Wikipedia:WikiProject Comics/Getting Involved

What is WikiProject Comics?
WikiProject Comics (WP:CMC) is a group of Wikipedia editors interested in comics. This WikiProject provides a place to discuss what we're doing, ask for help, and announce new articles. Any Wikipedian (someone with a user account) is free to join. Look at Portal:Comics to see some of our best articles.

What is Wikipedia?
Wikipedia is a user-created encyclopedia run by a non-commercial, non-profit organization. Type a subject in the "search box" and see what appears: Try "Comics," for instance, and read our article on the medium. The "edit this page" tab at the top of the page means you can, if you so wish, edit any page in Wikipedia and have your changes appear immediately. If you would like to try it out, you can experiment on Sandbox. Enter anything you want, and see what appears! Remember: No constructive edit is too small!

Wherever you see a word or phrase underlined in blue, that means you can click and read an article. And, of course, if you can spot an improvement, you can just make it there and then. Where a word or phrase is underlined in red, that means that article has not yet been written - and, if you wish, you can click on that word or phrase and create that article.

User accounts
Anyone can edit Wikipedia, regardless of whether they have a user account; however, if you find yourself contributing regularly, it's a good idea to create a user account. Edits by registered users tend to be taken a little more seriously. You don't have to use your real name if you don't want to, and it helps if others want to contact you to discuss the work you're doing or even to thank you for your contributions.


 * Click here to create a user account.

Editing articles
Many articles need to be edited, updated, or even created. These include articles about notable creators, comic books, comic strips, characters, and country-specific topics. Because Wikipedia's editorial staff is made up of volunteers, everything should be cited. You can find relevant information at sites such as Project Fanboy, Comics Newsarama and Comic Book Resources and magazines like The Comics Journal, Back Issue! magazine, and Wizard: The Comics Magazine. You can also use information from older solicitation information, such as you might find in the Previews catalog; be sure only to write about comics that have hit the shelves and not to speculate — "Wikipedia is not a crystal ball".

The Manual of Style (comics), exemplars and naming conventions will guide you in how WP:CMC articles should look and help you refine your editing techniques.

Other useful pages
Here's a list of helpful reference pages to keep handy:
 * Category:Wikipedia resources for researchers
 * Guide to writing better articles
 * Lead section
 * Summary style
 * Cite sources
 * What is a featured article

Contributing images

 * See also: WikiProject Comics/Copyright and Copyright FAQ.

We always need new images and photographs. We of course must respect copyrighted images, but photographs you've taken are welcome. We need images that are licensed under PD (Public Domain) or cc-by-sa (Creative Commons); copyrighted but fair to use; or free.

We need images of comic book panels, covers and promotional art; comic strips; comics exhibitions; conventions; the tools used in creating comics; and creators, particularly if the image is of the creator working.

Pages to patrol
Looking for something to do? These pages always have articles that could use your attention:
 * Task List — Add or address article creation or cleanup requests,
 * Category:Comics articles needing cleanup — These articles need cleanup work done, usually grammar, spelling, punctuation, proper tense (present, when describing fictional events), and plot summary reduction.
 * Category:Comics articles that need to differentiate between fact and fiction - rewrite these articles from a real world perspective, per manual of style guidelines, or trim expansive in-universe sections.
 * Category:Comics - The main comics category.
 * Category:Comics stubs — Expand these articles.
 * Category:Wikipedia requested photographs of comics — These articles need images.
 * Category:Comics character articles without infoboxes — Apply the superherobox template to the articles that need it.
 * Category:Comics articles needing issue citations — Find reliable sources to support articles.
 * Category:Discussion of future comics — The articles have time-sensitive information that will need to be updated to reflect when the event has happened. Articles should use dates rather than words like "current", "recent", or "soon".
 * ALL CATALOGUED: Recent changes to all pages catalogued for WikiProject Comics

Other comics-related projects you could help with

 * WikiProject Anime and Manga
 * WikiProject Superman
 * WikiProject Transformers
 * You could create audio versions of comics article text for WikiProject Spoken Wikipedia.

Alternative outlets

 * If you know a language other than English, you could translate comics-related text. See the full list of non-English wikipedias.
 * You could add comics terminology to, our sister dictionary concern.
 * You could add comics quotes to another sister concern.


 * For a list of alternative sites for writing about various fictional universes, see WP:WAF.

In closing
Welcome to Wikiproject Comics. We look forward to your edits. Once again, if you need anything, just ask.