Talk:Panelology

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Has anyone even heard this term used before? I would like to think that I'd have at least seen this somewhere before if it's at all common. -Humble Fool

A google search on "panelology" reveals 23 hits. Not a massive number but, still, seems frequent enough to be worthy of inclusion. Also, the usages are pretty legitimate. On balance, I believe this term should be described in Wikipedia; plus, for me, the tagging as "informal" seems to strike the right note. WpZurp 03:24, 18 Nov 2004 (UTC)

After a discussion at [WikiProject Comics] it was decided to redirect this article to Comics. If you are interested in an article on Panelology or anything else related to comics articles in Wikipedia, please come participate in the project. ike9898 20:13, Dec 8, 2004 (UTC)

I don't know how you guys searched, but I get over a 1,000 hits when Googling for this term and it's used in books about comics as well. As far as I can tell, it's recognized by comic collectors themselves as the technical term for their hobby and we certainly need information on it in a proper article, not just in WikiProject talkpages. I've made a good start of it and I've referenced it as well.

Peter ^Isotalo 21:25, 27 September 2005 (UTC)

The term is a neologism that nets 61 unique hits on Google (up from 23 a year ago, when the article was redirected). A bunch of people using the term on their blogs does not make this the primary term for comics scholarship or collecting. -Sean Curtin 04:54, 12 October 2005 (UTC)

So how old can a neologism be, then? Sabin, who's book is referenced in the article, uses the term way back in 1993 and I'm betting it's much older than that. And since when do amount of Google hits dictate whether or not a term is enough to merit an article? For example, there are linguistic terms like assibilation that have their own articles without barely having any Google hits.

Peter ^Isotalo 08:31, 12 October 2005 (UTC)

It dates back to the sixties, but I'm not even sold on the Sabin reference, even he disassociates somewhat, the exact quote being comics collecting (or 'panelology' to give it its technical name) and uses it once more in the work referenced. It doesn't appear in The Language of Comics, by various authors, published 2001. Anyone got any more cites beyond the sole Sabin? Steve block talk 11:58, 12 October 2005 (UTC)

I don't know if there is an exact limit of how many sources need to be used to establish a term, but if it's been around for something like 40 years, is refered to in comics literature and is used in running text (even if it's just blogs), then it has to be considered reasonably established. And Sabin doesn't disassociate it. He just calls it "technical". I don't see this as any different from calling the study of language(s) "linguistics".
Are there any alternative terms besides just "comics collecting", btw?

Peter ^Isotalo 15:05, 12 October 2005 (UTC)

I meant that the placing of the term in brackets read to me as somewhat of a disassociation. However, I'm not opposed to the term, as long as we consider whether the common usage practice of wikipedia outweighs the technical values of other encyclopedia, and clearly delineate what it means. Is it merely limited to comic book collecting, or does it cover comic strip collecting, i.e. snipping strips from the paper to paste into scrap books? That does occur too. If it is just comic book collecting, we need to be clear on our terminology, and define it as comic book and comic magazine collecting. You have to remember Sabin's book is aimed at a British market, where "comics collecting" translates in the United States to "comic book collecting", where the article is currently located.

As to how many sources are needed, I'd remind you only of a similar argument over the terms Silver Age of comic books and Golden Age of comic books. You certainly argued there for more than one citation. It'd be nice to have a level playing field. ;P Steve block talk 13:47, 13 October 2005 (UTC)

Steve, you keep returning to this "comic" vs "comic book"-argument of yours, yet you have still not explained why it should be considered anything but a POV. Please respond to the last post I made at talk:British comic#Page move before we resume discussion on any other comics-related topic.

Peter ^Isotalo 21:55, 13 October 2005 (UTC)

I'm puzzled as to why we can't discuss issues concurrently. I also feel I have iterated time and time again why it is not POV, and have asked you to source your own arguments repeatedly, something you fail to do. If, as you argue, one cite is acceptable here, it must follow that one cite is acceptable elsewhere. Please also note that my argument above makes no distinction between the comic and the comic book, but rather the comic book and the newspaper comic strip. Perhaps you can address that argument, and source your answer. Sabin uses the term in reference only to "comics" collecting, here using "comics" as shorthand for the British comic and the American comic book, and not the McCloudian definition which post dates Sabin's work. I am asking you if you can source whether it applies to newspaper strips. If not then the word comics in the sentence Panelology (from panel and -logy) is the common term for the collecting of comics. should not be linked to the article at comics, which is defining the McCloudian term, and not the shorthand term Sabin uses, and does not describe a publication format but an artform, which takes more forms than just the comic book. Steve block talk 15:28, 14 October 2005 (UTC)

Hey, I'm pleased to see this article getting the fleshed-out treatment it deserves. Has anyone else come across the 'panelology' term in the Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide? I don't have one handy, but that is where I first heard the term. Of course, that was back in the 80's, so I have no idea how well the term has actually caught on.--Metron4 23:14, 26 November 2005 (UTC)

Nobody uses the term "panelology" in reference to comic book collecting except for a handful of blogs, LiveJournals, and fanzine editorial columns. Going through the Google hits for the terms "panelology" and "panelologist", there doesn't even seem to be consensus for whether the term refers to comic book collecting or comic book scholarship. There's no consensus for what the term means, and there's certainly no consensus for using it as the primary name for the collecting and/or scholarship of comic books. A reference to the term and to usage in print in the article on comic book collecting would be somewhat useful, but treating this obscure term as the primary name for the topic is counterproductive. -Sean Curtin 05:35, 14 October 2005 (UTC)