a button creating that says “Miscellaneous”, to complete the page - I’m sure Kyle will do it for me, although he’s away in London until the weekend, so if anybody is able to do it in the meantime, please feel free! :wink:

Right, off to get some sleep! :wink:

UPDATED 17th November: Thought you guys might like to see the first “sub-index” for the Original Comic Art Gallery, the one for the Star (Marvel) Section - you can access it via the gallery index page, but here’s a direct link:

http://www.thundercatslair.org/comic…vel/index.html

The coding for that page was a pure nightmare, and it’s taken me two days to complete - but, like the other pages, I am very proud of the way this looks! :slight_smile:

UPDATED 18th November: I promise this is the last time I’ll update this post! :wink: Just thought you guys might like to see what I’m hoping each page of the gallery will look like:

http://www.thundercatslair.org/comics/comic_trial1/gallery/marvel/4-cvr/index.html

A couple of comments I’d make are, firstly, that the watermark on the cover is a total bodge that I’m frankly not very happy with - another day I plan to spend some time messing about with watermarks, I’d like to find one that’s a cross between MannyC’s and the ones I’ve been experimenting with. Also, some of the sizes of the artwork scans will vary, dependant on the size of the image that has been donated - however, I would say that what you see on the page I’ve created is from the larger end of the images we have from the comic art, so, hopefully that should be OK! :slight_smile:

Take care… :slight_smile: