The Top 100 Selling Graphic Novels for January 2006

Thanks for checking out this column which is a look at sales of Graphic Novels where I comment on their sales, if they are any good or whatever other snarky remarks come to mind as I look over the sales figures.

So, what is this list? Every month, Diamond Comics (the company that ships comic books to comic book shops) list the sales figures of the previous month so that they can list actual sales through the entire month, but they list it in the form of “average number of copies sold to each comic shop”. Then, the site ICV2 goes through the numbers they post and attempts to turn it into an approximation of the actual number of books sold. This doesn't doesn't list the graphic novels sold in bookstores, just comic book shops which is where the big publishers like Marvel, DC and Image sell most of their books, but Manga publishers sell far more in stores like Barnes and Nobel or Borders.

The month of January was one that is kind of historic in the comic book business, because it is the first time that more money was spent on Graphic Novels than regular comic books. Comics have been moving toward this for a LONG time, and with the average cover price of a single comic now a little over $3, more and more readers have decided that they'll just wait and buy a trade paperback.

In this month's sales chart, a few other things I noticed:

V for Vendetta shows that when a movie of a comic is about to come out, the trade will go crazy in sales. Since the movie has been announced a little over a year ago, the book has sold 2,000 to 3,000 every month after quite a few years of just sitting in warehouses. This means that DC is going to put out a TON of Superman graphic novels over the next few months as that movie gets ready.

On the regular comic charts, Marvel sold almost 50% of all comic sold, but in graphic novels, they aren't doing as well. I don't know why that is, unless it is that most of their audience hasn't moved over to buying stories as trades.

The other big sales trend I'm seeing is that no matter what they put in the “Essential” or “Showcase” format, it sells well. That format is one of my favorites, as they reprint about 25 – 30 comics in black and white, on cheap newsprint paper. It is a GREAT format if you are just looking for stuff from the 60's and 70's to read and don't want to pay for the big hardcovers that normally reprint those stories, and they usually run about $15 - $18 for over 500 pages worth of reading.

Now, on the charts!

1 SERENITY TP $9.95 DAR 8,016

Guess I'm not the only one who waited for the trade on this one. It tells the story of what happened between the TV show “Firefly” and the movie “Serenity” and it's written by Joss Whedon. It's a good story with decent enough art and is a step above the average TV tie in. Whedon is going to be doing more comics, including another “season” of Buffy only in comics, which is probably better for him than another movie or TV show that tanks.

2 DC UNIVERSE STORIES OF ALAN MOORE (MR) $19.99 DC 7,473

This is a GREAT batch of stories by the best writer to ever work in mainstream comics. His Watchmen and V for Vendetta are known by people who don't read comics, but this is a collection of stories he did in the early 80's for DC using characters like Superman, Green Lantern and Vigilante. The highlights of the book are “Whatever Happen To The Man Of Steel?” which was the last story about the Silver Age Superman and may be the best superman story of all time, and “The Killing Joke”, a Batman story from the late 80's that is thought of as one of the best Batman stories as well. This is a must-buy if you don't have the stories and is highly recommended.

3 SUPERMAN SACRIFICE TP $14.99 DC 6,550

Reprinting a Superman story that leads up to the big Infinite Crisis crossover. If you aren't into the big buildup to the big crossover, you probably won't have any idea in the world what the hell is going on, and if you are, you've already got this.

4 NEW AVENGERS VOL 1 BREAKOUT TP $14.99 MAR 5,876

The kicking for the new Avengers series, and while there are parts of it I REALLY like, there is a major structure problem to this story in that the first half deals with a prison breakout...and then the second half doesn't resolve it AT ALL. It's a huge hit, and it is a solid Marvel series, but it didn't work for me as a stand alone story, more like the pilot to a long-running series.

5 V FOR VENDETTA TP $19.99 DC 5,720

Selling big because of the movie, and it should. Many people say that Watchmen is Alan Moore's best work, but I think that this one is just a little bit better. Set in fascist Britain in the late 80's (which was the future when it was written), it is a deeply thought out story of revolution, personal choice and science fiction ideas, all done with some of the best art comics have ever seen. There is no way the movie can be as well written and constructed as this book, and it is highly recommended, even if you haven't ever read a comic book in your life.

6 JLA VOL 18 CRISIS OF CONSCIENCE TP $12.99 DC 5,458

Another tie-in book, and this one stands almost as a sequel to “Identity Crisis”. Out of all of the tie-ins to that series, this is the best, and deals well with the fact that these characters do have powers above and beyond normal people. It's a bit confusing without having read “Infinite Crisis” first, but if you have, this is a solid sequel that's well wroth the money.

