# Cheap Graphic Novels Scraper - Discount Comic Prices (`lulzasaur/cheapgraphicnovels-scraper`) Actor

Scrape CheapGraphicNovels.com discount graphic novels, comics & manga. Search or crawl categories for title, series, publisher, price, list price, discount %, availability, ISBN, image and URL. Great for comic price tracking, deal hunting and catalog data.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/lulzasaur/cheapgraphicnovels-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [lulz bot](https://apify.com/lulzasaur) (community)
- **Categories:** E-commerce
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $10.00 / 1,000 results

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 web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
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.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — 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

## Cheap Graphic Novels Scraper — Discount Comic, Manga & Graphic Novel Prices

Scrape **[CheapGraphicNovels.com](https://cheapgraphicnovels.com)** (CGN), one of the largest discount graphic novel retailers in the US, for structured product and pricing data. Search by keyword or crawl category pages to get titles, series, publishers, sale prices, list prices, discount percentages and availability — perfect for comic price tracking, deal hunting, arbitrage research and catalog enrichment.

### What data does it extract?

| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| `title` | Full product title (e.g. `BATMAN IMMORTAL LEGEND BATMAN HC`) |
| `series` | Series / character category (e.g. `BATMAN`, `X-MEN`) |
| `publisher` | Publisher (e.g. `DC COMICS`, `MARVEL COMICS`, `IMAGE COMICS`) |
| `categoryPath` | Full store category breadcrumb (e.g. `SUPERHEROES/DC COMICS/BATMAN`) |
| `format` | Hardcover / Trade Paperback / Omnibus / Graphic Novel |
| `price` | Current discounted sale price (USD) |
| `listPrice` | Publisher retail / cover price |
| `discountPercent` | Discount off list price (CGN discounts most items 35–60%) |
| `youSave` | Dollar savings vs. list price |
| `availability` | `In Stock`, `Out of Stock`, `Low Stock` or `Pre-Order` |
| `sku`, `productId` | Store identifiers (SKU often maps to Diamond order codes) |
| `description` | Short product description |
| `imageUrl`, `url` | Cover image and product page URL |

With **Scrape Product Details** enabled, each record also includes exact `publisher`, `writer`, `artist`, `isbn` and `releaseDate` from the product page.

### Input example

```json
{
    "searchQueries": ["batman", "one piece"],
    "maxItems": 100,
    "scrapeDetails": false
}
```

You can also pass category `startUrls` such as `https://cheapgraphicnovels.com/batman/` or `https://cheapgraphicnovels.com/omnibus/`.

### Output example

```json
{
    "productId": "95786",
    "sku": "0126DC0263",
    "title": "BATMAN IMMORTAL LEGEND BATMAN HC",
    "series": "BATMAN",
    "publisher": "DC COMICS",
    "categoryPath": "SUPERHEROES/DC COMICS/BATMAN",
    "format": "Hardcover",
    "price": 17.99,
    "listPrice": 29.99,
    "discountPercent": 40,
    "youSave": 12,
    "currency": "USD",
    "availability": "In Stock",
    "url": "https://cheapgraphicnovels.com/batman-immortal-legend-batman-hc",
    "source": "cheapgraphicnovels.com"
}
```

### Use cases

- **Deal alerts** — monitor discounts on wishlisted omnibuses, Epic Collections and Absolute editions
- **Price comparison** — compare CGN prices vs. Amazon, InStockTrades, DCBS and eBay
- **Arbitrage & reselling** — find deep-discount stock with strong resale value
- **Catalog data** — collect ISBNs, creators, release dates and cover art for comic databases
- **Market research** — track publisher pricing and discount trends across thousands of collected editions

### Why this scraper?

- Fast server-side scraping — no browser, no proxy needed
- Clean, deduplicated JSON output with computed list price and discount %
- Pagination handled automatically (50 products per page)
- Pre-order and out-of-stock detection built in

### FAQ

**Is scraping public product listings legal?** This actor only collects publicly visible product and pricing data, which is generally permissible. Always review the target site's terms of service and consult a lawyer for your specific use case.

**How many products can I get?** CGN stocks thousands of graphic novels, trade paperbacks, omnibuses and manga. Broad queries return up to 2,500+ results; use `maxItems` to cap output.

# Actor input Schema

## `searchQueries` (type: `array`):

Keywords to search on CheapGraphicNovels.com (e.g. 'batman', 'spider-man omnibus', 'one piece', 'saga'). Each query is paginated (50 results/page) and returns matching graphic novels, comics and manga.

## `startUrls` (type: `array`):

Optional category or search URLs from cheapgraphicnovels.com to crawl directly (e.g. https://cheapgraphicnovels.com/batman/). Paginated automatically. Leave empty to use Search Queries.

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of products to return per search query or start URL. The store shows 50 products per page.

## `scrapeDetails` (type: `boolean`):

Fetch each product page to add publisher (exact), writer, artist, ISBN and release date. Slower (one extra request per product) — keep Max Items small when enabled.

## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`):

Proxy settings. CheapGraphicNovels is a server-rendered X-Cart store and works without a proxy; enable Apify Proxy only if you hit rate limits.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "searchQueries": [
    "batman"
  ],
  "startUrls": [],
  "maxItems": 100,
  "scrapeDetails": false,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": false
  }
}
```

# 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 '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "searchQueries": [
        "batman"
    ],
    "startUrls": []
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("lulzasaur/cheapgraphicnovels-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 '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "searchQueries": ["batman"],
    "startUrls": [],
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("lulzasaur/cheapgraphicnovels-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "searchQueries": [
    "batman"
  ],
  "startUrls": []
}' |
apify call lulzasaur/cheapgraphicnovels-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,lulzasaur/cheapgraphicnovels-scraper"
        }
    }
}

```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/GrQU2mViPJHyfh3vA/builds/U3h1TFwpoTi2w8Y8K/openapi.json