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How to Cite a Comic Book in APA, MLA, or Chicago

She’s fierce, she’s powerful, she’s a skillful fighter, she’s…..WONDER WOMAN! Wonder Woman is one of the most popular DC Comics superheroes to make it to the big screen. Her first movie made over $435 million in box office sales after just two weeks in theaters, so it’s safe to say she’s kind of a big deal.

Quickly cite a comic by using our online form here .

If you’ve caught the Wonder Woman buzz and you’d like to cite her comic books, or any other characters’ comic books, in your own projects, follow the steps below to cite them correctly. We have instructions on how to cite your comic book, both in print and online versions, in MLA format , APA format, or Chicago formats.

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

1. The author’s name and the names of any relevant artists/illustrators 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, or city and country of the publisher 7. Year published 8. A page or page range (if citing only a specific portion of the comic book)

To cite a comic book in print using MLA 9, follow this format:

Author’s Last Name, First Name. Title of Comic Book Issue . Title of Comic Book Series , vol. number, issue no., Name of Publisher, Year Published.

If the comic book has separate writers and illustrators and you’d like to credit them all equally, begin your citation with the issue title and include additional contributors (e.g., writers, illustrators, inkers, colorists, or letterers) in the contributor container instead.

Title of Comic Book Issue . Title of Comic Book Series , by Author First Name Last Name, illustrated by Artist First Name Last Name, vol. number, issue no., Name of Publisher, Year Published.

Here are two examples of how to cite a Wonder Woman comic book found in print in MLA 9:

Azzarello, Brian. Wonder Woman. No. 1, DC Comics, 2011.

Wonder Woman . By Brian Azzarello, illustrated by Cliff Chiang, no. 1, DC Comics, 2011.

*Note that this specific issue of Wonder Woman does not have a separate title for the issue and another title for the series. This issue and series are both titled Wonder Woman . When the issue and the series have the same exact title, it is not necessary to type out both titles. Only include the series title.

In MLA citations, place a period after the first title and a comma after the second title, if there is one.

MLA 9 In-text Citations

The information in a parenthetical citation should match the full reference on the Works Cited page. If you begin your reference with the comic book’s author, their last name should go in the parentheses. If you begin with the title of the comic book, use the title (or a shortened version of it) in the parenthetical citation instead. Also include a page number if applicable.

(Azzarello 12)

( Wonder Woman 12)

To cite a comic book in print in APA 7, follow this format:

Author’s Last name, First initial. Middle initial. (Year published). Title of comic book issue . Publisher.

If the comic book has separate writers and illustrators and you’d like to credit them both, begin your citation with the author’s name and include the illustrator (or other contributors) in parentheses after the comic book’s title.

Author’s Last Name, First initial. Middle initial. (Year published). Title of comic book issue  (First initial. Middle initial. Last Name, Illus.). Publisher.

Here are two examples of how to cite a comic book in APA 7:

Azzarello, B. (2011). Wonder Woman . DC Comics.

Azzarello, B. (2011). Wonder Woman (C. Chiang, Illus.). DC Comics.

APA 7 In-text Citations :

Parenthetical: (Azzarello, 2011)

Narrative: Azzarello (2011)

Though you include the illustrator’s name in the reference list entry, do not include it in the in-text citations.

To cite a comic book in print in Chicago’s author-date style:

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

Here’s an example of how to cite a Wonder Woman comic book found in print in Chicago’s author-date style:

Azzarello, Brian. 2011. Wonder Woman . New York: DC Comics.

Chicago In-text Citation:

(Azzarello 2011, Page#)

How to a Cite a Comic Book Found Online:

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

• The author’s name and the names of any relevant artists/illustrators
• The title of the comic book issue
• The title of the comic book series
• The name of the e-reader, if read on one
• The volume and issue number
• The name of the publisher
• City, or city and country of the publisher
• Year published
• The page or page range, if viewed online
• The name of the website, if viewed online
• The URL, if viewed online

To cite a comic book, found online or through an e-reader, use the following structure if citing in MLA 9:

To cite a comic book found on a website using MLA 9, follow this format:

Author’s Last Name, First Name. Title of Comic Book Issue . Title of Comic Book Series , vol. number, issue no., Name of Publisher, Year Published, Website Name (if different from publisher), URL (remove https:// or https://).

