Comic Book Citation Format

Britton Payne, Fordham Law ’07
Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal
April 7, 2006

Bill Finger & Bob Kane, The Case of the Chemical Syndicate, DETECTIVE COMICS 27, at 2 (DC Comics May 1939) (first appearance of Batman), reprinted in BATMAN ARCHIVES, VOLUME ONE 7 (Dale Crain ed., DC Comics 1990).

Creative Contributors, Story Title, COMIC BOOK TITLE (VOLUME IF APPROPRIATE) [Issue Number], at [Page Number] (Publisher Cover Date Month and Year).

At present, the Blue Book does not have a specific citation format for Comic Books. As the prime source of the multi-billion dollar superhero industry, it is appropriate that their source

1. Creative Contributors

Judge Posner defines the scope of who creates comic books in Gaiman v. McFarlane, 360 F.3d 644 (7th Cir. 2004). This format follows his lead. "The contents of a comic book are typically the joint work of four artists -- the writer, the penciler who creates the art work, the inker who makes a black and white plate of the art work, and the colorist who colorist." Id. at 659. Include all four in Posner’s order -- writer, penciler, inker, & colorist -- separated by an ampersand, as per Rule 15.1(b), which allows you to "include all authors' names when doing so is particularly relevant." Many creators use nicknames or shortenings of their names. As per Rule 15.1, "always give the author’s full name as it appears on the publication."

2. Story Title

This follows the form for a magazine in Rule 16.4, as comics are basically magazines. Many story titles (as well as other footnoting information) can be found in the Grand Comics Database at comics.org.

3. Comic Book Title

This also basically follows the form for a magazine in Rule 16.4. Because of design considerations, the cover may not clearly indicate the Comic Book Title. The proper title can generally be found in the indicia inside the comic book, generally at the bottom of the first page. Use the title from the indicia, even if it is not the common name of the comic book; if necessary set up a parenthetical hereinafter.

4. Volume Number

Many comic book series have run for decades, and they periodically relaunch under the same name, so it may be important to know which volume of the series the note references. The Volume Number is part of the Comic Book Title, and should be included parenthetically. If there is only one volume, do not include the Volume Number in the citation.

5. Issue Number

The Comic Book Title will be followed immediately by the Issue Number. Comic books are generally organized by issue in stores and in commerce. If someone wanted to follow up on a footnote, they would seek the comic book by issue, not by date, and the form here incorporates that reality.

6. Page Number

Comic book stories are generally paginated, but unlike magazines, the advertisement pages are generally not part of that pagination. To differentiate the Issue Number from the Page Number, separate them with a comma and "at". Page numbers are not always available, as some source materials are extremely rare.

7. Publisher

As with a book, the publisher should be included parenthetically. In comic book back issue stores, comic books are segregated by publisher, and sometimes even by imprint of a particular publisher.

8. Cover Date

Comic books are generally cover dated, but that date is different from the publication date. The major companies publish their comics approximately three months prior to the cover date. This is a tradition left over from an older distribution system, where comic books would be removed from the shelves when the cover date expired, so that they would seem current longer on newsstands and comic racks in general stores. The Cover Date should include month and year, to provide chronological context. As in the citation of books, there is no comma between the Publisher and the Cover Date.

9. Parenthetical Information

Parenthetical Information might include the "first appearance of" or "introducing" a new character.

10. Reprint Information

Many comic books are rare and expensive, and have been reprinted. Reprint Information should follow the original comic book citation with the signal "reprinted in" following a comma. Comic book reprinted volumes are typically books collecting several comic books, and should follow the Rule 15 book citation format. These compilations may collect many works, and have many more creators than a single comic book. It is acceptable to follow the Rule 15.1(b) "et al." form, particularly because the relevant creators are fully acknowledged in the Creative Contributors part of the main cite.

11. Examples

Here are some exerpts of comic book citations from Britton Payne, Super-Grokster: Untangling Secondary Liability, Comic Book Heroes and the DMCA, and a Filtering Solution for Infringing Digital Creations, 17 Fordham Intell. Prop. Media & Ent. L. J. (2006).

See, e.g., Judd Winick, Dusting Nguyen, Richard Friend & Alex Sinclair, As the Crow Flies Part Two: Partners in Crime, BATMAN 627, at City of Heroes Advertisement (DC Comics Jun. 2004) (on sale Apr. 2004) [hereinafter City of Heroes Advertisement].

See Joe Simon & Jack Kirby, CAPTAIN AMERICA 1, at cover, (Timely Comics Mar. 1941) (depicting a star-chested Captain America decking Adolf Hitler), available at The Great Comics Database, http://comics.org/details.lasso?id=1313 (last visited Nov. 14, 2005).

