Arts-based research encompasses a range of research approaches and strategies that utilize one or more of the arts in investigation. It may be to collect or create data, to interpret or analyze it, to present findings, or some combination of these. [You can think of it as a creative form of visualizing data!] Sometimes arts-based research is used to investigate art making or teaching in or through the arts. Sometimes it is used to explore issues in the wider social sciences. The field is a constantly evolving one, and researchers have evolved diverse ways of using the communicative and interpretative tools that processes with the arts allow.

via; Greenwood, Janinka. "Arts-Based Research." Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Education. 25 Feb. 2019;  https://oxfordre.com/education/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190264093.001.0001/acrefore-9780190264093-e-29.

Comics Studies is, "the study and critical analysis of comics strips; comic books, papers, and magazines; albums, graphic novels, and other graphic books; webcomics and other electronic formats; single-panel cartoons, including editorial and gag cartoons; caricature; animation; and other related forms and traditions," as stated by The Comics Studies Society (https://comicsstudies.org/). We also include works which aid in comics creation and understanding how comics are made.