To cite a comic book published as an E-Book using MLA 9, follow this format:

Author’s Last Name, First Name. Title of Comic Book Issue . Title of Comic Book Series , vol. number, issue no., E-book ed., Name of Publisher, Year Published.

Here’s an example of how to cite the Wonder Woman comic book in MLA 9, when viewed on an e-reader.

Azzarello, Brian. Wonder Woman .* No. 1., E-book ed., DC Comics, 2011.

*Note: Since the name of the issue and the name of the series are both Wonder Woman, the name is only included once in the citation.

Here’s how the above example would be cited in an in-text citation:

(Author Last Name Page#)

(Azzarello 1)

To cite a comic book in APA 7 that is found online, use the following structure:

Author’s Last name, First initial. Middle initial. (Year published). Title of comic book issue . Publisher. DOI or URL

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

Azzarello, B. (2011). Wonder Woman . DC Comics. https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/wonder-woman-vol-1-brian-azzarello/1111115880?ean=9781401238773#nok-dapps

To cite a comic book found online in Chicago’s author-date style, use the following format:

Author’s Last name, First name. Publication Year. Title of Comic Book Issue . City of publication: Name of Publisher. E-book format (Kindle, Nook, etc.) or Database Name (Overdrive, ProQuest ebrary, etc.) or URL.

Here are examples of how to cite a comic found online in Chicago’s author-date style:

Azzarello, Brian. 2011. Wonder Woman . New York: DC Comics. Nook.

Azzarello, Brian. 2011. Wonder Woman . New York: DC Comics. https://www.comicextra.com/wonder-woman-2011/chapter-52

(AuthorLastName Year, Page#)

(Azzarello 2011, 1)

Photo Source: “Infinite Wonder Woman” by JD Hancock . Licensed under CC BY 2.0. Original image was cropped.

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To cite a graphic novel in MLA style, you need to have basic information including the name of the author, title of the graphic novel, publisher, and publication date. MLA treats citations for graphic novels the same as citations for regular novels. The templates and examples for an in-text citation and works cited list entry for a graphic novel are provided below:

In-text citation template and example:

In parenthetical and in-prose citations, use the artist’s surname.

Parenthetical:

Works cited list entry template and example:

Author Surname, First Name. Title of the Graphic Novel . Publisher, Publication Date.

Moore, Alan. From Hell . Top Shelf Productions, 1999.

To cite Shakespeare in APA and MLA styles, it is important that you know basic information, such as the title of the play, the original publication date, the editor’s name, the publisher name, and the republished date.

APA reference list entry template and example:

Author Surname, F. (Publication Year). Title of the play (F.M. Editor1’s Surname & F.M. Editor2’s Surname, Eds.). Publisher. (Original work published year)

Shakespeare, W. (2020). Much ado about nothing (B.A Mowat & P. Werstine, Eds.). Simon & Schuster. (Original work published 1607)

MLA works-cited-list entry template and example:

Surname, First Name. Title of the Play. Original Publication Date. Edited by Editor1’s First Name Surname and Editor2’s First Name Surname, Publisher, Republished Date.

Shakespeare, William. Much Ado About Nothing . 1600. Edited by Beth Mowat and Patricia Werstine, Simon & Schuster, 2020.

To cite a comic strip in APA and MLA styles, it is important that you know basic information such as the name of the artist, the title of the comic strip, publisher name, publication date, and URL.

Artist’s Surname, F. M. (Publication Year). Title of the comic strip [Comic strip]. Publisher. URL

King, F. (1921). Gasoline Alley [Comic Strip]. Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/art/comic-strip

Artist’s Surname, First Name. Title of the Comic Strip . Publisher, Publication Year.

King, Frank. Gasoline Alley . Britannica, 1921.

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Citing Graphic Novels in MLA

Citing comics in mla, comics, graphic novels, and manga in apa.

There are many debates about how to cite comics, graphic novels, etc. Traditional citation formats do not always include what typical comic, graphic novel, and manga fans value such as the artists and scriptwriter. These are some suggested ways to cite your sources. When selecting a citation format, keep in mind your audience and any restrictions (from your instructor or publisher).

Citing Graphic Novels and Manga in MLA

Most follow the basic form as a book but special cases are explained below. See Section 5.5.12 of the  MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers   for more information.