Fabian Nicienza, Kurt Busiek, Tom Grummett, Gary Erskine & Chris Sotomayor, Zeroes to Heroes Part 5: Call to Battle?, NEW THUNDERBOLTS 5, at 32 (Marvel Comics Apr. 2005) (http://marvel.com/catalog/showcomic.htm?id=1643&format=comic (confirming the release date)). Comic books are traditionally post-dated so they will be left on the rack for a few months after publication, and still seem current. See Periodical Cover Date, WIKIPEDIA.COM, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Periodical_cover_date (last visited Dec. 13, 2005).

Fabian Nicienza, Kurt Busiek, Tom Grummett, Gary Erskine & Chris Sotomayor, Zeroes to Heroes Part 6: City of Heroes?, NEW THUNDERBOLTS 6 (Marvel Comics May 2005). Subsequent republishings of these issues and Marvel’s official online presence have removed any mention of City of Heroes in the title, changing the name of the entire story arc from “Zeroes to Heroes” to the name of the original first chapter “One Step Forward,” although the closing dialogue proclaiming New York as “A CITY OF HEROES” remains. See FABIAN NICIENZA, KURT BUSIEK, TOM GRUMMETT, GARY ERSKINE & CHRIS SOTOMAYOR, NEW THUNDERBOLTS VOL 1: ONE STEP FORWARD (Marvel Comics 2005).

See Jerome Siegel & Joe Shuster, Superman, ACTION COMICS 1, at inside cover, 1 (Detective Comics, Inc. June 1938) (first appearance of Superman), reprinted in SUPERMAN IN ACTION COMICS ARCHIVES, VOLUME ONE 9 (Bob Kahan ed., DC Comics 1997) (inside cover available at http://superman.ws/tales2/action1/?page=0 (last visited Dec. 3, 2005)).

See Detective Comics, Inc. v. Fox Publ’ns, Inc., 46 F. Supp. 872, 873 (S.D.N.Y. 1942); Norton Kingsley, The Coming of the Lynx, MYSTERY MEN COMICS 13, at 54 (Fox Publ’ns Aug. 1940). This issue has not been reprinted, and an original print is not readily available, selling for thousands of dollars. See, e.g., William Hughes Vintage Collectibles.net, http://www.vintagecollectables.net/detail.php?issue_id=889&PHPSESSID=4a38428f03690da4565a198e7f09bb31) (last visited Dec. 3, 2005). To see an adventure of The Lynx from a subsequent issue, see Norton Kingsley, The Rook Strikes, MYSTERY MEN COMICS 21, at 37 (Fox Publ’ns Apr. 1941), reprinted in PURE EXCITEMENT COMICS (VOL. 1) 42, (Bill Nolan, ed., Feb. 2002), http://pecomics.tripod.com/42contents.html (last visited Dec. 5, 2005).

Stan Lee & Gene Colan, Out of the Holocaust… A Hero!, CAPTAIN MARVEL 1, (Marvel Comics May 1968), reprinted in MARVEL MASTERWORKS: CAPTAIN MARVEL (VOL. 1) (Marvel Comics 2005)

Compare, e.g., Jerome Siegel & Joe Shuster, Superman, ACTION COMICS 1, at 1 (Detective Comics, Inc. June 1938) (first appearance of Superman), reprinted in SUPERMAN IN ACTION COMICS ARCHIVES, VOLUME ONE 9 (Bob Kahan ed., DC Comics 1997) with, e.g., Bill Parker & C. C. Beck, Introducing Captain Marvel, WHIZ COMICS 2, at 1 (Fawcett Publ’ns Feb. 1940) (first appearance of Captain Marvel), reprinted in THE SHAZAM! ARCHIVES, VOLUME ONE 19 (Bob Kahan ed., DC Comics 1992). For a comparison of similar covers featuring the two characters, visit this note’s accompanying website at http://www.brittonpayne.com/Marvel.html.

Compare Len Wein & Marv Wolfman, Who Can Defeat a God?, SUPER ADVENTURES 7, at 7 (Marvin Wolfman, 1967) with Marv Wolfman, John Buscema, Joe Sinnott & Michele Wolfman, Nova, THE MAN CALLED NOVA 1 (Marvel Comics Group Sep. 1976), reprinted in MARV WOLFMAN ET AL., ESSENTIAL NOVA VOLUME ONE (Marvel Comics 2006). A side by side comparison of the characters is available at this note’s website, http://www.brittonpayne.com/Marvel.html.

