[Erik Larsen]

I've been toying with the idea of putting together a complete Lev Gleason Daredevil collection--and by this I mean every story that actually had Daredevil in it (NOT every Little Wise Guys story, in other words). Thing is--I'd need to get every story scanned! For print I'd need them all be full size and at least 400 DPI (preferably 600 DPI). I can't use anything from this site--scans are too low DPI and too fuzzy in general.

Can anybody help with such a massive undertaking?

I have a few books on hand--Daredevil Vs. Hitler and other issues plus some Silver Streak issues (NOT #6 though--and that's a key issue) --it might make sense to include the few Claw stories that come before Daredevil appeared as well to set the stage. I can make a list of what I have.

Not sure how much of an audience there might be for something like this but since I've been having Daredevil appear regularly in Savage Dragon it seemed like it might be worth doing.

In any case--if you can help--please contact me!

[boox909]

I'm sure that word will go forth and people will chatter and connect.

It would be awesome to see. 

B.

[Mindshadow]

I have Daredevil 1, 13-18, 23, 31. This site is missing issue 20 which figures are final climax to the epic running battle between the Ghost and the Claw.

But if you want to work on this project then why don't you just download the important issues your self?

[boox909]

I have Daredevil 1, 13-18, 23, 31. This site is missing issue 20 which figures are final climax to the epic running battle between the Ghost and the Claw.

But if you want to work on this project then why don't you just download the important issues your self?

Something about the quality of the scans. We do have an awesome scan of the first issue -- which I consider the best on the net! However, it has been some time since I looked at the other files, some of it most likely is fitche and that would not suit Mr. Larsen's needs. Yes, I called him "Mr. Larsen". 

B.

[Erik Larsen]

The problem is that most of it is pretty crappy quality--nowhere near what it would need to be for print. I couldn't just print from scans downloaded from the web and make a book that anybody would consider buying.

[JonTheScanner]

I have maybe twenty or so issues of Daredevil, mostly later issues (it's possible they're all post the Wise Guys taking over).  I have scannd what I have for posting here.  If you'd like to purchase the issues, I'd be happy to sell.  If you'd like to borrow the issues to have someone scan them at 400+ dpi, that can also be arranged.  I don't want to volunteer to rescan them myself.

[Erik Larsen]

I have maybe twenty or so issues of Daredevil, mostly later issues (it's possible they're all post the Wise Guys taking over).  I have scannd what I have for posting here.  If you'd like to purchase the issues, I'd be happy to sell.  If you'd like to borrow the issues to have someone scan them at 400+ dpi, that can also be arranged.  I don't want to volunteer to rescan them myself.

I think my first step will need to be going through all the issues and determining which ones to use and which ones not to use. I was kind of hoping not to have to buy more issues--but it may come to that.

[JonTheScanner]

I think my first step will need to be going through all the issues and determining which ones to use and which ones not to use. I was kind of hoping not to have to buy more issues--but it may come to that.

You may certainly borrow what I have if you wish -- no need to purchase,  I just have too many other things to scan to want to go back and redo these.

Jon

[JimShelley]

I'd be up for helping with this project in any fashion I could.

[boox909]

I'd be up for helping with this project in any fashion I could.

Jim,

Send Larsen a PM on this when you can --- haven't seen him on the forum for a week or so.

B. 

[JimShelley]

Will do -  Thank you!

[profh0011]

The problem is that most of it is pretty crappy quality--nowhere near what it would need to be for print. I couldn't just print from scans downloaded from the web and make a book that anybody would consider buying.

I can understand that. I do a lot of scanning & restoring of old covers (and the occasional interior page as well), and I often tell people, nothing beats doing my own scans. Plus, in the last several years I've been getting better and better at using Photoshop to clean stuff up. With covers, my goal is usually to make something look BRAND NEW-- or, "better". (I'll often "fix" printing mistakes, color registation problems, etc.)

A real challenge I had a couple months ago was trying to clean up the very first REX FURY (Ghost Rider) appearance, from scans I got from this site!

Here's a sample...
http://www.samcci.nostromo.no/_WESTERNS/ghostrider/TH%2006%20p15.jpg

I probably could have gone further, but I figured for what I was doing, this was enough.

