This section covers the most commonly used parameters. You can copy an example below and then add in extra parameters from the full list. Use the "|" (pipe) character between each parameter. Unused parameters may be deleted to avoid clutter in the edit window. Spacing and ordering of the parameters within the template is irrelevant and does not affect the final, rendered text. Piped wikilinks are acceptable. Only one of |title= or |strip= can be used, and will affect how the template renders; see below for examples.

{{cite comic | cartoonist = | creator = | artist = | coartists = | writer = | cowriters = | penciller = | copencillers = | inker = | coinkers = | colorist = | letterer = | others = | title = | strip = | format = | story =  | paper = | location = | date = | year = | supplement = | syndicate = | volume = | issue = | page = | panel = | id = | publisher = | url = | access-date = | archive-url = | archive-date = | url-status = |language = | ref =}}

This template allows for the full citation of comics. When given only the required information, it will not look much different from the typical {{cite xxx}} templates:

• {{ cite comic | title=[[Bone (comics)|Bone]] | date=July 1991 | publisher=[[Cartoon Books]] }}
• Bone (July 1991). Cartoon Books.

Comics have more complex authorship than most written works. This template allows credits to be assigned based on role. These roles are typically listed in the indicia inside the front cover. See below for examples:

For example, the first issue of Bone:

• {{ cite comic | cartoonist=[[Jeff Smith (cartoonist)|Smith, Jeff]] | story=The Map | title=[[Bone (comics)|Bone]] | volume=1 | issue=1 | date=July 1991 | publisher=[[Cartoon Books]] | location=[[Columbus, OH]] }}
• Smith, Jeff (w, a). "The Map" Bone, vol. 1, no. 1 (July 1991). Columbus, OH: Cartoon Books.

For example, citing the second panel of the third page of The Fantastic Four issue 1:

• {{ cite comic | writer=[[Stan Lee|Lee, Stan]] | penciller=[[Jack Kirby|Kirby, Jack]] | inker=[[Christopher Rule|Rule, Christopher]] | colorist=[[Stan Goldberg|Goldberg, Stan]] | letterer=[[Art Simek|Simek, Art]] | editor=Lee, Stan | story=The Fantastic Four! | title=[[The Fantastic Four]] | volume=1 | issue=1 | date=November 1961 | publisher=[[Marvel Comics]] | location=[[New York, NY]] | page=3 | panel=2 }}
• Lee, Stan (w), Kirby, Jack (p), Rule, Christopher (i), Goldberg, Stan (col), Simek, Art (let), Lee, Stan (ed). "The Fantastic Four!" The Fantastic Four, vol. 1, no. 1, p. 3/2 (November 1961). New York, NY: Marvel Comics.

For example, the first chapter of Zenith:

• {{ cite comic | writer=[[Grant Morrison|Morrison, Grant]] | artist=[[Steve Yeowell|Yeowell, Steve]] | story=Zenith - Prologue: Ground Zero | title=[[2000 AD (comics)|2000 AD]] | volume=1 | issue=535 | date=August 15, 1987 | publisher=[[Fleetway Publications]] | location=[[London]], England |pages=1–5 }}
• Morrison, Grant (w), Yeowell, Steve (a). "Zenith - Prologue: Ground Zero" 2000 AD, vol. 1, no. 535, pp. 1–5 (August 15, 1987). London, England: Fleetway Publications.

For example, The Death of Gwen Stacy from The Amazing Spider-Man:

• {{ cite comic | writer=[[Gerry Conway|Conway, Gerry]] | penciller=[[Gil Kane|Kane, Gil]] | inker=[[John Romita Sr.|Romita Sr., John]] | story=The Death of Gwen Stacy | title=[[The Amazing Spider-Man]] | volume=1 | issue=121–122 | date=June–July 1973 | publisher=[[Marvel Comics]] | location=[[New York, NY]] }}
• Conway, Gerry (w), Kane, Gil (p), Romita Sr., John (i). "The Death of Gwen Stacy" The Amazing Spider-Man, vol. 1, no. 121–122 (June–July 1973). New York, NY: Marvel Comics.

