About

I started this blog because I decided to give up my long obsessive control over having my own website for the lovely freeness of blogs. So, while the blog itself is new the concept is not.

About Me & This Place: My name is Bell. I really like Marvel comics- specifically Iron Man. He is my hero, my inspiration, and a great source of emotional comfort for me. I started reading Iron Man as a child. I don’t know how I first was introduced to comics, as neither of my parents (nor anyone else in my family) has an interest in them. My parents would take me to our local comic store twice a month to buy comics, I consistently bought Iron Man, Avengers, Spider-Man, X-Men, and anything else that caught my eye. As I got older I took to reading almost every title Marvel produced (and a decent chunk of DC). You can follow my comic escapades here.

When I was young I always wrote down “notes” while I read Iron Man. Such as my favorite quotes and anything else that I noticed that was part of Tony’s life and character (such as what kind of car he happened to be driving, the name of the salon he gets his hair styled at, the color of his tie) and I’d add those things to the small website I ran as a kid just for fun (I don’t think I had any traffic, haha). I would add scans of my favorite pages though the scans from “back in the day” are since garbage as they’re such poor quality, they’re not even worth being re-posted so everything on the Iron Man Fanatic Blog is being “freshly” scanned. It makes me cringe to think it would take 5 mins (or more) to scan one page on that old 90s scanner, now I can scan a page in 20 seconds or less^^ Oh sweet technology. I would also post other things I liked from animation and video games (a lot of anime, for one thing!). I decided to switch to a blog around the release of Iron Man 2, hoping to pick up on some new-fan-traffic!

Purpose: The purpose of this place is to extend people’s understanding of Tony Stark and give people access to (at least) bits of relevant comic scans they otherwise wouldn’t see. It’s also to keep a steady stream of Iron Man related icons, wallpapers, and other interesting content that I’ve made. You will notice I also post things from other comics that are not related to Iron Man from time-to-time (though most of the time when I am posting non-Iron Man comics it's to showcase Iron Man being featured in them or characters that are close to Tony). I also like to post interesting things I come across featuring characters that are important to Tony or involved with him. I also wanted to make a note and make it very clear: I don't post these scans as an alternative to not buying comics. It's very important that the comic industry gets support. The sale of comics is down, way down. Every comic you buy means something to the artists and writers. I hope that the scans I post encourage fans who are not regular comic buyers to start buying. If you call yourself an Iron Man fan- buy the comic! That's what matters! Buy an issue or start subscribing to a monthly issue of your favorite hero's flagship title. Support the comic industry!

The Blog's Content: I don’t post anything here that I have not taken myself via a screenshot or a scan. This includes any GIF images, wallpapers, icons, quotes, and character information. I have gathered, put together, typed, and posted myself. Why do I ask for credit? I only ask for credit on the scans that I post to help "get my blog out there" to more people. I do spent time scanning these comics, fixing up those scans, and posting them online. I would like to have traffic on my blog and so I ask for a link when my content is used. I think that's fair and very easy for people to do.

Crediting Icons & Wallpapers (non-scans, non-"information"): I only ask for credit on my icons if you're going to use them as bases or re-post them. If you're going to use one for your avatar- you don't need to credit me, that's why I make them. Same for wallpapers. If you use them to make something else or re-post, credit me... if you just save it to use it... don't credit me, that's why I make them. As for how I make them, I make them 300dpi or larger scans in Photoshop CS4. Some icons I have done a lot of editing on to take out word bubbles, fix or play with color, blur out backgrounds, and so on, while others needed very little editing.

300dpi: I also have 300dpi (resolution) files of everything posted. You are most welcome to request 300dpi files for icon or wallpaper making… or whatever. To do this, you would need to e-mail me at bellstark7 {at} gmail {dot} com or you can leave a note/comment. I am also on livejournal as Bellstark, I re-post to my LJ account. You may also leave a comment there or PM me.

Requests: By all means make them, and the more specific the easier time I'll have fulfilling it. I also will take requests for icon making or wallpapers.

Questions: I won't say I am "the expert of experts" but I know a lot about Iron Man and I can easily point you in the right direction if you're a new reader or a fanfic writer looking for more information, or just have a question about Shellhead. Please don't be shy, I like helping people.

What about DC? I post some scans and icons here.

Contact: Leave a comment here, e-mail me at bellstark7 {at} gmail {dot} com, or if you have a LJ account you can send me a PM on there or leave a note on a post at bellstark.