Citing a Comic Book

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Your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man swung back into action this past summer with his latest reboot Spider-Man: Homecoming. He made quite an impact, bringing in $117 domestically and earning a 93% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes in the first weekend!

If you’re looking into past story arcs, passionately debating over the origins of the plot lines, or considering how to include a new twist in your next paper, take a look at our guide on how to cite a Spider-man comic, or any comic book for that matter. We will review how to cite a comic book in print or digitally in APA format, MLA format, and Chicago format.

To cite a comic book in print, find the following pieces of information:

  1. The author’s name
  2. The title of the comic book issue
  3. The title of the comic book series
  4. The volume and issue number
  5. The name of the publisher
  6. City and state, or city and country of publisher
  7. Year published
  8. A page or page range (if citing only a specific portion of the comic book)

*Please note that if you include this in a print bibliography, you should double space and indent the lines of your citation.

 

To cite a Spider-Man comic or another comic book in print MLA 9, follow this format:

Author’s Last name, First name, writer, and Full Name, artist. Title of Comic Book. Vol. #, no. #, Name of Publisher, Year published.

Here’s an example of how to cite a Spider-Man comic book found in print in MLA:
Bendis, Brian Michael, writer. Ultimate Spider-Man: Death of Spider-Man Prelude. Vol. 1, no. 153, Marvel, 9 Feb. 2011.

To cite a comic book in print in APA, follow this format:

Author’s Last name, First initial. Middle initial. (Year published). Title of comic book issue (Vol. #, No. #) [Comic book]. Name of publisher.

Here’s an example of how to cite a Spider-Man comic book found in print  in APA format:

Bendis, B. M. (2011, February 9). Ultimate Spider-Man: death of Spider-Man prelude (Vol. 1, No. 153) [Comic book]. Marvel.

*Note that in APA citations, only capitalize the first letter for beginning of the title, the beginning of the subtitle, and any proper nouns.

 

To cite a comic book in print Chicago format, use this structure:

Author’s Last name, First initial. Title of Comic Book Issue. City of publication: Name of publisher, Year published.

 

Here’s an example of how to cite a Spider-Man comic book found in print in Chicago:

Bendis, M. Ultimate Spider-Man #153. New York: Marvel, 2011.

 

 

How to a Spider-Man Comic Book Found Online:

To cite a comic book found online or read on an e-reader, find the following pieces of information:

  1. The author’s name
  2. The title of the comic book issue
  3. The title of the comic book series
  4. The name of the e-reader, if read on one
  5. The volume and issue number
  6. The name of the publisher
  7. City, or city and country of publisher
  8. Year published
  9. The page or page range (if viewed online)
  10. The name of the website, if viewed online
  11. The URL, if viewed online

how to cite a comic

 

To cite a comic book, found online or through an e-reader, use the following structure if citing in MLA 8:

Author’s Last name, First name. “Title of Comic Book Issue.” Title of Comic Book, *E-Reader ed., vol. number, issue no., Name of publisher, Year published, page range*. *Name of Website, URL (remove http:// or https://).

*Only include the name of the e-reader if the comic book was read on an e-reader. In addition, only include the name of the website and the URL if viewed online.

*Only include the page range if citing a specific portion of the comic book.

 

Here’s an example of how to cite the Spider-Man comic book in MLA 8, when viewed on an e-reader.

Bendis, Brian Michael. “Ultimate Spider-Man #153.” Spider-Man, no. 153, Marvel, 2011. Marvel, read.marvel.com/#/book/19168.

 

To cite a comic book in APA that is found online, use the following structure:

Author’s Last name, F. M. (Year published) Title of comic book issue [Name of the e-reader version]. Retrieved from URL

If the title of the comic book was not viewed on an e-reader, exclude the information in the brackets.

 

Here’s an example of how to cite the Spider-Man comic, read on an e-reader, in APA format:

Bendis, M. (2011). Ultimate Spider-Man #153. Retrieved from read.marvel.com/#/book/19168

 

To cite a comic book found online in Chicago, use the following structure:

Author’s Last name, First name. Title of Comic Book Issue. City of publication: Name of Publisher, Year published. E-reader edition OR URL.

 

Here’s an example of how to cite a Spider-Man comic, found online, in Chicago:

Bendis, Brian Michael. Ultimate Spider-Man #153. New York: Marvel, 2011. read.marvel.com/#/book/19168.

Photo Source: “Spiderman” by Konrad Summers. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0. Original image was cropped.

 

Create citations like these in MLA format, APA format, Harvard referencing, and more using Cite This For Me.

Works Cited

Wittmer, Carrie, and Skye Gold. “How the Opening Weekend Box Office for ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ Compares to That of Other Spider-Man Films.” Business Insider, 10 Jul. 2017,  www.businessinsider.com/spider-man-movie-opening-weekend-box-office-numbers-in-one-chart-2017-7.

Spider-Man: Homecoming. Rotten Tomatoes, Fandango, www.rottentomatoes.com/m/spider_man_homecoming/.

 

How do I format an in-text citation for a comic book in MLA style?

According to the MLA style guide, the beginning of the in-text citation for a comic book should match the same first element that you are using in the works cited entry. So whether your works cited entry begins with either the name of the comic or the name of the creator, be sure to use the same in the in-text citation.

Format

(Comic name page number)

Example

(Superman 34)

How do I format a works-cited-list entry for a comic book in MLA style

According to the MLA handbook, 9th edition, use the formats below to create a works-cited-list entry for a comic book. One format is used for a citation that does not include illustrator(s) details, while the other format is used for a citation that includes illustrator(s) details.

Format 1 (without details of illustrators involved)

Last Name, First Name. Comic Novel Name. Book Name, issue no., Publisher, Year.

Example

Lee, Stan. Spiderman. Amazing Fantasy, no. 15, Marvel Comics, 1962.

Format 2 (with details of illustrators involved)

Comic Novel Name: Book Name. By First Name, Last Name, illustrated by First Name, Last Name, inked by First Name Last Name, colored by First Name Last Name, Publisher Name, Year.

Example

Deadpool: The New Mutants #98. By Fabian Nicieza, illustrated by Rob Liefeld, Marvel Comics, 1991.