About The CCL

Collected Comics Library, hosted by Chris Marshall, from Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.

THE Comic Book and Trade Paperback Podcast. The only podcast solely dedicated to news, information and reviews on all sorts of comic book collected editions including DC Comics Archives, Marvel Masterworks, Absolutes, Omnibus’s, Graphic Novels and all other hardcover and softcover favorites - the CCL covers it all!

Complete with RSS

Greetings and thanks for stopping by my site dedicated to DC Archives, Marvel Masterworks and other collected editions!

My name is Chris and I hail from Detroit, Michigan. I’ve lived here all my life except for my college years at Ferris State University and two year stint in Vail, Colorado, where I skied, skied and skied some more. I’m always on the go with my wife, Patty and our two wonderful kids, Patrick, 7 and Erin 5. I also golf and like Detroit Tiger baseball.

Anyway, again, welcome to my site. This little pet project of mine started in October of 1999 and continues on strong today. Now, I had been getting back into comic book collecting after my travels. At the store that I frequented, I had always noticed people buying Archives and Masterworks, but I never really new what the fuss was about. Like many new to the particular medium, I thought they were too expensive. But then something wonderful happened, the store was to go out of business! The manager, Mike, had a giant sale and on a 100% impulse buy, I purchased the last remaining five Archives for $100. Not bad, eh?

I was hooked!

I immediately ceased all of my monthly comic book purchases and began saving up for Archives. I do most of my purchasing through In-Stock Trades, eBay and conventions for other deals. I own over 100 DC Archives and all of the newly restored Marvel Masterworks. I also own many other collected works like Will Eisner’s The Spirit Archives, The T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents Archives, the Dark Horse Comics Archives and a few hard to find collected edition hardcovers.

About the time I started up with Archives, I also got the Internet bug. I found out that not only was the web and awesome new media, but building my own site was easy too! I needed a project for myself and since I had a new love of Archives, I thought what a great idea for a web site.

My first live site was called DC Comics Archives. That ran for about 2 years on the old NBCi.com freeservers. I really liked NBCi, too bad it didn’t turn out. So, thanks to the new MSNBC, there was no freeservers and I decided to go buy my own domain. I thought up a list of about 20 names and went with what you see now, although, I needed a new look. I went with a black background and a design inspiration from The Digital Bits website.

Another two years had come in the autumn of 2003, I felt that the black was too gothic and I needed some more color and a better nav. I switched over to all white in late 2003 and I added a Blog page in the summer of 2004.

I added Podcasting in February 2005. I was actually the third comic book podcast to be uploaded to the internet, behind the Pipeline Podcast and Comicology. Later that year the Comic Geek Speak podcast offered to host a new Forum for me, which I gladly accepted. In late 2006 I created a sister Podcast to the CCL titled Trade Secrets Podcast, which boiled down, is an interview show.

Also in 2006, I was asked to be a part of the Comics Podcasting Panel at the San Diego Comic-Con. The audio of that presentation can be found here (.mp3).
This has established the Collected Comics Library as a true professional podcast and web presence, but this honor could not have been achieved without the loyal support to the listeners.

I’m also a founding member of the Detroit Podcasters Network. The DPN features over 30 great podcasts from a wide variety of music and other interests.

The CCL is a also a member of the Comics Podcast Network, a group of over 25 Podcasts that all share the same vision of promoting the Comic Book Industry as a whole.

In 2007, the Collected Comics Library was nominated for a National Podcast Award (General Category), proving that this is one of the most informative and best produced podcasts on the internet.

I can also be found on two other podcasts on a regular basis. Since 2006 I have teamed up with John Mayo, columnist for Comic Book Resources, to discuss the Collected Edition Sales Charts. These conversations first started out on the CCL, but has since moved to John’s own podcast, Comic Book Page.

In March 2008, I sought to expand my podcasting talents and now I freelance as the host of the TwoMorrows Publishing Tune-In Podcast. I discuss upcoming releases, reports news and conducts interviews with professionals associated with a wide variety of publications from TwoMorrows.

In June 2008, I was a featured speaker at Wizard World Chicago on their Comics Podcasting Panel The audio of that presentation can be found here (.mp3).

The CCL is also a regular featured podcast in the Comics Culture Category in the iTunes Music Store.

If you’re new to the collected editions, don’t be intimated. The biggest complaint I see on message boards and e-mails is that they cost too much. Quite the contrary, if you seriously look at what the value of these stories are in comic book form and figure that they would be way too valuable to risk
reading and display, the perception quickly dissipates. Archives and Masterworks are the best way to showcase rare, and hard-to-find comics of the past.

Take some time to look around, because this is a big site. Feel free to me with any questions or comments.

Press Kits are available upon a professional or corporate request.

Cheers!

Chris Marshall
(aka Chris CCL)

CCL FAQ:

Collected Comics Library Podcast info:
How To? A CCL Podcast FAQ
CCL Homepage
Talk on the Forum!
iTunes
RSS
collectedcomicslibrary AT gmail DOT com
CCL on ComicSapce
CCL on FriendFeed
CCL on Twitter

What is a Podcast?
A podcast is a pre-recorded radio show that are produced and offered as simple .mp3 files that you can download and listen to on your computer, iPod or portable .mp3 player.

How do I listen and subscribe to the CCL Podcast?
See below for full instruction. But the easiest way is to:
run iTunes > Advanced > Subscribe to a Podcast and paste in the RSS/.xml link that you see above.
You can also download the .mp3 file directly from the Website and listen to it on your computer, using a program like Windows Media Player or any .mp3 player. A link to the latest show is always available on our home page, as well as a link to previous episodes.

What is your show about?
Collected Comics Library is a one man podcast hosted by Chris Marshall. It’s all about the comic books and the industry and how it pertains to Collected Editions (Trade Paperbacks, Hardcovers) from all companies and from all eras. The show offers weekly news, reviews, listener feedback, and other features. The “CCL” as it is sometimes known by has over 170 episodes and is in it’s fourth year.

How often does a new show come out?
I try to record on Tuesday to get the show up on Wednesday afternoon. It’s a one man show and Chris does have other responsibilities and sometimes the show comes out on Thursday. The show itself typically runs 20-30 minutes. Although shows have been short as 15 minutes and as long as 1 hour.

Does this cost anything?
Only your precious time. The CCL realizes that there is only so many hours and minutes in a given day. The approach of the show is in a 6:00 news style. The rundown is usually this:
Introduction
News and information
New Releases of the Week
Listener feedback and questions (includes Forum postings)
Features, Reviews and/or commentary
Show wrap up

What is the Trade Secrets Podcast?
Trade Secrets was the title of my sister production of the regular show Collected Comics Library. This podcast was solely for conversations with industry professionals, fans of comic books and everyone in between. It has now been combined with the main podcast and is now titled “Collected Comics Library Presents: Trade Secrets with…”

How do I contact you?
e-mail: collectedcomicslibrary “at” gmail DOT com

Chris is always glad to receive feedback from listeners. If you have questions, please join up and post on the Forum. He’ll be happy to answer all questions you may have. Also, the people that visit and post on this Forum and ALL the Comic Forums are the friendliest, and most knowledgeable on the net.

You can also reach Chris via Skype “ChrisCCL”.

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