Glossary of comic related terms

Age
Golden Age: Comics published from 1938 to 1945
Atomic Age: Comics published from 1946 to 1956
Silver Age: Comics published from 1957 to 1969
Bronze Age: Comics published from 1970 to 1985
Modern Age: A term applied to comics published from the 1980s to the present

Album
A European comic (strip), standard 48 pages and glued to the spine

Annual
A comic that is published yearly

Ashcan
A (promotional) comic that introduces a new series or story.
Most ashcans have black & white covers, or are totally black & white

B&W
Black and white art

Bad Girl Art
A style that shows sexy tough woman in action

Bi-Monthly
A comic published every two months

Bi-Weekly
A comic published every two weeks

Cameo
Appearance of certain character in another Series

CGC
The certified comic book grading company Comics Guaranty, LLC

Characters
A list of fictional characters that appear in a comic book

Collection Status
The status of an issue. The issue can be In Collection, Wanted, On Order, etc

Colorist
An artist who paints the color guides for comics

Complete Run
All issues of a series

Con
A convention or public gathering of comicfans, also a Comicon

Covers
The Front Cover and Back Cover of a comic. For 99% of all comics the Back Cover is an ad

Creators
A list of the people that create a comic (Writer, Penciller, Colorist, Lay-Outs, Editor, etc)

Crossover
A storyarc that takes place in issues of different series or a event in a fictional universe

Country
The country where the publisher is located. For all America comics, this is USA of course

Die-Cut Cover
A comic cover with precut areas to create a special effect

Double
A duplicate copy of the same comic

Edition
Tells what the isseu is (First Print, Second Print, Variant Cover, etc) and is linked to the Issue Extension

Foil Cover
A comic cover that has a thin metallic foil stamped on it

Genre
Categories of comic book subject matter, like Science Fiction, Crime, War, Action, Horror etc

Graphic Novel
Comic book with high quality storyline and artwork, almost always a one-shot

Imprint
A special publish name that a publisher's using for certain publications (one-shots or series).
Example: Marvel Comics created the imprint Max Comics for their mature publications

Incentive Cover
A special Variant Cover

Indicia
Publishing and series information located at the bottom of the first page or the bottom of the front cover (inside)

Inker
Artist that does the inking

Issue Extension
An extra added extension to a comic to make sure all versions got a unique number.
Example: Issue #1 got a few covers. You can label the standard as 1A. The Variants as 1B, 1C, etc

Issue Number
The actual number of a comic

Limited Series (LS)
A series consisting of just a few issues. Already before the series starts the publisher knows how much issues will appear in this series

NN
Short for No Number

One-Shot
When only one issue is published of a series

Ongoing Series
A series consisting of loads of issues. The publisher starts the series with the intention to never stop publishing it. Poor sales may stop such a series

Origin
When the story of a character's creation is told

Painted Cover
Cover taken from an actual painting instead of a line illustration

Penciller
Artist that does the pencils

Photo Cover
Comic cover featuring a photographic image

Plot
Tells what happens in the comic in just a few lines

Printer
The company that's printing the ink and colors on paper

Publisher
The firm that manages the comic from scratch to sending it to the printer and distributor

Quarterly
Published every three months

Shared Universe
Fictional characters from a publisher meet eachother since they are located in the same universe. Well known are the Marvel and DC universes. Example: The X-Men and Spider-Man can meet eachother since they are both located in the Marvel universe

Spine
The left-hand edge of the comic that has been folded and stapled

Splash
One illustration for one page

Story Arc
A continuing story within a Series

Squarebound
Pages are glued to the cover, not stapled

Title
The main title of the story of a comic book is the actual title. This title's possible a chapter of a Story Arc or Crossover

Variant Cover
A different cover image used on the same issue

Volume
A run of a series. Example: a series stopped in the 80s and started again in the 90s. The 80s series is Volume 1 and the 90s is Volume 2

Wanted List
A listing of comics wanted by a comic collector

Wrap Cover
Artwork on the Front Cover and Back Cover combined