robotnerd Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 things that were originally published as single issues and are then collected are called "trade paperbacks" or "single volume collections." things that are written and published as one cohesive book from the get go are "graphic novels." both can easily fall under the umbrella of "comics." examples: watchmen is a trade paperback, or a single collection. blankets is a graphic novel. sorry, not really a big deal, just venting a tiny pet peeve of mine. the easiest thing is to just call it all comics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benchwarmer Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 on the front of my watchmen it says "one of times 100 best novels" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robotnerd Posted February 24, 2009 Author Share Posted February 24, 2009 time magazine probably doesn't care that was originally published in single issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flood Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 nothing like fanboys flipping out over semantics. i'd say they're basically the same thing seeing as their both in the same category as far as comic sales charts are concerned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robotnerd Posted February 24, 2009 Author Share Posted February 24, 2009 i'm not flipping out, it just kinda bugs me a little bit for some reason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dante3000 Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 But, Watchmen was written as on single cohesive work spread out over 12 chapters (12, right?). It's not like World War Hulk where it's one story arch in an overlaying piece. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrew13 Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 i get pissed when people try telling me a trade is a "graphic novel". i'm a nerd, i know, but trade is what they had been called long before comics started to go mainstream, yet douchebags don't like saying comic books. i had a hipster one time try to tell me that watchmen the "graphic novel" is better than watchmen the comic because it was more graphic and mature. i flipped out on him, told him for 15 minutes how big of a fucktard he was and i still laugh when i see him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flood Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 theres a logical problem with "trade paperback" as a good deal of them are available as hardcover books. i mean personally i'd refer to the absolute sandman collection as a graphic novel.. despite the fact that its a collected work. as a graphic novel is just what it sounds like... a book told in pictures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robotnerd Posted February 24, 2009 Author Share Posted February 24, 2009 theres a logical problem with "trade paperback" as a good deal of them are available as hardcover books. i mean personally i'd refer to the absolute sandman collection as a graphic novel.. despite the fact that its a collected work. as a graphic novel is just what it sounds like... a book told in pictures. i agree, obviously a trade paperback can't be hardcover, that's where "single volume" or "collected edition" comes in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
controlthebleeding Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 But, Watchmen was written as on single cohesive work spread out over 12 chapters (12, right?). It's not like World War Hulk where it's one story arch in an overlaying piece. dante, if it was a story told in 12 issues. even though it's one cohesive story line, it still is a trade paperback. Usually long storylines such as the Watchmen are written after a storyline is made. Giving th writer time to figure out how to space the story over a certain amount of comics. basically when the 1st few issues came out, the story hadn't been fully completed. Hence why the WATCHMEN was printed as a mini-series rather than a whole graaphic novel. theres a logical problem with "trade paperback" as a good deal of them are available as hardcover books. i mean personally i'd refer to the absolute sandman collection as a graphic novel.. despite the fact that its a collected work. as a graphic novel is just what it sounds like... a book told in pictures. in book world though.. trade paperback just means the way the book was bound..hence why trade paperbacks are usually cheaper since it's just glue and paper,a not stitch binding,etc.. that come along with Hard Covers. which is totally different than it's meaning in the comic reference.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurtz Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 +1 to robotnerd for bringing this up. This is a huge pet peeve of mine. Thanks for setting it straight. There are way too many people these days who are new to comics that don't know the difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xxmartinxx Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 The term "trade paperback" has always sounded lame to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kirbypuckett Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 My thoughts on this thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benchwarmer Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 I've always preferred pop-up books Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swank Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 I always thought "Graphic Novel" was a term guys used when speaking to women about reading comic books, to sound more sophisticated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flood Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 I always thought "Graphic Novel" was a term guys used when speaking to women about reading comic books, to sound more sophisticated. exactly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skylar Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 "Trade paperback" is just a publishing term referring to the specific way a book or comic has been reproduced. Watchmen is a graphic novel, widely available in a trade paperback edition. There is also currently a hardcover edition. So suck it, nerds! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robotnerd Posted February 25, 2009 Author Share Posted February 25, 2009 wrong. Watchmen is a COMIC BOOK, widely available in a COLLECTED trade paperback edition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skylar Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 Watchmen is a COMIC BOOK Duh city. widely available in a COLLECTED trade paperback edition You're quibbling. It is a single piece of work that was originally serialized. Thousands of novels were originally serialized before they were released as hardcover or mass market paperback editions. So what. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtw88 Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 Someday everyone dies. When you die you will be in the midst of a vast white expanse with only a computer in it. You will walk up to the computer, and on this computer will be this thread. Some people will look at it, and wonder why people would choose to waste their lives discussing such trivial things. Other people will be you, and you will be severely disappointed with your life choices. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dante3000 Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 Someday everyone dies. When you die you will be in the midst of a vast white expanse with only a computer in it. You will walk up to the computer, and on this computer will be this thread. Some people will look at it, and wonder why people would choose to waste their lives discussing such trivial things. Other people will be you, and you will be severely disappointed with your life choices. Until you hit this post...and then your whole life is validated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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