Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Your Ticket to the Golden Age

Here's the one you've been waiting for, in which The Hayfamzone Blog proves once and for all that it truly is a reader's blog (and a comic book reader's blog, at that)!

I have a two-part gift for you:
1. a program to download that will allow you to become an online reader of internet-posted comic books; and
2. an archive of (copyright-expired) Golden Age comics and classic newspaper strips that are posted in the format compatible with the reading program. How about that!
There is no charge for downloading the reader and there is no charge for accessing the archive (although donations are accepted by the latter).

I myself received this two-part gift in an e-mail from the great comic book artist Jim Engel, and Jim wrote that he had received the gift from the great comic book archivist Mike Tiefenbacher. And just listen to this all-star list of recipients to whom Jim also sent the e-mail:
Scott Shaw, Chuck Fiala, Don Rosa, Fred Hembeck, Jay Lynch, Joe Sarno, Mark Evanier, Mike Gold, and Neal Sternecky. What a line-up, and I feel honored to be (virtually) shoulder-to-shoulder with these gentlemen! (Of course the Hayfamzone Spotlight has previously shone on a number of these celebrities, and in the future you can be sure it will shine on many of the others.)

Okay, now down to business. You've been very patient while I blathered on!

To get the reader program entitled CDisplay, click on the green text that says "Download version 1.8 NOW" when you go here.

To access the archive of comics to read, click on the link at the top of the screen that says "Register" when you go here.

You're then ready to delve into that archive and start reading! The CDisplay program is full-screen to maximize the size of the images, so you will need to right-click once in a while when it is running to make your options appear. As a test run, let's say you want to read a great episode of Little Nemo in Slumberland. (Good choice!) Click on "Download" at the right end of the bottom blue strip when you go here, then follow your computer's directions to Open the file which basically starts the reader program, then right-click and select "page movement control" and from the sublist select "automatic slideshow." After you have viewed the entire episode, right-click and select "exit" to leave the full-screen mode.

Isn't that great!? I hope you enjoy using CDisplay as much as I do, and please tell everyone you know to come visit the hayfamzone so they can accept their own copy of this gift. It is truly a ticket to the Golden Age, so let's not keep it a secret!