COMIC FAQ, Most common questions about the comics

Answered questions in this post:
01. When is the next issue coming out?
02. What will happen in the next issue?
03. Where can I find the comics?
04. Can I put direct links to your comics on my own website?
05. I want to read the comics offline - why can't I use torrents?
06. Who made the previous scans?
07. Do you know Italian?
08. How many comics have been released?
09. When was the first issue released?
10. What about the Copyright laws - isn't this illegal?
11. What are the biggest differences between the comics and the TV Show?
12. What's up with all of those specials and how often are they released?
13. I have some comics and a scanner - can I help?
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01. When is the next issue coming out?

We will of course announce it as soon as it’s done. Unfortunately we cannot set a date, since we're working on different projects simultaneously.
If you're interested in which projects we're currently working on you can go to this thread or visit my site at http://www.witch-o-holic.tk and click on "Translated Comics".
I have received a lot of questions about the next part of the Manga special, and the answer to that is that I unfortunately can't translate it by myself, since the japanese is too advanced for my knowledge. The reason why I could translate the first part is because it's available in Swedish.

Quote from The Unofficial Witch Website:
Do NOT beg for scans! ... We really appreciate other loyal fans who wish us good luck and give us appreciation for taking time out of all of our own busy lives to scan books, comics, specials, etc. for you guys, but constantly asking when an issue is going to come and begging for scans will, at the most, just make us mad and feel unappreciated. Just give us a break and understand that we're people too, okay?


02. What will happen in the next issue?

I will not post any information about future issues at this forum, because it's classified as Spoilers.
No spoilers whatsoever are allowed at this forum! You are only allowed to post images and information that has been featured in our online comics!
In other words: Do not post images or information about WITCH that has not yet been featured or announced in any of our comic releases.


03. Where can I find the comics?

It depends on who scanned them.
You can find direct links to all comics in the "Comic Scan Thread #4" at this forum!

04. Can I put direct links to your comics on my own website?

No. There is no need for anyone else than the sites listed below to have the scans. If you have a website, it should be something YOU made, or else - why do you even have a website? A website should contain something unique, or else - no one will care about it. If you want to link to my or someone else's website - you are more than welcome. But to use hotlinking or direct links are definitely disrespectful to us who did the work.

05. I have a slow Internet connection and/or I want to read the comics offline - why can't I use the torrents?

There are no need for torrents since we have an FTP Server with all the comics available in downloadable RAR-files. (RAR is another version of ZIP-folders) They may not always have the newest comics, but they will be available in due time. No one have ever gotten our permission to put our scans on torrents, so if you want to support us - stop seeding TODAY!

Another quote from the Unofficial Witch Website:
Absolutely NO websites except for 1. W.i.t.c.h. -O- H o l i c : MoonCloud217's Scans, 2. The Heart of Candracar: Amanda's Book Scans, 3. W.i.t.c.h. FTP Server: Downloadable Scans, 4. Comics by Max9075: Corrected and New Scans, 5. The W.i.t.c.h. Files: Irmalover's Scans, 6. The Unofficial Witch Website and 7. W.i.t.c.h. Obsession: Rojaw's scans may have the comic and book scans on their website. We just wanted to let you know that if anybody else has them, then they never asked for permission from us scanners and are STEALING! (And that goes for the same kind of people who decided to put them up on torrents too!) ... If you must in some form have the comics on your site, make links to any/all of the links shown above.

(for more info, please read the copycat thread)


06. Who made the previous scans?

This information is available at the credits page at my site. But the list is also available in the "Complete Scanning/Translating CREDIT List" at this forum.


07. Do you know Italian?

No, unfortunately I don't. I'm from Sweden and I know only Swedish, English and also some French and Japanese. We are looking for someone fluent in Italian who can help us with advanced translations of extras not available outside of Italy.


08. How many comics have been released?

Of course it depends on in which country you live in.
The UK stopped at issue 25.
The Netherlands stopped at issue 62.
The Philippines (also in english) stopped at issue 74.
The Italian (original) comic recently passed 100 issues.

Last issue released in Sweden during 2006: #63 part 2.
Last issue released in Sweden during 2007: #74.
Last issue released in Sweden during 2008: #86.
Last issue released in Sweden during 2009: #98.


09. When was the first issue released?

Just shortly after the Italian (original) release in 2001, Sweden got its first issue! During the first year there were only 6 issues released. Then in 2002-2005 there were 12 issues released each year. All of those issues contained full length comics. The last Swedish issue of 2005 is the same issue known as #54. Then, from 2006 they changed the layout completely and divided each comic into two issues.
But since autumn 2007 they changed it back to full issues and I really hope they won't change it back to half-issues again!


10. What about the Copyright laws - isn't this illegal?

This is an edited quote from Rojaws site, which is how I think most of us scanners feel:

The copyrights to the comics we scan and link to are all owned by Disney. Copying the comics without Disney’s permission is a blatant violation of their rights and is definitely illegal. We admit that, and we are not the sort of people who would normally do it. So why do we? Because we love W.I.T.C.H.!
In many countries the comics are simply not available. Many people discovered the comics on the Internet and fall in love with it. Many of us have bought hundreds of dollars worth of merchandise including books, comics, the CD and DVDs, most of which we’ve had to import from overseas.
Most of the fans though are young and don’t have jobs and credit cards. Our scans are for them, and hopefully they will create enough new fans who will go out and buy the comics, to make up for any lost sales. Remember: if you don’t buy it, Disney will stop publishing it, the talented and hard-working people who make the comic will be out of a job, and we’ll have no more W.I.T.C.H!

