Comic Collector Live

Over the years I’ve tried a variety of methods to keep up and catalogue my comics, ranging from very advanced to pen and paper. In the end, pen and paper ends up being the most effective for me. I have even tried to build my own XML sheets that will somehow do what I want, but I can never get it sorted out in my head exactly how to pull off what I want. The biggest obstacle, for me, is that I like to have lists of issues I am missing, more so than lists of what I do have. It may not sound like it makes sense, but try looking through hundreds of long boxes at a con during an early morning sale, and you’ll see how much easier it is to have a list of what you need versus what you don’t need. Anyhow, while I still rely on pen and paper, I have been trying out a program that I like; well, I like it more than any of the other programs I’ve tried over the years. It’s Comic Collector Live, a little java-based application. Here is my assessment of it so far:

The Good:

They also see the importance of being able to quickly list issues you are missing; it has a tab interface so you can switch from what you own to what you need pretty quickly.

A live interface to a marketplace where you buy and sell. Now that is extremely handy, and would be even more so if there was a larger audience using it.

It pulls up cover images, has a wide selection of titles listed (I’ve yet to find something not listed, although I haven’t started trying to catalogue my more obscure comics, either), and isn’t one of these applications that force you to enter in details that may or may not be important to you (for instance, if I’m not really concerned with entering in the condition of each Cerebus issue I have, I don’t have to; in fact, I can easily punch in a 200+ issue run).

The Bad:

Its a little sluggish; I wish it wasn’t so java-heavy, because it makes the response just a little too slow and the interface not quite as comfortable.

Also, the navigation from different modes of the application isn’t always easy to find; its a bit too cluttered, and it could benefit from a hefty redesign with usablity in mind.

This doesn’t really count as I’m sort of repeating it, but the marketplace aspect is thin; I wish it had more sellers using it, and I wish it was easier to narrow your buying browsing down.

Overall, its a lot better than other stuff I’ve tried. Quick adding of runs is a big plus, and once you play with it it gets easier. Still, I’d like to see the GUI get an overhaul, but hopefully more and more people will try it out (it is free, by the way) and it will stay alive.

Tags: cataloguing, comic books, comics, software