Review - Comic Base

For years I have been looking for a way to catalog and track all the comics I have collected over the past oh, 15-20 years. After a half hearted attempt at an excel spreadsheet I gave up that pipe dream.

So many hundreds and hundreds of comics sit in their long box waiting for the day I can revisit and document them as they deserve.

Well, I got a nifty little package in the mail the other day that contained what may just be the holy grail for people like me.

It was a copy of ComicBase Professional Edition.

Let's talk about the facts of the program before I give you my impressions of it. It's really a robust program with a large amount of features.

A few examples:

* Over 25,000 Titles from Golden Age to Current books.
* Automatically computes the value of a collection.
* Lists over 325,000 comics with current pricing from Comic Buyer's Guide.
* Finds Deaths, 1st Appearances, Origins, and other special issues quickly.

That's just four examples of what this program can do, at least according to the box.

I'm here to say it's true. After installing and updating everything (took awhile as I copied all the pictures from the disc to my laptop so as to not have to put the CD in every time I need it) I set to work playing with the program and cataloging some of my books.

The database has pretty much any comic I could ever hope to have or look up. There are spaces for writers, inkers, artists, pricing, price you paid, even custom spots for whatever you want to note. That's a fraction of the information available to you.

Looking up comics is really easy and the program has every piece of information you could hope to learn about any of your books. Not to mention it's constantly updated.

The problem for me is that I have about 15 long (unorganized, shame on me) boxes so typing in comics one by one is going to be a chore.

Thankfully, ComicBase works with UPC Barcode Scanners. I will have to buy one because with a collection the size of mine, it's a must have tool.

Another great feature is linking with AtomicAvenue.com so you can sell, if you so desire, your books with ease to other collectors.

In all honesty, getting this program is a no brainer. It is a must own for any one who collects comics. You can track, catalog, and sell your books with the greatest of ease.

I can't recommend it enough.

It's really easy to use and again has virtually every comic you can think of as well as the free updates as new titles come out.

The only complaint, without a UPC scanner, it might take a while to catalog large collections. If you have an organized collection than this won't be a problem. I neglected organizing my books beyond publisher (another project I fully intend to undertake). So I basically have to enter each book one by one. This is certainly not an issue to keep someone from getting ComicBase. As far as I'm concerned it's the best program of its kind on the market today. It's a comic book program for comic book collectors.

If you aren't convinced, you should know that you can get ComicBase for free. The free version handles collections of up to 500 and is a great way to get a feel for the program and see if it suits you needs (it will).

After that you can upgrade to the Express, Professional, or Archive editions. There is a massive Blu-Ray Archive Edition available which contains the entire ComicBase picture library in high quality format.

You really can't go wrong in buying this. Like I said it is certainly a must have for any level of comic collector looking to keep better track of their books.

For more information visit ComicBase.com