Another good quote is from the Kandrakar Forum where they discussed the differences between Public Service and Bootlegs. LittleRaven says:

''Public service'' means that it's free for the fans and done solely for love, for our benefit. Scanners paid money to buy the comics and to host the images, and do a lot of work to translate them. They're fans themselves, and they're investing a lot of time and money on the franchise. They're not just stealing for themselves, they're like Robin Hoods who buy from the rich and give to the poor.

Bootlegs are created to make money off fans, by people who just recorded the thing while it was on TV; they steal from the rich to sell to the poor ... Disney doesn't seem interested in producing DVDs or in the show at all, while the fans who can afford to buy bootlegs would probably prefer to buy official DVDs instead ... Disney is also not interested in promoting the franchise in the U.S., so no comics there, but the fans would have bought them instead of the scans, had they been available.


11. What are the biggest differences between the comics and the TV Show?

These are some of the most common differences with the comics:
1. Characters that do not exist: Blunk, Julian, The Mage, Gargoyle, Miranda, Sandpit, and The Tracker.
2. Caleb is not human.
3. When in their guardian form - only Hay Lin can fly. Instead - all guardians can become invisible.
4. Irma lives with her stepmother - not her real mother.
5. Matt's band is called Cobalt Blue.
6. More focus on Kandrakar.
7. The show's story is based on the same main events as in the comics, but the comics are more in-depth to each character. In the show there are a lot of fillers to satisfy the young audience - while in the comics the story is more based on the girl's lives.

For you who are not afraid of spoilers go to this wiki-link or to this TV.com-thread.


12. What's up with all of those specials and how often are they released?

Special Issues, also known as "Witch Magazines" are released 4 times each year.
Note that NOT ALL specials contain comics.

Specials issues released in Sweden separately:
Astro special ,,,, The Year Before (comic),
Elyon special (comic) ,,,, Halloween 2003,
2004 Calendar ,,,, Corny & Caleb (comic),
Tarot Cards ,,,, Dreams & Secrets,
Sheffield special ,,,, Quiz special #1,
Halloween 2004 ,,,, Manga special (comic),
Christmas special 2004 (comic) ,,,, 2005 Calendar,
Planet Boys (comic) ,,,, Poster special,
Summer special ,,,, Top Model ,,,, Top Secret,
Halloween 2005 ,,,, Christmas special 2005 (comic),
Party special ,,,, Quiz special #2 ,,,, The Show,
Halloween 2006 ,,,, Christmas special 2006 (comic).

Special comics released in Sweden within the standard issues:
Core of Kandracar (comic)
Orube Special (comic)
Caleb & Elyon - Two Destinies (comic)
WITCH on stage (comic)
+ a lot of mini specials.

When they started with half-issues in Sweden - the numbers of Specials decreased, and instead they divided the special issues into many small parts and used them as extras in the standard issues. So more and more often I was getting one issue with two different, parallel stories. This is also where many mini comics come from.
Now when they have gone back to full issues again, they have kept the same system, and the specials are still released as extras, not separately.

also some comics have been released in other countries. I don't know about all of them but I know about The World Cup Special - which we have translated. (Please don't kill us, Witch-news )


13. I have some comics and a scanner - can I help?

Yes - you are always welcome to help us with scanning, especially if your comics are in English original! If you have a comic in your own language and think you are able to translate it into English by yourself - use Photoshop or any other similar image editing program. Here are some directions that I would like for you to follow so the comics will be as easy to read as possible:

a. Scanning preferences: 280-300 dpi!

b. Pick a fixed width for all of your images (i.e. 900 or 1000 px).

c. If you choose to do ALL the editing by yourself, the final file size should be between 200-500 kb. Many image editing programs (for example Photoshop) let you set the quality in % manually. Be sure not to compress the images too much, or they will get too pixelated (zoom in to see it).

d. Do not keep the original size! Before uploading a picture to Photobucket, you can see an option menu below the upload window labeled "Reduce to:". The default option is to resize the pictures to a maximum of 1024 by 768. To fix it, set the reduce option to 1 megabyte file size. Now any picture you upload will be left alone unless its size exceeds 1 MB. (here is a screenshot) Also, keep in mind that we have to think about efficiency. Large images can take forever to load for a person with a low speed Internet connection.

e. Do NOT make the translation yourself if you do not speak fluid English PLUS the original comic language! Jokes or even facts could get lost!

f. Inform me in good time about which issue you are able to scan / translate and keep me updated of when you will be finished.

g. Don't forget to put a name tag in a suitable place - on every page.

h. The final step is to create an interface for the comic.
The best thing is to divide the comic into two parts, especially if you don't know php or any script like that. Just create two normal HTML files and put 30 images into each file.
In other words, I suggest that you do not link directly to your Photobucket gallery.

