A&M-SA Research Guides: Comics and Graphic Novels Research Guide: Welcome

University Library Comics & Graphic Novels Collection

The University Library now houses a growing number of comic books and graphic novels. The collection includes a wide range of comics, graphic novels, manga as well as scholarship on comics studies. Examples include comics related to superheroes, comic strips, non-fiction & memoirs, science fiction, horror, young adults, and more. The library also has a special collection of Latinx comics which contains over 80 comics and graphic novels by and about Hispanic/Latinx authors and artists and/or feature Hispanic/Latinx characters. Learn more about Latinx comics and superheroes as well as more about the library's Latinx comics collection and you can browse the Latinx Comic collection online. The Latinx comics special collection is generously sponsored by a grant from the President’s Commission on Equity and Inclusive Excellence.

The Comics & Graphic Novels collection is located on the second floor of the library near the elevator. Browse the featured titles below or search the library catalog to find more! Use the terms "Comic books", "Graphic Novels", or manga in the library catalog to help limit your results. You can then further limit your search by author, format, date of publication, etc. using the options in the left sidebar.

Featured Comics, Graphic Novels, and Manga

Black Widow by Kelly Thompson Vol. 1: the Ties That Bind

A Contract with God and Other Tenement Stories

The Amazing Spider-Man Omnibus - Volume 2

Featured Hispanic/Latinx Comic Books & Graphic Novels

Blancaflor, the Hero with Secret Powers: a Folktale from Latin America

Multicultural Comics: From Zap to Blue Beetle

The Dragon Slayer: Folktales from Latin America

Juliet Takes a Breath: the Graphic Novel

Featured Scholarly Books About Comics

The Power of Comics: History, Form, and Culture

Black Comics:Politics of Race and Representation

Encyclopedia of Comic Books and Graphic Novels

Wonder Woman: Bondage and Feminism in the Marston/Peter Comics, 1941-1948

Superman: The Persistence of an American Icon

The Cambridge Companion to the Graphic Novel

Comic Book Women: Characters, Creators, and Culture in the Golden Age

All New, All Different? A History of Race and the American Superhero

Suggest a Title for Purchase

Looking for titles that we don't have? Help us grow our collection by letting us know and we'll look into buying it! Or, ask us to borrow it from another library through our interlibrary loan program.

Let Us Know What You Think About the Collection

Tell the library what you think about the new comic book and graphic novel collection!

Comics Pedagogy

A graphic Introduction to Comics Studies (Free PDF)
This guide in comics form, written and drawn by members of the Oxford Comics Network and published by TORCH, The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities, covers the main aspects related to the study of comics and graphic novels. Covers the following: main aspects to take into account when reading comics, how comics are produced, various methodological approaches to comics studies, and comics traditions and genres around the world along with their distribution methods.

With Great Power Comes Great Pedagogy:Teaching, Learning, and Comics by Susan E. Kirtley (Editor); Antero Garcia (Editor); Peter E. Carlson (Editor)
Call Number: E-Book
ISBN: 9781496826046
Publication Date: 2020
Wham! Teaching with Graphic Novels Across the Curriculum by Gary Moorman; Carla Meyer
Call Number: LB1044.9 .C59 B76 2014
ISBN: 9780807754955
Publication Date: 2013
Graphic Novels in High School and Middle School Classrooms by William Boerman-Cornell; Jung Kim; Michael L. Manderino
Call Number: LB1044.9.C59 B64 2017
ISBN: 9781475828344
Publication Date: 2017
Teaching Comics Through Multiple Lenses by Crag Hill (Editor)
Call Number: LB1044.9.C59 T44 2017
ISBN: 9781138649903
Publication Date: 2016

