A limited series is a term referring to a comic book series with a set finite number of issues. A comic book (often shortened to simply comic and sometimes called a comic paper or comic magazine) is a Magazine or Book of narrative A limited series differs from an ongoing series in that the number of intended issues is determined before production of the series, and differs from a one shot in that it is composed of multiple issues. Ongoing series, sometimes shortened as the Noun ongoing, is a term referring to a comic book series that is intended to continue indefinitely In the American Comic book industry the term one-shot is used to denote a pilot comic or a stand-alone story created to last as one issue It is still different from a finite series in that the number of issues is pre-determined while the latter has no definite number of issues set which could run for a number of years before it ends.

The term is often used interchangeably with miniseries (mini-series) and maxiseries (maxi-series), usually depending on the length and number of issues. In Dark Horse Comics’ definition of a limited series, "This term primarily applies to a connected series of individual comic books. Dark Horse Comics is one of the largest independent American Comic book publishers behind dominant publishers Marvel Comics and DC Comics A limited series refers to a comic book series with a clear beginning, middle and end. Limited series may also be referred to as mini-series (twelve or less individual issues) or maxi-series (more than twelve individual issues). " DC Comics refers to limited series of two to twelve issues long as miniseries while thirteen issues or longer as maxiseries while Marvel Comics originated the term limited series itself. DC Comics is an American comic book and related media company Marvel Comics is an American comic book company owned by Marvel Publishing Inc Other publishers alternate terms calling such works as either limited series or miniseries while others still choose not to label at all.

Characteristics

The limited series has a single story to tell. They follow the standard plot set up of beginning, middle and resolution. Usually, all plot points are covered by the end of the series. There have been limited series done in an anthology format but there have been only a few of these produced. ANThology is the first Major label album by Alien Ant Farm released on March 6, 2001 in the USA and March 19

Limited series are often done by a single creative team but in cases where there are changes, it is usually the writer who remains constant throughout the run while the artist may change hands. The number of issues is usually determined by the writer’s plotting and also by editorial mandate.

History

The genesis of the limited series may be traced to anthology series and back up stories in series featuring the title character. ANThology is the first Major label album by Alien Ant Farm released on March 6, 2001 in the USA and March 19 Publishers would often experiment with new characters and stories. If proven popular, these characters were quickly spun off to their own titles. This was particular of comics during the 1960s and through the 1970s which saw a boom in sales of comics. This was often done despite uncertainty whether a character or team could carry on a series more than a few issues.

Nowhere is this more seen than in DC Comics which continuously released many titles between 1975 and 1978, reaching close to 60 monthly ongoing titles. Eventually, DC was forced to scale back and cancel more than one half of its titles (see the so-called DC Implosion). The DC Implosion is the popular label for the sudden cancellation of more than two dozen ongoing and planned DC Comics series in 1978 Aside from suffering financially, DC Comics was also criticized for straining itself creatively and editorially, affecting the quality of their comics.

World of Krypton #1 (July 1979) published by DC Comics. Cover art by Ross Andru and Dick Giordano.

After recovering from the implosion of its titles, DC Comics decided to experiment with a new format to tell stories. The result was the 1979 World of Krypton miniseries, as DC Comics calls such short run works. The new format allowed them to tell stories that may not fit in to an ongoing series and to showcase characters into a short story without the risk and obligations of an ongoing monthly. It also freed creators to tell a longer story without the confines characteristic of a backup story.

With the success of the miniseries format, DC Comics followed by experimenting with longer stories and concepts that are outside of their universe of superheroes. First began in 1982, Camelot 3000 was the first limited series to run to twelve issues and be dubbed as a maxiseries. Camelot 3000 is an American twelve-issue Comic book Limited series written by Mike W [1] It was printed on Baxter paper stock and sold through direct market stores. The direct market is the dominant distribution and retail network for North American Comic books. DC Comics followed it with another important contribution to the concept with a new book format. Ronin was printed on glossy paper stock and introduced the Prestige Format. The Prestige Format (or bookshelf format as called by other publishers) is packaged within a cardstock cover and square bound with more pages than the conventional magazine pamphlet and no advertisements. [2] Without the advertisements, it resulted in a different pacing in comic storytelling. The Prestige Format is not favored by other publishers and DC Comics is the only one that almost exclusively continues to use it.

Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #1 (May 1984) published by Marvel Comics. Cover art by Mike Zeck

It did not take long for other publishers to follow the limited series form. Marvel Comics used it to feature popular characters from team titles and put them in a lengthy solo adventure. Wolverine's earliest solo adventures were told in limited series. Crossovers between two characters or teams presented as major storylines were also in limited series form before the concept of crossover stories jumping from one title to another was conceived. Contest of Champions brought forth the idea of a major event affecting the Marvel Universe, this would be taken further with the twelve-issue Secret Wars saga in 1984 and by DC Comics’ Crisis on Infinite Earths in 1985. Contest of Champions is a three-issue Limited series published from June to August in 1982 by comics publisher Marvel Comics. This article refers to the 1984 Secret Wars comic book series Crisis on Infinite Earths is a twelve-issue American comic book Limited series (identified as a "12-part maxi-series" and crossover

The majority of Dark Horse’s comics are released in limited series form. Their contribution would be the idea of a series of limited series. Each limited series told a complete story to be followed by another one that builds its story from the previous one. This provided an avenue for creator-owned works where the uncertainty of investing the creator’s property in an ongoing series is lifted from the creator’s concern. The owning creator could complete a limited series installment and follow it with another when they can. This is a model other publishers would use.

Since then, the limited series made it possible for creators to tell graphic novel length stories. A Releasing the story in monthly installments enabled them to immediately receive returns on investment. Further returns are possible with trade paperback collections of the series.

Lengths of limited series

Four to six issues is still the norm for most limited series and presents as the most reasonable investment for comic publishers though there are series that run for as short as two or three issues. Twelve-issue maxiseries form was popular in the 1980s. Many memorable series ran in this length such as Secret Wars, Crisis on Infinite Earths, Watchmen, Amethyst, Princess of Gem World, and Squadron Supreme. Watchmen is a twelve-issue Comic book Limited series written by Alan Moore, and illustrated by Dave Gibbons and John Higgins Amethyst Princess of Gemworld is the name of three Comic book series published by DC Comics in the 1980s The Squadron Supreme is a team of Fictional characters and superheroes that appear in Comic books published by Marvel Comics. This form almost faded out in the 1990s. One point that went against it was the greater financial risk in investing in a lengthy limited series. The popularity of the maxiseries length was resurrected by DC Comics with the success of Batman: The Long Halloween and followed by The Kents. Batman The Long Halloween is a 13-issue Comic book Limited series written by Jeph Loeb with art by Tim Sale. The Kents is the title of a 12 issue Comic book Limited series published by DC Comics, from August 1997 to July 1998 that told the story of

Stories of greater length, those running to more than twelve chapters, were often done in multi-title crossovers, though the 1995 Marvel Comics event, Age of Apocalypse, involved several limited series that replaced the ongoing X-Men related titles for four months and bookended by two one-shot specials. A fictional crossover is the placement of two or more otherwise discrete Fictional characters, settings or universes into the context of a single The "Age of Apocalypse" is a popular X-Men Story arc. This idea is revisited by Grant Morrison in 2005 with the Seven Soldiers of Victory project and which he dubbed as a “mega-series”. Grant Morrison (born January 31 1960 is a Scottish Comic book writer and artist The Seven Soldiers of Victory (also known as Law's Legionnaires) is a fictional team of Comic book Superheroes in the DC Comics universe [3] Marking the difference between the two, Age of Apocalypse was produced by several writers while Seven Soldiers is the most ambitious undertaking so far by a single writer.