If you encounter any problems, for example if you can't make a translation or if you're not good with image editing programs - send your original scans to me and I'll help you with the rest.
The most important thing is the scans itself! English is not my first language either - but I've got a lot of experience now after working with translations since august 2006, and I've got people from the US and the UK to correct the dialog if needed.


// MoonCloud217

This post has been edited by MoonCloud217 on 17 January 2010 22:43

I thought Frost was in the comics also?

HELL YEAH! You said it mist!
Frost appeared first time in comic book issue #3 "The Dark Dimension".
And yeah, he was riding his loyal "Crimson".

Sorry I will fix this ^^ please let me know if you find any more errors...

There are aslo other differences, but you said: "07. What are the BIGGEST differences between the comics and the TV Show?" so nevermind...

yeah, that is why I am reffering to wikipedia in the very same post.

This place sure got busy in one day.

Yeah it did

Im just hoping for more members/...

That would be nice

Maybe we could link-up to this forum, just make sure you ask MAX9075 first...

link up how? dont ruch anything now - we just recently opened this.

yeah it has been opened like for 2 days

Actually I don't really know Italian, but with a dictionary and some logical thinking I managed to translate the Italian Elyon special. So if someone has an Italian issue to translate, he/she's welcome, but on the moment I have two others in German and French to work on.

Great, irmalover. You know 3 languages, some people barely manage 2. So why does your tag say "Comic Reader" instead of Comic Scanner/Comic Translator?
P.S. I Really like your avatar.

Oh I didnt know you translated it from Italian!

I made some important updates to the FAQ!
Please read!

Hi, everyone! I am new here, so I don`t know all things yet.
Nevermind.. I want to ask if there is someone, who can speak german.
And the reason? I will get 4 Witch issues from Austria (Ragorlang story). I can translate it into czech language for fans in my country but I am not very good in English, so I want to offer my scans to you. I like your work and things which you do for other fans: we are behind the english edition so I am waiting for your scans and translations and I like this news.
So if you want, I will send it. First scans can be available in two weeks, for next issue I am going to Austria on 21st of the May.
My email is arevin@seznam.cz
As subject , please, write: Witch scans.
No spam, please.

Thank you for your attention.

By the way: I`m sorry if there are some mistakes, but I hope you understand my message.

By the way2: I can speak Czech, German, a little (?) English and a little Japanese.
Although I am not sure in writing and speaking, I understand very well, so don`t be shy and if you want, please write me!

Ojasumi nasai!

thats pretty funny, you saying that you know a little japanese, and then you misspell oyasumi

anyway, thanks for your offer! But could you please tell us EXACT which issue-numbers you will get? I don't know german, but Irmalover has translated from German before, even if it's not his mother tounge...

We don't need the Ragorlang saga yet, so you don't have to rush your work. Please take your time! Maybe we will catch up with the Ragorlang Saga sometimes during summer or maybe after.

And please read the FAQ carefully before scanning for us.
Thanks!

(and no, I won't email you right now, it's better if you log in and post here to keep the info official. That way, all people can see what's going on.)

Yes, you`re right, it`s really *oyasumi*, but in our country we write *ojasumi*. In other words: ya is for us ja, cha is for us ča, etc. Because it`s a simply way to remember japanese pronunciation. So I made no mistake, I only didn`t use international form of romaji

Btw: do you write *watashi wa* or *watashi ha*?



Well, the issues are: 64, 65, 66 and 67.

OK, I`ll be waiting for the right time

OK that's awesome!

I think there is nothing wrong with your English at all!
I'd love to see you try translating an issue into English for us

We already have #64 scanned ( by Mel ) and I think someone from tv.com (babuna) once said she wanted to help us out with #66 & #67...
but you could try doing #65 if you want!
And don't worry about the dialog, I have my comics so I can always double-check if there would be any problems.



I write WA, because it is the international romanji for it and that is how it pronounces.
HA is just the hiragana after all, and it's one of the few exceptions to the basic rules in the Japanese language.

Ok, I`m going for nr. 65 on 21st of the May. At the same time I`m going to Italy, so I`ll try to get one of Italian issues too (Can someone speak Italian?).


Do you think my English is quite good? OK, I can try to translate nr.65, but don`t laugh my work after that And *double-checking* will be fine, because I have no experience with translation into English




Yeah, It`s WA, but I know that many beginners make mistakes when they have to overwrite a text into hiragana. When they see WA, they write WA, not HA.
And when they see hiragana HA in the sentence, they read it as HA, not WA.
Sometimes it`s funny

the same thing with "wo" - it's pronounced "o".
if you want we can talk more about japanese in the off-topic thread

Italian issues would be cool. But they are like 10 issues ahead of me soon (they get further and further away since I only get half-issues) but maybe it will be needed some day. If I went to Italy I would probably also buy even if I dont know the language

OK, Choose the thread

I'm really big on reading comics in the order they were released, and I'm wondering if anyone has a reading list that incorporates the Specials in with the regular issues. For example, does the Elyon special come after Issue #24? A reading like would be greatly appriciated.