How do I cite a panel in a graphic novel or comic book that does not have page numbers?

Note: This post relates to content in the eighth edition of the MLA Handbook. For up-to-date guidance, see the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook.

If you are writing about a panel in a graphic novel or comic book without page numbers, provide readers with as much information as you can to direct them to the panel. This information might be a part or chapter number (“In a panel in chapter 3 . . .”) or, if the work is not formally divided, an approximate indication of the panel’s location (“Midway through the novel, we see a panel in which . . .” or “In the first third of the novel, the character is shown . . .”). If the work is short, this information may be omitted.