|
Post by codystarbuck on Aug 21, 2024 11:30:24 GMT -5
So I saw that these are apparently up for a release in February Is it bad that I'm kind of interested in both of them? Despite the connotation of the brand title, the For Dummies books are usually pretty good reference works. I'm not sure of the competing series, The Complete Idiot's Guide series still exists; but, they could be a bit more suspect, especially that horrible pro wrestling one they did, with Captain Lou Albano and Bert Sugarman credited as the authors. It was filled with bogus information and mistakes, like mixing up the Ted Turner-owned World Championship Wrestling (WCW) with the Fritz Von Erich-owned World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW or WCWA, when they left the NWA). People's names were mixed up, organizational names were wrong....just bad. Sugarman was a boxing writer and only knew a little about the fringes. Albano was there to have a wrestling name attached to it and likely didn't contribute. I believe the Complete Idiot's series did have a volume dedicated to graphic novels.....I think from a how-to perspective.
|
|
|
Post by driver1980 on Aug 21, 2024 11:34:15 GMT -5
Oh, that wrestling book was horrible.
I do have both For Dummies and A Complete Idiot’s Guide books. I do believe For Dummies eclipsed Idiot’s Guide a long time ago. I did like both, but maybe, just maybe, I like the For Dummies books better. The ones I own include European History for Dummies, U.S History for Dummies, and Catholicism for Dummies. The most bizarre Idiot’s Guide I own is The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Alchemy (no, I don’t believe alchemy is true, but the book was fascinating).
I do wonder how popular both series are in an age where *some* might think Wikipedia is the be-all and end-all. In the books I read, I liked things like the sidebars, Top 10 lists, further information lists, etc.
|
|
|
Post by Batflunkie on Aug 21, 2024 12:16:30 GMT -5
Despite the connotation of the brand title, the For Dummies books are usually pretty good reference works. I had several regarding MS-DOS, Windows 95, and Windows 98 that were actually fairly informative. Was particularly interested in the MS-DOS one, would love it pick back up on it some day with a virtual machine or a physical old school computer
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Aug 21, 2024 15:04:53 GMT -5
Despite the connotation of the brand title, the For Dummies books are usually pretty good reference works. I had several regarding MS-DOS, Windows 95, and Windows 98 that were actually fairly informative. Was particularly interested in the MS-DOS one, would love it pick back up on it some day with a virtual machine or a physical old school computer When I used to get customers who asked for computer books, they usually fell into a couple of categories: professionals, who were looking for a specific book, and home users who needed something basic and easy to understand. The former were easy; you just searched the title to verify if it was in the store or needed to be ordered. The latter also had factions. There were those who were complete novices and needed something simple and structured. Those with some experience fell usually between those who preferred very visual guides and those who liked very thorough guides. For the novices, I usually showed them the For Dummies series guide to that software or application. If they expressed a preference for more visual examples, I showed the the Visual Guide To...series, which had a high ration of screen images to text. The Complete Idiot's series, early on, focused more on alternative subjects, while the For Dummies stuck more with popular mainstream subjects. For Dummies branched out a bit more, as time wore on. There was another competing series, called KISS" Keep It Simple Stupid, which very much copied the For Dummies structure, but was far narrower in scope (mostly computers, math & science and a few technical business ones. I can remember, in the 90s, when we used to carry directories of web addresses, before the better search engines came along. I recall checking in one, in receiving and flipping through it for a moment and came across a picture of a bound woman, in fetish lingerie. The thing included web addresses for fetish and other adult sites! Not exactly what you expected to see visualized in a computer reference book. Of course, that was tamer than the shipment of adult erotica books we used to get every month, from Blue Moon and another publishers. These were like Harlequins, but with purely "erotic" stories (depending on your tastes and the level of writing), including things like the Leatherboy anthologies. First time I checked them in, I was a little shocked that we were carrying that stuff; then, after a while, it was more amusement at the titles or the copy on the covers. I had to physically scan all of the books we received, when I started with the company, on a flatbed scanner, like in a grocery store checkout; so it was a bit tedious. You took your entertainment where you could find it. One minute you are checking in a shipment of Harlequins, separating the series romance from the Mack Bolan books, and the next thing you are checking in Dr Seuss and Winnie the Pooh.
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Aug 21, 2024 15:09:16 GMT -5
ps I'm surprised no one ever did a genre satire and mixed the two Harlequin lines and had a female vigilante, who falls in love, while killing mobsters or terrorists. I can see the cover, with the woman dressed in black, with bandoliers and holsters, holding twin pistols, in a romantic embrace with a hunky ER doctor-type.
|
|
Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 10,069
|
Post by Confessor on Aug 21, 2024 20:51:16 GMT -5
So I saw that these are apparently up for a release in February Oh, that's a neat idea. I can't believe somebody has thought of doing it before.
|
|
|
Post by Calidore on Aug 21, 2024 21:23:57 GMT -5
ps I'm surprised no one ever did a genre satire and mixed the two Harlequin lines and had a female vigilante, who falls in love, while killing mobsters or terrorists. I can see the cover, with the woman dressed in black, with bandoliers and holsters, holding twin pistols, in a romantic embrace with a hunky ER doctor-type. That's a Howard Chaykin book waiting to happen if I ever saw one.
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Aug 21, 2024 23:06:55 GMT -5
ps I'm surprised no one ever did a genre satire and mixed the two Harlequin lines and had a female vigilante, who falls in love, while killing mobsters or terrorists. I can see the cover, with the woman dressed in black, with bandoliers and holsters, holding twin pistols, in a romantic embrace with a hunky ER doctor-type. That's a Howard Chaykin book waiting to happen if I ever saw one. I think the female vigilante would be bent differently, in Howard's version.
|
|
|
Post by Icctrombone on Aug 22, 2024 8:34:35 GMT -5
I’m sure that story has been done . And if not, someone has a crowd funding story.
|
|
|
Post by Batflunkie on Aug 22, 2024 10:22:15 GMT -5
Never wanted to hit "pre-order now" so fast in my life (now, whatever will I do with my Plastic Man Archives v1?) They're also doing Super-man Family and Silver Age Doom Patrol. Seriously, if DC keeps this up, they're going to beat the Epic Collection
|
|
|
Post by wildfire2099 on Aug 22, 2024 23:44:59 GMT -5
ohhhh that's exciting! I've been regretting not getting the hard covers when I found them clearanced on time for a while, this is perfect! I'll definitely be getting that!
|
|
|
Post by supercat on Aug 30, 2024 14:54:31 GMT -5
Still the best herald of Galactus ever.
|
|
|
Post by driver1980 on Aug 30, 2024 15:00:58 GMT -5
Still the best herald of Galactus ever. I love this issue. Would Marvel be a bit too staid to do something like this now?
|
|
|
Post by Cei-U! on Aug 30, 2024 15:02:47 GMT -5
Still the best herald of Galactus ever. Believe it or not, Golden Oldie is my highest ranked character in Marvel Puzzle Quest!
Cei-U! I summon the super senior!
|
|
|
Post by rberman on Sept 4, 2024 15:46:25 GMT -5
Still the best herald of Galactus ever. My twelve year old son was delighted to know that this existed.
|
|