7 BATMAN HUSH RETURNS TP $12.99 DC 5,109

The first all out stinker on the list. This reprints a bunch of issues from the now-canceled “Gotham Knights” comic, and purports to tell more about the character introduced in the Jim Lee issues. After slogging through a couple of issues, I simply gave up on the book, and I'm not the only one, as sales dropped during this storyline. It's just an unreadable mess and should be avoided.

8 TEEN TITANS OUTSIDERS INSIDERS TP $9.99 DC 5,003

A crossover between the two teams, and as such, there are about 25 super-heroes running around in this book. If you know the characters and have followed the series, it IS a solid story that continues the “super-hero soap opera” of both books. The problem is that if you aren't a reader already, it's like watching an episode of a soap opera without all of the exposition and catch-up. For fan only.

9 SEVEN SOLDIERS OF VICTORY VOL 1 TP $14.99 DC 4,972

I LOVE this series of books, but the problem with the trade paperbacks is a that they are printing the books in the order they came out. The format of the series is that there was a “kickoff” issue setting up the situation, and then sever different mini-series featuring the seven different characters. This is one of the few instances that it's better to buy the individual issues and read them as the seven different mini-series. It's great stuff, but I don't know how well it will read in these books.

10 SAMURAI EXECUTIONER VOL 8 TP (MR) $9.95 DAR 4,816

Another book of the best manga series currently being printed. Set in feudal Japan, set in the same fictional setting as the classic “Lone Wolf and Cub” and it is by the same creative team as LW&C as well, it is just as good as that classic series and reads well if you just pick up the book out of the blue as well as if you have read ALL of the work by this creative team. It's well written, drawn in such a way that it feels like a movie in your hands and is highly recommended.

11 SHOWCASE PRESENTS GREEN ARROW VOL 1 TP $16.99 DC 4,778

Green Arrow is not one of the Big Characters at DCX, and these stories show why. For the first few years, Green Arrow was just a low rent Batman, complete with Arrowcar and teen sidekick. These stories have that “DC Silver Age” feel to them, and don't work if you read read more than one or two in a row. Still, there is a certain charm to them, and the run of stories by Jack Kirby in the middle was great to read. I like these big collections, and am happy to see that they are selling well.

12 ESSENTIAL OFFICIAL HANDBOOK OF THE MARVEL UNIVERSE VOL 1 TP $16.99 MAR 4,560

This is a listing of all of the Marvel characters and their background and powers from 1982 – 1983. I'm shocked it sold this well, and it is a good resource for people who want to know who these characters are, even if it is over 20- years out of date. And the fact that it is over 20 years old makes me feel ancient.

13 ULTIMATE ANNUALS VOL 1 TP $13.99 MAR 4,391

An odd book, really, since all of these stories are also going to be reprinted in the individual series trade paperbacks. I guess if you want to “sample” the Ultimate comics, this is a good book to pick up, since it does have three great stand alone stories. The Spider-Man story is probably the best one since the re-writing of the origin in Ultimate Spider-Man's first 7 issues, but get it in the Ultimate Spider-Man collections.

14 CHRONICLES OF CONAN VOL 9 RIVER DRAGONS & OTHERS TP $16.95 DAR 4,354

Reprinting more of Marvel's Conan stories with solid stories by Roy Thomas and John Buscema's best artwork. I can't recommend this book highly enough, and while the prose is purple, it's based on a pulp character where the original stories it's based on are “blood and thunder” 30's stories, so it fits.

15 ESSENTIAL AVENGERS VOL 5 TP $16.99 MAR 4,173

Reprinting the stories that led into the 70's on The Avengers, and reprints the Avengers/Defenders War for the third time in the last two years. By this time in the series history, the book had firmly fallen into Marvel's Super Hero Soap Opera formula. It's a fun read and has wildly uneven art throughout. For $17, you get over 500 pages of typical 70's Marvel comics.

16 FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST VOL 5 TP $9.99 VIZ 3,942
17 BERSERK VOL 10 TP (MR) $13.95 DAR 3,805
18 NEW AVENGERS VOL 2 SENTRY PREM HC $19.99 MAR 3,743

The second story arc on the revamped Avengers series, and it's pretty much a story to bring the character Sentry into the Marvel Universe proper. The Spider-Man banter is great, and the overall story is decent enough, but again, this is a book that reads better as a monthly comic than trade paperbacks.

