The Top 100 Selling Graphic Novels for September 2005

This list comes from digging through sales figures, asking too many questions and using Diamond Comics information. The snotty comments in white are from deep in Cory's sick twisted little brain. It's only partial, and Cory!! may go back and fill in the rest of the comments, but don't count on it. He's going to concentrate on making sure that he keeps up from now on, rather than deal with ones he didn't have time for when work crushed his tiny little soul.

1 IDENTITY CRISIS HC* $24.99 DC 11,923

And here it is, the reprint of last year’s Big Mini-series. I know that there are a lot of people who really liked it, it sold well, and it was the kick-off to DC’s Big Event for the year, but I didn’t care much for it. The mystery was too easy for me to solve, and for ANYONE who has read a few mystery novels. I also felt that used characters who didn’t quite fit the tone of the book. Then, there’s the whole idea that the DC heroes have violated people’s thoughts…and how it was treated. It just didn’t work for me, but I can understand why people liked it.

2 EX MACHINA VOL 2 TAG TP (MR) $12.99 DC 6,031

On the other hand, this is a great little graphic novel that does what Identity Crisis tried to do, give a new way of looking at super-heroes. It’s the second in a series about a minor super-hero who is elected Mayor of New York, and mixed politics and super-hero stuff in a way that reads well. Excellent art only helps what is already a great story. Highly recommended.

3 WORLDS GREATEST SUPER HEROES OVERSIZED SLIPCASE HC $49.99 DC 5,549

Reprinting the big Alex Ross painted treasury editions from the last five years or so. It costs almost as much as it would cost to buy them individually, and the stories are really quite good. Still, it’s the kind of thing that is really for collectors only.

4 SHOWCASE PRESENTS SUPERMAN VOL 1 TP $9.99 DC 5,496
5 SHOWCASE PRESENTS GREEN LANTERN VOL 1 TP $9.99 5,213

Both of these books are much like the Marvel “Essentials” where they reprint about 25 comics in black and white in a big newsprint book. The stories are from the late 50’s, and all of the DC stuff at that time was pretty formula driven. I am more of a Marvel fan when it comes to comics from the Silver Age, but you can get a HUGE amount of solid nostalgic reading. It’s not something you are going to sit and read in huge chunks like the Marvel stuff, but a nice product, and I’m glad it is successful.

6 SAMURAI EXECUTIONER VOL 5 10 FINGERS 1 LIFE TP (MR) $9.95 DAR 5,206

The best manga currently on the market, and a spin-off of Lone Wolf and Cub, the best manga of all time. Excellently told stories set in feudal Japan with art that tells the story so well that you don’t even need to look at the captions to know what is happening. Highly recommended.

7 ABSOLUTE BATMAN HUSH OVERSIZED HC $49.99 DC 5,160

Another reprinting of the Jim Lee story, this time with sketches and script samples. For hard core Jim Lee fans only.

8 BATMAN WAR GAMES ACT THREE TP $14.99 DC 4,863

The end of the big crossover from last summer. It was an attempt to upset the status quo in the Batman books, but it suffers from being written by a committee, and being completely unfocused so that the “bigger picture” is constantly getting lost in all of the different fight scenes.

9 ESSENTIAL GHOST RIDER VOL 1 TP $16.99 MAR 4,705

Marvel in the 70’s was really a mess, when you get down to it. This was a character that was started after “The Exorcist” made anything about Satan popular. The character had a great visual, and some of the stories are fun to read, but the series has so many creative team changes that it wrenches from plotline to plotline without a lot of logic. Still, it’s goofy, nostalgic fun and shows what an average midline Marvel book was like through the 70’s. Mildly recommended.

10 SUPERMAN BATMAN VOL 2 SUPERGIRL TP $12.99 DC 4,527

The introduction of the new Supergirl, who has the origin of the original Supergirl from the 50’s. It’s a solid story with decent art, and a big hit with the fanboys, especially since this came out almost a YEAR ago…so people are getting it because of the new Supergirl series. Mildly recommended for super-hero fans.

11 HELLSING VOL 7 TP $13.95 DAR 3,933
12 RUNAWAYS VOL 4 TRUE BELIEVERS DIGEST TP $7.99 MAR 3,814

I loved this series with the first run, and this is the first six issues of the re-launch, and while it’s still good, getting rid of the main menace has made it so the book is a bit unfocused. It’s still one of Marvel’s better super-hero comics and would appeal to people who are looking for a nice, fun read. The art suffers a bit from the digest size, and the story gets a bit muddy as there are a LOT of characters, but it’s still a fun, highly recommended read.

13 JLA VOL 17 SYNDICATE RULES TP $17.99 DC 3,675 14 WOLVERINE ENEMY OF THE STATE VOL 1 TP $14.99 MAR 3,656

Reprinting the first part of Mark Millar’s “All out action” run on Wolverine. Much like a summer blockbuster, there’s no plot to get in the way of the story, and nothing but action, so if you want to turn your mind off and watch Wolverine slice and dice his way through the Marvel Universe, it’s an OK read. Mildly recommended for super-hero fans only.

15 SGT ROCKS COMBAT TALES VOL 1 TP $9.99 DC 3,590
16 LADY SNOWBLOOD VOL 1 TP (MR) $14.95 DAR 3,227
17 RUROUNI KENSHIN VOL 19 TP $7.95 VIZ 3,161
18 SUPERMAN BIRTHRIGHT TP $19.99 DC 3,154

Reprinting the new Mark Waid version of Superman’s origin, cleaning up some of the contradictions that have come about in the last 20 years, and adding back some of the Silver Age additions that were stripped away in the 1986 re-boot. Waid loves old comics, and shows it repeatedly in his writing, but not by simply re-writing old stories, but by making new stories that show reverence to the old. A wonderful read, and one of the best Superman stories ever. Highly recommended.

19 HELLBLAZER BLACK FLOWERS TP (MR) $14.99 DC 3,147
20 NEGIMA VOL 7 GN (MR) $10.95 RAN 3,134
21 CHRONICLES OF CONAN VOL 8 TOWER OF BLOOD & OTHER STORIES TP $16.95 DAR 3,108

Reprinting more of the Roy Thomas/John Buscema Conan, which was the career high point of both creators. The stories seem a bit tame now, but at the time, they pushed the comics code as far as they could. Entertaining stories where Roy’s purple prose works, and Highly Recommended. Looking at the sales, I think this another case where Marvel had money in their catalog and just couldn’t be bothered to do anything to get it.

22 BPRD DEAD TP $17.95 DAR 3,068
23 AVENGERS SERPENT CROWN TP $15.99 MAR 2,916

This reprints the first Avengers story I ever read, with art by a VERY young George Perez, and simplified by a very old Vinnie Colletta. Steve Englehart was at the top of his game here, and the story seemingly goes in a million directions at once, but all comes together with a satisfying conclusion. One of the better runs on the Avengers and highly recommended for super-hero fans.

24 SLEEPER VOL 4 LONG WAY HOME TP (MR) $14.99 DC 2,705

The end of the series, and it went out in a fairly satisfactorily way. It’s too bad the comic never really took off (like Ex Machina did), because it was a nice little self-contained super-hero book with a different way of telling those stories. Unreadable without the previous three volumes.

25 WONDER WOMAN VOL 3 BEAUTY & BEASTS TP $19.95 DC 2,705
26 EXILES VOL 11 TIME BREAKERS TP $17.99 MAR 2,679
27 ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN VOL 6 HC $29.99 MAR 2,613

Reprinting the 6th year of this series, which has turned out far better than anyone thought it would. It’s easily the best Spider-Man comic out currently, and rivals Stan Lee’s run on the character. Highly entertaining, and must reading for anyone likes the character, even if they just know it from the movies.

28 BLEACH VOL 9 TP $7.95 VIZ 2,573
29 KATSUYA TERADA THE MONKEY KING VOL 1 TP (MR) $14.95 DAR 2,501
30 ROBIN BATGIRL FRESH BLOOD TP $12.99 DC 2,501

Reprinting the four issue crossover between the two comics. It was OK, but not so good that it needs to be a stand alone book. I can’t even recommend it, since it would be cheaper just to buy the four back issues at $2.50 a pop.

31 KINGDOM HEARTS VOL 1 GN (Of 4) $5.99 TKP 2,488
32 RONIN HOOD OF THE 47 SAMURAI GN $9.99 IMA 2,468
33 HULK VISIONARIES PETER DAVID VOL 2 TP $19.99 MAR 2,395

Peter David‘s run on the Hulk was one of the very few successful runs the character has had, and it’s very well regarded by fans. I like PAD’s run on the character, and this is early enough in the run that he was still taking it seriously instead of throwing in too many “funny bits”. The art is some of the best McFarlane ever drew, and the stories are a notch above the bland Marvel stuff at the time in the 80’s, but come off now as solid super-hero soap opera stuff. Mildly recommended.

34 LAST HERO STANDING TP $13.99 MAR 2,369

A solid little mini-series based in the “Spider-Girl” future of the Marvel Universe. It over-reaches at the end and tries to be more than it really is, which is a nice little team up comic. It’s a nice little piece of super-hero fluff, and is a comic you should read if you like Spider-Girl. If you don’t this won’t win you over.

35 WOLVERINE CLASSIC VOL 2 TP $12.99 MAR 2,204

Reprinting more of the Wolverine stories from the late 80’s. They aren’t classic, but it’s probably a good idea to get them in print in color, since they are currently only available in the “Essential” format, and there are a LOT of comics fans who won’t buy any black and white comics.

36 SECRET OF THE SWAMP THING TP $9.99 DC 2,204

A digest sized comic that reprints the first ten issues of the series from the 70’s by Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson. A great little series that doesn’t seem old, mostly because of the excellent art and Wein’s ability to write prose that doesn’t go over the top. Highly recommended.

37 FRANK MILLER SIN CITY VOL 1 HARD GOODBYE 2ND TP (MR) $17.00 DAR 2,184

STILL selling well because of the movie. And it’s a great comic. Buy it if you don’t already have it.

38 DEVIL MAY CRY 3 GN (MR) $9.99 TKP 2,065
39 YOTSUBA MANGA VOL 3 TP $9.99 ADV 2,059
40 DEARS VOL 4 GN (Of 7) $9.99 TKP 2,039
41 ACME NOVELTY LIBRARY HC $27.50 RAN 1,947

Reprinting random stories from the series, mostly the things that weren’t reprinted in the “Jimmy Corrigan” and “Quimby the Mouse” book. Chris Ware has always been an amazing talent, and even when his stories don’t work as stories, the art and design is interesting a worth the price of admission. This is one of the few books I can simply say Everyone who buys this comic will enjoy it. Highly recommended.

42 KAMANDI ARCHIVES VOL 1 HC $49.99 DC 1,887

Kirby in the 70’s in a bit of an acquired taste. Some people feel that his quirks overtook his storytelling ability, but I disagree. This is the first of (hopefully) many volumes reprinting Kirby’s most successful series from that time, and is probably his most accessible of his final works. I balked a bit at the price at first, but then I remembered that it IS reprinting a 30 year old series, so I still recommend it.

43 PUNISHER MAX VOL 1 HC (MR) $29.99 MAR 1,874

Reprinting the first 12 issues of the new, more serious version of the character by Garth Ennis, and it qualifies as one of the better action comics Marvel has ever done, and is easily the best writer to work on the character (although Steven Grant comes close). If you don’t already have this, it’s well worth the money and is highly recommended.

44 CBLDF SPX 2005 ANTHOLOGY $12.95 CBL 1,821
45 BLOODY MARY TP (MR) $19.99 DC 1,768

DC is getting all of the Garth Ennis stuff in print, since he does have a solid fan following. This was one of his lesser mini-series, and it just didn’t work for me. For hard core Garth Ennis fans only.

46 ONE PIECE VOL 8 GN $7.95 VIZ 1,722

Love the cartoon, but don’t see a need to read an adaptation of it.

47 BLACK PANTHER WHO IS BLACK PANTHER HC $21.99 MAR 1,683

A hardcover printing of the first six issues of the new series by Reginald Hudlin, who wrote Boomerang and a few other movies. It’s not worth paying $22 for this book when the Punisher hardcover has twice as many pages for only $8 more. Wait for the trade if you’re interested, but it’s really not all that good.

48 V FOR VENDETTA TP $19.99 DC 1,656

With all due respect to those of you who love Watchmen, this is the best thing Alan Moore has written. And if you don’t have it by now, go buy it. NOW, DAMMIT!

49 I LUV HALLOWEEN VOL 1 GN (Of 3) (MR) $9.99 TKP 1,650
50 DISTRICT X VOL 2 UNDERGROUND TP $19.99 MAR 1,623

Reprinting the rest of an under-rated series that got buried under the flood of X-Men related projects from last year. It reads well, even if you aren’t an X-Men fan, and works as yet another in the growing genre of police dealing with super-heroes. Highly recommended.

51 COVENANT VOL 1 GN $9.99 IMA 1,610
52 FORGOTTEN REALMS DARK ELF TRILOGY VOL 1 HOMELAND TP $14.95 DDP 1,577
53 ROGUE FORGET ME NOT TP $14.99 MAR 1,537

Reprinting the first few issues of the failed Rogue series. It wasn’t good enough for me to say much either way about it. It wasn’t horrible, it just wasn’t any good.

54 DRAGONBALL Z VOL 22 TP $7.95 VIZ 1,537
55 GAMBIT HATH NO FURY TP $14.99 MAR 1,524

And this is the Gambit series in a trade. Now Gambit is a character I REALLY dislike, so I didn’t even bother with the series.

56 SNK VS CAPCOM VOL 2 SVC CHAOS TP $13.95 DR 1,485
57 TRIGUN ANIME MANGA WOLFWOOD VOL 2 TP $14.95 DAR 1,465
58 BIGFOOT TP $19.99 IDW 1,452

Much better than I thought it would be, with excellent art by Richard Corben, and a story that hits all the right notes. If you think this is going to just be a goofy romp, you’re wrong. Highly recommended.

59 JUSTICE LEAGUE UNTD JAM PACKED ACTION TP $7.99 DC 1,445
60 SPIDER-GIRL VOL 4 TURNING POINT DIGEST TP $7.99 MAR 1,438

More reprints of this nostalgic series that reminds you of the super-hero soap opera stuff from the 80’s Mildly recommended to younger readers and people who miss 80’s Marvel.

61 TENJHO TENGE VOL 3 $9.99 DC 1,438
62 COYOTE VOL 1 TP $14.99 IMA 1,438

Reprinting Steve Englehart’s creator owned series that was published by Epic/Marvel in the early 80’s At the time is was a step above most other comics, but now it comes off as dated and pretentious, which is too bad, since I had such fond memories of it. For collectors and Englehart fans only.

63 FUSHIGI YUGI VOL 16 GN $9.95 VIZ 1,432
64 RG VEDA VOL 3 GN (Of 10) $9.99 TKP 1,412
65 ZOMBIEWORLD WINTERS DREGS & OTHER STORIES TP $24.95 DAR 1,386
66 FRANK MILLER SIN CITY VOL 3 BIG FAT KILL TP (MR) $17.00 DAR 1,366
67 BLACK FOREST VOL 2 CASTLE OF SHADOWS GN $6.99 IMA 1,326
68 MARVEL MASTERWORKS DOCTOR STRANGE VOL 2 HC NEW ED $49.99 MAR 1,326

Finishing up the Ditko run on the character and showing that he had a great conclusion to his Big Story, and after he left, the series floundered to the point where it became almost painful to read. This was the high water mark of Ditko’s Marvel work, and doesn’t get the attention that his Spider-Man run does because the stuff right after it was SO bad. Highly recommended and possibly the best of the Silver Age Masterworks.

