Types of Comic Series

Knowing what type of series can help when you’re looking to get funding for a comic or trying to sell it, but more on that later.

Generally speaking, there are three types of comic series in the market; one-shot, limited, and ongoing. This article will detail the differences between the three and their relationship to the three different comic mediums.

A one-shot series is a comic that’s published as a single issue. It has a self-contained story that has no part in any ongoing or limited series.

This type of comic series can be found in any of the three comic mediums. Most commonly in graphic novels.

A limited series is a comic series with a predetermined number of issues. The story contained in the series has a beginning, middle, and end. Therefore, If you remember the terms from my article 3 Act Story Structure for Comics, all subplots and major plot lines have been resolved by the end of the last issue.

Some publishing companies may want to be more confining with the definition of a limited series by specifying a set minimum and a maximum number of issues. For example, Dark Horse refers to a limited series with 2 to 11 issues as a miniseries (mini-series) and 12 and more issues as a maxiseries (maxi-series).

Different publishing companies may not even consider the differences between the term miniseries, maxiseries or limited series so it will be up to you to do your homework on individual publishing companies terminology when you are ready to communicate with them.

This type of comic series is common for comic books and manga. But, once again, are generally less so for graphic novels which have a tendency of being a one-shot publication.

Now there are issues with definitions when it comes to limited series and their relationship to trade paperbacks and graphic novels. I’ll discuss this at a later date.

An ongoing series is a comic publication that has no foreseeable end.

If the story told in the series comes to an end and no further publications are planned the series can be considered finished.

If the publisher decides to cease publication without the story told coming to a conclusion the series is considered canceled.

Any number of reasons can lead to a series being finished or canceled. It can be due to a drop sales figures, editorial decisions, bankruptcy or someone just wanted to be a #!@% (I am sure this has happened in the past).

This type of comic series is typically published monthly. Thought delays are not uncommon.

Ongoing series are common in comic books and manga.

Graphic novels by definition must have a beginning, middle and end written into the script, therefore, there is no such thing as an ongoing graphic novel series. Any ongoing series that matches the characteristics of graphic novels, like page length, would simply be categorized as a comic book with an above average characteristics.

Like I said at the start, knowing the type of comic series can help by being a selling point to retailers, readers or potential sources of funding.

Definitions have over time become muddled due to publication trends related to limited and ongoing series. Particularly surrounding the topic of trade paperbacks and graphic novels. I’ll be sure to discuss the differences in a later article.

At the very least, now you have a set definition of the differences between a one-shot, limited, and ongoing series.

FAQ: LIBRARIES. (n.d.). Retrieved May 04, 2017, from http://www.darkhorse.com/Help/FAQ/libraries

Limited series. (2017, April 17). Retrieved May 04, 2017, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limited_series

One-shot (comics). (2017, April 29). Retrieved May 04, 2017, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-shot_(comics)

Ongoing series. (2017, April 17). Retrieved May 04, 2017, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ongoing_series