Note: This page should not be credited to uncited issues.

Overview

Although publishers are commonly thought of as large companies, they are generally a single person who officially funds or oversees the output of the company and may have a very hands-on approach towards the creative output. Examples of notable publishers behind larger comic companies include Mike Richardson (Dark Horse), Eric Stephenson (Image), Jenette Kahn (DC), Stan Lee (Marvel), Mark Alessi (Crossgen) and Nick Barrucci (Dynamite). Especially in the Golden Age it was common for publishers to release works under an assortment of different company names that are now commonly grouped together like Stanley Morse or Martin Goodman. In the case of traditional self-publishing it is a creator producing a work on their own and then being the publisher of their own company. It is possible and was more common historically for publishers to have their works printed or distributed by a competing publisher.

Types of Publications

One-Shot

A comic that is intended from the start to be published as a single issue.

Graphic Novels

Although graphic novel has come to be a term applied to virtually all comics, the term original graphic novel (OGN) still exists to describe the works that were first using the term and any similar publications which essentially function as one-shots but in a much longer prestige format. The distinction from collected editions is original graphic novels were never published in a serialized format.

Director's Cut

Director's Cut comics are special release issues with added content that often includes: writer's commentary, editorials, background information and additional artwork.

The term "director's cut" is a hold-over from the early days of VHS and Betamax movie releases. Often, certain movies would be released onto these formats with added scenes that were cut from the original theatrical run due to running time, studio interference or a variety of other issues. Some early examples of this were directors cuts of David Lynch's Dune and Ridley Scott's Blade Runner. Modern releases on Blu-ray, Streaming and DVD formats also often carry the Director's Cut moniker, however the term has become homogenized to the point that "Director's Cut" now most often simply means that the movie has "added material" accompanying it.

The term "Director's Cut" as it applies to comics is a bit disingenuous as comics really have no direct correlation to a film director, and the term is simply applied to any comic that is a reprint of any particular issue with added commentary by the writer or editor, script pages or production related artwork.

Limited Series

A limited series is a series of comic books with a definite plot, storyline, starting and ending point. The amount of issues to be published is determined from the beginning and regularly listed on the covers or in promotional material. Unlike an ongoing series, which may last for years or be cancelled after a single issue (depending on the sales or popularity of the character or group), a limited series can range from two issues to more than fifty issues. A limited series is also known as a mini-series or a maxi-series. It is technically possible for a limited series to still be cancelled before it reaches it's preplanned endpoint (see: Otherworld). Some of the longest limited series include DC's annual books like 52 or Countdown.

Mini-Series

Type of limited series. The average number of issues in a mini-series ranges from three to six issues.

One could argue that the first type or concept of a mini-series were the Silver Age titles The Brave and the Bold and Showcase. Both series introduced new characters or groups in a series of issues. If the characters or groups became popular enough then they would receive a regular ongoing series of their own. The mini-series concept began in 1979 with the DC Comics three issue mini-series entitled World of Krypton. The purpose of the World of Krypton was to tell a story of life on Krypton prior to its destruction. Other Superman theme-related mini-series followed such as Krypton Chronicles, The Phantom Zone, and Superman: The Secret Years. Other theme-related series followed concerning established characters such as Batman with the mini-series The Untold Legend of the Batman.

The mini-series many credited with the creation of the graphic novel concept was the four issue mini-series by Frank Miller, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. Other mature related mini-series followed with the Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters and Blackhawk.

Maxi-Series

Type of limited series. The term was coined to describe a twelve-issue series but it is commonly used for limited series that are longer than six issues. The most famous and ground breaking maxi-series of the 1980s were Marvel Comic's Secret Wars and DC Comics' Watchmen. While others introduced new characters such as Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld and Jemm, Son of Saturn.

Ongoing

Technically an ongoing is any comic where there is no predetermined endpoint, this is commonly misunderstood to mean the work has to currently have issues that are in the publishing pipeline but not out yet. But an ongoing can be cancelled or abandoned after a single issue and still be an ongoing, or it can last hundreds or even thousands of issues.