19 BATMAN ILLUSTRATED BY NEAL ADAMS VOL 3 HC $49.99 DC 3,687

I have no way to review this objectively, as I am a HUGE Neal Adams mark. This completes the reprinting of all of the Batman work he's done over the years, and sadly, this is the one that has some of his best work, but is also the book with the most filler with promo pieces, sketches and such. If you want to see why people love Neal's work on Batman, pick up the second book, but this book is one of my favorites.

20 HELLBLAZER STARING AT THE WALL TP (MR) $14.99 DC 3,312

Reprinting another Hellblazer arc, and not one of the better ones. For completists only as the story is pretty much the same as most of the others by this creative team.

21 INU YASHA VOL 24 TP $8.95 VIZ 3,294
22 MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE VOL 1 TP $12.95 MVC 3,262

Remember about 5 years ago when all of these 80's properties had a sales rebirth? When Transformers and the like were the best selling comics every month? Now you can get some of the He-Man stories in a trade, and see why it failed...taking a kid's cartoon character and trying to update it for mature readers is just a horrid idea.

23 FLASH ROGUE WAR TP $17.99 DC 3,106

The last story by Geoff Johns, and it's pretty much unreadable unless you've read all of his previous issues. If you have, it's a solid ending that wraps up over 5 years worth of stories.

24 PENNY ARCADE VOL 1 ATTACK OF THE BACON ROBOTS TP $12.95 DAR 2,745

Reprinting a web comic strip in book format. Penny Arcade is a VERY funny strip about video games, with art that looks better than most newspaper comic strips. It's a strip about video games, but only a few of the strips are so gamer-centric that you can't get the gag and laugh. Highly recommended, and the sales of this book show that the idea of webstrips going to print is gaining hold.

25 MARVEL 1602 NEW WORLD TP $14.99 MAR 2,726

A sequel to the Nail Gaiman mini-series. It really reads like an inferior sequel, and it can't be easy to follow a writer as gifted as Neil Gaiman. I read it, and can't remember much about it other than thinking “They should have just left the original story alone.”

26 X-MEN BLACK PANTHER TP $11.99 MAR 2,632

Reprinting the four part crossover between the two comics, setting up this summer's wedding of Storm and Black Panther. I literally lost interest halfway through the story and never read the ending. Take that as your review.

27 OH MY GODDESS VOL 22 RTL TP $10.95 DAR 2,576
28 STAR WARS TALES VOL 6 TP $19.95 DAR 2,558
29 POWERS VOL 1 HC (MR) $29.99 MAR 2,302

Reprinting the first two story arcs from Marvel, after they have already printed them as trade paperbacks. This seems a bit silly to me, since the people “waiting for the trade” will have already bought the paperback. Marvel is shifting over to doing the traditional “hardcover, then softcover” like other book publishers. This is one of the better books coming out today, and is deserving of this treatment, but I think since the softcovers are already out, they'd be better for the casual reader.

30 MICKEY MOUSE ADVS VOL 7 TP $7.95 GEM 2,264

I would buy this in a heartbeat if it were cheaper, but $8 for 48 pages is just too spendy for me. I'm kind of surprised to see that this sells this well in comic shops. Hopefully, Gemstone can figure out a way to get the older Disney stuff by Carl Barks in a cheap format so that kids can get their hands on it. That was some damn good stuff.

31 BATMAN RAS AL GHUL YEAR ONE TP $9.99 DC 2,258

Reprinting the two issue prestige format mini-series that came out around the time of the last Batman movie. Each issue of that was $7, and the two of them combined is $10? Hopefully, people will listen to me when I say to wait for the book on mini-series.

32 ULTIMATE X-MEN VOL 5 HC $29.99 MAR 2,196

Another of the Big collections of this series, reprinting about a year's worth of issues. The series itself isn't as good as the other Ultimate series, but it's a LOT more readable than the other X-Men books.

33 WEAPON X DAYS OF FUTURE NOW TP $13.99 MAR 2,083

The “finale” of another of Marvel's X-Men spin-off series, and while it's a good send-off for the people who collected the book, if you haven't read the comic in the past, it's like watching the last episode of a soap opera.

34 DAREDEVIL VS PUNISHER TP $15.99 MAR 2,046

I went into this book thinking it would be one of the great comics Marvel has put out. Daredevil is a character that brings out the best in most creators, and David Lapham has done one of the better comics of the last 16 years (Stray Bullets), so this mini-series had pretty high expectations. It's still a GOOD comic, but it doesn't live up to expectations as Lapham turns in a pretty typical story. It's still better than most comics, but I expected more.