Basic Format

Author’s last name, first name.  Title of work . Publication city: Publisher, year. Medium of publication.

Author as Artist/Illustrator

In a graphic novel, text and illustrations are intermingled. The entry in the works-cited list for a graphic novel entirely created by one person follows the same format as any other non-periodical print publication

Barry, Lynda.  What It Is . Montreal: Drawn & Quarterly, 2008. Print.

Collaborative Works (different author, artist/illustrator)

For graphic novels created through collaboration, start with the person whose contribution is most relevant to your research , following it with a label identifying the person’s role. List other collaborators after the title in the order in which they appear on the title page, also with labels identifying their roles.

Pekar, Harvey, writer.  The Quitter . Art by Dean Haspiel. Gray tones by Lee Loughridge. Letters by Pat Brosseau. New York: Vertigo-DC Comics, 2005. Print.

Robertson, David.  7 Generations: A Plains Cree Saga . Illus. Scott B. Henderson. Winnipeg: HighWater Press, 2012. Print.

(Illus is the abbreviation for illustrator)

Multi-Volume Work 

If the graphic novel is part of a multi-volume work, you may add information about the series following the medium of publication. 

Miller, Frank.  Just Another Saturday Night . Milwaukie, OR: Dark Horse Books, 2005. Print. Vol. 6 of Frank Miller’s Sin City: Booze, Broads, & Bullets . 

Content adapted from  http://www.comicsresearch.org/CAC/cite.html

Citing Comics and Cartoons in MLA

See Section 5.7.9 of the  MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers    for more information.

Basic Format

Lastname, Firstname. “Name of comic.” Comic Strip.  Source of Comic . Date comic published. Print.

Example Cartoon

Gross, Sam. Cartoon.  New Yorker . 23 May 2011: 28. Print.

Example Comic Strips

McDonnell, Patrick. "Mutts." Comic strip.  San Francisco Chronicle. 25 June 2011: E7. Print.

Krahulik, Mike and Jerry Holkins. “Penny Arcade.” Web Comic.  Penny-arcade.com. 28 Jan. 2011. Web. 15 Feb. 2011.

How APA Addresses Illustrated Works

This post by the APA describes how they recommend citing children's books and other illustrated works

Author, A. (Year). Series: Story Name, vol (no) (A. Author, Illus.). Publisher.

Straczynski, J. M. (2007). Thor: Special Delivery, 3 (5) (O. Coipel, & M. Morales, Illus.). Marvel Comics.

What a Comic Book Professional Recommends

This blog post by Dr. Travis Langley describes his recommendations for citing comic books and graphic novels.

Series or graphic novel title issue number if any (year, month/season if identified). "Story title if any." Script: Writer(s). Art: Penciller(s), inker(s). Publisher.

Thor vol 3 #5 (2007, December 28). "Special Delivery." Script: J. M. Straczynski. Art: O. Coipel, & M. Morales. Marvel Comics.

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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:

• The author’s name
• The title of the comic book issue
• The title of the comic book series
• The volume and issue number
• The name of the publisher
• City and state, or city and country of publisher
• Year published
• 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. V ol. #, 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:

• The name of the e-reader, if read on one
• City, or city and country of publisher
• The page or page range (if viewed online)
• The name of the website, if viewed online
• The URL, if viewed online

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/ .

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.

(Comic name page number)

(Superman 34)

According to the MLA handbook, 9 th 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.

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.

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

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Overall, comics citations require that the writer(s) reference,  Writer, artist/illustrator, Letters by, story title, publication information, and publication medium.  In the boxes below are examples of citations comics in single issue, comic strip, graphic novel, and webcomic format. These examples follow MLA format; see your subject librarian or the UCLA citation research guide for other citation style formats.

Single Issues

Okorafor ,  Nnedi  (w) Romero, Leonardo (i) Shuri #1 Marvel Comics, 17 Oct. 2018. Print.

Paperback Volume (Single Issues Bound)

Okorafor, Nnedi & Ayala, Vita (w) Romero, Leonardo & Stott, Rachel (i) "Shuri Vol 2: 24/7 Vibranium"  Shuri #6-10  Marvel Comics, 24 Sept. 2019. Print.

Graphic Novel

Yang, Gene.  American Born Chinese.  New York: Square Fish, 2008. Print.

