Comic book-based blockbusters like Ironman 3, Man of Steel and the upcoming Thor: the Dark World are making it difficult to differentiate one caped superhero from the next. Enter The Comic Book Database (CBDB), a completely web-based resource with the goal to catalogue every comic book, graphic novel, manga, illustrator, publisher, writer, and character … ever. Free to use and with over 250,000 individual works catalogued, CBDB is the largest database of its kind and a solid reference tool for the librarian flooded with questions about comic books or graphic novels.
Information on the site can be accessed from the homepage but to contribute or to view information with mature content, users need to create a free account. CBDB relies on crowdsourcing for content. Users can create entries for new comic books or graphic novels by entering controlled metadata. Title, author, illustrator, character(s) appearing in the issue, story arc, and issue number are some of the fields required for new entries. Like Wikipedia, edits are recorded with a timestamp so that users can view changes that were made to each entry. Users can also submit an overall “score” for each issue based on how much they enjoyed it. An average rank out of ten is assigned to each issue that members have voted on. The database has a policy that all content must be original to the site and users cannot copy information from Wikipedia or other sites into CBDB entries. The second goal of CBDB is to provide a fully functional resource in which entries link out to relevant entries. This reflects relationships between characters, comic book creators, and other entities. A review of the database reveals that most of the entries are fully functional but, in less developed entries, functionality is limited – if present at all.
Additional features of the database include a rating system where issues are assigned a numeric score based on user ratings of the comic, a moderated forum for users, and a database of comic book awards with their recipients ordered chronologically for some of the categories. Registered users also have the ability to add characters to a “favorite characters” list, to build a public collection of the comic books they own, and to buy or sell comic books in a user marketplace. It is important to note that the marketplace only provides a place where users can list issues they have for sale and contact other users about purchasing the issues. The database does not provide means for conducting transactions within the site. CBDB also searches eBay for each issue and, when matches are found, links to the eBay auction for the issue are provided on the issue's information page within the database.
Searching allows users to search the entire site or selected fields (title, creator, character, member, group, issue name, story arc, or story name). “Members” are registered users of the CBDB and searching by member gives the capability to browse highly-rated issues or collections by favourite users. The Story Arc and Creator fields are extremely useful for making recommendations based on issues that occur within a storyline or that are written by an author the user enjoyed.
There is no advanced search feature, but basic Boolean commands (AND, OR) can be used to narrow search results to issues that feature selected characters or creators. Truncation is not supported by the database. Usability gurus may be disappointed by the results list returned from searching. Although results are organized according to the fields which can be searched (title, creator, character, member, group, issue name, story arc, and story name), the number of appearances by popular characters can make the list unwieldy. Currently, there is no feature that allows users to “jump” to fields of interest in the results list. It should also be noted that users cannot search the synopses of issues.
The rising popularity of comic books in pop culture will undoubtedly lead to increased reader's advisory queries for comic books and graphic novels. With its extensive collection of information, useful metadata on issues and absence of a price tag, The Comic Book Database is a solid online reference for any librarian eager to provide reader's advisory in this area. Users should keep in mind that the database is not as user-friendly as commercial reference solutions, and entries are primarily user-generated. However, it is clear that an extensive effort goes into maintaining the resource and identifying both metadata and external resources that anticipate user needs. Although not as glamorous as the Batmobile, The Comic Book Database is a powerful tool for any library, especially public libraries, whose users are abreast of pop culture.
