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Navigation Tools
Comixjoint provides several navigational tools to help make it easier to locate particular areas of interest and browse through our website.
The sidebar to the left is fairly self-explanatory. It exists throughout the Archives (except on some sample pages that are presented in a wide format) and enables you to jump from one area to another with ease. The sidebar "fire buttons" will change depending on where you are on the site, helping you navigate back and forth as desired. Our Archives are divided into four sections and each section features a navigation bar at the top of the page, as shown below.
Each letter of the alphabet is linked to a page listing all of the publications with titles beginning with that specific letter. You can jump all around the alphabet and find the specific titles you are interested in. It is also possible to begin with the first book in any section and use links to click through the Archives, book by book and even section to section.
NOTE: Publications that had more than one issue (series or serials*) are grouped together and reviewed as a group. Individual books within most series are also reviewed separately, but a few multi-issue titles (e.g., The First Kingdom) only have one review for the entire run of the title.
The Search link is always present in the sidebar, so anytime you want to search for all Comixjoint pages related to a specific title, artist or any other keyword, use the search tool. We don't maintain a comprehensive story database like Sir Real's Kennedyesque site, but everything that is on our site is searchable.
*Series are multi-issue publications that feature multiple stories, different creators, and/or different characters in each issue, even if some characters are occasionally recurring. Multi-issue anthologies like Rip Off Comix are anthology series, as are most multi-issue underground comics.
Serials are multi-issue publications that feature one story or multiple stories with a cast of one or more recurring characters, like a soap opera. The First Kingdom is one example of an underground comic serial. Other examples include Love and Rockets and The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers. |
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Categorizing Publications
In the course of developing this website, I had to make some concrete decisions about categorizing publications into different eras or genres. I didn't want too many categories that would make it hard to find specific publications. I also didn't want to dump everything into strict historical eras (Golden Age, Silver Age, etc.) as mainstream collectors do, because there isn't a consensus about such eras for underground and alternative comics.
There's an article in the Treasury section that explains my rationale for classification, but this list shows how many genres I was classifying.
Underground
Groundlevel
Mainstream
Independent
Alternative
Erotic
International |
Small Press
Minicomics
Comic Fanzines
Biographies
Books
Catalogs
Magazines |
Trading Cards
Flyers
Posters
Postcards
Newsletters
Correspondence
Original Artwork |
I classified the genres listed above into four basic sections.
Underground Comics
Underground-style and "groundlevel" (per Kennedy) published from the 1960s up to 1980, and non-comic book material related to the genre.
Alternative Comics
Alternative, independent, erotic, and mainstream comics published from the 1970s forward, and non-comic book material related to the genre.
Small Press Comics
Minicomics and comic fanzines published from the 1960s forward, and non-comic book material related to the genre.
Books & Magazines
Books and magazines from any era.
Comixjoint does not distinguish between U.S. and international publications. If they fit the genre, they are included in that section. As our archives expand, we may consider devoting a section to international publications.
Certain publications are listed in more than one section (several comic magazines in the Books & Magazines section are also listed in a comics section) or even twice in one section (books commonly known by more than one title). I'd rather have people find publications where they expect them to be instead of having to use the Search tool over and over. |
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