Happy 810NICLE Day, everyone!
Today, I’m announcing what will be the final update to the Biological Chronicle project – in particular, fulfilling some promises that I made 2 years ago.
First off, though: a number of months ago, it came to my attention that the method I had used to extract the digital copies of the comics was… imperfect. Back when I first started this project in 2017, I used a Chrome extension for backing up Comixology comics, which was far from an ideal method, but I didn’t have (or know of) any better options at the time. What I discovered sometime last year was that I could actually extract the image files directly from the comics, meaning that my digital comic rips would be the highest-resolution possible copies of the official digital releases. Despite my statement 2 years ago that I wouldn’t be doing anymore major content updates, I felt I had to make an exception for something like this. So today, I’m happy to announce that all comics in Biological Chronicle that were originally sourced digitally (i.e. I didn’t manually scan in physical copies) have now been updated to higher-res versions. As part of this, any edits/fixes that had been made to them previously had to be re-done (thanks so much to Chip Wiseman for her help with that!), which may result in some small, negligible differences on certain pages from what was present before. Here are some comparisons so you can see the improvement in image quality:
(note: these higher-res comic rips are not yet implemented in the web version, but will be soon! For now, please enjoy them in the various downloadable versions)
Now, let’s talk about those promises I made so long ago. First off: all versions of all 10 volumes of Biological Chronicle are now available in EPUB, MOBI, and AZW3 ebook formats! These ebooks have tables of contents, image alt text, and, just like the PDFs, are available with or without things like comics and media links (which may or may not be desirable features depending on the device you’re using). The fonts used for Biological Chronicle are embedded in the ebook files, but you can still use your e-reader’s font settings to change those fonts if you prefer something else. Note: the MOBI files are dual-packed “old MOBIs” and “new MOBIs” (aka KF8s) – so if you are using an older device that only supports the old MOBI format, you will not see the nice fonts and some of the formatting, due to technical limitations of the format. This should only apply to particularly old e-reader devices, though.
Next, the thing I’ve been wanting to do since first starting this project: for every version of every Book, there is now a copy available that’s formatted with printing in mind (for taking to a printing press service). That means things like page gutters, space around images for trim, moving the QR codes to the left side for even-numbered pages, extra pages inserted where needed to make 2-page spreads align properly, and many more small formatting changes. I chose a 6×9 format, since it seems to be commonly available at different printing presses, and strikes a decent balance between ease of holding/carrying and readability for things like comic pages. I’ve also provided dust jacket files for all 10 Books, as well as the PSD I used to create them. I formatted the Books and dust jackets specifically for Barnes and Noble’s Press service, but with the files available for download here, you should be able to tweak anything you need to in order to make them work with the printing press of your choice.
And before I go, I do have one more thing to announce – something that many people have asked me for over the years, for various reasons. I am making the original Word docs that I use to export the Biological Chronicle PDFs available for anyone to download. This is something that I’ve been very hesitant to do, as the idea of anyone being able to do whatever they want with this project that I’ve worked so hard to create, is… a little nerve-wracking, to be honest. But I want this project to be a resource for the community, and since I’m now moving on from it, I think the best way to ensure that people can still get whatever versions they want, with whatever changes they desire, is to release the docs for everyone to access.
I want to say a huge thanks to everyone who’s supported this project, provided feedback, shared it with friends, and more. It’s become more than I ever imagined it would back when I started it, and I’m proud of what I’ve been able to accomplish with all of your help. I hope that Biological Chronicle continues to be of value to the community, and that people continue to use it to introduce their friends to this franchise that we all know and love.
Now, me turning the page on Biological Chronicle doesn’t mean that I’m stepping away from the community entirely. On the contrary, I hope that with this project finally completed, I can revisit some other creative pursuits of mine that I’ve left behind for a while… so for fans of a certain video essay of mine from some years back, maybe keep an eye on the Cross-Wired Geeks YouTube channel in the future ;>
Happy 810NICLE Day, and goodbye – for now!
Cross-Wired Geeks 