Many teens search intuitively by format, so including format descriptions in the subject headings may make the collections more accessible than relying only on publication data in the descriptions.
Manga, comic strip collections, subscription/serial comics, and graphic novels each have distinguishable features. Teens easily recognize this and often search based upon these characteristics--why not "meet them where they are"? If they are looking for a title or character, let's be up front and indicate the format using a teen's lexicon: manga (for both traditional and Americanized front-to-back versions), comic strips (collections of comic strips appearing originally in paper or electronic format), graphic novels (fiction or non-fiction subject matter bound in book form--could put superhero compilations here perhaps--definitely includes illustrated classics).
But don't forget that a title can appear in more than one format and a person who's interested in one version will probably be interested in another. For example, here's a volume of Harvey Pekar's American Splendor comics and the movie American Splendor, both based on his life:
In this case the title is exactly the same - what role should description information and subject headings play in connecting both of these when you're searching?
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