Monthly Archives: April 2015

A Database for Comics (and How to Get Comics for Free)

In my spare time – when I’m not crafting this blog – I volunteer as an indexer for the Grand Comics Database (www.comics.org), which just celebrated its 20th anniversary last year. The goal is to index comics publications from any country, in any language. Since it’s an unusual effort, I thought that I might interview myself to find out more. So here goes…

Q. Well, thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to talk with us.

A. Not at all, I’m happy to be here. I was thrilled to get your call.

Q. I’m glad. So… I understand you yourself have had just about 2000 entries approved.

A. That’s right. First one approved on September 15, 2012. For the very unfortunately named “RaceWarrior,” which sounds just ghastly but is actually about futuristic auto racers.

Q. How long does it take you to do an entry?

A. Well, entries are not all created equal. For instance, if I correct a typo of a single letter, that counts as one entry. And when I did “A People’s History of American Empire,” by Howard Zinn – with 75 detailed sub-entries – that also counts as one.

Q. Huh. So, auto racing, American empire – this doesn’t sound like typical comic books.

A. True enough. I figured that Superman and Spider-Man have plenty of people looking after them, so I decided to concentrate on oddballs and obscuros… especially educational and promotional comics… that wouldn’t get so much attention.

Q. Any interesting examples?

A. Well, there’s one called “The Legend of the Allegheny Traveler,” in which a young man comes to western Pennsylvania in the early 1800s and grows up with the country. It’s a tourism piece, and it gave me the pleasure of immortalizing President James Buchanan as a comic book character.
“Angela’s Dream” came from our own New York State Department of Health. Angela has a baby, but she’s reluctant for either of them to get a test for HIV/AIDS. She dreams about taking good care of her baby, and finally realizes that that includes the test.
Those are both educational comics. But there are also promotional comics like “Major Inapak.” Inapak was a packaged chocolate drink, and they put out a science fiction comic to push their product. The Big Boy restaurant chain did the same, but much more successfully.

Q. Don’t I understand that there are also religious comics?

A. Oh, sure. There’s a series called “Treasure Chest” that was distributed in Catholic schools. Plus characters like Archie and Dennis the Menace have occasionally been licensed by religious groups.

Q. Archie’s still around, then.

A. He’ll be around after both of us are dead and gone. The longest continuously-running American comic book character is Superman. Then Batman. Then Archie. Wonder Woman comes after that. Archie’s been incredibly stable, too. Three of the five main characters – Archie, Jughead, and Betty – appear on the first pages of the first story, back in 1940. Reggie and Veronica are in place within a year.

Q. I think when most people think of comic books, they think of superheroes, or else funny stuff – Archie, Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny.

A. Those are the mainstays of the business, at least here in America. But the FORM is just a vehicle, and can carry ANY kind of story. Art Speigelman, for instance, won a Pulitzer Prize for “Maus,” the book-length story of his father’s experience in Auschwitz. And he made the characters mice. It sounds almost blasphemous, but it works. Stunningly.
And I’ve been using the SUNY library system to gather some forgotten pioneering works published 85 years ago by Lynd Ward – book-length spiritual or philosophical stories told in wordless woodcuts.

Q. They tell me you’ve also indexed books and stories with local connections.

A. Yeah, that’s been fun. For instance back in the fifties and sixties Classics Illustrated did stories about Glenn Curtiss, Marcus Whitman, and the Corning Glass Works. I indexed all of those.
Then there’s the local creators. Dick Ayers, who passed away last year just after his 90th birthday, got his first paying art job while he was a student at Curtiss Memorial School in Hammondsport. John McPherson does the “Close to Home” syndicated column in newspapers – I indexed one of his collections. And Chris Sale, who grew up in Elmira, does webcomics. I’ve added him to the database and indexed some of his collections, too, such as “Men in Hats,” very modern, edgy stuff with social commentary.

Q. So I guess you go for serious stuff rather than, say, superheroes?

A. Are you kidding? I love those guys! One of the characters in the “Funky Winkerbean” comic strip describes reading comics during a difficult childhood, and he says, “The superheroes did what they do best. They saved me.” Amen to that, brother. They saved me too.

Q. Wow. That’s something.

A. And it’s true.

Q. So – this Grand Comics Database. It’s not just comic books, right?

A. Oh, no. All those Peanuts paperbacks, for instance – they go in there too. Anything published along the lines of comic books, comic strips, cartoons, graphic novels – anything like that goes in.

Q. And how much have you got now?

A. Over a million issues. More than half a million cover scans. Nearly a quarter-million complete descriptions, or indexes, of the issues. Plus documenting publishers, brands, artists, writers, story synopses, and more.

Q. So we could go on-line and look at half a million comic book covers?

A. Sure, spot the ones you remember. Some of them are x-rated, though, so be aware of that.

Q. And this is a world-wide, multi-lingual effort?

A. After English, we have more issues published in Spanish than any other. Then German, and on down through Finnish, Turkish, Japanese, Serbo-Croatian, and many more. Even including Latin. The editor who usually checks my stuff is Dutch. I send him entries before work, and he’s reading them at the same time, after work.