In some instances, where storylines span separate titles it is usually better to cite the collection if one exists, for example "The Death of Superman":

• {{ cite comic | writer=[[Roger Stern|Stern, Roger]] | cowriters=[[Jerry Ordway]], [[Louise Simonson]] ''et al'' | penciller=[[Jon Bogdanove|Bogdanove, John]] | copencillers=[[Tom Grummett]], [[Jackson Guice]] ''et al'' | inker=[[Rick Burchett|Burchett, Rick]] | coinkers=[[Brett Breeding]], [[Dennis Janke]] ''et al'' | title=[[The Death of Superman]] | date=January 1993 | publisher=[[DC Comics]] | location=[[New York, NY]] | id={{ISBN|1563890976}} }}
• Stern, Roger, Jerry Ordway, Louise Simonson et al (w), Bogdanove, John, Tom Grummett, Jackson Guice et al (p), Burchett, Rick, Brett Breeding, Dennis Janke et al (i). The Death of Superman (January 1993). New York, NY: DC Comics, ISBN 1563890976.

For example, to cite one of Mark Gruenwald's Mark's Remarks columns:

• {{ cite comic | writer=[[Mark Gruenwald|Gruenwald, Mark]] | story=Mark's Remarks [column] | title=[[West Coast Avengers]] | issue=32 | date=May 1988 | page=24 | publisher=[[Marvel Comics]] | location=[[New York, NY]] }}
• Gruenwald, Mark (w). "Mark's Remarks [column]" West Coast Avengers, no. 32, p. 24 (May 1988). New York, NY: Marvel Comics.

For example, the trade paperback collection of Watchmen:

• {{ cite comic | writer=[[Alan Moore|Moore, Alan]] | artist=[[Dave Gibbons|Gibbons, Dave]] | title=[[Watchmen]] | date=1987 | publisher=[[DC Comics]] | location=[[New York, NY]] | id={{ISBN|0930289234}} }}
• Moore, Alan (w), Gibbons, Dave (a). Watchmen (1987). New York, NY: DC Comics, ISBN 0930289234.

• {{cite comic | cartoonist=[[Milton Caniff|Caniff, Milton]] | strip=[[Steve Canyon]] | paper=Journal Herald | location=Dayton, OH | date=July 15, 1967 | supplement=Color Comics Supplement | syndicate=Newspaper Syndicate | page=1 }}
• Caniff, Milton (w, a). Steve Canyon. Journal Herald (Dayton, OH). July 15, 1967 [Color Comics Supplement], Newspaper Syndicate, p. 1.

Nested parameters rely on their parent parameters:

• parent
• OR: parent2—may be used instead of parent
  • child—may be used with parent (and is ignored if parent is not used)
  • OR: child2—may be used instead of child (and is ignored if parent2 is not used)

Where aliases are listed, only one of the parameters may be defined; if multiple aliased parameters are defined, then only one will show.

