by Ashley Corgan

Created on: February 28, 2009   Last Updated: March 05, 2009

The average American comic book ranges from 20 to 32 pages with a price tag from 3 to 4 dollars. Comic Books tend to use a serial format of storytelling taking weeks, months, or even years at a time to tell a complete story. Comic Books can be open ended stories where their title can continue for years, if not decades, or be anywhere from a single to a handful of issues released for a short period of time; this format is called a mini series. Amazing Spider-Man, Batman, Invincible, Bone, and Vampirella are just a few examples of comics with long running titles.

A graphic novel, on the other hand, is a story contained in a single volume, running anywhere from more than double the usual page count of a standard comic book issue to well over a hundred pages. These graphic novels usually come in three different flavors:

The first is the "original" graphic novel, which is a self contained story that hasn't been published elsewhere any other format. A recent example would be Brian Azzarello's "Joker" Hardcover graphic novel that showcases an updated version of the Batman villain. It has a streak of malevolence and sexuality that is not normally found in the serial comic book format that one might find on newsstands. Usually they are released in a hardcover edition, and after a few printings are released in soft-cover format, most of the time at a lower price point.

The second type of graphic novel is the trade paperback, often shortened to the words "Trade" or "Trades" or the acronym "TPB". Trade Paperbacks are the most prevalent form of the graphic novel, and they usually collect previously published material. Here a single storyline or multiple story arcs can be contained, going as far as taking a nod from DVD editions where creators and publishers have the ability to go back and create a "director cut" adding, removing, or rewriting or putting new art to scenes from the collected issues. Commentaries, bonus artwork, cover galleries, interviews, and other extras can be included as an incentive to get readers to buy a story they may have collected in individual issues once again with this promise of new or revised material. Watchmen

The third type of graphic novel is the "Collections", these are anthologies of a mix of original or previously published works where a single or multiple creators bring their differing storytelling and art styles together to showcase their skills. This is a favored graphic novel format for independent and small press creators, it's not only a more economical publishing venture for both them and the readers but it allows them to get their work out to larger markets such as comic shops and bookstore chains. Mainstream publishers such as Marvel and DC Comics also utilize this format to release Showcase or Masterwork editions, collecting comic stories that represent the best works for specific titles or characters.

The comic book had its humble beginnings as a free newspaper insert that featured a collection of comic strips and over the decades have evolved once again into a literary format that commands its own section in both comic shop and book store alike.

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