Wimberly, Ronald. Lighten Up , 2018. thenib.com ,  https://thenib.com/lighten-up-4f7f96ca8a7e/

Comic Strip

Herriman, George. "Krazy Kat" Comic Strip. Chicago Examiner 30 April 1916. Print.

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Intelligence

How to cite comic books and graphic novels in apa style, when the style manual neglects comics, how do you cite them in apa-style works.

Posted August 2, 2021 | Reviewed by Davia Sills

When this blog previously explained our popular culture psychology books' cheats on APA style, the post noted, "Because APA style does not remotely suit how people read, organize, and think of comic books and graphic novels, we cite comics so differently that I will not elaborate on them here at this time." Writers keep asking for guidance on that issue because some need to cite comic book publications, though, so it is still worth addressing.

The books that I write and edit list comic books and graphic novels as a separate reference list that appears before APA-styled "Other References." In the comics list, items fit the way readers and comic book professionals think about those publications.

• Action Comics #1 (1938, June). "Superman, Champion of the Oppressed." Script: J. Siegel. Art: J. Shuster. DC Comics.
• The Avengers #4 (1964, March). "Captain America Lives Again!" Script: S. Lee. Art: J. Kirby & G. Roussos. Marvel Comics.
• Batman: The Killing Joke (1988). Script: A. Moore. Art: B. Bolland. Marvel Comics.

They follow this basic structure:

• Series or graphic novel title , issue number if any (year, month/season if identified). "Story title if any." Script: Writer(s). Art: Penciller(s), inker(s). [Eventually, we stopped including month because it added nothing that would help readers find a specific story.]

How does this adapt when we must adhere to APA style? Easy Bib (n.d.) says, "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 [Cartoon]. City of publisher, State or Country of Publisher: Name of publisher.
• Azzarello, B. (2011). Wonder Woman [Cartoon]. New York, NY: DC Comics.

Do not do that for three reasons: (1) A comic book story is a creation of writer(s) and artists(s) working together. Do not neglect the artists; (2) A comic book is not an animated cartoon, as the term cartoon is more commonly understood; (3) The format and example have left out the issue number and therefore fail to identify the correct story. Brian Azzarello authored two issues of Wonder Woman that had 2011 cover dates, #1 and #2. (Plus, APA style no longer requires location.)

We could reference a graphic novel the way we list a book (Becker, 2015) and then a comic book story the way we'd list an article in a regular magazine. Comic books are comic magazines, after all, despite the term comic book . (Most are not comical these days, either.)

• Moore, A. (1986). Batman: The killing joke . DC Comics.
• Azzarello, B. (2011). Home. Wonder Woman, 4 (2). DC Comics.

In-text citations for these examples would cite Moore (1986) for the graphic novel and Azzarello (2011) for the comic book story. Depending on where you disseminate your own work, that may suffice. These references may be optimal when submitting to a publication that strictly requires APA style because APA style does not require recognition for illustrators. And yet comic book fans may curse you for ignoring illustrators. The APA style blog's method for citing an illustrated book may suit a graphic novel (APA Style, 2020).

• Moore, A. (1986). Batman: The killing joke (B. Bolland, Illus.). DC Comics.

A comic book story is not prose, though. The illustrators are the writers' collaborators and co-creators in many ways. Whether the writer provides a tightly detailed script or dumps only a loose notion that barely passes for plot, the illustrator brings it to life. When movie directors receive more attention than screenwriters do, comic book artists should receive no less credit than do the writers. Crediting artists as co-authors may be the way to go.

• Moore, A., & Bolland, B. (1986). Batman: The killing joke. DC Comics.
• Azzarello, B., & Chiang, C. (2011). Home. Wonder Woman, 4 (2). DC Comics.

Unlike the examples above, the majority of comic book stories get illustrated by more than one artist. If so, credit the penciller(s) and then the inker(s) as is the norm for comic book publications. Parenthetical credits can distinguish writers from artists when you are free to borrow from other manuals of style.

• Moore, A. (writer), & Bolland, B. (artist). Batman: The killing joke . DC Comics.
• Moore, A. (script), & Bolland, B. (art). Batman: The killing joke . DC Comics.
• Lee, S. (writer), Kirby, J. (penciller), & Roussos, G. (inker). (1964). Captain America lives again! The Avengers, 1 (4). Marvel Comics.
• Lee. S. (w), Kirby, J. (p), & Roussos, G. (i). (1964). Captain America lives again! The Avengers, 1 (4). Marvel Comics.

One problem lingers: Those comic book stories did not really have volume numbers. DC and Marvel Comics do not number the volumes when rebooting existing series or reviving canceled ones. Fans impose volume numbers, which sometimes helps but sometimes confuses everybody. Even though comic book publications sometimes refer to those volume numbers, the publication information in each issue's indicia normally indicates no volume.

Here (as with any of it, to be honest), decide for yourself whether to identify volumes. Cover dates will almost always distinguish comics that share identical issue numbers. Admittedly, rare exceptions do occur, such as when Batman: The Dark Knight had two #1 issues both cover-dated in 2011 and Squirrel Girl did likewise in 2015, so either include the months or simply try not to cite Batman: The Dark Knight #1 (despite depictions of psychological conflicts) or Squirrel Girl #1.

Note: Thanks go to psychologist Eric Wesselmann, who simply wondered how to cite comics in APA style, and then I just kept thinking about it.

Related Posts

— Writing about the Psychology of Characters Under Copyright

— Psych Write: Feel the Music But Try Not to Quote It

— Psych Write: Anonymity vs. Accountability Using Pseudonyms

— Psych Write: Our Cheats on APA Style in the Reference List

APA Style (2020, February). Children's book or other illustrated book reference. American Psychological Association. https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/references/examples/c…

Becker, D. (2015, March 17). How to cite an illustrated book. APA style blog. https://blog.apastyle.org/apastyle/2015/03/how-to-cite-an-llustrated-bo…

EasyBib (n.d.). How to cite a comic book in APA, MLA, or Chicago. EasyBib. https://www.easybib.com/guides/citation-guides/how-do-i-cite-a/how-to-c…

Langley, T. (2018, August 1). Psych write: Our cheats on APA style in the reference list. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/beyond-heroes-and-villains/2018…

Travis Langley, Ph.D. , a professor at Henderson State University, is the author of Batman and Psychology: A Dark and Stormy Knight.

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• Hanging Lines & Double Spacing Using Word
• Hanging Lines & Double Spacing Using Docs

Directions from Video: Highlight citation - Under "Home", click on "Paragraph Settings" box. - Under "Indention", click "Hanging" on the "Special" drop down menu. - Under "Spacing", click on "Double" on the "Line Spacing" drop down menu. - Press OK

Directions from Video: Highlight citation - Under "Format", from the "Align & Indent" option, click on "Indention Options" - Under "Special", click on "Hanging" from the drop down menu - Press Apply.

Citing in MLA Format

• Cite information in your paper.  Write the author's last name and page number in the sentence.
• Create a Works Cited page.

Use the two handouts below to see examples on how you do this.  The information you need can be found in the article like the author's name, page number and when it was published.

• MLA In Text Citation In the text of your research paper, this handout helps you when you need to refer to a source that is located in your works cited page.
• MLA Work Cited Page Handout MLA Citation Style handout that was given out in class. showing the basics of how to do MLA citations.

Helpful Websites

• MLA Style Center Homepage for MLA Style from the Modern Language Association
• Purdue OWL (Online Writing Lab) MLA Formatting and Style Guide The Purdue OWL website for MLA formatting and style guide. One of the most popular resources for English writing.

Copies of the MLA Handbook at the Library

• Last Updated: Sep 12, 2024 11:58 AM
• URL: https://libguides.mpc.edu/English43

• Study and research support
• Referencing
• Leeds Harvard referencing examples

Leeds Harvard: Comic book

Reference examples.

Comic books/graphic novels are created collaboratively and so referencing can be complex. Credit should first be given to the writer/author of the story, indicated by (w) after their name. This should be followed by the name of the penciller(p), and inker(i). If someone is responsible for both pencilling and inking, then they become the artist and (a) is placed after their name. If the writer/author is also the artist, then place (w, a) after their name.

Comic book / graphic novel 

Family name, INITIAL(S)(w), Family name, INITIAL(S)(p) and Family name, INITIAL(S)(i). Year. Story title.  Comic book/graphic novel title . Issue number, date. Place of Publication: Publisher. 

