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Grand Comics Database™ Formed: April 1994 Contact: GCD Contact List Website: www.comics.org Back to the Main Page

About the GCD

The Grand Comics Database™ (GCD) is a nonprofit, Internet-based organization of international volunteers dedicated to building a database covering all printed comics throughout the world. The official Vision Statement is: "The Grand Comics Database Project aspires to be the world's most comprehensive online comics database for comic readers, collectors, scholars and professionals." Learn more about the GCD through these articles. If you still have questions, send us an email at GCD Contact List. We look forward to hearing from you. Frequently Asked Questions Searching The GCD my.comics.org -- tracking your own collection IMPs -- the most common way to become member! How can you contribute? New Users: New users can jump right in by contributing in a variety of ways: Index Join a mailing list Report Errors Join the Tech Team Join a Committee Donate Members: Membership is defined by The GCD Charter which opens up some additional ways to contribute: Vote! Become a Coordinator Join the Board Become an Editor Who's Who Board Votes Affecting This Topic http://www.comics.org/voting/ballot/279/ - 2016-02-29 Information on Indexing The primary way to contribute is to become an Indexer and add data for comics or upload cover scans we don't yet have. Here are some links to get started! Online Indexing OI Tutorial: The best way to get started! Video Tutorials: Helpful videos of several indexing questions. Indexing FAQ Indexing Offline Indexing Measuring Points (IMPs): Get credit for your work! Qualifying and Non Qualifying Publications including examples of some publications that don't qualify for the GCD. Reporting Errors with the Error Tracker Still looking for more to do? Help the GCD by cleaning up our database through any one of our Special Projects! Formatting Documentation Entering data into the GCD must follow guidelines established by the gcd-policy discussion list. Those rules can be found in the Formatting Documentation which is updated regularly. Any GCD member can join the discussion list at https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/gcd-policy . Formatting Documentation Formatting Documentation Cheat Sheet Official Genres List Rules/Policy Coordinators Policy Procedures Adding to the GCD The following links will walk Indexers through adding new content to he GCD. Adding a Missing Publisher Adding an Indicia/Colophon Publisher Adding a New Brand Adding a Missing Series Series Skeleton Requirements Adding a Missing Issue Adding or Improving Covers Adding or Editing Creator Records Resources There are several resources to help indexers. Glossary of Common Terms Jerry Bails' Who's Who (No longer updated, but invaluable!) Until the updatable Who's Who is developed, please store corrections on our People page. Details on updating Creator Records with information from the Who's Who Other Useful Resources and Links User's Guide to Publishers Variant Characters (alternate Earths, Timelines, etc.) (the best explanation if you want to know why a given index does or does not mention that the character is in some way a variation on another character) Editors Indexers may eventually become editors, who review the work of Indexers and the incoming error reports and make corrections to existing data. List of Editors Editor Documentation GCD Organizational Structure The GCD Charter The Board Parliamentary Rules Coordinators Technical Coordinators Committees GCD Organizational Structure Technical Details We have most of our the tech documentation on github We are always involved in improving our web-site for the GCD. If you would like to help, please contact the gcd-tech group and see what you can do to help. Software Beta Test Site (not always running!) GCD ERD Diagram GCD Full ERD Diagram Database Data Distribution FAQ Data dumps: http://www.comics.org/download/ Guidelines for developers re-using the GCD data the django-models are the ground truth of the database schema Old Schema Description (from Feb 2010, still the best description we have) New Fun Schema (v1.0 is still a Work in Progress) Historical "new schema" Other Projects Bigger Projects Publisher Names: Project lead by the comics-pub list. Comic Book Distribution Other On-Going Efforts Bell Features reprint list Characters People Special Data Cleanup Projects DC Profiles Press Releases and Media Mentions Links to mentions of the Grand Comics Database in the press and other media. Credit Where Credit Is Due, by Will Alred, June 4, 1999 "Comic Book Resources on the Web", by David S. Serchay, article in Library Journal, October 1, 1999 GCD Press Release about adopting a charter and electing its first Board of Directors, by Ray Bottorff Jr, December 9, 2000 GCD Press Release about beginning online indexing, by Ray Bottorff Jr, November 11, 2002 Grand Comics Database entry in Wikipedia, first created by Donald Dale Milne, January 26, 2006 GCD Press Release about indexing the 100,000th comic, December 25, 2006 Using Graphic Novels in the High School Classroom: Engaging Deaf Students With a New Genre, by Linda Smetana, Darah Odelson, Heidi Burns, and Dana L. Grisham in the Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy 53(3), November 20, 2009 (mentioned as a classroom resource) GCD Press Release about its 300,000th comic book cover scan, October 18, 2010 Comics Superhero Has Local Ties, by Andrew McGinn, January 12, 2012 Comic Book Resources (brief mention by Paul Levitz, November 26, 2012) "Information Resources In The Humanities and The Arts, 6th edition", by Elizabeth S. Aversa; Anna H. Perrault; Cynthia Miller; Sonia Ramirez Wohlmuth, published by Libraries Unlimited, an imprint of ABC-CLIO, LLC, 2013 (mentioned as a classroom resource on page 153) The Image and Role of the Librarian, by Linda S Katz, October 14, 2013 George & Tony Entertainment podcast about Awesome Con DC convention, April, 2014 (scroll to Episode 13) GCD Press Release about reaching our 1,000,000th issue, September 16, 2014 "Jubiläum: 20 Jahre GCD", by Jochen Garcke, article in Alfonz #04/2014, about the 20th anniversary of the GCD, October, 2014 "Comics through Time: A History of Icons, Idols, and Ideas", edited by M. Keith Booker, published by Greenwood, an imprint of ABC-CLIO, LLC, 2014 (mentioned as a resource) A Database for Comics (and How to Get Comics for Free), by Kirk House, April 25, 2015 It's a Bird! It's a Plane! It's -- Curtiss!, by Kirk House, August 10, 2015 "Gottfredson’s Illegitimate Heirs: Tezuka Osamu and the Great Wall of 1945", by Ryan Holmberg in a column at The Comics Journal, October 19, 2015 (mentioned as a data source, and Ray Bottorff Jr. is credited with a research assist) "Acquisitions Mode", by Bart Beaty in the blog of the What Were Comics research project, November 27, 2017 "The League of Regrettable Sidekicks", by Jon Morris, published by Quirk Books, 2018 (mentioned with Thanks in the Acknowledgments) Public Inspection Documents Per United States IRS regulations, a private foundation such as the Grand Comics Database must make its annual returns and exemption application available for public inspection. This includes copies of several supporting documents submitted to the IRS. These documents are included here and can be downloaded for inspection via the following links: Exemption application - 2023 Annual tax returns: 2022 and Statements page 1, page 2, page 3, page 4, page 5, page 6, page 7, page 8, page 9, page 10, page 11, page 12, page 13, page 14, page 15, page 16 2021 and Statements 2020 and Statements 2019 and Statements page 1, page 2, page 3, page 4, page 5, page 6, page 7, page 8, page 9, page 10, page 11, page 12, page 13, page 14, page 15 2018 and Statements part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5 2017 and Statements page 1, page 2, page 3, page 4, page 5, page 6, page 7, page 8, page 9, page 10, page 11, page 12, page 13, page 14, page 15, page 16 Supporting documents: State of Arkansas Annual Reports: 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 Other GCD Files & Information GCD Alter Ego ad from 2014 GCD Community pages, with GCD history, logos, charter, press mentions, etc. GCD Convention appearance schedule Where is data from the GCD used? Miscellaneous Info Monthly Metrics 2016 - Monthly Stat Report Historical Documents