Identification

How to identify a comic from its cover or barcode

Title, issue number and year are all on the book. Here is how to read them, and where a database can confirm them.

Start with the cover

Title and volume are in the masthead. Annuals, specials and one-shots carry that word on the cover.
Issue number is usually in the corner box or near the barcode.
Cover date and price help separate reprints and later volumes from the original.

Use the barcode

The UPC on a comic identifies the series, and the five-digit add-on printed beside it carries the issue number. A close-up of the barcode is more reliable than a full-cover photo because the bars are tiny.

Confirm against a database

The Grand Comics Database is a free, volunteer-built catalog of comics. Checking a title and issue number against it catches misreads, such as a wrong volume or a title that was never published.

Doing this at scale

eComicIQ reads the cover from a photo, checks the result against the Grand Comics Database, and can read a close-up barcode. If a cover has no printed title, it asks you to type one rather than guessing silently.

Comic reference data from the Grand Comics Database, used under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Questions

Can you identify a comic from a photo?

Yes. eComicIQ reads title, issue, year and publisher from a cover photo and checks them against the Grand Comics Database.

What if the cover has no title?

Art-only covers cannot always be read. The app tells you and lets you type the title or scan the barcode.

Does the barcode tell me the issue number?

The main barcode identifies the series. The five-digit add-on beside it is the issue number.

Try it on your next stack

One scan, 5 images, about 3 seconds.

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