The Preservation Network

Every Issue.
Every Arc.
Catalogued.

The Comic Book Database is building the most complete catalog of comic book issues ever assembled — every publisher, every character, every run — with a full REST API for developers, researchers, and collectors.

🔨 In active development. Sign up to be notified when the API goes live.
Notify Me at Launch Preview the API
1.5M+
Target Issues
10K+
Publishers
85+
Years of Print
500K+
Characters
The Database

Everything in the long boxes.
Indexed and queryable.

From the Golden Age to the present — every publisher, every imprint, every special edition, every variant cover — structured data you can actually build with.

📖
Complete Issue Records
Cover date, story title, writer, artist, inker, colorist, letterer, editor, page count, print run — every field that matters to a serious collector.
🎭
Character Appearances
Track every appearance of every character — first appearance, key issues, story arcs, crossovers, deaths, and resurrections.
🖼️
Cover Images
High-resolution cover art for every issue. Variant covers tracked and linked to the parent issue record.
📊
Story Arc Mapping
Multi-issue arcs, crossover events, and tie-ins mapped and queryable. Find every issue in an arc instantly.
🌐
International Coverage
American superhero books, manga, European bandes dessinées, UK comics, and independents from every market.
🔗
Cross-Network Linking
Characters that crossed into TV, gaming, and trading cards link to TheTCDB and TheGMDB entries in the same network.
Publishers we're cataloguing
Marvel Comics
DC Comics
Image Comics
Dark Horse Comics
IDW Publishing
Boom! Studios
Valiant
Dynamite
Archie Comics
EC Comics
Fantagraphics
Drawn & Quarterly
Oni Press
TOKYOPOP
Viz Media
Kodansha
Shueisha
Charlton Comics
Dell Comics
Gold Key
Warren Publishing
Pacific Comics
Eclipse Comics
+ thousands more
Developer API

The first comic book database
built API-first.

Full Issue Records via REST
Search by publisher, character, arc, writer, artist, date range, or any combination. Paginated JSON responses, no GraphQL required.
Character Appearance Queries
Get every issue a character appears in. Filter by role (main, cameo, flashback), era, or publisher.
Free Tier: 500 Requests/Day
Build your app on the free tier. Paid plans for researchers and commercial applications once we launch.
Preservation Network Key
One API key. Access to TheCBDB, TheGMDB, TheTCDB, and TheUHDB — all in one developer account (coming soon).
Get Early Access
// Search all Batman issues from 1986-1995 GET https://api.thecbdb.org/v1/issues ?character=batman &year_from=1986&year_to=1995 // Response { "issues": [ { "slug": "batman-404", "series": "Batman", "issue_number": 404, "cover_date": "February 1987", "story_title": "Year One, Part One", "writer": "Frank Miller", "artist": "David Mazzucchelli", "characters": ["Batman", "Jim Gordon"], "arc": "Batman: Year One", "cover_image_url": "..." } ], "total": 218 } // Get a full story arc GET https://api.thecbdb.org/v1/arcs/batman-year-one { "issues": ["batman-404", "batman-405", "batman-406", "batman-407"] }
Pricing

Start free. Scale when you're ready.

All tiers include full access to the issue database. Pricing locks in at launch for early registrants.

Free
$0 /mo
For hobbyists and tinkerers
  • 500 requests/day
  • Full issue metadata
  • Character lookups
  • Cover image URLs
  • Rate limited
Collector
$9 /mo
For serious collectors and researchers
  • 10,000 requests/day
  • Full story arc data
  • Character appearance history
  • Bulk export
  • Email support
Developer
$29 /mo
For apps and side projects
  • 100,000 requests/day
  • Webhook notifications
  • Priority support
  • SLA guarantee
  • Early feature access
Commercial
$99 /mo
For production apps and businesses
  • Unlimited requests
  • Full DB snapshots
  • Custom rate limits
  • Dedicated support
  • Commercial license
Part of The Preservation Network Four databases. One mission. Every artifact, preserved.
TheUHDB TheGMDB TheTCDB The Network →