# Grand Comics Database (GCD) Comic Issue Scraper (`jungle_synthesizer/comicsorg-gcd-comic-issue-api-scraper`) Actor Scrapes the Grand Comics Database public API for comic issue bibliographic data — publisher, series, issue numbers, creator credits, story details, cover prices, and variant linkage. GCD is the canonical open comics catalog (2M+ issues). Data is CC-licensed. - **URL**: https://apify.com/jungle\_synthesizer/comicsorg-gcd-comic-issue-api-scraper.md - **Developed by:** [BowTiedRaccoon](https://apify.com/jungle_synthesizer) (community) - **Categories:** E-commerce - **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, NaN bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing Pay per event This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events. Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event ## What's an Apify Actor? Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases. In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours, and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store. In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server. Actors are written with capital "A". ## How to integrate an Actor? If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects. You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready. The best way to integrate Actors is as follows. In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js.md): ```bash npm install apify-client ``` In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python.md): ```bash pip install apify-client ``` In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): ````bash # MacOS / Linux curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash # Windows irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex ```bash In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp.md). If your project is in a different language, use the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md). For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below. For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt). # README ## Grand Comics Database (GCD) Comic Issue Scraper **Extract comprehensive bibliographic data for comic book issues from the Grand Comics Database public API.** The Grand Comics Database (comics.org) is the most authoritative open comics catalog on the web — over 2 million issues across 229,000+ series from 17,000+ publishers worldwide. While the GCD website is Cloudflare-protected, the `/api/` endpoints are publicly accessible and return clean JSON with no challenge. This actor uses the API path exclusively — no browser required. --- ### What you get Each record includes: - **Issue identity** — GCD issue ID, series ID, series name, issue number, volume, title - **Publication details** — publication date, on-sale date, key date, cover price (+ currency), page count, country, language - **Barcodes & identifiers** — barcode, ISBN, indicia publisher - **Creator credits** — per-story writer, penciller, inker, colorist, letterer, editor credits (in structured string format) - **Story details** — story count, story titles, character lists, genre tags, reprint notes - **Variant linkage** — `variant_of_id` and `is_variant` flag for variant cover tracking --- ### Three crawl modes | Mode | Description | |------|-------------| | `series_walk` | Walk all GCD series page by page — full catalog (229K+ series → 2M+ issues) | | `publisher_walk` | Scope to specific publishers by ID (e.g. 78 = Marvel, 18 = DC) | | `by_series_ids` | Fetch issues for a specific list of GCD series IDs | --- ### Input | Field | Type | Description | |-------|------|-------------| | `mode` | string | Crawl mode: `series_walk` (default), `publisher_walk`, or `by_series_ids` | | `maxItems` | integer | Maximum number of issue records to return (0 = unlimited; default 15) | | `seriesIds` | array | GCD series IDs to scrape (mode `by_series_ids` only) | | `publisherIds` | array | GCD publisher IDs to filter by (mode `publisher_walk` only) | | `startPage` | integer | Series page to start from in `series_walk` mode (default 1) | --- ### Output dataset fields | Field | Type | Description | |-------|------|-------------| | `gcd_issue_id` | integer | GCD database ID for the issue | | `issue_url` | string | Canonical API URL for the issue | | `series_id` | integer | GCD series ID (for joining with series data) | | `series_name` | string | Series name with year, e.g. "Amazing Spider-Man (1963 series)" | | `issue_number` | string | Issue number as published | | `volume` | string | Volume designation | | `title` | string | Issue title (if any) | | `publication_date` | string | Human-readable publication date | | `on_sale_date` | string | On-sale date (when available) | | `key_date` | string | GCD sortable key date (YYYY-MM-DD format) | | `price` | string | Cover price (numeric portion) | | `currency` | string | Currency code (USD, GBP, EUR, etc.) | | `pages` | integer | Page count | | `barcode` | string | UPC barcode | | `isbn` | string | ISBN (when available) | | `editing_credits` | string | Editor credits | | `cover_image_url` | string | Cover image URL (null — not