• cartoonist: Use this field for a work with only one creator, for example, Bone by Jeff Smith. Use a piped link to display the author in citation style, Last, First. Example, [[Jeff Smith (cartoonist)|Smith, Jeff]].
• writer: On a collaborative work, use this field to enter the writer's name, again in piped form so that it displays the author in citation style, Last, First. Example, [[Stan Lee|Lee, Stan]].
  • cowriters: When citing a story arc that has multiple creators, perhaps due to crossing over into other titles, or being a collection of such a story arc, use this tag to identify up to two more writers. They should be entered in normal style, First name Last name rather than citation style, for example [[Roy Thomas]], not [[Roy Thomas|Thomas, Roy]]. If more than three writers in total contributed to the work, identify three, one using the writer tag, two using this tag, and follow with the phrase et al, as follows: [[Roy Thomas]], [[Grant Morrison]] ''et al''.
• artist: On a collaborative work, use this field to enter the artist's name, where the artist has provided both the pencilling and the inking, again in piped form so that it displays the author in citation style, Last, First. Example, [[John Byrne|Byrne, John]].
  • coartists: When citing a story arc that has multiple creators, perhaps due to crossing over into other titles, or being a collection of such a story arc, use this tag to identify up to two more artists. They should be entered in normal style, First name Last name rather than citation style, for example [[Frank Miller]], not [[Frank Miller|Miller, Frank]]. If more than three artists in total contributed to the work, identify three, one using the artist tag, two using this tag, and follow with the phrase et al, as follows: [[Frank Miller]], [[Sergio Aragonés]] ''et al''.
  • OR: penciller: On a collaborative work, use this field to enter the penciller's name, again in piped form so that it displays the author in citation style, Last, First. (This field is ignored if the |artist= field is used.) Example, [[Jack Kirby|Kirby, Jack]].
    • copencillers: When citing a story arc that has multiple creators, perhaps due to crossing over into other titles, or being a collection of such a story arc, use this tag to identify up to two more pencillers. They should be entered in normal style, First name Last name rather than citation style, for example [[John Byrne]], not [[John Byrne|Byrne, John]]. If more than three pencillers in total contributed to the work, identify three, one using the penciller tag, two using this tag, and follow with the phrase et al, as follows: [[John Byrne]], [[Walt Simonson]] ''et al''.
  • OR: inker: On a collaborative work, use this field to enter the inker's name, again in piped form so that it displays the author in citation style, Last, First. (This field is ignored if the |artist= field is used.) Example, [[Joe Sinnott|Sinnott, Joe]]
    • coinkers: When citing a story arc that has multiple creators, perhaps due to crossing over into other titles, or being a collection of such a story arc, use this tag to identify up to two more inkers. They should be entered in normal style, First name Last name rather than citation style, for example [[Joe Sinnott]], not [[Joe Sinnott|Sinnott, Joe]]. If more than three inkers in total contributed to the work, identify three, one using the inker tag, two using this tag, and follow with the phrase et al, as follows: [[Joe Sinnot]], [[Terry Austin]] ''et al''.
• colorist: On a color work, use this field to enter the colorists's name, again in piped form so that it displays the colorist in citation style, Last, First. Example, [[Tatjana Wood|Wood, Tatjana]]. If the colorist is a company enter their name, using piped form as required. Example, [[Olyoptics]]
• letterer: Use this field to enter the letterer name, again in piped form so that it displays the letterer in citation style, Last, First. Example, [[John Constanza|Constanza, John]]. If the letterer is a company enter their name, using piped form as required. Example, [[Comicraft]]
• editor: Use this field to enter the editor's name, again in piped form so that it displays the editor in citation style, Last, First. Example, [[Julius Schwartz|Schwartz, Julius]].
• others: Use this field for other credits, again in piped form so that it displays the contributor in citation style, Last, First. Optionally add roles within parentheses. Example, Gaudiano, Stefano (translator)

• story: The title of the individual story within the comic; analogous to the title parameter in {{cite news}} or {{cite web}}. Example: |story=Fall of the Mutants. Pipe only if we have an article, and do not pipe if the url field is used. Displays in quotation marks.
• title: Title of the comic. Title or strip is required. Either 'strip' or 'title' must be filled out but not both; this will affect how other parameters are displayed. This may be linked in piped form unless a url is entered and the story field is not used. For example: | title=[[The Fantastic Four]].
• strip: The title of a comic strip. This will override the |title= parameter. Either 'strip' or 'title' must be filled out but not both; this will affect how other parameters are displayed. The paper and supplement parameters are only used if this parameter is set. Example: |strip=Peanuts. This is a required parameter for comic strips.
  • paper: Title of the newspaper, magazine, or periodical; for example |paper=The Times. (Only used if the strip parameter is set.) In the case of a webcomic the website where the strip was published, also giving the url, for example [http://www.keenspot.com/ Keenspot]. Alias: newspaper
  • supplement: If a comic strip was published in a supplement to a newspaper, the name or nature of the supplement should be given. (Only used if the strip paramter is set.)
  • syndicate: The syndicator of a comic strip. (If the strip parameter is not used, this will be treated as an alias of |publisher=.) Use name of company at time of publication. This is a required parameter for comic strips.
• language: Use a valid ISO-639 language code (e.g. |language=ja) or a valid IETF language tag. English (en) is not rendered. Refer to the List of ISO 639-2 codes.

• date: January 1, 2006 (US), 1 January 2006 (non-US). Full date of publication, found in the indicia. Also known as the "cover date". This is a required parameter.