The early Justice League of America charter acknowledges the frequency of power replication by forbidding duplication of powers among its membership. See Garnder Fox, Mike Sekowsky & Bernard Sachs, Riddle of the Runaway Room!, JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA 31 (DC Comics Nov. 1964), reprinted in JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA ARCHIVES: VOLUME FIVE (DC Comics 1999). For readers concerned with comic book minutiae, this clause was subsequently changed under duress to allow membership to Hawkman’s identically powered wife Hawkgirl. See Steve Englehart, Dick Dillin, Frank McLaughlin & Anthony Tollin, Inner Mission!, JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA 146 (DC Comics Sep. 1977) (summarized at Scott Tipton, Comics 101: Final Recruits – The Justice League Of America, Part IV, MOVIE POOP SHOOT, http://www.moviepoopshoot.com/comics101/101.html (last visited Dec. 5, 2005)).

Todd McFarlane & Steve Oliff, Questions, SPAWN 1 (Image Comics May 1992) (first appearance of Spawn), reprinted in TODD MCFARLANE ET AL., SPAWN COLLECTION VOLUME ONE (Image Comics 2005)

In fact, it is somewhat of a tradition for one company to create analogues of another company’s characters with the same powers but entirely new names and costumes in order to show a new take on the heroes, or how the companies’ heroes might interact. Compare, e.g., Gardner Fox, Mike Sekowsky & Bernard Sachs, Starro the Conqueror!, THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD 28 (DC Comics Feb.–Mar. 1960) (first appearance of the Justice League of America), reprinted in JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA ARCHIVES: VOLUME ONE (DC Comics 1997) with, e.g., Roy Thomas, Sal Buscema & Sam Grainger, When Strikes the Squadron Sinister, THE AVENGERS (VOL. 1) 70 (Marvel Comics 1971) (introducing the Squadron Sinister, who later became the Squadron Supreme (see Roy Thomas, John Buscema & Frank Giacoia, The World is Not For Burning, THE AVENGERS 85, at 8, 11 (Marvel Comics Feb. 1971)), Marvel’s authoritarian take on DCs Justice League); compare, e.g., Warren Ellis, Bryan Hitch, Paul Neary & Laura Depuy, Pay Allegiance to the Authority, THE AUTHORITY (VOL. 1) 1 (Wildstorm, May 1999) (first appearance of anti-hero supergroup The Authority), reprinted in WARREN ELLIS ET AL., THE AUTHORITY VOL. 1: RELENTLESS (Wildstorm 2000) with Joe Kelly, et. al., What’s so funny about Truth, Justice & The American Way?, ACTION 775 (DC Comics Mar. 2001) (showing how DCs Superman dealt with analogues of Wildstorm’s anti-heroes); compare, e.g., Stan Lee, Jack Kirby & Dick Ayers, The Coming of the Avengers!, AVENGERS (VOL. 1) 1 (Marvel 1963) (the first appearance of The Avengers), reprinted in MARVEL MASTERWORKS: THE AVENGERS (VOL. 1) (Marvel Comics 2003) with Mike Friedrich, Dick Dillin & Joe Giella, Batman—King of the World, JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA (VOL. 1) 87 (DC Comics Feb. 1971) (introducing the Justifiers, an analogue of Marvel’s Avengers); compare, e.g., Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, George Klein & Christopher Rule, The Fantastic Four, FANTASTIC FOUR (VOL. 1) 1, at 1 (Marvel Comics 1963) (the first appearance of the Fantastic Four), reprinted in FANTASTIC FOUR OMNIBUS VOLUME ONE (Marvel Comics, 2005) and Bill Finger & Bob Kane, The Case of the Chemical Syndicate, DETECTIVE COMICS 27, at 2 (DC Comics May 1939) (the first appearance of Batman), reprinted in BATMAN ARCHIVES, VOLUME ONE 7 (Dale Crain ed., DC Comics 1990) with, e.g., Kurt Busiek, Alex Ross & Brent Anderson, KURT BUSIEK’S ASTRO CITY (VOL. 1) 1 (Image Comics Aug. 1995), reprinted in KURT BUSIEK’S ASTRO CITY VOL. 1: LIFE IN THE BIG CITY (Wildstorm, 1999) and, e.g., Kurt Busiek, Alex Ross, Brent Anderson & Will Blyburg, KURT BUSIEK’S ASTRO CITY (VOL. 2) 4 (Image Comics Dec. 1996), reprinted in KURT BUSIEK’S ASTRO CITY VOL. 2: CONFESSION (Wildstorm 1999) (Kurt Busiek’s creator-owned First Family is a reinterpretation of Marvel’s Fantastic Four, and Confessor is his take on DCs Batman). A visual illustration of this tradition, including a side-by-side comparison of the above, can be found at this note’s accompanying website, http://www.brittonpayne.com/Marvel.html.