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A new kind of comic book has been appearing on shelves the past year or so - bigger than a comic book, but smaller than a graphic novel. It's a new format DC is publishing called 'Prestige Plus'.
The 'Prestige Plus' format is something that DC introduced by name in early 2020, and was beta-testing with books like Batman: Damned, Superman: Year One, and Joker/Harley: Criminal Sanity the year prior. It's based on an older DC format called 'Prestige', which was roughly understood to be a halfway point between a traditional comic book and a graphic novel - with the 'prestige' designation referring to the upscaled nature of the format.
What is DC Prestige Plus?
DC's Prestige Plus format is different in size, coverstock, and the spine.
Whereas traditional comic books measure 6.625" wide by 10.1875" tall, DC Prestige Plus books are 8.5" by 10.875" - that's nearly two inches wider, and over half an inch taller. Long-time DC fans will remember the regular 'Prestige' format which appeared sporadically from the '80s to the late '10s, which measured similar to DC Prestige Plus, coming in at 6.525" by 10.1875".
The covers of DC Prestige Plus books will also feel different - for Prestige Plus titles, DC is using its cardstock paper that you might traditionally only come across with select variant covers.
Lastly, each DC Prestige Plus book is squarebound, with a spine and the book's title down the side. Square binding is often held in reserve for larger books like graphic novels and collections, but DC Prestige Plus books are usually a larger page count than the traditional 20 and 22-page comic books.
How can I determine which books are DC Prestige Plus?
If you have it in your hands, you can immediately tell a difference by the proportions compared to a traditonal comic book. But if you're ordering online, or pre-ordering throguh your local comic store, you'll need to pay closer attention.
DC notes the 'Prestige Plus' format in its solicitation/description of each title, but it can be overlooked if you're not looking for it specifically.
How can I store and protect DC Prestige Plus books?
If you try stacking these DC Prestige Plus books with your other comics, you'll find they're far different in size than most anything else - and they don't fit in the typical comic book boxes or even bags/boards.
The reason being is DC Prestige Plus books are intended to be treated more as graphic novels - or graphic novellas, to be specific - and shelved on your bookshelf alongside your graphic novels and collections.
However if you want to store these as you do your comic books, the major comic book storage companies have larger bags and boards called 'magazine format' - measuring 8.75" by 11.125", give or take.
Likewise, there are cardboard longboxes manufactured for magazines - which will come in handy for this. They're a little bit harder to come by at your local comic store than the traditional comic book longboxes, but they're out there.
DC's 'Prestige Plus' format extends to digital comics as well, with the size of the image on your screen. Check out our list of the best digital comics readers for Android and iOS devices.