The DC Comics project, 52, which ran from May 2006 to May 2007, became the longest-run limited series, composed of 52 weekly issues. DC did not labeled it as either maxiseries or miniseries, calling it simply a series. On 9 May 2007, DC immediately followed this series with another, similarly to be published weekly for 52 weeks, entitled the DC Countdown. Events 1457 BC - Battle of Megiddo (15th century BC between Thutmose III and a large Canaanite coalition under the King of Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Countdown to Final Crisis, known as Countdown for its first 25 issues is a Comic book Limited series published by DC Comics

As a rule, the number of issues a limited series will run is determined from the outset. However, there are cases where this rule is changed. Two reasons stands for this, one is often commercial while the second is, to a rarer extent, creative. Dark Horse’s 1993 Aliens: Colonial Marines was originally to have a run of twelve issues. When the sales of Colonial Marines faltered midway through the run, the series was shortened to ten issues. Marvel’s Fantastic Four: Big Town was set to run six issues only to be set back to four issues. The Fantastic Four is a fictional Superhero team appearing in Comic books published by Marvel Comics. Number changing does not always result in reduction of issues. The first Gen¹³ was to run four issues with the fourth a double-sized finale. Gen¹³ is a fictional Superhero team and Comic book series originally written by Jim Lee and Brandon Choi and illustrated by Instead, the final issue was split to two in order to meet publishing schedule. Brian Michael Bendis found difficulty in resolving the finale of Ultimate Six and Marvel granted his request of extending the series from six to seven issues. Brian Michael Bendis (born 1967 is an American Comic book writer and erstwhile artist Ultimate Six is a seven-issue Comic book Limited series and crossover between Spider-Man and The Ultimates ( 2003) featuring The same thing happened with Marvel's Eternals Vol. 3, which went from 6 to 7 issues when writer Neil Gaiman asked for an extra issue to resolve the ending. Most recently the 8 issue X-Men First Class series as well as the 6 issue Avengers: The Initiative series were both amended to become ongoing series instead, although with X-men First Class the new books will officially be considered a 2nd volume.

Occasionally, an ongoing series will be turned into a limited series. Marvel's The Ultimates began as a monthly series but became a limited series when production issues arose. The Ultimates are a fictional group of Superheroes that appear in Comic books published by Marvel Comics. When Ultimates 2 was released, it too was released as a limited series. When Marvel's New Universe line of comics was cancelled completely, the final issues of the remaining three titles (Psi-Force, D.P. 7, and Justice (New Universe)) were labeled "#32 of a Thirty-two-Issue Limited Series", in the same style that Marvel used to mark limited series at the time. The New Universe is a Comic book Imprint from Marvel Comics that was published in its original incarnation from 1986 to 1989 Psi-Force was a thirty-two-issue Comic book series published by Marvel Comics under their New Universe imprint from 1986 DP 7 was a thirty-two-issue Comic book series published by Marvel Comics as a part their New Universe Imprint. JUSTICE is a Human rights and law reform organisation based in the United Kingdom. This was repeated again as Marvel, when ending it's Transformers comic book in 1992 with issue 80, put a caption on the cover of the book claiming that it was "#80 in a four issue limited series".

Notable limited series

See also List of limited series

• World of Krypton, DC, 1979, 3 issues originally scheduled for Showcase
• Untold Legend of the Batman, DC, 1980 (1st mini-series created especially for the format)
• Tales of the Green Lantern Corps, DC, 1981
• Secrets of the Legion of Super-Heroes, DC 1981
• Camelot 3000, DC, 1982 (12 issues)
• Green Arrow, DC, 1983 (4 issues)
• Ronin, DC, 1983 (6 issues)
• Contest of Champions, Marvel, 1982 (3 issues)
• Secret Wars, Marvel, 1984 (12 issues)
• Secret Wars II, Marvel, (9 issues)
• Crisis on Infinite Earths, DC, 1985 (12 issues)
• Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, DC, 1985 (4 issues)
• Watchmen, DC, 1986 (12 issues)
• The Shadow, DC, 1987 (4 issues)
• Hawkworld, DC, 1989 (3 issues)
• Kingdom Come, DC, 1996 (4 issues)
• 52, DC, 2006 (52 issues)
• Civil War, Marvel, 2006 (7 issues)
• V for Vendetta, Vertigo/DC, 1982 (10 issues)
• Infinite Crisis, DC, 2005 (7 issues)
• House of M, Marvel 2006 (8 issues)
• 300 (comics), Dark Horse, Frank Miller
• Cerebus, Aardvark-Vanaheim 2004 (300 issues)

References

• Sequential Tart interview with Jenette Kahn
• GHM Online - Camelot 3000
• Dial B for Blog: Secret Origins of the DC Implosion

See also

• List of limited series