Noob question?

[El Terrible]

Im new in all this comic book stuff and I was reading some post about the best Batman Stories theyre are and for example in Year one I look for it on eBay and theres different versions, theres comics & graphic novels of the same name, is the graphic novel all the comics into one or what? The same thing for the Long Hollween, The Dark Knight Returns and so on. So could someone help me thanks

[Immortal]

The graphic novels, often called trade paperbacks or simply trades, are a collection of all the issues in the specific arc. For example Batman: Year One graphic novel consists of all the Year One monthly single issues (Year One: Part 1, Year One: Part 2, Year One: Part 3, etc.). If you're in it for the story get the graphic novel, they contain all the issues in one conveniently sized book. If you're in it for the collecting in hopes of having valuable comics get the single issues.