Look, in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a comic resource guide!

Hello true believers!

This is a resource guide for the new exhibit we will be creating at our museum on comics, comic books, graphic novels, and art.  The information enclosed within covers a range of topics and major valuable resources, so that those both new and old to the subject will find something of use to them.  There will be an informational meeting about the upcoming exhibit and library sources on December 5, 2013, where you can learn all about using the materials listed.

If you cannot attend the meeting, have recommendations, or need any help at all, please contact me at anytime.  

Feel free to e-mail, call, or drop by the library space!

Sara Smith

Art Librarian

E-mail:  SaraSmith@theMuseumofCoolThings.org

Phone:  735-185-7301

Books

• Goulart, Ron. The Encyclopedia of American Comics. New York: Facts on File, 1990. Print.

A comprehensive book on major aspects of American comics, such as famous strips, characters, artists, and writers.  (Image From Amazon)

• Gifford, Denis. Encyclopedia of Comic Characters: Over 1200 Characters. Harlow: Longman, 1987. Print.

This resource covers British comic book characters back over 150 years.  It’s focus is mainly comic strip characters, and each entry includes information about the creators as well as images.

• Horn, Maurice, and Richard Marschall. The World Encyclopedia of Cartoons. Detroit: Gale Research, 1980. Print.

The World Encyclopedia of Cartoons is an older resource, but had comprehensive information on cartoons throughout the world up until 1980, and includes images of original drawings and sketches.

Horn, Maurice C. The World Encyclopedia of Comics. Philadelphia: Chelsea House, 1999. Print.

This book is actually an updated reprint of the 1976 original, which means it is a valuable resource for researching both older and newer artists.  Covering comics on an international scale, it includes a chronology of comic art, and is well known as an essential tool for comic researchers.

• Overstreet, Robert M. The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide. Vol. 43. Timonium, MD: Gemstone Pub., 2013. Print.

The essential guide for pricing comics in a variety of genres, the Overstreet Guide includes current sale prices for old and new titles.  Though the estimates sometimes under or overestimate sale price, and there is a lack of information on underground titles, the guide is released yearly, and is the best resource of its kind.

E-Books

• Beaty, Bart, and Stephen Weiner, eds. Critical Survey of Graphic Novels: Heroes & Superheroes. Vol. 1-2. Ipswich: Salem, 2012. Salem Literature Electronic Book.

AND

• Beaty, Bart, and Stephen Weiner, eds. Critical Survey of Graphic Novels: Independents and underground classics. Vol. 1-3. Ipswich: Salem, 2012. Salem Literature Electronic Book.

http://literature.salempress.com/

These two E-books, both provided by Salem Press through the Salem Literature Online Portal, cover a wide array of titles, and important information such as artistic style, themes, characters, and impact.  The first focuses solely on Superheroes in comics, while the second targets independent or underground titles. Each deals with what is considered the “Core Cannon” for comic books within the two genres.

Journals

• The Comics Grid: Journal of Comics Scholarship (http://www.comicsgrid.com)

The Comics Grid is an excellent open access source for peer-reviewed academic articles specifically targeting comics and graphic novels.  The born-digital journal looks to provide original scholarship, covering everything from the artistic depiction of music in comics to masculinity and femininity in current titles.

• The Comics Journal (http://www.tcj.com)

The Comics Journal takes an art-first perspective on comics and the industry, featuring stories and posts about a wide range of graphic novels, comics, comic strips, and other forms of cartooning.

• ImageTexT: Interdisciplinary Comics Studies (http://www.english.ufl.edu/imagetext/)

ImageTexT is another open access Journal dedicated to the study of comics and other media, with articles covering a huge array of topics. Published by the English Department at the University of Florida, it has been released three times a year every year since 2005.

Websites

• Bleeding Cool (http://www.bleedingcool.com)

Bleeding Cool is a site based out of the United Kingdom that is almost constantly updated with news on comic books and the industry.  Staffed with numerous writers, and linked in to all major online outlets, Bleeding Cool is the place to look for information on breaking news, special releases, or rare art work. (Logo from Website)

• Comic Book Resources (http://www.comicbookresources.com)

Comic Book Resources is an online news site for all things comic related.  There, you can get access to previews of upcoming work, reviews, interviews with pencillers, inkers, writers, and colorists, news on television and film adaptation, and see some original work.

• Lambiek Comiclopedia (http://www.lambiek.net/artists/index.htm)

An online encyclopedia of over 12,000 comic artists, this site is internationally focused, and includes samples of work.

Databases

• ArtFull Text

ArtFull Text is a full text database we have access to containing scholarly articles on many different aspects of the art world.  Though it covers many other topics, ArtFull Text has a significant collection of comic book and graphic novel related texts.

