Comics and Graphic Novels

Collections of anglophone comics and graphic novels can be found at both Berlin and Göttingen (see below) as they are important primary sources for the FID AAC's research communities. 

The FID AAC is part of the network 'Comics in Bibliotheken' which aims to enhance the visibility of the diverse comics collections found in German libraries and to make them more accessible for research through a variety of joint initiatives. 

• Visit the website of the Gesellschaft für Comicforschung, Society for Comics Studies (ComFor)! 

• Learn more about the network 'Comics in Bibliotheken': Bericht Netzwerk 'Comics in Bibliotheken', DFG-Rundgespräch Februar 2025 

• Find out which German libraries and research institutions house comics collections: Wikipedia article "Öffentliche Comicsammlungen in Deutschland" (jointly written be members of the network 'Comics in Bibliotheken')

In 2013, the Comics Collection at the Branch Library North American Studies (then the Library of the John F. Kennedy Institute) began to develop systematically, although it had already been part of the holdings since the early 1970s. With the help of the Einstein Foundation, the library bought more than 500 collections of historical newspaper comic strips, superhero anthologies of all periods, collections of important artists and writers, graphic novels and other current and historical examples of North American graphic narrative art.

Thanks to a cooperation with the Comic Art Collection at Michigan State University donating its duplicates to the library, the collection of North American comic books is continually growing. The range of comic books covers genres and time periods from Action Comics of the 1960s and 70s, to science fiction comics of the 1980s, to current superhero comics.

In 2015, Wolfgang J. Fuchs donated his collection of National Lampoon and Crazy to the library. Both were popular humor magazines in the 1970s and 80s and contain a high number of comics, cartoons, fumetti, and written pieces, thus enriching the library's holdings.

Along with other popular primary sources, such as movies, TV series, magazines or newspapers, comics serve as a regular source for research and teaching at the John F. Kennedy Institute and other research institutes. They were of special interest to the Research Unit "Popular Seriality - Aesthetics and Practice" (2010-2016).

You can browse the collection (pimary sources and research literature) via Primo. 

The SUB Göttingen collects English-language comics and graphic novels, primarily from the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. Most of them are held on open shelves in the Central Library's reading room (first floor, at shelfmark IAZ 700 Com). You can also browse the collection via our catalogue.

The Zotero group "Anglophone Comics & Graphic Novels (FID AAC, SUB Goettingen)" allows you to search within the collection and to filter the results (e.g. by country of origin). Feel free to use the bibliographical data in your own Zotero library (joining the group is not necessary in order to be able to do this). To check availability, click the link to the library catalogue entry (found under "Attachments"). 

If you would like to request a particular title for acquisition, please use our purchase suggestion form or feel free to join the Zotero group and tag your entry with ‘purchase suggestion’ (keyboard short-cut ‘2’)! 

The SUB Göttingen also offers a wide selection of research literature on comics. 

All items are available for inter-library loan.

Grüter, Doris, and Dorothea Schuller. "BOOM! PAF! ¡BUM! – Comicsammlungen in den Fachinformationsdiensten (FID)." 114. BiblioCon Berlin, 2026. urn:nbn:de:0290-opus4-203583

Mayer, Julia. "Zur Eröffnung der Comic-Sammlung der Bibliothek des John-F.-Kennedy-Instituts für Nordamerikastudien." Berlin, 25.11.2014. [read it online]