Stand-Up
Basic Concepts



Index To Concepts

This page is intended to explain some of the concepts behind the Stand-Up Comic Manager. Stand-Up is explicitly designed for managing comics, and imitates the way that I think about my comic collection. Hopefully, Stand-Up will be flexible enough to reflect the way that you think about your comics too.

Basic concepts are introduced in the most logical order:


Titles

A Title is a run or group of comics which have something in common, typically their name. For a classic example, consider "Amazing Spider-Man, Volume 1". The first issue of this title was Amazing Spider-Man #1, which was dated March 1963. The final issues Amazing Spider-Man #441, dated November 1998.

Depending on your way of thought, you might also add some extra issues. For example, you might also include in this title the "Amazing Spider-Man #-1 Flashback" issue. Also, you may well include "432_ALT", denoting the alternate cover variant of #432. If you don't collect alternate covers, perhaps you would ignore this.


Issues

An Issue is a physical comic book, and it must belong to a Title. Some issues are essentially unique, and you may create a Title which contains only one issue. Personally, I find that awkward, and so I tend to define generic titles, such as "Spider-Man Miscellaneous Commercial", to group them for convenience.

On my comic shelves, I mark each separate Title with a piece of white card, separating the issues of one title from another. In Stand-Up, the Issues for each Title are stored together in the same file. In fact, in a pair of files, one file for the unchanging comic data, and one file for your personal comic date (e.g. the Grade of comic you posses). Refer to Data Files for more information.

An Issue has an Issue Code, which much be unique within the title. In most cases, this is a simple number, e.g. "441". Some comic books don't have a useful number, and they will receive a short text label, e.g. "CHARLSTON", for the "Spider-Man Charlston Chew Giveaway".

As in the previous example of "432_ALT", an Issue Code can combine numeric and non-numeric characters.


Index

Issues and Titles (groups of issues) represent the actual building blocks of your big pile of comics. In order to be able to access these in Stand-Up, you will need an Index. The Tutorial page shows you how to open the sample index, or create a new index.

You typically only require one index, which is conventionally called "default.idx". This Index will hold the structure of your comic index. It is a catalog. I stack my comics by title on my shelves. Sometimes I rearrange the order of the titles. This is akin to modifying the Index.

The diagram is the Index Dialog, Collections -> Index... on the Menu Bar, or Ctrl-I by keyboard shortcut.


Collections

An Index consists of "Collections". The term is perhaps a little confusing, since some people refer to their "Comic Collection" in the singular. But in another way of thinking, collectors refer to their "Spider-Man Collection", their "X-Men Collection", their "Marvel Collection", or their "DC Collection".

The latter example shows how Stand-Up thinks. It considers that the big pile of comics you own actually consists of a number of separate Collections, each with their own focus. It also recognises that sometimes, there is an overlap between your collections - e.g. when Spider-Man appears in an X-Man title, that comic can be part of your "Spider-Man Collection" and your "Mutants Collection".

You don't have to create multiple collections if you don't want to, your index could well consist of just one collection - e.g. "Bob's Comic Collection". It's your choice.

Another example of using multiple collections. I have one special collection called "Current Titles", which lists all the active comics which I pick up at my comic shop each month. All of the titles in this collection appear elsewhere in the Index, but this makes a nice way of instantly finding all my current titles, so I can record my latest acquisitions when I get home from the comic store each month.


Cards

Cards are what you actually see on the Stand-Up main screen. When you load an Index, you choose which of the Collections you wish to view. All of the cards for that collection are displayed, like the tabbed cards in a alphabetic card filing box, similar to the one I used to log my comics, before I purchased a home computer.

e.g. Here are the cards from my "Active Titles" Collection:

The title on the main window indicates the Index File (i.e. "default.idx") and names the Collection which I am currently viewing (i.e. "Active Titles"). The tabs display the names of the Cards which are in that Collection.

The Card which is currently at the front is named "Daredevil". This Card card references only one Title... "Daredevil (Vol.2)". I have scrolled down to the bottom of the card, and am displaying the most recent issues.


