RockMyAmadeus

You wear what kind of lipstick now...?

We have some breaking news, Jim...we're waiting for confirmation on the ground, but it appears as if the pot has just called the kettle "black." We're not sure if "safe spaces" will be invoked, but it appears that's where events might be unfolding. We'll bring you more as it occurs. Back to you in the studio.

Again: the point isn't how well reasoned a program may be. Every program, every bureaucratic decision, every "tweak" can be justified by someone, and always is, and usually makes sense on some level. Why not? Outlawing cars, for example, would prevent around 1.3 million deaths per year. Outlaw cars, and those lives are saved...at least from car crashes. Right...? Wouldn't it make a lot of sense to do that...? On a "lives saved" factor, it certainly would. And many people are making that argument even now. Obviously, I use hyperbole to illustrate my point. Eloquent arguments can be...and have been, as is the case here...made to defend a perspective that makes sense internally, but like missing the forest for the trees, misses the larger point: is this even needed in the first place? And, of course, those eloquent arguments will use language that subtly (or not) conveys both the "rightness" of their own position, and concurrently, the dismissal of any opposing positions ("...they are convinced are clear wins", with the unspoken addendum being "...and as we all know, being convinced of something doesn't make it right or true"), while appealing to emotional, rather than rational, reasoning ("passionate", "it feels pretty bad", etc.) The like system is meaningless. It doesn't do anything for anyone except give a bit of a dopamine hit to see someone respond publicly and positively to something you said. You talk about "abuse" of that system, but what part of that "abuse" was due to people trying out a new system? You publicly chastised Jeffro and Blowie for "abusing" the like system because they merely used the like system, but you didn't think they were "doing it right" (that is, the way you thought it should be used.) The point is the larger attitude behind it: that things can "get better" if we just have limits, rules, restrictions, on everyone, and not just any limits, rules, or restrictions, but the right ones. If we just have the right people saying the right things in the right way, Nirvana is achieved. More and more and more rules, because that's how bureaucrats believe we can make Utopia. And the end result of that is that the people the bureaucrats claim to want to help are more unhappy and more dissatisfied...and those people, since the vast majority of people don't complain, just leave. While I appreciate the concept of "broad support", that doesn't mean an idea isn't the right one because it's not broadly supported. In fact, some of the best ideas humanity has ever seen have specifically NOT been "broadly supported" at the time, and some of the very worst ideas were VERY broadly supported. Ideas should be considered on their merits, not whether or not they are "broadly supported." Decisions should be made based on MERIT, not POPULARITY, even if popularity is considered (as it should be.) This board is, indeed, one of the best on the internet related to comics, and has been for a very long time. Some of the best and the brightest have gravitated here. The reason isn't because of the board, or how it's managed, or how it functions, or what it features. The reason is because they connected with other people who shared their interests. I know that's hard for administrators to accept...everyone wants to think that it's "the program" that is the draw...but it's not, in any place where people interact socially. The same is true of clubs, bars, sewing circles, online message boards, and anywhere else people gather socially. The reason this board has been great is because of the people who make it so. The members are not, and never have been, the problem, even the worst among us (and there have been some real doozies, most especially the ones who pretend otherwise.) Any real problems have been the result of administrative attitudes and actions that have far-reaching consequences, because the administration is the only entity on this board with any real power to enact their opinions about how things should work. No, the answer isn't more restrictions, more rules, more "tweaks", and never has been. The answer is letting people be free, within a LOOSE framework, to express themselves as they see fit, and not catering to any one person or group of people who doesn't like other persons or groups of people. Any problems that one member has with another is easily resolved by the exercise of self-control, and the best possible use of administrative power has always been to direct people to exercise that self-control. Otherwise, the more administration tries to control people, like trying to grip sand, the less positive results there are. Meanwhile, there are still, after nearly two years, functions of the board that don't work at all, but attention is focused on the meaningless like system. Whether one likes it or not, whether one uses it or not, the like system serves very little actual purpose to the day to day activities of the board, which makes it perfectly illustrative of the deeper issues involved, here.

I only regret that I have but one like to give to this post.

If you don't agree, you dismiss and ignore. I made a compelling argument about why "like limits" aren't necessary on a board filled with adults, but there you are, throwing what I'm sure you think is a "bone" to the peasants, instead of acknowledging the truth of what I said. What would it cost you to remove the limits entirely? Nothing. Do you think there is going to be a flood of "disruptive" likes? Even if there is, shouldn't your first instinct be to address it if and when it comes, rather than restrict everyone from the outset on the chance that someone might abuse the system? The likes don't DO anything, so why does a limit on them matter? Again: the utter non-importance of this issue perfectly illustrates the point. It's an attitude of "I know best, and even if I make the appearance of listening, I'll still end up doing what I think is best." That attitude is pervasive, and colors everything about these boards. COI thinks you didn't post those other threads to dismiss and diminish...I think you did. I think you're offended that members think and say these things, and so you make sure everyone knows how silly you think they're being posting these types of threads. "More replies" (and I'll take your word for it) doesn't disprove the point. You have a measure of contempt for the people you have power over, and until and if that changes, the reasons why these threads exist will remain. Listening to people, admitting where you've been wrong, listening to people, making concessions when it's a hill not worth dying on (even if you don't agree), listening to people, recognizing that even if you're the smartest person in the room, you still don't have all the answers, and listening to people without simply dismissing what they say out of hand, as if you have all the answers, and they have none, is critical for anyone in a leadership role. This is always the best answer. It may not always be the RIGHT answer, but it is always the best one. PS. If you are offended by what I've just said, if your instinct is to dismiss and ignore, or worse, look for more flimsy pretexts to suspend, you have successfully put your finger on the problem. PPS. I hold little hope that this will change anything. It's been 16 years, after all. But little hope is not no hope. We'll see.

