Definitions

Anime: Japanese animated films. Closely linked with manga.

Arist/penciller: the person who does the illustrations for a comic book or graphic novel in black and white pencil. The work then goes to the inker.

Atomic age: the years 1946-56 in comic book history, when superhero comics fell off in popularity to be replaced in production and sales by other genres.

Bronze age: the years 1970-1980. Discussions are still occurring over the exact dates for this age in comic books.

Colorist: the person who adds color to the inked illustrations. These days this work can also be done by computers.

Comic books: the traditional pamphlet format, resembling a periodical with a glossy cover, often 32 pages and center-stapeled.

Comic strips: the paneled comics that appear in newspapers and magazines. Comic strip collections are generally not considered graphic novels (although in some cases when the comic strips have a continuing storyline, the distinction is less clear).

Comics code: a code of ethics created by comic publishers in reaction to the controversy over the content in comics books. No longer widely used.

Continuity: consistency both within a specific character’s development and the world he or she lives in.

Crossover: the appearance of one comic book character in another comic book.

Golden age: the years 1938-1946, when superhero comics first appeared and became widely popular.

Graphic novel: a book-lenth comic, appearing in book format. Can be a single-title graphic novel or a collection of comic book storylines in book format.

Imprint: a subdivision within a comic company.

Inker: the person who inks the pencil illustrations, adding shading and detail. The artwork then goes to the letterer.

Letterer: the person who places the captions, dialogue, and sound effects.

Limited series: a comic series that runs for a set number of issues.

Manga: Japanese comic books, often closely tied to anime.

Plotter: the person who writes the plot outline for another who writes the actual text (used when there is not a single writer producing the full story and text).

Prestige format: a comic book that is square-bound and glued like a trade paperback.

Scripter: the person who writes the text based on another’s plot outline (used when there is not a single writer producing the full story and text).

Silver age: the years 1956-1970, when superhero comics became popular again.

Storyarc: a continuing storyline within a title or sometimes across several comic titles. Storyarc collections published in book format are also called graphic novels.

Trade paperback: oversize paperbacks, often graphic novels, distributed through bookstores and comic book stores.

Writer: the person who plots and scripts the story.