Gardner, F.(w), Sekowsky, M.(p) and Sachs, B.(i). 1961. The wheel of misfortune.  Justice League of America . Issue 6, Aug-Sep 1961. New York: National Comics Publications.

Multi story issues

Family name, INITIAL(S)(w), Family name, INITIAL(S)(p) and Family name, INITIAL(S)(i). Year. Story title.  Comic book title . Issue number, date, page number(s). Place of Publication: Publisher. 

Morrison, G.(w) and Yeowell, S.(a). 1987. Zenith - prologue: ground zero.  2000 AD . Issue 535, 15 August 1987, pp.1-5. London: Fleetway Publications. 

Unknown writer/artist

Comic book title. Year. Story title.  Comic book title . Issue number, date, page number(s). Place of Publication: Publisher. 

Beano. 2000. Minnie the Minx.  The Beano . Issue 3000, 15 January 2000, p.2. Dundee: DC Thomson.

For cartoons/comic strips in newspapers, see  Newspaper cartoon . 

Citation examples

Author and date.

When the author name is not mentioned in the text, the citation consists of the author’s name and the year of publication in brackets.

It was emphasised that citations in the text should be consistent (Jones, 2017).

If you have already named the author in the text, only the publication year needs to be mentioned in brackets.

Jones (2017) emphasised that citations in the text should be consistent.

Three or more authors

If a source has three or more authors, the name of the first author should be given, followed by the phrase "et al."

It was emphasised that citations in a text should be consistent (Jones et al., 2017).

Jones et al. (2017) emphasised that citations in a text should be consistent.

Leeds Harvard does not use ibid to refer to previously cited items. If you are citing the same item twice in a row (i.e. you do not cite any other items in the text between the two citations) you must write the full citation again. 

The key principle of referencing is that the reader should understand which information came from another source and which is your own idea, so you should provide citations as often as is necessary to make this clear.  If you feel that you are citing the same source too many times in one paragraph, you could change the way that you are writing:

• You could include the author’s surname or pronoun in the sentence, to show you are still referring to the same source.
• You could include a second source to make your paragraph feel less repetitive and add further support to the point you want to make. See our guidance on incorporating evidence into your writing.

Example: Jones et al. (2017) emphasised that citations in a text should be consistent and argued that referencing is a key part of academic integrity. Furthermore, having a broad range of references in a text is an indicator of the breadth of a scholar's reading and research (Jones et al., 2017). They also suggested that…

When to include page numbers

You should include page numbers in your citation if you quote directly from the text, paraphrase specific ideas or explanations, or use an image, diagram, table, etc. from a source.

"It was emphasised that citations in a text should be consistent" (Jones, 2017, p.24).

When referencing a single page, you should use p. For a range of pages, use pp.

p.7 or pp.20-29.

If the page numbers are in Roman numerals, do not include p. before them.

(Amis, 1958, iv)

Corporate author

If the item is produced by an organisation, treat the organisation as a "corporate author". This means you can use the name of the organisation instead of that of an individual author. This includes government departments, universities or companies. Cite the corporate author in the text the same way as you would an individual author.

According to a recent report, flu jabs are as important as travel vaccines (Department of Health, 2017).  

Common issues

When you're referencing with Leeds Harvard you may come across issues with missing details, multiple authors, edited books, references to another author's work or online items, to name a few. Here are some tips on how to deal with some common issues when using Leeds Harvard.

Skip straight to the issue that affects you:

• Online items
• URL web addresses
• Multiple authors
• Corporate author(s) or organisation(s)
• Multiple publisher details
• Editions and reprints
• Missing details
• Multiple sources with different authors
• Sources written by the same author in the same year
• Sources with the same author in different years
• Two authors with the same surname in the same year
• The work of one author referred to by another
• Anonymising sources for confidentiality
• Identifying the authors’ family name (surname)

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Q. How do I cite a comic book?

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Answered By: Katie Hutchison Last Updated: May 09, 2017     Views: 51296

For MLA help with citing a comic book, head to this website: Comic Art in Scholarly Writing: A Citation Guide for different examples of citations based on what kind of comic you're looking to cite.

APA does not give a specific format for citing a comic book, but it is suggested to follow the same guidelines you would use for citing a magazine or journal article for a serialized comic (such as Batman , issue 12).  You would then follow the book guidelines for a non-serialized comic (such as Maus by Art Spiegelman).

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