📚 COMICS GLOSSARY 

📄 Single Issue

Your standard comic book. Usually 20–32 pages, numbered in sequence, released one at a time.

🎨 Variant Cover

Same comic, different cover art. Interior pages are identical — just a unique or collectible cover.

🎯 Ratio Variant (1:25, 1:50, etc.)

A special type of variant where retailers get 1 copy for every X regular issues ordered.
Example:

• A 1:25 variant = the store must buy 25 regular copies to receive 1 variant.
  These are often rarer and more expensive due to low availability.

📦 Back Issue

Any comic no longer on the new-release rack. Past issues, older arcs, and collectible runs.

📕 Limited Series

A series planned with a fixed number of issues (like 4, 6, or 12). Also called a miniseries depending on length.

📘 Ongoing Series

A comic series with no set ending. Runs indefinitely and is broken into arcs with “jumping-on points” for new readers.

🧾 One-Shot

A single, standalone issue that tells a complete story in one comic.

⭐ Annual

A larger special issue released outside the regular numbering. Often self-contained but tied to an ongoing series.

📚 Trade Paperback / Graphic Novel

A collected edition that reprints multiple single issues in one book.
Available in paperback or hardcover.

📚📚 Omnibus

A huge, oversized hardcover collecting a major chunk of issues—an entire run, era, or event.

• Paperback versions are often called Compendiums.

📝 Original Graphic Novel (OGN)

A brand-new story released only as a graphic novel — not a reprint of single issues.

⏰ Final Order Cutoff (FOC)

The last day retailers (like us) can place guaranteed orders before the book is printed.
Preordering before FOC helps secure your copy.

⏳ Backorder

The publisher is temporarily out of stock but plans to reprint or restock.

🚫 Out of Print (OOP)

The publisher has stopped printing this book. Once it's sold out, it’s gone — until a reprint is announced.

🔁 Reprint

A new printing of a previously sold-out book. Sometimes includes updated covers or new print identifiers.