[Roygbiv666]

Isn't he just looking for scans, he didn't say any "post production" of clean-up, he's got a comic company that could do that, presumably.

[profh0011]

Sure. I just wanted top show what can be done with online scans. If I had scanned the thing from the actual comic myself, I would have been able to do MUCH better, which I'm sure ifg what Erik is looking for.

[JVJ]

Sure. I just wanted top show what can be done with online scans. If I had scanned the thing from the actual comic myself, I would have been able to do MUCH better, which I'm sure ifg what Erik is looking for.

profh0011,
The problem with on-line scans is generally the resolution and the fact that they are jpeg format.

I took a look at your clean up and I have a suggestion for you:

Go to the uppermost layer with pixel corrections on it (this is assuming you do your corrections on a new layer and not the Background Layer). Insert a layer above that one:
[Layer][New][Layer]
Name: Overlay
Mode: Overlay

• Fill with Overlay-neutral color (50% gray)
  
  OK
  
  Then select the paintbrush tool, pick a large, soft brush size, set the brush opacity to 10% and the foreground color to white. Make sure that [airbrush] mode is off.
  
  With the "Overlay" layer active, paint over the word balloons and the other areas of your page that still show traces of paper tones or feature waterstains or other dark areas. If the results are too drastic, Undo them, lower the opacity to 5% and try again. With the paintbrush active, tapping the 1 key sets the Opacity to 10%, 05 in sequence to 5%, etc.
  
  Change the foreground color to black to bring out the contrast in the dark areas. Be careful about painting over color areas, but experiment all you like. I think you'll find it very helpful in creating a better final product.
  
  Peace, Jim (|:{>
  
  

[builderboy]

I haven't tried this one yet, JVJ, but will bookmark this to return to it.

I think you had emailed me a psd file for an example that had this treatment on it, but when we were discussing techniques later, we never got around to the specifics of this approach.

I think what Erik is looking for is high dpi, uncompressed scans.  My scans of pages at 300 dpi, without any adjustment layers, are 18 Mb apiece. Adding an adjustment layer doubles that.  Erik wants them to be 400 or 600 dpi, so you can imagine the file sizes for that. Oy!    It will be interesting to see what kind of infrastructure he is working with to be able to transfer these files, which will be sizable. He must have a robust FTP set-up.

I, too, have some DD issues, but like Jon, they are mostly Wise Guy stuff.  It would be thrilling to help out on a project like this.  I have always loved Larsen's stuff...never miss an issue of Savage Dragon.

[profh0011]

Thanks for the suggestion. I'm NOT sure my program can do it, because it's a "Limited Edition" and some of the options are missing.  (It came free with my flat-bed scanner.) But I'm always open to ideas. BEST thing anyonme ever suggested was "Levels", which speeds things up ENORMOUSLY. But you do have to use it judiciously. I've seen instances where "Levels" can ruin something. Oftne, it blanks out skin tones. What i do in a case like that is go back to the earlier version, copy all the skin tones onto a 2nd layer, adjust the 1st layer with "levels", and adjust the skins tones separately. I like a bit of "yellow" in there, they seem unnatural when they go too "pink".


My own scans usually start out at around 2300 pixels wide. That's the size I work in if I can help it, and I always save at that size, then make a smaller version for e-mail & online posting.  I prefer 700 pixels for that, it makes a perfect fit for a computer screen, and usually the file size is down to about 200 KB. I try not to have it any bigger, because until a year ago, I had dial-up, and I know SOME people still do. (Another message board, inhabited by arrogant S***s, several posters would regularly make fun of anyone who didn't have hi-speed. Idiots.)

Sometimes I will work right on the original "background" layer, other times I'll create a duplicate so I have a record of "before" and "after" within the same file. It depends.


That "Calico Kid" page was a rarity-- must be one of the OLDEST pages I ever tried to tackle, and of course, it wasn't my scan. I was stunned by the results, all the same.

I've been enjoying a lot of GHOST RIDER stories via Bill Black's reprints, but nothing beats looking at an original comic... especially if I can clean it up to make it look pretty!