Q. And it’s searchable?

A. It is indeed. You want a series, a character, a story, a publisher, an artist… there’s a search bar you can use.

Q. That’s really something. So what’s coming up in the world of comics?

A. Free Comic Book Day! First Saturday in May!

Q. People give away comic books?

A. Yep. The publishers and comic-book stores do this every year to introduce new series, and to welcome new readers. My son and I are going to Heroes Your Mom Threw Out, in Elmira Heights. Jared Aiosa there offers what he calls a handful of comics – four or five – for free. They’re dedicated issues, put out by the publishers for just this purpose.
Jared’s also having Mike Raicht there, creator of “The Stuff of Legend,” a multilevel series that’s at once touching, amusing, and challenging. I created the GCD record for the omnibus hardback.

Q. Well, maybe I’ll see you there.

A. I’ll be looking for you.

Q. One final question. The store’s called “Heroes Your Mom Threw Out.” Did your mom ever throw out any of your comic books?

A. Don’t get me started on that one.

HAPPY HIKING With Ed Sidote

Leave a reply

Ed Sidote passed away a couple of weeks ago, at the age of 97. While the public at large may not recognize his name, the public owes him more than it realizes.
In 1990 Ed became the third person to walk the entire Finger Lakes Trail – an act that still has only been accomplished by about 500 hikers. He was 73 years old at the time, though he pointed out that his hiking partner, end-to-ender number 4, was only 72.
More than that that, he served for years as president of the Finger Lakes Trail Conference, especially in the years when it was still trying to chart a course, and carve a trail from the woods and fields.
More even than that, he helped physically create the Trail in our immediate area, sleeping many nights at Hickory Hill Camping Resort near Bath in order to be up with the songbirds with axe and shovel.
For many years Ed ran the Finger Lakes Trail’s end-to-end award program. It used to be said that if you finish the Trail at 2 A.M., in the middle of the woods, Ed will be there to hand you your badge.
Always looking to the future, Ed celebrated his 90th birthday (and the FLT’s 45th) by donating $1250 to open the FLT Forever Society. Those funds become part of the Sidote Stewardship Fund, dedicated to Trail protection.
Each summer the Finger Lakes Trail hosts an Ed Sidote guided walk. It’s one of four seasonal “named hikes,” and this year takes place in Chenango County (sometimes called Sidoteland).
A portion of trail in Chenango County is named and dedicated in honor of Ed.
A stone bench on the Trail in Pharsalia was dedicated in his honor. Ed picked the spot, and it’s engraved “Ed Sidote: Mr. FLT.”
When the North Country Trail was being created (from North Dakota to the New York-Vermont state line), it took advantage of the existing FLT route. In 2010 the North Country Trail Association gave Ed its Lifetime Achievement Award.
In that same year the New York State Outdoorsman Hall of Fame inducted Ed as an honoree.
In 2004 Ed received the FLT’s Howard Beye Lifetime Award (the first to receive it – even ahead of Howard). In 1993 he received FLT’s Wally Wood Distinguished Achievement Award.
Up until the last year or two Ed was still joining group hikes, though not necessarily going the whole distance any more.
Thanks to Ed and many others, the Finger Lakes Trail is a remarkable feature. The Main Trail stretches 558 miles from Allegany State Park to Catskill State Park. With six major branch trails, plus spurs and loops, it adds up to what’s almost a thousand-mile system of “continuous footpath across New York State… forever.” And for most of our readers, it’s right in our back yard.
There are a few places, such as Watkins Glen State Park, where the Trail crosses public land, and in a few of those places public crews do the maintenance. But overwhelmingly the Trail exists through the hospitality of hundreds of private landowners. Overwhelmingly it’s planned, created, and maintained by those volunteers who put in 15,000 hours a year.
Ed was sort of the avatar of volunteers. He signed all of his letters, notes, and e-mails with HAPPY HIKING. Which it always was, if you were hiking with Ed.

