While it isn’t uncommon to have a graphic novel that is created by one person, it’s more the norm for multiple people to be involved in the creation of the work. I don’t believe there are any “official” rules (at least not that I’ve found so far) about which role gets top billing, I make the argument that the writer (or sometimes called “scripter” or possibly “plotter”) should be the primary name for statement of responsibility purposes. Why would I say that when this is a GRAPHIC based medium? Well, without the story, it’s just a collection of art. A story without pictures still tells a story but pictures without a story are just pictures. Of course, if someone that primarily considers themselves an artist creates a series of art that is sequential and tells a story, well, that would make them a “writer” as well since they told the story (even if it isn’t written down).

Now, I say all this from a cataloging perspective. Somebody has to get the coveted 100 spot and it’s easier to catalog if you have some consistency. I’m not saying writers are more important than artists when it comes to comics. All I’m saying is that when you breakdown a comic, somebody had to create the story that is being told. Without the story, you don’t have a graphic novel. Sometimes the person drawing the art is the same person that wrote the story. Sometimes not. So, for consistency’s sake, let’s go with the writer as the primary choice for statement of responsibility.

Now, it would seem fairly straightforward that after writer comes artist. And yes, that is true. But, there are multiple artistic roles involved in a comic. Sometimes these roles are all handled by one person, but they can be broken up so that multiple people are involved. Generally, the art side of the comic concerns pencils, inks, color, and letters. Here’s where it gets complicated.

Fortunately, the credits page of the graphic novel usually does a pretty good job of accurately providing who-did-what, so you don’t need to stress too much about the details. Most often , at least with comics produced by the “big” companies, you will see the art broken out into 3 or 4 credits: penciller (also spelled “penciler”), inker, colorist (or “colourist” for those with a British lean), and letterer. When the credits say “artist,” generally speaking, that means a person that did at least the penciling and the inking. Sometimes the “artist” also does the coloring as well and maybe even the lettering too.

Additionally, you may have a credit for the artist(s) who did the cover. Sometimes it’s the same artist(s) who did the art inside the comic, sometimes it isn’t.

Now, how do all these credits work in your cataloging record?

Ok, so, based on the above explanation, the writer is probably going to get the 100 field almost every time. And, since I brought it up, I actually use the term “writer” in place of “author.” It’s probably unnecessary, but to me, this helps differentiate graphic novels from regular novels. “Author” feels too … I don’t know… broad. When I think of an author, I think of somebody that just writes a bunch of words and then you read them. There may be more than one word writer, but the form is singular unlike comics which is typically a collaborative effort. About the only time I use “author” on a graphic novel is if one person created all of it. “Author” feels like a word for the person or persons responsible for all of the content of a book. But I digress… back to the topic at hand and away from my pedantic etymological ramblings.

Writer goes in the 100. Almost always there is going to be someone credited with the words or script or plot or something. Of course, that person might also be the artist, so I just put that person in the 100 as the writer & artist.

This means that everybody else goes in a 700. I try to group each role together and list them as the appear in the credits. So, all of the artists would be first. If the artists are broken out into individual parts, I start with pencilers then inkers. After them come the colorists and letterers. If the cover artist(s) are different than the already mentioned persons, I put them last.

Additionally, I credit them as listed on the credits page, i.e. someone listed as artist would be [name] $e artist and an inker would be [name] $e inker. The only time I might deviate is if a person is credited with multiple parts, such as someone did pencils and some inking, I might just label them “artist” if I’m feeling really lazy.

But wait! What about editors?

Yeah, I just ignore them. Look, editors are vital to graphic novels, particularly ongoing series or comics with shared universe characters. Editors are the ones who in addition to making sure there aren’t typos and the whole thing makes sense and doesn’t look awful also make sure that continuity is maintained. Somebody has to be in charge of making sure that what the last writer wrote isn’t completely ignored or accidentally contradicted by the current writer. If Batman threw the Joker into a vat of chocolate 6 issues back, somebody needs to make sure it doesn’t get referenced as the Riddler getting thrown in a vat of chocolate or the Joker getting thrown into a vat of cream corn.

But, we have to draw the line somewhere. Otherwise, we’re going to end up with just way too many 700 fields. Look, I’m as OCD as the rest of you, and I really WANT to describe these things down to the minute detail, but there are time, space, and sanity aspects to adhere to. Heck, when I’m doing some ginormous omnibus that has like 10 people for every role, I’ve been known to not record the colorists and letterers, just to keep the record from being too long.

Oh yeah, and that reminds me of a couple of other points. If there are more than one writer credited, I only use a 100 field if one writer has written a majority of the stories. If I have an omnibus or other collection that might involve more than 5 writers, with none being predominant, I’m probably going to scrap the 100 altogether and put everyone in the 700s. Also, in the 245 field, regardless of what other people say, I hate it when the 245 gets super cluttered with names. I usually include the writer(s) and possibly the artist if there is only one. Generally, I’m going to put detailed credits in a 508 field and keep the 245 from looking like a paragraph.

One last thing I want to touch on. Creators. It’s now commonplace to have a creator credit included with the other credits. You’ve likely seen some form like “Batman created by Bob Kane with Bill Finger” or something like that. Without going into the whole sordid reason why we have these as well as the ongoing debate about some of them, I’ll just say that I leave them out of the 700s. I will include them in either a 500 or 508 note so the information is there, but I really don’t feel that the creators warrant a special credit. After all, while they may have “created” the character, they didn’t necessarily have any input on the story being presented. Bill Finger and Bob Kane may have been the first to tell stories about The Batman, but the character has changed quite a bit over the years and isn’t quite like the original.

So that’s the deal. That’s how I do things. Do you have a different way?