Hey, comic book nerds!

[faebouche]

If you were going to the library to browse their graphic novel selection, how would you want it to be organized

Comments

[zen_oven]

dunno if i have much advice. most of our branches have a YA graphic novel collection, but i think they are just in a separate section with dewey numbers. nothing terribly exciting.

if dewey numbers aren't an option or a requirement, i'd separate out the manga from the other comics, maybe have sections for specific superheroes if that will make sense, etc.

[superbigrobot]

I find that, while i don't necessarily think of comics by publisher, most of the comic stores sort them by publisher.

So it's a huge section of DC, by title. A huge section of Marvel, by title. There is some Image and Darkhorse, by title and a smattering of the smaller publishers.

Chapel Hill comics also has a section for the top/big writers and sorts their books by title.

[corey3rd]

The best way is to have them alphabetical by either character or base title. In other words the Batmans would be in the Batman section. The Watchmen would be in W. At least that's how I normally like them to be when I'm hunting through our library's comic book (Graphic Novel) section.

The ones with nudity should be on the top shelf so that only the tall kids can read them.

[afelah]

Generally speaking, I look for graphic novels by author. That said, there are so many different franchises that have multiple authors that this might not be the best way to do it as a general rule. I tend to think comic book stores do it well, and I'm not a fan of reinventing the wheel, so sorting by publisher makes sense to me too.

[herithoth]

Personally I would sort them thematically and then by character. That way people would be able to find other comics similar to the genre that they like that are filed in the same section. Themes could include superheroes, fantasy, manga, goth/horror, noir, etc.