Counties and States, Constitution and Secession

Leave a reply

Last week in this space we looked at our Town, Village and City governments. Counties are a higher level of government – Steuben County, for instance, has two Cities and 32 Towns. Beginning in 1683 it was theoretically part of Albany County, except that white Europeans didn’t have any power out here at all. That was still true in 1772 when it became part of a new Tryon County, now called Montgomery. Whites were actually starting to rule with boots on the ground when it became part of the new Ontario County in 1790, and then Steuben County (larger than it is today) in 1796.
Counties entered the national news last year when Cliven Bundy, who if I understand aright refuses for decades to pay what amounts to rent for the land on which he (over)grazes cattle, announced that he would not pay the United States (that’s you and me), because he chooses not to acknowledge its legal existence. (Despite flying our flag all over the place.) He HAS, however, offered to pay money to Clark County, Nevada, as he considers County governments legal.
This is as hilarious as it is pathetic, but he didn’t invent the idea, which has been floating around the fringe for years, among groups which consider a sheriff the only legitimate official. (Why they’ve picked a law-enforcement officer is beyond me.)
But Clark County was CREATED BY the State of Nevada, which in turn was CREATED BY the government of the United States. The notion that Counties have some ontological nature that exceeds all others is bizarre. States create them, and states can alter or abolish them. And often have. Just as they can do (and have done) with Towns, Cities, and Villages.
As we said, the United States created the State of Nevada. But having done so (at least so far as I can tell) the U.S. could not simply extinguish Nevada by legislation. States, it seems to me, have a different sort of legal status.
Which leads us to the question of secession, recently bruited by several municipalities to our east in protest of New York’s fracking ban. Secession is not new, and has often been trotted out in various states by rural areas unhappy with the workings of democracy – that majority rule thing can be very annoying when you get outvoted.
The U.S. Constitution addresses admission of new states; addresses creating new states by carving them out of existing states; and addresses creating new states by joining existing states together. It does not address transferring territory from one state to another (frack-happy Pennsylvania, in this case).
So if you’re a states-righter you could argue that it can’t be done Constitutionally (since it’s not addressed), or you could argue that Congress could handle such an issue by statute (since it’s not forbidden).
Were I writing such a statute, I’d make it require consent of the voters of the affected municipalities; consent of the voters of the sending state; consent of the voters of the receiving state; consent of Congress; and, as with any federal legislation, approval by the President (or veto override by two-thirds majority of each house in Congress), all to take place within two years. If any of these failed, then the measure would be dead. That would be democracy in action – or at least it would keep us all busy!

Counties and Towns, Cities and Villages — What’s the Diff?

Leave a reply

Here in New York we have four basic units of local government – village, city, town, and county. (I’m leaving out things like school districts, water districts, boroughs within cities, etc.)
All of these are legal entities – they have governments, taxes, elections, specific boundaries. For instance, there is a Town of Urbana, and a Village of Hammondsport, each with its definite bounds.
But there is also, within Urbana and outside Hammondsport, a place known for over 200 years as Pleasant Valley. It has no legal existence or status, but it’s a place that’s known and loved. We often call this a hamlet, to describe a small unofficial place designation.
I myself once played a role in rescuing the name of Pleasant Valley. I got a call from A.A.A. saying that they were thinking of taking it off their New York map, since it was an unofficial name, and they wanted my advice and opinion.
I waxed enthusiastic about Pleasant Valley, extolling its history, its significance, and its beauties. They decided it should stay on the map, and there indeed it stayed.
Villages and Towns bear a close relationship with each other. A Village is a SUBSET of a Town. If you’re a resident of the Village of Hammondsport, you are ALSO a resident of the Town of Urbana. You vote for Town officials and pay Town taxes – you ALSO vote for Village officials and pay Village taxes.
Villages are often created so that a compact area with a good-sized population can provide itself with special services such as water, sewage, and police. Remember tha Village populatiions may go UP in the daytime, as non-residents come in for shopping, work, tourism, restaurants, libraries, school, government offices, and the like.
Painted Post is a Village within the Town of Erwin. Riverside and South Corning are Villages within the Town of Corning. Bath and Savona are Villages within the Town of Bath.
Kanona, on the other hand, is an unofficial hamlet. It lies within the Town of Bath, and it’s very similar to Savona in size and density. But Savona has an official and legal existence… and government… while Kanona does not.
All of this can lead to confusion, especially with the vagaries of shifting boundaries since the 1700s. The Town of Dansville, for instance, is in Steuben County, but the Village of Dansville is in Livingston County. The Village of Dansville is part of the Town of North Dansville (in Livingston), but the unofficial hamlet of South Dansville is within the Town of Dansville (in Steuben).
I always feel sorry for the bright and cheerful genealogist who calls for information on an ancestor who died/was born/got married/is buried “in Dansville,” knowing I’m about to ruin their day.
City government confuses people. We have two Cities in Steuben County – Corning and Hornell. Many people assume that they are like Villages – that the City of Corning is part of the Town of Corning, and the City of Hornell is part of the Town of Hornellsville.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Cities, unlike Villages, are independent. Cities are coordinate with the Towns rather than part of them.
It’s easy to see where the confusion comes from. First, at least in our case locally, there’s the similarity of the names. Then there’s the fact that if you go back far enough, what’s now a City WAS part of a Town – in fact, it likely went through a Village phase while growing. Finally, Cities and Villages each have mayors, while Towns have supervisors.
So, the Village of South Corning is part of the Town of Corning – but the City of Corning is NOT. The Village of North Hornell is part of the Town of Hornellsville – but the City of Hornell is NOT.
So, in Steuben, for instance… 32 towns and two cities, or 34 overall municipalities. There are also a number of Villages, each remaining part of one of those Towns, and often confusingly named like its parent.
In fact, here in New York it would be entirely possible to have a County, a City, a Town, a Village, and a hamlet all with the same name. Next week, we’ll talk about Counties!