I've spotted two understandable mistakes that I can't correct.
This is listed as Beetle Girl FCBD. If you looked at the cover, you'd be forgiven for thinking that. What it actually is, however, is Lucky Comics FCBD 2018 that is what it says in the idicia, as well as on the front page of the publisher's website, and in the publishes store. It's eveng got a second cover that's entirely different and just says "Doctor Titan" instead of Beetle Girl. So I propose that the book's volume entry be changed to Beetle Girl FCBD.
Likewise, the same thing happened with the company's 2019 offering. This is also listed as simply Beetle Girl FCBD, but is in fact Lucky Comics FCBD 2019, as indicated in the books indicia, as well as on the front page of the publisher's website, and in the publisher's store.
Traditionally, Trade Paperbacks where single volumes that collected several comic books sharing a common theme and/or story arcs. Making Wikis for these was simple. They were one volume each, containing one issue. But times have changed. Today, comics are frequently “written for the trades,” so they’re arranged in story arcs meant to fit into (as thus sell) Trade Paperbacks. Makes it easier for casual readers.
As a result, how TPB’s are marketed has changed, and I think the Wiki should recognize that. Some entries already have, but I’d love to see a codified policy on how these things should be done, so that when I spot a set that’s been done wrong, I can submit a correction request.
As to what I’m referring to, I think some examples would help.
An example of the old style: Robin: Tragedy & Triumph 3 issues of Detective comics plus a 4-issue mini series. Neat and tidy. One volume, one issue.
5 Trade Paperbacks. Each one collects 4 issues of the same comic book, in sequential order, picking up where the previous TPB left off. They even have volume numbers on the cover, which is something TPB’s never used to have back in the day.
It is my opinion that in instances like this, a single Comic Vine volume should be created, and each of these trades should be included as an issue. I understand that the argument could be made that they each say they’re a different “volume” so they shouldn’t be listed as a singular volume, but I think the term is being used differently between the comic book company and Comic Vine. I also think the indicia (which CV has always treated as law) tends to agree with me:
It seems to me that Captain Midnight is the "series" title for these trades (I know, we're not used to the idea of TPB's being a series, but more and more I feel like they're becoming exactly that) while "volume" serves effectively as the issue number, and what follows it is the title of the "issue." It seems like the logical way of doing this would be:
Volume: Captain Midnight (2014)
Issue 1 Title: On The Run
Issue 2 Title: Brave Old World
Issue 3 Title: For A Better Tomorrow
Etc. etc. etc.
There have been examples of people following this rule already. Halo: Escalation is a good example. Batman and The Outsiders is another. But it’s wildly inconsistent.
I’d to see an official word on how this should be done. And if I’m right, I can start slowly providing links to sets that should be together.
It looks like Air Fighters (1941) combines volumes 1 & 2 of the comic, but this doesn't seem at all appropriate. I'm looking at scans of these (note, the entire 1940's run of this comic and all of its characters have lapsed into the public domain, so no need to tip-toe around copyright discussion), and all of the indicia of v2 refers to it solely as v2, with the numbers starting over at 1. There's no cover numbering at all, either.
Even the description in the Wiki page says "Volume 02 Issue 01." So why is it listed in the volume entry as issue #13 of volume 1? Seems like 13-22 should be split off into their own volume entry.
This lists all 37 issues of Flash Gordon as being published by Gold Key. One look at the covers, though, tells another story. This is actually 4 different volumes.
1-11 is published by King
12-18 is published by Charlote
19-26 is published by Gold Key
27-37 is published by Harvey
I don't know if there's an easy way to bulk-edit and split them off into different volumes.
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