Links

Comic, Graphic Novel and Manga Resources

Inevitably, this is just a very small selection of what is available. I've included sites that tie in with the questions I most often get asked.

Reviews - covering all comics

• The new website for Page 45 offers lots of reviews and news.
• No Flying, No Tights is a graphic novel review site. Reviews are sorted as suitable for kids, teens or adults, as well as by genre. Regularly reviews manga.
• Comics Worth Reading
• Artbomb offers reviews and articles predominantly about independent comics. Quirky, offbeat and intelligent.
• Line of Fire Reviews
• Sequential Tart is a comic webzine made by women. Looks at a wide range of issues and publications within comics in general and, of course, also good on women creators. Has a good manga review and article section.
• Grovel: News, reviews and articles on graphic novels, featuring classic titles and film tie-ins.
• Paul Gravett: His book on manga is highly recommended as an introduction to the medium.
• Collective: The Interactive Culture Magazine from the BBC; the site is still available, but is no longer being updated.
• The Bookseller also has an annual round-up of the best in the medium in the autumn.
• Forbidden Planet blog: This blog allows people to search for reviews, although it also covers events and offers many useful links, including to some of the UK creators.
• Read about Comics offers reviews and articles about independent comics and manga.
• The Comics Bureau

Reviews and news - dedicated to manga and anime

• Anime News Network is a very large site for anime and manga information. It is updated frequently.
• Mania primarily reviews and discusses anime.
• Otaku News.
• Neo Magazine: Very informative online site related to the hard copy magazine that reviews Japanese popular culture.

Specialist Shops in the UK

The Comic Book Alliance offers a list of retailers. In addition, the sites mentioned below - some of which offer review information via newsletter etc - have been recommended by various librarians.

• Page 45 is a Nottingham based comic shop that also offers an online service. It is, simply, one of the best UK comic shops. Please visit.
• Travelling Man. A good chain of comic shops, which hold an extensive range of stock across all ages and genres.
• Gosh! Comics: Another very good comic shop, which, like those above, have staff with a great deal of enthusiasm and expertise.
• Forbidden Planet
• Mega City Comics
• Dave's Comics, Brighton comes highly recommended by library staff in the area for range and understanding of library services.
• Scottish Cartoons Studio
• Forbidden Planet Edinburgh 0131 555 4564
• Forbidden Planet Glasgow 0141 331 1215
• Red Hot Comics 0141 630 0049; linked with
• ACE Comics: shops (store locations) and mail order.
• Future Shock Glasgow 0141 353 3975
• Dead Head comics Edinburgh 0131 226 2774

Publishers and Suppliers in the UK

• Nobrow
• Blank Slate
• The Phoenix
• Cinebook UK - BD in English
• The Comic Book Alliance offers a list of publishers
• Dalen - Graphic Novels and Comic Strips in Welsh
• Jonathan Cape
• Walker Graphic Novels, the graphic novels list of Walker Books.
• Classical Comics are publishing a number of Shakespeare's plays. There are three different versions, ranging from full text to quick text. In addition they offer a growing number of adaptations of classic literature.
• Titan Books
• Viz: Major manga publisher in English. Very informative site.
• 2000AD: Covers the graphic novel publisher Rebellion, who are currently reprinting the comic's back-catalogue.
• Diamond Comics (US site): Has a Bookshelf section for librarians and educators.
  UK contact:
• Can of Worms Press: Reprinting the Graphic Novel Shakespeare series (Full Text).
• SelfMadeHero

Resources Specifically for Librarians

• The Stan Lee Excelsior Award is now online: school students chose their graphic novel award winners. All schools are welcome to participate.
• Teen Librarian covers manga, bookgroups and much more.
• Topica hosts a discussion list for librarians on graphic novels. If you would like more information about this list, you can find it on the list's information page.
• Angela Robinson of Blackburn with Darwen Libraries has set up blog related to Graphic Novels in Libraries UK
• Steve Raiteri's Recommended Graphic Novels for Public Libraries (US site): Old link and not recently updated, but still a useful resource.
• Manga and Graphic Novels - Resources for Librarians

Free Comic Book Day

This American originated event offers a good opportunity to link up with local comic shops. There is a website at www.freecomicbookday.com that lists some of the shops involved. There is still a small cost per comic to the library service.

Angela Robinson (above) suggests approaching local specialist stores and offering to promote them in libraries in turn for their participation. She also suggests that directing queries to the UK discussion list above about how to run a related event.

Workshops, Comic Maker Tools and Book Groups

• Doctor Simpo runs a range of workshops. Contact him via www.theloonybus.com
• Pixton has options for schools.
• BitStrips comics software, including BitStrips for Schools.
• The Tarquin Engine
• Manga Studio from Smith Micro - Very flexible, but perhaps not suited to beginners.
• Comic Life software
• Dalen - work with schools
• Jim Medway - look at the Education section for details of workshops
• World Comics provides models, tools and opportunities for partnerships in using comics for social change
• World Comics India, partner site to the above
• Cartoon County offers workshops in the South East.
• Sweatdrop Studios: UK manga creators (Wikipedia page)
• Selfmadehero: publishers of the Manga Shakespeare series, can work with schools on a multi-layered workshop using smartboards, working with different versions of the text, and with artists. They have a new related site and Ning in development.
• Suzy Varty runs workshops and develops comic projects for both adults and younger readers. Sample of work at Lambiek.net
  Email: or find Suzy on Facebook.
• Carl Cross runs a successful manga reading group and would like to hear about other people's work, as well as sharing his own experience:
  .
• Paul Duffield runs manga workshops and tutorials: his website offers an introduction to his work.
• The following comics creators welcome approaches about running workshops:
  
  • Gary Erskine
  • Sandra Marrs and John Chalmers (Metaphrog)
  • Cam Kennedy
• Readers of the Lost Art: adult graphic novels reading group in Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
• Laydeez do Comics - a London-based graphic novel reading group or forum with a focus on comic works based on life narrative, the drama of the domestic and the everyday.
• Cartoon Classroom: now launched as a site acting as a link between creators and schools, libraries and other organisations.

