These resources are designed to be used as an introduction
to the world of comic books and their history. The materials include books,
articles and encyclopedias on comic books and comic strips.
- Goulart, Ron, ed. Encyclopedia of American comics . 1990. New York: Facts on File.
Includes signed articles written on biographical information of those in the comics industry and also on the comic strips/books themselves. The author incudes a general index.
- Horn, Maurice, ed. The World Encyclopedia of Comics. 1976. New York: Chelsea House.
Entries include history, a chronology, important dates in the industry, a selected bibliography, and index.
- Kempkes, Wolfgang. International Bibliography of Comics Literature . 1973. New York: R.R. Bowker Company.
Mostly composed of periodical and newspaper articles and attempts to address "sociological, pedagagical, psychological and structural aspects" of the genre.
- Lent, John A. Comic books and strips in the United States: An international bibliography . With a foreword by Mort Walker and introduction by Jerry Robinson. 1994. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
A basic history of comic books/strips and then all sorts of related bibliographies indexed by author and subject.
- Scott, Randall W. Comic books and strips: An information sourcebook . 1988. Phoenix, Oryx Press.
Provides listings & annotations of over 1,000 books on comic books and also includes listings of related periodicals and special collections. It icludes author, subject & title indexes.
[Books/Bibliographies]
[Articles]
[Dissertations]
[Websites]
Articles
- Inge, M. Thomas, "Comic Strips", in Handbook Of American Popular Culture, 2nd ed. 1989. New York: Greenwood Press.
Highly recommended. A very scholarly article covering basic history, reference works, research collections, criticism and anthologies of comic strips (including comic books). Includes an extensive bibliography.
- Paneth, Donald, ed. In Encyclopedia of American Journalism. 1983. New York: Facts on File.
[Books/Bibliographies]
[Articles]
[Dissertations]
[Websites]
Dissertations
Dissertations can be great sources of information. After all, these folks spend years researching comic books.
- Roberts, Randy. 1998. The American comic book: A cultural history. Ph.D. diss., Purdue University.
Obviously, a work on the cultural history of the American comic book.
- Eagle, Herbert J. 1997. Beyond bang pow zap: Genre and the evolution of the American comic book industry. Ph.D. diss., University of Michigan.
Traces the development of the industry, especially concentrating on: its production system, changing culture and characteristics particular to comic books.
[Books/Bibliographies]
[Articles]
[Dissertations]
[Websites]
Websites
Information taken from:
- Balay, Robert, ed. Guide to Reference Books, 11th ed. 1996. Chicago: American Library Association.
- Inge, M. Thomas. "Comic Strips". In Handbook of American Popular Culture, 2nd ed.. 1989. New York: Greenwood Press.
- Ryan, Joe. First Stop: Master Index to Subject Encyclopedias. 1989. Phoenix: Oryx Press.
- UMI Proquest Digital Dissertations database.
This page last updated April 17, 2000.