COMIC BOOK LIMITED SERIES

In any given month, the number of Limited Series titles released by comics publishers can approach, or even exceed, the number of ongoing series published during the same period. Publishers support Limited Series because they can mean less financial risk than an ongoing title, and because they free editors from the continuous deadlines of a monthly comic. Fans enjoy them because they tell self-contained stories and don't require the commitment of an ongoing subscription.

Young Adult Services Librarians should pay attention to limited series because such titles often contain some of the best stories and art the medium offers, and because the majority of titles are reprinted as trade paperback collections.

In some cases, popular comic book titles do not appear as ongoing monthly or bimonthly series at all; instead, publishers issue them in recurring, though irregular cycles of self-contained story arcs. In effect, these function as irregular series with no continuous numbering. Examples include:

Aliens (Dark Horse) Conan the Barbarian (Marvel) Concrete (Dark Horse) Deity (Image) Hellboy (Dark Horse) Evil Ernie (Chaos) Groo the Wanderer (Dark Horse) Predator (Dark Horse) Record of Lodoss War (CPM Manga) Sin City (Dark Horse) Star Trek (D.C.) Star Wars (Dark Horse) The Tick (New England Comics) However, most Limited Series appear as finite, special projects that may or may not spark future series. Recent examples of the latter type include: Clan Apis (Active Synapse) The Kents (D.C.) Mage: The Hero Defined (Image) The Remarkable Worlds of Professor Phineas B. Fuddle (DC-Paradox) Ring of the Nibelung (Dark Horse) Scene of the Crime (DC-Vertigo) Static Shock (D.C.) The 300 (Dark Horse) Whiteout (Oni Press) back to: main page compiled and maintained by: Michael R. Lavin, Lockwood Memorial Library send comments to: Michael R. Lavin, mrlavin@acsu.buffalo.edu design by: Catherine Collins additional design work by: Don Gramlich with the assistance of the: Educational Technology Center last updated on: December 20, 2000

Mage: The Hero Defined; © Matt Wagner