Ahhh. All I know of is Wildcats #1, #6, and Cyberforce #3. Maybe Codename: Stryke Force #1. The only one with real "foil" is Wildcats #1. The others are kinda just gold colored.

Do you mean these? '

What do you mean by gold covers? Gold foil?

Image went nutso on the foil books in the late 90's, including Witchblade #18, 19, 32, 45, 46, 48, 49, Darkness #9, 10, Danger Girl Preview, DG #1, #2, #3, #5, #6, Battlechasers #1, Rising Stars #1 (FOUR!), #2, #9, #12, #24, Crimson #7...and that's just straight off the top of my head. If you wanted an Image book with a foil logo on it, the mid to late 90's/early 00's was where it was at.

Apology certainly accepted, and thank you.

There are a handful of others, most notably all 6 Deathmate books, as well as later books, like Darkness #1 Platinum.

This is a childish response, and makes this community less welcoming and pleasant to be a part of, for everyone.

This is where debate breaks down. "I can't prove anything, and neither can you!" But...nobody has to prove a negative. I don't have to prove it's fake. It should be ASSUMED to be fake, until proven GENUINE, not the other way around. Most of the time, this isn't something we consciously think to do, but we do it nonetheless. You know how we know that the puzzle chromium 14th cover is a legitimate Image product? Because it appears on contemporaneous literature. It is mentioned in the book itself. It is mentioned in promotional literature. It appears in sales ads from dealers. That is evidence that proves that book was a legitimate production of Image. The fact that it looks amateur isn't proof, but it IS evidence. The fact that it appears nowhere in contemporaneous literature, including the book itself, is far weightier evidence that leads to the conclusion that this is not a legitimate Image product. Nobody claimed you said anything about "no one doing foil books correctly." Those were EXAMPLES that demonstrated the weakness of what you DID claim, which is '"...that it was done with the foil but they couldn't get it right and scrapped it for wide release." How can such a claim possibly be true, when the comics industry had successfully used the very same foil technique for several years before this...? And your other argument...that "So to say one Image book (or more) was successful so they all should have been is incorrect" is invalid, because EVERY Image book was printed at the same place: Qeubecor, in Montreal, using the same technology available to anyone who had their books printed there. Think about it: Gen 13 #1 was produced to the tune of 14 different variants, including a rather exceptional chromium version, but you're going to claim that the folks who produced Gen 13 #1 didn't have the tech available to them to produce a simple hot stamp foil version, that the industry had been doing for several years at that point? Despite Gen 13 being part of the same Wildstorm Productions studio that produced Wildcats #2 that you mention...? The same studio that produced Deathblow #1...? Really...? If you think it's real, it's incumbent on you to prove it so, with positive evidence, like an ad, or a press release, or anything that demonstrates it's legitimacy. Otherwise, it's just an opinion, and contrary to the holders of bad opinions, they are not all created equally. So, don't get mad...take up the challenge, if you can, and provide some real scholarship to the greater comics community, and prove that these books are real.

I found mine in 2002-2003ish at a store on SoCal, so the Wonder Con connection makes sense.

Proof, please. Foil covers had been done for several years before this, with no difficulty. Just the year prior, Vengeance of Vampirella came out with not 1, not 2, not 3, but FOUR different foil covers: ...and obviously, those were much more complex than the Gen 13 #1 up there. Ultraverse also had a number of foil stamped books under their belt by this time: In fact...it wasn't even Image's first gold foil book by THREE YEARS: So why, after doing this for several years, would Image all of a sudden have a problem with it...? I would love to see any evidence you have for why this wasn't a dark alleyway amateur job by people unconnected to Image, and why there is absolutely no mention of it anywhere that I can find from the literature of the time. Happy to be proven wrong.

Someone's homemade foil job in slab. Remember: there's absolutely nothing from the time period that refers to a "gold edition" of any kind...not in official Image copy, nor in sales literature of the day. All the variants of this book are listed in the back of this book. Had there been an official gold foil version, someone, somewhere, would have mentioned it at the time. These weren't made by Eclipse, either: They were made by New Dimension, nearly 20 years after the books were printed. Personally, I have said for years they have no business being in blue label slabs, but no one listens to me, so there you go.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/VENGEANCE-OF-VAMPIRELLA-BLUE-FOIL-COVER-ERROR-1-HARRIS-COMICS-2ND-PRINT-/362165933798?hash=item5452c596e6%3Ag%3AU4QAAOSwPDBaFZPZ&nma=true&si=h27Eu9oQBRIusaPpA0bWMZnhXas%3D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557 https://www.ebay.com/itm/362235368808?ul_noapp=true

We live in a relative world, Blobby. Relative to X-Force #1, NM #98...and every issue around it, except #100...was NOT printed in what would be called "large numbers" by the standards of the day. Perspective. And don't get cranky; you know that's right.