| Unofficial DC Comics Indexes - Frequently Asked Questions |
As it should be quite obvious if you have ever purchased any of the DC Comic Indexes by Independent Comic Group, or any of the Official Marvel Indexes this index series owe a great debt to George Olshevsky and Murray Ward, the pioneers of Comic Book Indexes. This is our attempt to continue the never ending task they so beautifully began.
The format of the Unofficial DC Index Series is in many ways similar to that of those official indexes with the added functionality the internet enables. For those of you who are not familiar with those indexes here's how it works.
How to read the individual index listings
Each entry in the DC Series Indexes will contain creator credits, character appearances, and continuity information, as well as (in some cases) location listings, reprint information, the issue's solicitation, and/or a brief story synopsis. See below for a more detailed description.
Below the cover credits section of the index you will find links to the previous and next issues of the title in question as well as a link to the Title Index for that particular series.
Cover Credits
Usually the cover credits will only include credits for penciller, inker and artist (latter description used only when the cover is either painted, a photography, a combination of the two or the creator did both pencils and inks). If the penciller(s), and inker(s), or artist(s) have signed their work it will be noted in the index. Credits other than pencils, inks, or art will appear where known. However, whenever the logo-designer is known, he/she will only be credited in the cover credits of the first issue that the new logo appears.
Story Information
Story titles are given as they appear on the title page, and not as on the covers or in coming attractions. When a story lacks a title or title page the title of the story will either be listed as [No title] or as [Title]. The latter means that the story was given a title on the cover or that the stories were originally untitled and that we are providing one. If an issue contains more than one story every reference to either story will be noted in an abbreviated form elsewhere in the index series (e.g. #25/2 means the second story in #25). Story credits are taken from the credits as published. Whenever additional information is available, it appears in the index. If the published credits are incorrect, the index corrects them wherever possible.
Characters
Characters are grouped as Feature Character(s) (the character(s) to whom the title of the feature refers), Guest Stars (characters regulary featured in other DC comics, who appear in a major role in the story), Supporting Characters (characters who appear frequently in stories with the Feature Character(s) or Guest Star(s)), Villains (the heroes' antagonists), Guest Appearances (characters from other of the publishers comics, but only in minor roles. A Guest Appearance may be very brief; even a one-panel or an off-panel appearance, such as in a telephone conversation counts, as long as the character is physically present in the story), and Other Characters (everybody else of note). To save space I haven't noted characters who either aren't given full names or who never appear in another story after their first appearance unless I deem their appearance somehow noteworthy. "Behind the scenes" describes characters who don't appear in the story, but whose influence is felt, as, for example, when a Villain works through agents.
Please Note: Cameo appearances, e.g. characters that do not actually appear in the story, but whose images are seen for example as statues, or in flashbacks to stories previously published have generally not been included in the indexes, but we have recently started to add those as well.
Chronology
It is our intention to try to include chronological information for all of the characters, included in these indexes. However, as there is no official timeline for all of DC's comics, and due to the many revamps of DC's characters, even we are at a loss sometimes.
The parenthetical comments after each character's name represents his/her chronology, that is, his/her previous/next appearances in chronological order after the story in question and are linked to the issue(s) in question. If a character in e.g. The Flash crosses over into say, Green Lantern, or any other comic, before appearing again in The Flash, you'll find it noted here; likewise, any appearances of characters in stories told out of chronological order (such as flashbacks and origin revelations) are also noted. The only "next" appearances that aren't mentioned are those occurring in the next issue of the title itself.
As not all DC comics have been indexed at this point and sometimes you will run across a link to an issue that hasn't been indexed yet. Currently the focus of the Guide is comics published after Crisis on Infinite Earths but in some cases pre-Crisis issues have been added.