You Maniacs! You blew
it up! Ah, damn you!

NoisyDvL5

No, you’re not at the wrong site. I just decided it was time to freshen up the place. Move the couch over there, try the television by the window, get rid of that old curio, that kind of thing. The changes are mostly cosmetic, but there are a few cool additions…

Last October-ish, I decided that IAT was due for a 2012 makeover and I set a firm date of January 15th to design and implement the new layout. It had been two years since I’d last updated the site from being that little one-column blog, so it was definitely time for a change. I resolved that I’d have an update by the first of the year! Well, January kind of came and… kind of went. Somewhere in the hubbub of the last few months, I picked April 16th as the new date. And it looks like we made it! Maybe. I’m still waiting for something to break… and there’s a few more things to be done… but for now, let’s cue the music and toss some confetti!

As I said, it’s mostly cosmetic, implementing a few more CSS tricks I learned and giving a little bit more of a graphical representation, but there are some changes beyond looks too. The biggest one has been to navigation. There are some new buttons that will help everyone move around the site easier like the “News” button which will change the central feed to only news related articles (still trying to figure out why it isn’t two columns, but I digress). The Reviews button still takes you to the Review Index, but I’m considering having it do the same thing where it loads the most recent Reviews in the central column. We’ll shake down this new layout and see if that and other sorting buttons would come in handy. Say, like one for MOTU-only or Marvel-only feeds.

For right now, that uncaptioned Spidey Banner will span the entire site, even the MOTUClassics.Com & DCClassics.Com areas. We had planned on keeping the banners the same size, the new taller/thinner banner was a recent change, so give me a few days to sort out some new banners and get the other headers working properly and we can get back to the variety up there.

The big news is that we’re going to try out having some contests and giveaways around here (You know, if any of you guys like free stuff that is). Head over to the forum to get the skinny on the contests. And, no, your eyes don’t decieve you, we’re kicking off the giveaways with two 30th Anniversary Zombie Vipers!

I know I’m forgetting stuff but my late has become early! One thing I don’t want to forget is that we’ve added a new checklist!

We’re proud to announce our Spy Monkey Armory Series collector’s guide! We’ve got a few more ideas for that particular checklist, but we’ve got the basics ready for you perusal.

Okay, I think that will do for now. I hope you guys enjoy the new layout and the weird obsession with octagons I discovered while building it! If you find something not working, love something or… sigh, yes, hate something. Let me know! Feedback is generally appreciated. 😉

Anyway, hope you all have a good “Matty Order Day”. I plan to sleep through the sale!

NoisyDvL5

37 thoughts on “You Maniacs! You blew
it up! Ah, damn you!”

  1. I’m definitely looking forward to ordering Draego-Man. Also going to get DDP as I just realized he’s still in stock.

  2. Also wanted to add that I’m really digging the new site layout. Really reminds me of TMNT (not sure if that’s a compliment or not).

  3. This new site design is terrible! It’s eyes are beautiful and it’s hair smells like cinnamon! I HATE IT!

    haha just kidding. Nice work buddy.

    1. Thanks! I’ve got Fantomex & Piledriver on the schedule, but they’ve dried up here! My Zola is still short an arm and the proper head! But yes, this brief Marvel review drought needs to end!!

  8. It is… It is… Green.

    Like the new collector-guide links, and sci-fi is all about hexagons : )

  9. It’s OK, I mean, if it makes you guys happy then I’m cool with it. You may want to consider changing the color of the ‘recommends’ links on the right side, the names (being in white) vanish where there’s white. It could be that entire segment is meant to fill the ‘below the fold’ green bar but if that’s the case, it don’t play nice with Firefox 3.6.28. (no, I can’t upgrade, this is the last version that works with PowerPC chipped G5 Macs.)

    and saaaaay, shouldn’t that DC logo be the current ‘pringle can lid’ style? didn’t you get the memo? there’s a NEW DC and everything is FRESH!! Hm? 🙂

    1. The links section will change. I built this in a sandbox build elsewhere on the site, so things like the blogroll weren’t loaded over there. I’ll be doing something with it.

      And I have to laugh about the peel, I almost just used the bullet! The swirl still represents Classics, so we’re sticking with it for now! 😀

      1. I vote to use the ’70s DC logo myself but I’m known to be insane. 🙂

        Know what I really laugh about, in re. the ‘pringle can lid’ DC logo, and how it’s supposed to represent the fresh hip kewl new vibe of DC? (and, um, I thought that’s what a ‘swoosh’ logo was for?)

        When I think ‘fresh’, Pringles are not high on the list I picture. Pressed, formed potato-like powder? Completely uniform in size and shape? Stackable and hence interchangeable? Nooot the best image for comic books, regardless how true it can be, eh? 🙂

  10. I hate/fear change. Everything (and everyone) stays the same. Nothing changes. (Heck, I’m still wearing polyester leisure suits everyday)

    That being said, I like the new look. Navigation certainly looks to be easier. Just don’t change the standard of excellent reviews, insightful commentary, and thought-generating editorials.

    1. I enjoy change. I want to rearrange the furniture all the time!

      Glad you like the new look! We were planning on phoning it in going forward, but for you we’ll work a little harder!! 😀

  11. Whoa, someone missed St Patty’s Day!
    just kidding. ;p

    I’m not seeing the “captionless Spider-Man banner”, unless you’re referring to the style of it as opposed to a picture? If that’s the case, I’m not getting anything “webby” off of it. I’m gonna miss the random header pics, tho, esp during a theme week.

    1. Random headers will return! It’s just going to a take a couple days to rebuild that library. Some old ones might go away though. We might introduce an archive? But rotating banners will be back soon!

  12. Change is generally scary but free stuff is great! I’ve always loved the site and I don’t see that changing now. Glad to see you guys are doing bigger and better.

  13. Usually I resent change for change’s sake, but that’s only because it’s usually bad news for me. In this case however, it’ll take me a little while to remember which links are where, but for the most part, I like what you’ve done with the place. Any particular reason for the octagon motif? Do you just like ’em, or are you gearing up for a Bruce Lee week, or something?

    And green is my favourite colour, nice and soothing. Which is just what we need after reading Mattel’s more infuriating Q&A sessions.

  16. Dude, you missed April Fool’s Day by like two weeks. Nice effort tho!

    All kidding aside, the update is interesting — Its definitely more professional looking. I get the Green Lantern/Ben 10 vibe here.

  17. Caught me off guard when I clicked my bookmarks and thought I was in the wrong place for a second LOL. It looks good though, nice touch ups and such.

  19. The new look is great. Lot of work put in and it shows. I’m with you on keeping the current DC logo you have up. This is probably my favorite site to go to for toy news.

  22. Where did all the white space go? 🙁

    Too much green, I think…I would suggest maybe toning it down a little, maybe removing the green post-title blocks or the green sidebars (if not just turning off the y-repeat). Just my two cents..it’s up to you!

    Keep up the great work!

    1. Oh I just wanted to add that you make the contests so easy to enter–you barely even have to do anything! Sweetness! ;p

Comments are closed.