• Underground and Independent Comics (http://comx.alexanderstreet.com)

Underground and Independent Comics is the first kind of comics database to offer primary sources solely concerning adult comics and graphic novels, covering 421 comic series and 1,901 comic books.  In addition to spotlighting less known comic artists, the database also includes images of titles, interviews, and criticisms. 

• Grand Comics Database (http://www.comics.org/)

The Grand Comics Database is a database powered by users in order to upload and document comic books from all over the world.  It recently added its 450,000^th cover.  New issues are included, and from each entry you can access information about the entire series.

• Comic Book Database (http://comicbookdb.com/index.php)

This resource is a free online database with a two part purpose:  Much like the Grand Comics Database, this database also looks to collect covers from comics all over the world.  However, it also functions as a source for in-depth information on each comic included, as well as an access point to artists homepages, social networks, and deviant art pages.

Character Databases

Most of the major comic book companies have some information on their characters linked to their homepages (see above).  However, for additional information, Marvel, DC, Image, and Dark Horse also have fan driven Wikia databases that can be searched for artists, characters, titles, and series.

DC Database     Marvel Database    Image Database    Dark Horse Database

Companies

Below is listed the top 5 comic book companies.  Click on the name of the company to access the homepage, which has links to news, or functions as the company's blog.  Vertigo is a subdivision of DC, but is well known for its artists and content.  

Of course, this is not all the companies you will encounter, and I will be updating systematically to include others.  If you have a book, piece of artwork, or artists associated with another company, please let me know, and I will add them immediately to this list!.

DC Blog Facebook Twitter YouTube	Marvel Tumblr Facebook Twitter YouTube Pinterest	Dark Horse Twitter Facebook
Vertigo Facebook Twitter	Image Facebook Twitter Tumblr	IDW Facebook Twitter Tumblr

Social Networks

Sometimes, the best way to gather information on art, artists, and upcoming books is to head straight to the source.  Artists often have their own Facebooks, Twitters, and Tumblrs, which they update often, release news on, and even utilize to display original artwork.  Use the Comic Book Database (http://comicbookdb.com/index.php) to find lists of an artist's social network sites, check the List of the Top 125 Comic Book Artists as voted by Comic Book Resources to see basic information, or search an artists name in the main networking site.  Below are some examples:

•https://twitter.com/JHWilliamsIII

•https://twitter.com/TonyDanielx2

•https://twitter.com/artofmmignola

Podcasts

• Marvel Podcasts (http://marvel.com/podcasts/)

Marvel is a heavy user of social media, and creates numerous podcasts to promote their products. These podcast can be found from their main site. 

• Comic Book Club (http://www.nerdist.com/podcast/comic-book-club/)

Comic Book Club is a live stage show podcast that brings together different and unique guests each episode to discuss comics and new or developing projects.  Less in-depth than other podcasts, it is a better podcast for getting an introduction to an artists, writer, or comic.

• Word Balloon (http://wordballoon.com)

Though Word Balloon is a podcast that covers a variety of media formats, when it comes to comic books, it is an excellent source for in-depth interviews with artists and writers about their working processes and ideas.  As a more knowledgeable host, John Siuntres can go beyond the average podcaster to discuss details with his guests. 

• Comic Podcast Network (http://www.comicspodcasts.com/about/)

The Comic Podcast Network has numerous podcasts to explore on a variety of topics, with a variety of people.  You can actually join the site as a member, and they will link any podcasts you create to their main page so that others can find it. (Image from Website)

• SMODcast: Fatman on Batman, I Sell Comics, Bagged and Boarded, and Secret Stash (http://smodcast.com/)

SMODcast is a podcasting network run by Kevin Smith, a director, author, and comic book writer.  Though the site has other, non-related podcasts, there are at least four related to the comic book industry, one being based on the regular AMC show “Comic Book Men”. Many of these podcasts are informal and fun, but Smith often has major members of the comic book community on as guests  Beware, language and content can be adult.

Films

• Comic Book Confidential. Dir. Ron Mann. Sphinx Productions, 1988. DVD.

Comic Book Confidential, though older, is an excellent documentary on the history of comic books as an artistic medium, and contains interviews with some of the most well know talent s in the industry. (Image from IMDB)

• Superheroes: A Never Ending Battle. Dir. Michael Kantor. Perf. Liev Schreiber. PBS, 2013. DVD.

Superheroes is a very new documentary containing over 50 interviews with huge industry names as the history of comic books all the way up to their current incarnation is discussed. 

Additional Sources

• The Comic Research Bibliography (http://homepages.rpi.edu/~bulloj/comxbib.html)

A massive website, the Comic Research Bibliography is an international bibliography covering comic books, comic strips, animation, caricature, cartoons, bandes dessinees, and related topics, with over 29,000 entries from a wide range of sources.