• publisher: Name of publisher; may be wikilinked if relevant. The publisher is the company, organization or other legal entity that publishes the work being cited. Use name of company at time of publication. (Use |syndicate= for syndicated comic strips.)
• location: Geographical place of publication; generally not wikilinked; omit when the name of the newspaper, magazine, or periodical includes the publication place, for example, The Boston Globe, The Times of India. For example: |location=London, England

• url: the url of any web-based comic. Note this field will turn either the story field or the title field into an external link, so it is important not to wikilink those fields using piping when using the url field. Note: Wikipedia does not link to sites which violate the copyrights of others. Linking to websites that display copyrighted works is acceptable as long as the website has licensed the work. See guidance for more details.
  • access-date: Full date when the content pointed to by url was last verified to support the text in the article; do not wikilink; requires url; use the same format as other access and archive dates in the citations. Not required for linked documents that do not change. For example, access-date is required for online sources, such as personal websites, that do not have a publication date; see WP:CITEWEB. Access dates are not required for links to published research papers or published books. Note that access-date is the date that the URL was found to be working and to support the text being cited.
  • archive-url: The URL of an archived snapshot of a web page. Typically used to refer to services such as Internet Archive (see Wikipedia:Using the Wayback Machine) and archive.today (see Help:Using archive.today); requires archive-date and url. By default (overridden by |url-status=live) the archived link is displayed first, with the original link at the end.
    • archive-date: Archive-service snapshot-date; preceded in display by default text "archived from the original on".
    • url-status: the |url-status= parameter should only be included if an |archive-url= is set (dead links without an archive URL can be marked with {{dead link}}). If |url-status= is omitted, or is specified with a null value, the default value is |url-status=dead. When the URL is still live, but pre-emptively archived, then set |url-status=live; this changes the display order, with the title retaining the original link and the archive linked at the end.
  • format: the format of the url. Do not enter HTML as this is the default. Example, PDF.

• volume: Volume number of a comic book series if given.
• issue: Issue number of a comic book.

• page: First page, and optional last page. If pages are not identified, count from first page, ignoring covers and adverts, and place the number in square brackets. Examples: |page=45, |page=45–751, |pages=45{{ndash}}751, |at=p. 45, |at=front cover, |page=[4–8]
  • OR: pages: A range of pages in the source that supports the content. Use either |page= or |pages=, but not both. When both are used, the template will only display the |page= value. A page range will use the "pp." prefix and convert hypens to en dashes. To preserve a hyphen in a page range, use the {{hyphen}} template.
  • OR: at: For sources where a page number is inappropriate or insufficient. Overridden by |page= or |pages=. Use only one of |page=, |pages=, or |at=. Examples: page (p.) or pages (pp.); section (sec.), column (col.), paragraph (para.); front cover, indicia, dust jacket; fold-out.
• panel: Panel number, if referencing a specific panel. Panels should be identified by counting left to right, top to bottom for American and European works, and right to left, top to bottom for Japanese and other foreign language works where appropriate.

• ref: ID for anchor. The value for this field will usually be an {{sfnref}} or {{harvid}} template. By default, no anchor is generated. The ordinary nonempty value |ref=ID generates an anchor with the given ID; such a linkable reference can be made the target of wikilinks to full references, especially useful in short citations like shortened notes and parenthetical referencing.

• id: Use this field to enter an ISBN or ISSN if known, in the form {{ISBN|0123456789}} (don't link it – the MediaWiki software will do that for you) or {{ISSN|0123-4567}}.

• quote: Relevant text quoted from the source. Displays enclosed in quotes. When supplied, the citation terminator (a period by default) is suppressed, so the quote must include terminating punctuation.

{{Cite comic}} will generate a preview warning if it used without a title, without a date, or with unknown parameters.

• Category:Pages using cite comic with unknown parameters
• Category:Pages using cite comic with no date
• Category:Pages using cite comic with no title

This template employs intricate features of template syntax. You are encouraged to familiarise yourself with its setup and parser functions before editing the template. If your edit causes unexpected problems, please undo it quickly, as this template may appear on a large number of pages. You can conduct experiments, and should test all major changes, in either this template's sandbox, the general template sandbox, or your user space before changing anything here.