Comic Book Resources on the Web

by David S. Serchay -- Library Journal, 10/1/1999

If comic books haven't moved to the web, the subject of comics now includes discussion areas, e-zines, sites dedicated to a particular character, writer, or artist, cataloging and collecting help, and sites from both the major (DC, Marvel, Dark Horse, and Image) and minor (known as independents) companies.

Many comic-themed sites are set up by fans who want to share information. The sites below are a sample of the huge number of sites out there that include columns, news, and link lists, plus cataloging, contact, and historical information.

Comic Book Resources
http://www.comicbookresources.com
Date Visited: 9/4/99
Developer/Provider: Jonah Weiland

Beginning as a large link list, this site now boasts news, pictures, reviews, contests, and audio clips. A banner on every page lets visitors use a drop-down menu to jump to the different features, some of which are also found on the main page. These include "The Comics Wire," a twice-weekly news column (archived back to June 1998), "Master of the Obvious," an opinionated column by comics writer Steven Grant (who sees comics morphing into trade paperbacks), and "Comics2Film," which updates movies based on comics. The main page also offers daily reviews, contests, polls, "CBR Radio" (containing comic-themed songs), and Real Audio interviews with various comics professionals.

With the drop-down menu, visitors can go to various message boards, downloadable pictures, an FAQ, a list of comics being issued, and a link to the highly detailed preview catalogs from Diamond, the main distributor of comics and comics items.

The menu also leads to the Comic Links Database, which features more than 2000 unannotated links, divided into eight categories -- four major publishers, Independents, Self-Published comics, Stores, and Miscellaneous -- and many subcategories. The site has its own search engine, but the links are a good way to find official and unofficial sites relating to specific comics.

Bottom Line: This is the best place to look for news and information about the comic business in general and a great list of links to companies and specific series.

Grand Comic Book Database Project
http://www.comics.org
Date Visited: 9/5/99
Developer/Provider: Jon Lovstad

Grand Comic Book Database Project (GCD) is an online nonprofit group with members from about a dozen countries working to catalog every comic book (defined as having "50% or more art and/or pictures which tell a story") ever made. After five years, they've cataloged over 57,000 books, some dating back to the 1800s.

The most important link on the main page is the searchable database. Once there, visitors can search for information in several areas, including a title search; locating the work of a comic writer, artist, or other creative personnel; looking up a specific issue; or finding the appearances of a comic book character.

There are many options for searching. With title searches, visitors can click on the title and go to a page where general information on that title (publisher, first and last issue, and dates) are given, and on the bottom find "quicklinks" to individual issues. With creator, character, or individual issue searches, the visitor can click on that issue and the information includes story titles, creative credits, and occasionally a story summary and character appearances.

Both Michigan State University (see below) and the Library of Congress have used this site while cataloging their comic collections. However, the GCD remains far from complete, both in terms of titles and within entries, as it offers little to no information on the characters or creators.

Bottom Line: A good example of how the Internet allows catalogers to collaborate, the GCD will help fans or researchers looking for credits and character appearances.

AnotherUniverse.com's World of Comics
http://www.anotheruniverse.com/worlds/index.asp?x_act=Comics
Date Visited: 9/4/99
Developer/Provider: AnotherUniverse.com

This is part of a larger commercial site also dealing with sf and fantasy film and TV and selling a range of related products. The World of Comics area is divided into four main categories: Columns, Interviews, News Articles, and Features.

News also contains information on upcoming comic releases, which lists the creators and blurbs for the story. To check on a particular title, visitors must click on the name of its publisher, though some characters with a "family" of books (Superman, Batman, X-Men) have their own listings.

In the right column are lists for various products and archived articles. The articles list includes a character database, with characters from a broader range of publishers than some competing sites. Entries give some basic information on the character and usually include a picture. Though the guides don't provide reviews, the story synopses are quite detailed. The site does have a search engine, located on the top banner, which allows visitors to search for either products or articles.

Bottom Line: This site, somewhat more commercial than Comic Resources, overlaps somewhat but provides some alternative sources for news and information.

