comic books vs. graphic novels

Now that you've mentioned it... I don't know too.. Graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using the comics form. A comic book (often shortened to simply comic and sometimes called a funny book, comic paper or comic magazine) is a magazine made up of narrative artwork, often accompanied by dialog (usually in word balloons, emblematic of the comic book artform) and often including brief descriptive prose. I still don't get it, what's the difference then? I call it Comics you call it graphic novel?

A graphic novel stands alone as a complete story.

A comic book is a serial where, any one comic book is just a short glimpse of part of the story.

That is essentially it. It's like the difference between a T.V. show and a movie.

Graphic novels tend to be more sophisticated and have very adult content but that isn't necessary in order to be considered a graphic novel.

Death-

I'm currently writing my master thesis on graphic novels, and yes there is a difference. A comic book is an illustrated short story with many plots that vary from episode to episode. A graphic novel is any illustrated story with one main plot, divided into chapters. It's much the same as the difference between a short story and novel.

Namaste-Anora

well a comic book is where the story continues weekly or bi weekly and a graphic novel is usually one story finished in one book.i love a good graphic novel and i dont mean a manga i mean like 30 days of night or even sin city

This isn't by any means the TRUE definition of the two - but I will give you my thoughts! My husband reads both comics AND graphic novels. When he says he's going to go read a comic book, I think of the individual comic books that are like 20 pages long, paperback, real thin. If he says he's going to go read a Graphic Novel I think of one of the bigger, hard cover books. I believe the Graphic Novels are different because they contain the entire series or at least a significant amount of a series in one. So it would be like 10 comic books in one.

I think the difference is that a graphic novel could be written as a normal book, just better described with pictures than words

A comic isn't as easily transferred to a story with words, its more picture driven than story driven.

I never know the difference between those two. I call every book that tell story with picture is a comic book. Now i realise that i am wrong. Well maybe i try to search more info about those two, so i will not get laughed at when i wrongly say a graphics novel as a comic books

Actually the difference is not topic, subject, or anything else. It is simply format. A comic book is the typical format you would see when you think of a comic. Magazine like and anywhere from 16 to 100 pages (sometimes even more). A collection of these is called a trade (trade paper back for soft cover, and hardcover for well hardcover), a trade has a more permanent binding and is designed to remain in good quality for longer, sometimes these also get called graphic novels. Mostly to differentiate themselves from comics (which are for kids you know!). Now an original story (not a reprint of old material) in the same format as a trade is a graphic novel.

Examples of comics are Batman, The Amazing Spider-Man, 300, Sandman, and Transmetropolitan.

Examples of graphic novels are Batman: Arkham Asylum, Scott Pilgrim, Channel Zero, and Dramacon.