Comics Discussion Guides
The toolkits provided here, created by Scholar-in-Residence Dr. Valentino Zullo, Ph.D., in 2020/21, are modeled after the Get Graphic! with the Ohio Center for the Book discussions hosted at Cleveland Public Library (home of the Ohio Center for the Book) since 2014. These guides aim to promote the study of comics with other libraries, classrooms, book clubs, independent readers, and anyone else that wants an education in comics! The toolkits offered here represent only a selection of comics titles. The list does not reflect an established pedagogical canon of comics to teach on. Titles include Maus, Persepolis, March, and Palestine.
Using Graphic Novels in Education (Comic Book Legal Defense Fund)
Using Graphic Novels in Education is an ongoing feature from CBLDF that is designed to allay confusion around the content of graphic novels and to help parents and teachers raise readers. In this column, we examine graphic novels, including those that have been targeted by censors, and provide teaching and discussion suggestions for the use of such books in classrooms.
Comics Education Links and Resources
"Interested in knowing more about comics, putting them to use in your classroom, and trying your hand at making them? I set up this site initially for the class on comics for educators that I taught at Teachers College and have since been growing to serve as a database of comics-education resources. " Dr. Nick Sousanis Eisner-winning comics and San Francisco State University professor of Humanities & Liberal Studies.
With Great Power Comes Great Pedagogy: Teaching, Learning, and Comics (Comic-Con Workshop)
Peter Carlson (Green Dot Public Schools), Susan Kirtley (Portland State University), and Antero Garcia (Stanford University) lead this panel that reveals practical activities and theory involved in teaching with comics while discussing teaching and making comics with the incredible creators and educators Nick Sousanis (Unflattening), Ebony Flowers (Hot Comb), David F. Walker (Naomi), and Brian Michael Bendis (Naomi).

Databases and Journals with Comics Studies Coverage

JSTOR Arts & Sciences I-XV (JSTOR) This link opens in a new window
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Coverage of humanities disciplines including history, language & literature, art & art history, education, philosophy, classical studies, and music. Also includes a digitized group of rare 19th and early 20th century American Art periodicals.
MLA International Bibliography (EBSCO) This link opens in a new window
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Provides a subject index for books and articles published on modern languages, literatures, folklore, and linguistics.
Project MUSE Basic Research Collection (Johns Hopkins University Press) This link opens in a new window
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Access this collection of integral journals for the humanities and social sciences, including many published by prominent university presses and scholarly societies.
Art & Architecture Source (EBSCO) This link opens in a new window
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Offers over 750 full-text journals and more than 220 full-text books as well as over 63,000 images. Topics include advertising art, archaeology, architecture, costume design, industrial design, interior design, landscape architecture, videos, etc.

Inks: The Journal of the Comics Studies Society
From Project Muse, seeks to bring together scholarly essays, archival materials, and insights and discoveries from leading comics professionals.
Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics
From Taylor & Francis, international in scope with special attention to production and consumption of twentieth and twenty-first century comics.
Journal of Popular Culture
From Wiley Online Library, an essential non-specialist journal (i.e., not solely devoted) to the study of comics.
ImageText: Interdisciplinary Comics Studies
A Peer Reviewed Open Access Journal and published out of the English department of the University of Florida, known for its unique curation of interdisciplinary approach to Comics Studies.

Comics Communities & Web Resources

The Comics Studies Society (CSS)
The Comics Studies Society (CSS) is an interdisciplinary society open to all who share the goals of promoting the critical study of comics, improving comics teaching, and engaging in open and ongoing conversations about the comics world.
International Comics Arts Forum
The International Comic Arts Forum is an annual academic conference dedicated to promoting the scholarly study and appreciation of comic art, including comic strips, comic books, comics albums and graphic novels, magazine and newspaper cartooning, caricature, and comics in electronic media.
Comic Book Legal Defense Fund
Non-Profit designed to serve as whistle blower to any first-amendment violations in libraries and schools as they relate to comics. Their archive of case-files can be useful for primary sources in comics studies and censorship.
ALA Graphic Novels & Comics Round Table
The Graphic Novels and Comics Round Table of the American Library Association is dedicated to supporting library staff in all aspects of engaging with graphic novels and comics, including collection development, programming, and advocacy
Queer Comics Database
Database designed to help researchers discover comics that tell a wide range of LGBTQ stories.
Comic Book Database
An extensive database seeking to catalog comics of every format and genre. Use this free, interactive site to look up your favorite characters, artists, writers, or comic book series.
Texas Comic Conventions
List of comic conventions in Texas for 2022.

Comics and Graphic Novels Research Guide: Welcome

Welcome