available via GCD API) | | `variant_of_id` | integer | GCD ID of the base issue (for variant covers) | | `is_variant` | boolean | True if this is a variant cover | | `story_count` | integer | Number of stories in the issue | | `story_titles` | string | Story titles joined by " \| " | | `story_credits` | string | Creator credits per story joined by " \|\| " | | `characters` | string | Character appearances | | `genre` | string | Genre tags | | `reprint_notes` | string | Reprint notes | | `indicia_publisher` | string | Indicia publisher name | --- ### Use cases - **Comic price guides** — join GCD issue records with pricing data (PriceCharting, GoCollect) via `series_id` / `gcd_issue_id` - **Collection management** — build a personal or dealer catalog of owned/wanted issues - **Market research** — identify key issue variants, first appearances, creator runs - **Publisher catalogs** — enumerate complete run data for any publisher - **Data enrichment** — supplement your comic database with bibliographic depth --- ### GCD data licensing GCD data is released under a Creative Commons license (CC-BY-SA). Commercial use with attribution is permitted. See [comics.org](https://www.comics.org) for details. --- ### Rate limits The GCD API is a community-run server. This actor uses conservative concurrency (8 parallel issue fetches) with 200ms delay between series pages and 50ms between issue fetches to stay well within polite-use limits. --- ### Notes - `publisher`, `publisher_id`, `country`, and `language` are not returned on the issue API endpoint; they live on the series object. Use `series_id` to join against a separate series walk if you need these fields. - `cover_image_url` is always null — the GCD API does not expose image URLs for individual issues. # Actor input Schema ## `sp_intended_usage` (type: `string`): Please describe how you plan to use the data extracted by this crawler. ## `sp_improvement_suggestions` (type: `string`): Provide any feedback or suggestions for improvements. ## `sp_contact` (type: `string`): Provide your email address so we can get in touch with you. ## `maxItems` (type: `integer`): Maximum number of comic issue records to return. Set to 0 for unlimited (full catalog walk). ## `mode` (type: `string`): "series_walk": page all GCD series. "publisher_walk": series from specific publishers only. "by_series_ids": issues for a specific series ID list. ## `seriesIds` (type: `array`): GCD series IDs to scrape (mode=by_series_ids only). Example: [10814, 57250, 86401]. ## `publisherIds` (type: `array`): GCD publisher IDs to filter by (mode=publisher_walk). Example: [78] for Marvel, [18] for DC. ## `startPage` (type: `integer`): Page to start from when walking series (series_walk mode). Useful for incremental runs. Default: 1. ## Actor input object example ```json { "sp_intended_usage": "Describe your intended use...", "sp_improvement_suggestions": "Share your suggestions here...", "sp_contact": "Share your email here...", "maxItems": 10, "mode": "series_walk", "seriesIds": [ 10814, 57250 ], "publisherIds": [ 78 ], "startPage": 1 } ```` # Actor output Schema ## `results` (type: `string`): No description # API You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup. ## JavaScript example ```javascript import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client'; // Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token // Replace the '' with your token const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '', }); // Prepare Actor input const input = { "sp_intended_usage": "Describe your intended use...", "sp_improvement_suggestions": "Share your suggestions here...", "sp_contact": "Share your email here...", "maxItems": 10, "mode": "series_walk", "seriesIds": [ 10814, 57250 ], "publisherIds": [ 78 ], "startPage": 1 }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("jungle_synthesizer/comicsorg-gcd-comic-issue-api-scraper").call(input); // Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any) console.log('Results from dataset'); console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`); const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems(); items.forEach((item) => { console.dir(item); }); // 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs ``` ## Python example ```python from apify_client import ApifyClient # Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token # Replace '' with your token. client = ApifyClient("") # Prepare the Actor input run_input = { "sp_intended_usage": "Describe your intended use...", "sp_improvement_suggestions": "Share your suggestions here...", "sp_contact": "Share your email here...", "maxItems": 10, "mode": "series_walk", "seriesIds": [ 10814, 57250, ], "publisherIds": [78], "startPage": 1, } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("jungle_synthesizer/comicsorg-gcd-comic-issue-api-scraper").call(run_input=run_input) # Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any) print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"]) for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items(): print(item) # 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start ``` ## CLI example ```bash echo '{ "sp_intended_usage": "Describe your intended use...", "sp_improvement_suggestions": "Share your suggestions here...", "sp_contact": "Share your email here...", "maxItems": 10, "mode": "series_walk", "seriesIds": [ 10814, 57250 ], "publisherIds": [ 78 ], "startPage": 1 }' | apify call jungle_synthesizer/comicsorg-gcd-comic-issue-api-scraper --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=jungle_synthesizer/comicsorg-gcd-comic-issue-api-scraper", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "Grand Comics Database (GCD) Comic Issue Scraper", "description": "Scrapes the Grand Comics Database public API for comic issue bibliographic data — publisher, series, issue numbers, creator credits, story details, cover prices, and variant linkage. GCD is the canonical open comics catalog (2M+ issues). Data is CC-licensed.", "version": "0.1", "x-build-id": "HUiM5oq1tFh9lNgBI" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/jungle_synthesizer~comicsorg-gcd-comic-issue-api-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-jungle_synthesizer-comicsorg-gcd-comic-issue-api-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/jungle_synthesizer~comicsorg-gcd-comic-issue-api-scraper/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-jungle_synthesizer-comicsorg-gcd-comic-issue-api-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK", "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/jungle_synthesizer~comicsorg-gcd-comic-issue-api-scraper/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-jungle_synthesizer-comicsorg-gcd-comic-issue-api-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } } }, "components": { "schemas": { "inputSchema": { "type": "object", "required": [ "maxItems" ], "properties": { "sp_intended_usage": { "title": "What is the intended usage of this data?", "minLength": 1, "type": "string", "description": "Please describe how you plan to use the data extracted by this crawler." }, "sp_improvement_suggestions": { "title": "How can we improve this crawler for you?", "minLength": 1, "type": "string", "description": "Provide any feedback or suggestions for improvements." }, "sp_contact": { "title": "Contact Email", "minLength": 1, "type": "string", "description": "Provide your email address so we can get in touch with you." }, "maxItems": { "title": "Max Items", "type": "integer", "description": "Maximum number of comic issue records to return. Set to 0 for unlimited (full catalog walk).", "default": 15 }, "mode": { "title": "Crawl Mode", "type": "string", "description": "\"series_walk\": page all GCD series. \"publisher_walk\": series from specific publishers only. \"by_series_ids\": issues for a specific series ID list.", "default": "series_walk" }, "seriesIds": { "title": "Series IDs", "type": "array", "description": "GCD series IDs to scrape (mode=by_series_ids only). Example: [10814, 57250, 86401].", "items": { "type": "string" } }, "publisherIds": { "title": "Publisher IDs", "type": "array", "description": "GCD publisher IDs to filter by (mode=publisher_walk). Example: [78] for Marvel, [18] for DC.", "items": { "type": "string" } }, "startPage": { "title": "Start Page", "type": "integer", "description": "Page to start from when walking series (series_walk mode). Useful for incremental runs. Default: 1.", "default": 1 } } }, "runsResponseSchema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "data": { "type": "object", "properties": { "id": { "type": "string" }, "actId": { "type": "string" }, "userId": { "type": "string" }, "startedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "finishedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "status": { "type": "string", "example": "READY" }, "meta": { "type": "object", "properties": { "origin": { "type": "string", "example": "API" }, "userAgent": { "type": "string" } } }, "stats": { "type": "object", "properties": { "inputBodyLen": { "type": "integer", "example": 2000 }, "rebootCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "restartCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "resurrectCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "computeUnits": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "options": { "type": "object", "properties": { "build": { "type": "string", "example": "latest" }, "timeoutSecs": { "type": "integer", "example": 300 }, "memoryMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 1024 }, "diskMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 2048 } } }, "buildId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultKeyValueStoreId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultDatasetId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultRequestQueueId": { "type": "string" }, "buildNumber": { "type": "string", "example": "1.0.0" }, "containerUrl": { "type": "string" }, "usage": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 1 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "usageTotalUsd": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "usageUsd": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } } } } } } } } } ```