Does manga count?

Manga are comics, so yes. There's no real difference between the two other than they read from right to left. Don't say "Manga are written by a single author" because there is a ton of comics outside of Japan written by a single author.

I like things to be as collected as possible. I kind of hate individual issues. Every time I followed a comic series by buying individual issues, I regretted it once the trade paperback came out. For manga, I'd rather have the 3-in-1 editions if they exist.

Trade paperbacks are my go to. Especially since they have a collected a story arc