Trade paperback (comics)
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In comics in the United States, a trade paperback (shortened: TPB or trade) is a collection of stories originally published in comic books, reprinted in book format, usually presenting either a complete miniseries, a story arc from a single title, or a series of stories with an arc or common theme.[1]
A trade paperback may reproduce the stories either at the same size in which they were originally presented (in
A trade paperback differs from a graphic novel in that a graphic novel is usually original material.[1][2] It is also different from the publishing term trade paperback, which is a book with a flexible cardstock cover that is larger than the standard mass market paperback format.
History
For many years, trade paperbacks were mainly used to reprint older comic-book stories that were no longer available to the average reader. Original copies of those stories were scarce, and often very expensive when found due to their rarity. In 1954, "the first mass-market paperback reprints of American comic book material" began with "The MAD Reader, published by
The growth of trade paperbacks and graphic novels in the 1980s allowed smaller publishers to flourish.
In 1984, Marvel shifted from trade paperbacks which were general collections to trade paperbacks which were notable recent runs such as the "
In the 1990s,[1][11] "trade paperbacks found their popularity boom".[1] Comic book publishers began releasing trade paperbacks of collected story arcs directly after those stories' original periodical publication, because a new reader could purchase the trade paperbacks and access the entire series' stories to date. The Librarian's Guide to Graphic Novels for Children and Tweens by David S. Serchay explains: "At first it was the most popular stories that were being collected, but more and more comic book stories are now being put into trade, sometimes less than two months after the 'newest' issue is sold. And [...] not only recent material but a great deal of older material is finally being collected into trades".[11]: 15 In 2015, Polygon highlighted that "though this was far less common a decade ago, pretty much every monthly comic out there right now is eventually collected into trade paperback or hardcover edition that prints several issues in one package".[12]
Additions and omissions
This section needs additional citations for verification. (April 2021) |
"As with books, trades have an
Trade paperbacks generally do not feature advertisements,
Readers and sales
Since trade paperbacks may be less expensive and more convenient than buying the individual periodicals, readers may forgo purchasing individual issues in favor of the trade. A significant benefit of the trade paperback version is that it is often available in bookstores, from smaller booksellers to the larger suppliers, and other retailers that do not normally carry comic books.[13][12][14] Despite the growing popularity of the trade paperback, the serialized, individual issues are still considered the primary mode of sale by comics publishers, and a poorly selling series may face cancellation irrespective of trade paperback sales.[15][16][17] However, some series, such as Ms. Marvel[18] and Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur,[19] "survive on the popularity of their trades sales, not just in the direct market and local comic shops, but in book stores across the world" and at "Scholastic [book] fairs and the like".[20] Other times a series might be relaunched after cancellation, such as Iceman and The Unstoppable Wasp in 2018, if the series has good trade sales.[21][22][23]
In 2018, Screen Rant highlighted, "publishers and retailers traditionally ignore the sales of trade paperbacks when it comes to deciding whether or not a specific title is doing well. For decades, the single issue has been king, even though those sales figures are far from helpful. [...] Trade paperbacks are increasingly important as a marker of what sells, with 2016 seeing a 12% jump in trade sales over 2015 - a period when single issue sales fell. Even 2017, which saw both trades and single issue sales fall compared to 2016, trades were down 9.38%, compared to single issues dropping 10.4%".[16] In 2019, Bleeding Cool emphasized, "in recent years, collected issues/trade paperbacks are more popular and profitable than monthly comic book periodicals. As single issue sales have consistently plummeted, trade paperbacks and graphic novels have filled in the gaps. From 2013 to 2018, graphic novels were the highest-selling format for comic books".[17] According to industry reports,[24][25] "the massive shift to graphic novels as the preferred format for comics continued in 2019 bringing sales in the book channel above the comic store channel in North America for the first time in the history of the medium"[26] and that "the sales of graphic novels were growing faster in the book trade than in comics shops".[27]
Trade paperbacks and graphic novels are the preferred format for circulating library collections, since these collections are created to be read, and not to be retained as collector's items or as investments.[28][29] Attempts to catalogue and circulate single-issue comics can pose difficult problems[30][31] and the durability of the trade paperback format is an important consideration for longevity and collection development in public and school libraries. Trade paperbacks "are also the primary culprit in people's confusion of the lexicon, since 'TPBs make up 95% of what many librarians refer to as graphic novels'".[1]
See also
References
- ^ OCLC 1141029685.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link - ^ Kelley, Jason (2020-11-16). "What's The Difference Between Graphic Novels and Trade Paperbacks?". How To Love Comics. Retrieved 2021-04-04.
- ^ a b "Will Eisner and the Secret History of the Graphic Novel". Vulture. 10 November 2015. Retrieved 2021-04-02.
- ^ a b c "The Origin of Marvel Comics Trade Paperbacks". CBR. 2019-03-30. Retrieved 2021-04-02.
- ^ a b Adair, Torsten (2020-07-16). "The secret history of Marvel's earliest graphic novels and books, circa 1983-84 UPDATED". The Beat. Retrieved 2021-04-02.
- ^ a b c d "What Was the First DC Comics Trade Paperback Collection?". CBR. 2019-12-10. Retrieved 2021-04-02.
- ^ OCLC 821178690.
- ^ OCLC 631202531.
- ^ "What Covers Has Marvel Used for the Dark Phoenix Saga Collections?". CBR. 2019-03-29. Retrieved 2021-04-02.
- OCLC 649915298.
- ^ OCLC 212375709.
- ^ a b Polo, Susana (2015-05-01). "Free Comic Book Day is here: Your best excuse to start reading comics". Polygon. Retrieved 2021-04-02.
- ^ "Comics 201: What To Know After You Want To Get Into Comics". The Mary Sue. 2014-11-09. Retrieved 2021-04-02.
- ^ "The Advantages And Disadvantages of Trade Waiting". How To Love Comics. 2013-12-09. Retrieved 2021-04-02.
- ^ Plummer, Jessica (2016-09-14). "Does Trade-Waiting "Hurt" a Comic?". Book Riot. Retrieved 2021-04-02.
- ^ a b "Comic Sales Figures Prove To Marvel: Diversity Isn't The Problem". ScreenRant. 2018-01-27. Retrieved 2021-04-02.
- ^ a b "Does the Comics Industry Need Disrupting Too?". bleedingcool.com. November 12, 2019. Retrieved 2021-04-02.
- ^ Abad-Santos, Alex (2020-01-07). "How Ms. Marvel became Marvel's most important superhero". Vox. Retrieved 2021-04-02.
- ^ "No, Diversity Didn't Kill Marvel's Comic Sales". CBR. 2017-04-03. Retrieved 2021-04-02.
- ^ "On the Victims of the Marvel Cancellation Bloodbath". bleedingcool.com. December 21, 2017. Retrieved 2021-04-02.
- ^ "Marvel to Relaunch Iceman and The Unstoppable Wasp Titles". The Marvel Report. 2018-06-14. Retrieved 2021-04-02.
- ^ "Marvel Revives Iceman Ongoing Series with New #1". CBR. 2018-06-13. Retrieved 2021-04-02.
- ^ Rosenberg, Adam (June 29, 2019). "Former 'Iceman' writer shines a light on Marvel's struggles with representation". Mashable. Retrieved 2021-04-02.
- ^ "Comics And Graphic Novels Shattered Sales Records In 2019". ScreenRant. 2020-07-13. Retrieved 2021-04-03.
- ^ MacDonald, Heidi (2020-07-15). "Comics and Graphic Novel Sales top $1.21B in 2019 — the biggest year ever". The Beat. Retrieved 2021-04-03.
- ^ "Comics and Graphic Novel Sales Top $1.2 Billion in 2019". icv2.com. Retrieved 2021-04-03.
- ^ "2019 North American Comics Sales Rose 11%". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved 2021-04-03.
- hdl:2376/743.
- ^ Bruggeman, Lora (1997). "Zap! Whoosh! Kerplow! Build High-Quality Graphic Novel Collections with Impact". School Library Journal. Vol. 43, no. 1. p. 27.
- .
- ^ "Beinecke Cataloging Manual - Comics and Graphic Novels". beinecke1.library.yale.edu. Retrieved 2021-04-02.