Comics Studies Resources
Below are sample resources related to comics and fandom studies. The list is not exhaustive and is meant as an illustrative guide to the many sorts of print and online resources available for librarians, teachers, scholars, and fans.
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Contents
- General
- Histories
- Academic
- Professional Societies and Organizations
- Journals
- News
- Conferences
- Bibliographies
- Digital Comics Collections
- Digital Comics Readers
- Archive and Library Supplies
- Creators
- Library Research Guides And Readers Advisories
- Publishers
- Museums and Archives
- Auction Houses
- Digital Comics Formats
- Data Sets
- Text Analysis Tools
- Visualization Tools
General
- Broken Pencil
- Comic Cartography
- Comichron
- del Ray Cabero, E., Goodrum, M., & Morlesín, J. M. How to Study Comics & Graphic Novels: A Graphic Introduction to Clomic s Studies
- No Flying No Tights
- The Complete Marvel Reading Order (CMRO)
- The Grand Comic Book Database (GCD)
- The Periodic Table of Comic Books
- Who’s Who of American Comic Books 1928-1999
- Women in Refrigerators
- World of Black Heroes
- Gerber, Ernst and Mary Gerber. The Photo Journal Guide to Comic Books. 2 vols. Minden, NV: Gerber Publishing Company, 1989-1990.
- Gerber, Ernst. The Photo Journal Guide to Marvel Comics. 2 vols. Minden, NV: Gerber Publishing Company, 1991. Note: Volumes are numbered 3 and 4, continuing numbering from the Ernst’s The Photo Journal Guide to Comic Books , above.
- Robins, Scott and Snow Wildsmith. A Parent’s Guide to the Best Kids’ Comics: Choosing Titles Your Children Will Love. Iola, WI: Krause, 2012.
- Steinhauer, Jillian. “A Compendium of Comic Maps”. Hyperallergic, April 16, 2014.
- Overstreet, Robert M. Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide. See https://www.gemstonepub.com/
Histories
- Dallas, Keith. American Comic Book Chronicles: The 1980s 1980-1989. Raleigh, NC: TwoMorrows, 2013.
- Levitz, Paul. 75 Years of DC Comics: The Art of Modern Mythmaking. Hohenzollernring: Taschen, 2010.
- Sabin, Roger. Comixs, Comix, & Graphic Novels: A History of Comic Art. London: Phaidon, 1996.
- Sacks, Jason. American Comic Book Chronicles: The 1970s 1970-1979. Raleigh, NC: TwoMorrows, 2014.
- Schelley, Bill. American Comic Book Chronicles: The 1950s 1950-1969. Raleigh, NC: TwoMorrows, 2013.
- Spiegelman, Art and Françoise Mouly. The Toon Treasury of Classic Children’s Comics. New York: Abrams, 2009.
- Thomas, Roy. 75 Years of Marvel Comics: From the Golden Age to the Silver Screen. Hohenzollernring: Taschen, 2014.
- Wells, John. American Comic Book Chronicles: The 1960s 1960-1964. Raleigh, NC: TwoMorrows, 2012.
- Wells, John. American Comic Book Chronicles: The 1960s 1965-1969. Raleigh, NC: TwoMorrows, 2014.
Academic
- Comics Studies Programs
- Comic Art in Scholarly Writing: A Citation Guide
- Comic Book Markup Language (CBML)
- Comix-Scholars Discussion List
- What Were Comics?
Professional Societies and Organizations
- American Library Association Graphic Novels & Comics Round Table
- Comic Book Legal Defense Fund
- Comics Studies Society
- Popular Culture Association
- Indiana University’s student-run Comic Book Book Club
Journals and Magazines
- Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics
- Inks: The Journal of the Comics Studies Society
- The Comics Grid: Journal of Comics Scholarship
- The Comics Journal
- _Hogan’s Alley: The Magazine of the Cartoon Arts
- ImageText
- Studies in Comics
- European Comic Art
- Journal of Popular Culture
- Image [&] Narrative
- Sane journal: Sequential Art Narrative in Education
- Journal of Comics and Culture
- See also the Fan Studies Network’s list of Fan Studies Journals
News
Conferences
- Comics Studies Society Annual Conference
- Comics Arts Conference
- Popular Culture Association
- Fan Studies Network (UK)
- Fan Studies Network North America
Bibliographies
Digital Comics and Fanzine Collections
- Comic Book +
- Digital Comic Museum (DCM)
- Internet Archive
- kwakk.info (“comics magazine [fanzine] search engine”)
- The Fanac Fan History Project
- eFanzines.com: Science fiction fanzines online
Digital Comics Readers
- Simple Comic (GitHub site)
- Simple Comic (Mac App Store)
- [Simple Comic](
- OpenComic
Archive and Library Supplies
Youth
Creators
Publishers
- Boom! Studios
- Dark Horse
- DC
- Drawn and Quarterly
- Fantagraphics
- IDW
- Image
- Marvel
- Toon Books
- TwoMorrows
Library research guides and readers advisories
Museums and archives
- American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming
- Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum, Ohio State University
- Comic Art Collection, Michigan State University
- Comic Art Collection, University of Missouri
- Comic Arts Collection, Virginia Commonwealth University
- Jack Kirby Museum & Research Center
- Ray & Pat Browne Library For Popular Culture Studies, Bowling Green State University
- University of Iowa Special Collections
Auction houses
Digital Comics Formats
- [Comic Book Archive][7
- Comic Book Markup Language
Data Sets and Databases
- Carl Barks
- Kees Kousemaker’S Comiclopedia
- eBDtheque: a representative database of comics
- Grand Comics Database. See https://docs.comics.org/wiki/Data_Distribution
- I.N.D.U.C.K.S.: The Disney Comics Database
- Manga 109: Japanese Manga Dataset
- The Marvel Universe Social Network Dataset from Kaggle
- This dataset only provides connections among the superheroes in Marvel Universe, villains are omitted.
- The Marvel and DC Characters Dataset from Kaggle
- Michigan State University Libraries Comics as Data: North America
- The Stephen Cooper Comic Book Collection
- Omeka collections with links to data-driven student projects and related data set about the collection.
- Don Markstein’s Toonopedia
- More…