Anthology

see: Anthology

Sequel

A continuation of a story.

Prequel

Takes place prior to the events depicted in the first issue. It could even depict events prior to the character's primary origin story.

Spin-Off

A spin-off normally indicts the popularity of a character (hero, villain, or sometimes a supporting character) or a team in their very own ongoing or mini-series.

Publication Rates

Daily

Generally the only comics to release daily will be particular webcomics or newspaper strips.

Weekly

Weekly remains a very popular and common format in markets like Japan and European countries often have at least one major weekly anthology comic. In the American industry it is relatively rare and often only done for short stints of time like a few months. However, the market still relies on the idea that fans are buying new releases every week and books are spaced out accordingly so there are often-related books released in different weeks of the month.

Biweekly

Releasing twice a month or every other week is similarly rare to weekly in the American industry but does happen for short periods, in markets that are more open to weekly it is more common to have a variety of publishing rates.

Monthly

By the far the most representative publishing rate in American comics.

Bimonthly

Releasing every other month.

Quarterly/Seasonally

Historically more common, there are still publications that only release four times a year, though its more common for works in this range to have less standard publishing rates like three times a year, five times a year or a slightly-changing amount of issues per year.

Annually

True annual publications are rare despite it being a common label for spin-off publications in American comics. Many annuals don't actually release every year but they don't release more than once a year.

Fifth Week Event

A fifth-week event is a novelty comic book promotion. Comic publishers schedule releases in four-week cycles. On an occasion that a month has more than four weeks, publishers often sell unusual comics to fill in the scheduling gap.

In the 1990s, DC Comics published 4 monthly Superman titles. The interlocking stories created a weekly narrative that continued throughout the year, but that publishing schedule accounted for only 48 out of the 52 weeks per year. With 4 months each year containing a fifth Wednesday (the day comic books go on sale in America), DC introduced a fifth Superman title, Superman: The Man of Tomorrow (first issue 1994) to fill that gap.

Later DC would choose to publish a full series of comics sharing a common theme to still keeping publish something. The first skip week events were linked to a range of existing (or proposed) titles with a shared theme. The initiative would be also used by secondary imprints Tangent, Vertigo and Wildstorm.

Later Marvel would imitate DC with their own fifth week events.

DC Comics

• New Year's Evil:(1997) Supervilliand one-shot
• Girl Frenzy: (1998) Female characters from the different titles.
• The Kingdom:(1999) Follow up to Kingdom Come.
• Amalgam Comics: (1996 & 1997) Co-published with Marvel Comics.
• Tangent comics:(1997 & 1998) Titles with characters than only share the name from previous characters.
• Sins of Youth: (2000) Young Justice event, where the age of the superheroes are reversed.
• Green Lantern: Circle of Fire (2000) Green Lantern event. Team ups of secondary characters with unknown Green Lanterns.
• Justice Society Returns (2001) Promotional one shots followed with a new JSA series.
• Power Surge (2002) Promotional one shots for Power Company characters.
• Justice Leagues (2001) JLA event. The world only remember the Justice League of A...
• Silver Age (2000) Celebration of the Silver age iconic titles.
• Y2K (1999) Vertigo comics where the heroes of the Vertigoverse deal with the end of the world.
• Wild Times (2000) Wildstorm event. The characters of Wildstorm comics in alternative times.

Marvel Comics

• Amalgam Comics (1996 & 1997) Co-published with DC comics.
• Marvels comics (2000) The comics published IN the Marvel earth, as seen by their inhabitants.
• Marvel Mangaverse (2001) Marvel characters as manga archetype versions.
• X-Men: Black Sun (2000) Belasco returns.
• Marvel Knights 2099 (2004) Celebration of the 10th years of Marvel Knights imprint.
• What if vol 5 (2006) Alternate outcome to several Marvel events series, gathered later in trade What if: Event horizon.