burrows@ts1.DEC (Jim Burrows) (05/04/84)
I find I'm a little confused by the Baxter-paper phenomenon. You see, for
my money, the colors on Baxter paper look garish, and less attractive than
either old-fashioned pulp or the Mando high-quality pulp. I realize it's more
expensive and heavier, but given the choice of two comics at the same price,
one on Mando and one on Baxter, I'd take the Mando every time.
Now, given that they charge MORE for what I find less pleasing, I find
that I pass by books that I would have bought if only they were on lower grade
paper. Specifically, I gave Omega Men and Ronin a pass because of it. I did
get Camelot 3000, but I'm an incurable Arthurophile.
More recently, I decided that since the Baxter Teen Titans book will be
reprinted in the Mando book, I'll wait the year despite the fact that the
Titans are among my top four favorite books. Strangely enough when I mentioned
this to a friend, he said he was doing the same thing, and for the same
reason. I had originally assumed that everyone else prefered the Baxter, and
that I'm just weird. Now, I'm beginning to wonder. I mean I know I'm odd, but
how many of you dislike the look of Baxter paper?
JimB -- Easynet: Kryptn::TS1::Burrows
-- usenet: decwrl!rhea!kryptn!ts1!burrows
-- ARPA: burrows%ts1.DEC@DECWRL.ARPAcrd55611@ihuxk.UUCP (Chuck Dobrovolny) (05/04/84)
(munch away, mysterious little bit eater...)
I agree. But I don't agree to the point of waiting a WHOLE YEAR to buy
the Titans books! You're right, though. I also feel that a majority of
the artwork currently being done in Baxter books would look better on
Mando paper. One exception that leaps out at me though, is Elric. I've
often marvelled at the *depth* of the art in this book, color-wise. I
don't know beans about coloring processes and the like, but I don't think
you could duplicate the richness and "opaque" quality of colors found in
this book with anything less than Baxter. This train of thought leads me
to wonder why DC doesn't employ these first coloring techniques in
their multitude of Baxter titles! What the heck, I'd pay the extra quarter
for that sort of quality....But, yes, as far as most Baxter titles go,
the pencilling and inking by themselves would be quite adequate and even
preferable on Mando for the money. The "big two" should experiment a
little with paper formats like First did in their July issues!
--hoping that the "big two"
can put aside their basic
greed long enough to hear
the voice of the people...
Charles Dobrovolny ATT-BL
ihuxk!crd55611hutch@shark.UUCP (05/04/84)
<Terminals don't give you a choice about how garish they look!> The problem with Baxter paper is that the inks they use are formulated to be absorbed a little more than the Baxter paper does. The paper is whiter, and will therefore change the saturation of the colors as well. I don't notice a lot of problem with it, but then I don't buy most Baxter books. When I do buy a Baxter book it has usually been colored by a more skilled colorist, which results in a blend that handles the Baxter paper better. Camelot is like that; I don't really find the color values to be ugly, though they seem a bit flat at times. Hutch