Title References

The "Daredevil" Card does not contain the "Daredevil (Vol.2)" title. It merely contains a Title Reference.

Key points about Title References:

  1. A Card can reference many Titles.
  2. Many Cards may reference one Title.
  3. A Card may reference part of a Title.
  4. Removing the Title Reference does not delete the Title.
Regarding point (2). The "Daredevil (Vol.2)" Title is referenced by a "Daredevil" card in the "Active Titles" collection.

In addition, it is referenced by a "Daredevil" Card in my "Misc Marvel Heroes" Collection. That second Card in fact references several titles... "Daredevil (Vol.1)", "Daredevil Annuals", "Daredevil (Vol.2)", "Daredevil One-Shots", etc. Clearly, the second Card is much larger. The smaller card in the "Active Titles" Collection exists only for convenient access to the Volume 2 Title data.

Regarding point (3). You can specify that your card should only list specific Issues of a Title.

E.g. a Card named "Spider-Man Non-Marvel Appearances" may reference the single issue "Prime #Infinity" from the Malibu Comics "Prime" Title. The entirety of that "Prime" Title may appear on a different card, perhaps in a Card named "Prime" in a Collection named "Malibu", within the same index.

When you update the "Prime #Infinity" Issue, e.g. to add artist Credits, to change the grade you own, or to add a note that your copy is signed by the writer. Whatever. The changes will appear on both cards, since both cards are referencing the same Title.

Regarding point (4). The Titles and Issues are defined and stored on disk. Cards, Collections and Title References live in the Index file. Manipulating Cards and Collections will never harm the original Title data.

It doesn't really matter if this isn't clear just yet. For now you can just think of a simple heirarchy:

The Index
    Collection 1            (e.g. Marvel)
        Card 1               (e.g. Spider-Man)
            TitleRef 1        (e.g. Amazing Spider-Man)
            TitleRef 2        (e.g. Web of Spider-Man)
        Card 2              (e.g. Punisher)
            ...
    Collection 2            (e.g. DC)
        ...
You can treat Title References like Titles, it doesn't really hurt. The main thing to bear in mind is that removing a Title Reference from a Card doesn't delete the Title Files.


Issue Ranges

A Title contains many Issues. A numeric range of Issue Numbers, increasing one-by-one (e.g. #1-#25) is known as an Issue Range. When you edit the Issues in the Title Dialog, you will see that such Issues Ranges are grouped together for clarity.

If you insert a non-numeric value, e.g. "424_ALT", then clearly it will break the Issue Range.


Cover Dates

The Cover Date is the Year and Month which is printed in the box containing the distribution information for nearly all U.S. comics. At the end of this month, the newsagents will remove the comic from the shelf and return it if unsold. Historically, this date was also displayed on the cover.

In Stand-Up, you allocate dates to each issue. You can specify that the date for subsequent issue should be automatically set by increasing by a month for each issue, or quarterly, or annually, etc.


Near Mint Values

Stand-Up can store the Near Mint Value for a comic (NM Value). If your comic is not NM, then Stand-Up can determine the value for your copy, according to percentages you set for each grade.

The Marvel Templates which I provide may contains some Near Mint Values for some comics. These are values which I have taken from many sources on the Net. You should not assume that these are suitable in anyway for any specific purpose that you may required. They may be inaccurate, incomplete, or totally out of date.

Default values for percentage of Near Mint Grade are provided with the distribution (e.g. Fine = 30% of Near Mint). These are my personal preferences. Actual value may vary hugely, depending on the comic. No fitness for purpose is implied. These values are configurable, you are responsible for setting your own preferred values.

Comic Prices are very funny things. A comic costs what you pay for it, and is worth what you can get for it. Nothing more, nothing less.


Grades

Stand-Up allows you to specify that a comic that you possess is of unknown grade. Or, you can select a grade from one of the following:


Stand-Up Home Page and E-Mail Support.