69 FRANK MILLER SIN CITY VOL 2 DAME TO KILL FOR 2ND TP (MR) $17.00 DAR 1,313
70 BATMAN HUSH VOL 2 TP $12.99 DC 1,306
71 MAHOROMATIC AUTOMATIC MAIDEN VOL 7 GN (Of 8) (MR) $9.99 TKP 1,267
72 FABLES VOL 5 MEAN SEASONS TP (MR) $14.99 DC 1,267
73 LULLABY WISDOM SEEKER VOL 1 TP $9.99 ALI 1,260
74 SANDMAN VOL 1 PRELUDES & NOCTURNES TP $19.95 DC 1,247

It’s been a long time since this showed up on the best selling trades list. Unlike some of the other books that are on month on and month off, there really isn’t any comic that ties in to this anymore, so it’s all selling on people’s word of mouth. Gaiman is the most successful comics author to leave the field, and his Sandman is one of the best series to ever see print. If you haven’t read it, do yourself a favor and start with Volume 2, then go back and read this one, as this was Gaiman just starting to figure out what eh wanted to do with the series. Still, it’s highly recommended.

75 ANGEL SANCTUARY VOL 10 GN $9.99 VIZ 1,247
76 MARVEL MASTERWORKS DOCTOR STRANGE VOL 2 HC VAR ED $54.99 MAR 1,234
77 MARVEL MASTERWORKS CAPTAIN MARVEL VOL 1 HC NEW ED $49.99 MAR 1,234

Not one of Marvel’s more successful series, and the Silver Age Captain Marvel was cancelled at least three times before they let Jim Stalin kill off the character. These stories are not among the best Marvel had in the late Silver and early Bronze age, and are for the hard core collectors of Masterwokrs and Marvel only.

78 FRANK MILLER SIN CITY VOL 5 FAMILY VALUES 2ND TP (MR) $12.00 DAR 1,234
79 GRENDEL RED WHITE & BLACK TP $19.95 DAR 1,227

I can’t be objective about Matt Wagner’s Grendel, and I find this and the Black, White and Red the best of his work on the character. Highly, highly recommended.

80 HIKARU NO GO VOL 5 TP $7.95 VIZ 1,214
81 MALLRATS TP $14.95 GRA 1,201

Not a comic book, but a copy of the script with a few notes and behind the scenes pictures. Not really worth the price, as I feel this was the least of Kevin Smith’s efforts and there is nothign really new here.

82 WALKING DEAD VOL 1 DAYS GONE BYE TP (MR) $9.95 IMA 1,188
83 DEATH NOTE VOL 1 TP $7.99 VIZ 1,175
84 RAVE MASTER VOL 17 GN (Of 32) $9.99 TKP 1,168
85 MARVEL MASTERWORKS CAPTAIN MARVEL VOL 1 HC VAR ED $54.99 MAR 1,168
86 ULTIMATES VOL 2 HOMELAND SECURITY TP $17.99 MAR 1,168
87 Y THE LAST MAN VOL 5 RING OF TRUTH TP (MR) $14.99 DC 1,148
88 BATMAN HUSH VOL 1 TP $12.95 DC 1,115
89 WALKING DEAD VOL 3 SAFETY BEHIND BARS TP (MR) $12.95 IMA 1,109
90 ULTIMATES 2 VOL 1 GODS & MONSTERS TP $15.99 MAR 1,102
91 YU GI OH DUELIST VOL 9 TP $7.95 VIZ 1,095
92 MAGNUS ROBOT FIGHTER VOL 1 GN $6.95 PUB 1,076

A new graphic novel featuring the character. I never much cared for the character, and have always found the stories featuring him to be boring. I hope this sold well on the mass market, because comics fans just didn’t pay any attention to it.

93 BATMAN LONG HALLOWEEN TP $19.95 DC 1,069
94 WALKING DEAD VOL 2 MILES BEHIND US TP (MR) $12.95 IMA 1,056
95 WATCHMEN TP $19.99 DC 1,056
96 FULL MOON FEVER GN $12.95 AIT 1,049
97 REMOTE VOL 7 GN (Of 10) (MR) $9.99 TKP 1,036
98 WALLFLOWER VOL 5 GN (MR) $10.95 RAN 1,010
99 YU YU HAKUSHO VOL 8 TP $7.95 VIZ 1,010
100 CHIKYU MISAKI VOL 1 $9.99 DC 1,010

LOTS of re-orders this month, so if you want to know more about them, look over my previous reviews.

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