Alternate Sites

• The Comic Page
  http://www.dereksantos.com/comicpage/portal.html
• The History of Super Hero Comic Books
  http://www.sigma.net/comichistory/

The Comic Page divides its brief but accessible history pages into six eras from 1895 to the early 1980s, including the Golden Age (in the 1930s, when original works were launched) and the Silver Age (in the 1950s, with a spurt of new characters). Start at the beginning or jump to a particular era. In the center of the page is a link to Wahoo, a directory of more than 700 comics links -- not a long list, but nicely annotated. The History of Super Hero Comics Books offers a link to the 1954 Senate Committee report on comic books and juvenile delinquency that led to, among other things, the introduction of the coercive Comics Code, which reined in what some thought to be inappropriate content. The history section, divided into five parts, covers 100 years and also contains links within the text.

• Cheeks the Toy Wonder Page
  http://toywonder.simplenet.com/

Named after a minor comics character, this site contains good essays about the Silver Age of comics. Scroll down to three main subdirectories -- DC, Marvel, and Miscellaneous -- and click to find listings by character for the first two. Like the comics of the era -- which ranged over topics from the Cold War to pure frivolity -- the essays go from the informative to the silly. The site's excellent graphics may appear blurry if you use Internet Explorer instead of Netscape.

• Michigan State University Library Comic Art Collection Home Page
  http://www.lib.msu.edu/comics/index.htm

Michigan State University Library has a huge collection of comic books and comic-related items and, while this site doesn't provide access to them, its Reading Room Index, as well as a growing classified index (which includes subjects such as "creative personnel, "golf," and "writers about comics"), can help researchers.

• Comics Research Bibliography
  http://www.rpi.edu/~bulloj/comxbib.html
• Comics Scholarship Annotated Bibliographies
  http://www.sp.uconn.edu/~epk93002/ComicsScholarship

These sites can help those looking for articles on the genre, when a search on "comic" in article databases turns up false leads. The Comics Research Bibliography has over 5400 entries, including books and articles. It's divided into four categories (e.g., Features and Reviews; Business and Marketing), but users also might try a topical subject list or a keyword search. The Annotated Bibliographies site, by a graduate student writing a dissertation on comics, concentrates on about 200 books. The four categories can be accessed both by scrolling the page or from an ever-present left-side list.

• Tony's On-Line Tips
  http://www.wfcomics.com/tony

Veteran comics writer Tony Isabella (creator of the superhero Black Lightning) writes this daily version of his Comic Buyer's Guide column, discussing various topics including reviews of current comics and the state of the comics industry. Click on the Today's Journal Entry icon or on Back Issues for the annotated index of past columns back to June 1997. Visitors can also click on other sites and columns hosted by World Famous Comics.

• The Librarian's Guide to Anime and Manga
  http://www.sirius.com/~cowpunk/Libguide.html

Anime (Japanese animation) and Manga (Japanese comics) have been popular in America for years. The Librarian's Guide, written by Gilles Poitras, an author and librarian at Golden Gate University in San Francisco, consists of one long page. Users can scroll down or jump to topics, including a good introduction, recommended titles, discussions of nudity and violence, and a list of Internet links.

• Comic Book Professional E-Mail Addresses
  http://www.indyworld.com/comics/pro.html
• The New Comic Book Releases List Web Site
  http://www.ccse.net/~ncrl/

These two sites provide contact information for both publishers and the many comic pros currently online. The Professional E-Mail Addresses page is put out by Indy magazine, a publication devoted to independent comics and films, and lists the pros in alphabetical order along with their field (writer, penciler, editor, etc.) and some credits. While The New Comic Book Releases List Web Site mainly exists to list new titles and comics, it also links at the bottom of the page to contact information for both publishers/distributors (including the major comics companies) and industry pros.

• The Master List of Comic Book & Trading Card Stores
  http://www.the-master-list.com

This fan site aims to list every comic book and trading card store in the United States and Canada, by state/province and city. Listings for international stores and a searchable database are in the works.

• AAA Aardvark -- WraithSpace Comics Index
  http://aaa.wraithspace.com

This is another good link list, divided into about 70 different categories, some with subcategories, and a few "important comics sites." Visitors can use a category drop-down list or simply scroll down the page. While smaller than Comic Book Resources, this includes some categories -- such as mailing lists and newsgroups -- not found there.

• Inet Comics
  http://www.inetcomics.com/

Comics created for the web -- some original, others extensions of print publications -- appear at Inet Comics. A banner at the top allows users to see the varieties available -- online comics and web cartoons as well as online comic strips, linked from comic strip syndicates. Some sites require Shockwave or Real Player.

• Friends of Lulu
  http://friends-lulu.org

Friends of Lulu aims to promote female readership and roles in the comic book industry. Most useful links from the left-side topic list are the FAQ and Recommended Reading.