UK Creator Websites

• Page 45 offers an extensive list of these sites
• The Comic Book Alliance offers a list of UK comics creators' web sites

Events and Exhibitions

• Paul Gravett offers a good UK events listing

Teaching and Championing Comics

• BookTrust - resources for teachers and librarians. Use the 'search' feature to find material on graphic novels, and on Hannah Berry, their writer in residence
• The Stan Lee Excelsior Award is now online: school students chose their graphic novel award winners. All schools are welcome to participate.
• Education Scotland: Graphic Novels Resource: I created this resource in conjunction with the Learning and Teaching Scotland team. The focus is on working with comics and graphic novels in schools.
  
  The case studies, in particular, (see the file at the foot of the introductory page) give details of a range of possible ways of working with, and thinking about, graphic novels, often focusing on specific titles.
  
  I've also included a piece on British views on comics which may help convince the reluctant or unwilling that comics are more than just 'simple' entertainment.
• The MEDAL site contains a range of ideas and materials for use with students of Childhood Studies, Youth Studies, and Children's Literature. There are some resources about comics included. Whilst designed for HE, the materials are adaptable and can be downloaded for free.
• The Center for Cartoon Studies.
• Comics in the Classroom: A Canadian site aimed at using comics with primary schools.
• Cartoon Classroom: a link between creators and schools, libraries and other organisations.
• Page 45 offer a number of resources for education at all levels.

Japanese Culture. Anime and more

• The Japan Foundation
• The Japan Society
• Helen McCarthy on Japanese animation and comics.
• Tezuka in English: described as 'a site to help Western readers access the works of the greatest manga artist of all time'
• Koyagi.com: US based, but gives lots of relevant links and information.
• Cosplay Island
• Anime Pulse
• Neo Magazine: Very informative online site related to the hard copy magazine that reviews Japanese popular culture.
• Anime Web Turnpike: Guide to the medium.
• MVM run a similar scheme.
• Studio Ghibli (In Japanese)
• GhibliWiki: A fan-run site considered a key source of English-language information on the works of animator Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli.
• Film Club: Aimed at schools. Some anime, some animation.

BD: Bandes Dessinées

• The links section of the IBDS (International Bande Dessinée Society) site organised by the Glasgow University based IBDS contains an introductory bibliography to researching BD. It also contains a guide to the BD archive held at the University of Sheffield.
• La Cité internationale de la bande dessinée, the site of the comics museum in Angouleme, with many linbks and suggestions for further reading (in French)
• Bédéthèque: French language database dedicated to bande dessinée offering information on series, albums and authors (not to be confused with BD-Theque).


• Sites suggested by Agnès Guyon:
  
  • BD Paradisio - le forum de la bande dessinée: Longstanding discussion forum and archive containing a huge amount of information.
  • Actua BD: Reviews and discussions.
  • Bande Dessinée Info: News and Reviews
  • Bande-Dessinée.org: Database of creators, albums and links.
  • du9 - L'autre bande dessinée: Reviews and discussions.
  • BD-Theque: Reviews and discussions (not to be confused with Bédéthèque).

Small Press Comics

• Bugpowder, as the introduction to the site says, is "a resource for small press comics in the UK, but being the internet, there's other stuff here as well..." Good links to artist sites and those of larger non-mainstream publishers, as well as a shop. An invaluable guide to small press comics.

Webcomics

• ACES Weekly, an exclusively digital comic art magazine which features some of the world's finest sequential art creators.
• The Web Comic List: Huge directory site with thousands of comics to view for free.
• Manga Quake: Many high quality manga fanzines available for free download.
• Scott McCloud's online comics.

Art sites

Many manga fans and professionals put their very varied work up for comment on the following sites. These sites often cover work across a range of media, including poetry and animation, as well as illustration. They also include work by and for adults as well as that made by and aimed at younger people.

• Deviant Art
• SheezyArt

Fan Fiction

• www.fanfiction.net/ is a general site with both comics and manga areas
• www.lunaescence.com is a specifically manga focused site.

Art lessons - Manga

• The Manga University is free.

General Sites

• Comic Book Resources: Links, a previews catalogue online, and news items make this site (which represents a large range of small press and more mainstream producers in America and elsewhere) worth searching through.
• The Comics Journal
• Lambiek Comiclopedia: This is an illustrated compendium of over 9600 comic artists from around the world. Whilst the information in individual entries is not always fully up to date, cross referred with Wikipedia it makes a very useful resource.
• Wikipedia is also a very good source of information regarding terms, age ratings, titles that are considered classics and tracking authors and illustrators etc. This applies to all comics, but may be especially useful for manga.
• The Association of Illustrators: Illustration resources for practitioners and commissioners.
• EGON: A very useful site that offers links to a huge number of publishers, creators, publications etc. around the world.
• The Comics Bureau

Women and Comics

• Women in Comics Europe: now a big group.
• Girls' Comics of Yesterday
• The Fleece Station discusses girls and comics.
• Friends of Lulu - the organisation is no longer active, but it is still possible to learn about their history and to access resources via this legacy site.
• Sequential Tart (see above)

Academic Sites

See the annotated bibliography of comics scholarship on the net elsewhere on this site.