35 AVENGERS ABOVE & BEYOND TP $24.99 MAR 2,015

Reprinting three different stories that don't seem all that connected, a four issue story from the main series, a mini-series, an annual and a random issue of the series. If you're looking to read the Avengers, this is not one of the books to get.

36 UNIVERSAL MONSTERS CAVALCADE OF HORROR TP $19.95 DAR 1,977

Reprinting the mediocre one-shots featuring all of the classic Universal monsters. Other than the Art Adams story featuring the Creature from the Black Lagoon, they are pedestrian adaptations of the movies that are readily available on DVD. Save your money and hunt down the Art Adams issue.

37 SEXY CHIX TP $12.95 DAR 1,952
38 WARREN ELLIS APPARAT VOL 1 TP (MR) $12.99 AVA 1,890
39 SOULFIRE VOL 1 HC $24.99 ASP 1,846

There are a LOT of people who like Michael Turner's art, and this comic is filled with it. So, if you want to see more of Michael Turner's art, here it is, but if you are looking for a coherent story...um...not so much.

40 RUROUNI KENSHIN VOL 22 TP $7.95 VIZ 1,709
41 MARVEL KNIGHTS 4 VOL 4 IMPOSSIBLE THINGS HAPPEN EVERY DAY TP $14.99 MAR 1,690

This was an odd series, to be honest. Marvel was going to replace the creative team on the main series with the creative team on this book. After fan outcry, Marvel instead gave this creative team their own series. Now, this series has pretty much failed, and the comic itself has been canceled. I have read the trade paperbacks of the series, and it hasn't been that good of a book. The aim of the book was the appeal to casual readers, and while it is WRITTEN that way, the stories just aren't interesting enough to appeal to any reader.

42 GODLAND VOL 1 HELLO COSMIC TP $14.99 IMA 1,684

I feel better reviewing this book after the last few, since this comic is PURE JOYCORE!! The art looks like Jack Kirby's, and the story is full of strange, wonderful ideas and every page has something interesting going on. This is a comic that reads like a modern update of 60's Marvel comics, and is one of those books that I can read more than once and find something new out of each reading. Highly recommended.

43 MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE VOL 2 TP $18.95 MVC 1,666
44 BONE VOL 3 EYES OF THE STORM COLOR ED SC $9.99 SCH 1,666

This has been reprinted a LOT of times, and this edition is in color. If you haven't read this series, you should. It looks like a Disney comic, but it's written as if it is a solid fantasy story. If you liked “Lord of the Rings” or other fantasy stories, this is one you'll like.

45 SPIDER-MAN VS SILVER SABLE VOL 1 TP $15.99 MAR 1,653

Silver Sable is a character who has never been one that I care a lot about. She owns a bounty hunter organization, and has been involved in a few stories of her team trying to capture Spider-Man. This reprints some of her early appearances, and while there is some decent art, the stories just aren't worth collecting.

46 GOLDEN AGE FLASH ARCHIVES VOL 2 HC $49.99 DC 1,616

I have always liked the Archives that reprint the stuff from the 40's. The stories are crude and can be a bit hard to read, but there is an energy here and a feeling that anything can happen on any moment. Golden Age comics are hard for most modern readers to make it through, and all but a few of the Golden Age books are just for collectors and hard-core comics people who want to read everything.

47 TENJHO TENGE VOL 5 $9.99 DC 1,616
48 FULL METAL PANIC OVERLOAD MANGA VOL 3 TP $9.99 ADV 1,603
49 WALKING DEAD VOL 4 HEARTS DESIRE TP (MR) $12.99 IMA 1,559

STILL SELLING!!! This is one of the best selling comic trade paperbacks, and this series is worth it.

50 X-MEN KITTY PRYDE SHADOW & FLAME TP $14.99 MAR 1,553

I have a fondness for the character of Kitty Pryde, as she was added to the X-Men book (and become the focus of it) back when I was around the same age. This mini-series is probably the best of the X-Men spin-off mini-series, partly because it has a solid plot that would work as a good novel, and partly because Paul Smith is one of the best artists in comics. Each page is a joy to look at, with crisp art that looks like great animation without getting in the way of the story. Highly recommended, even if you aren't a fan of the X-0Men or super-heroes in general.

51 TEEN TITANS VOL 4 FUTURE IS NOW TP $9.99 DC 1,535
52 WATCHMEN TP $19.99 DC 1,516

STILL selling. Most people regard this as the best super-hero story every printed, and it's hard to argue. If you haven't ever read a super-hero comic, this is the best example you can pick up. Highly recommended.

53 FUSHIGI YUGI VOL 17 GN $9.95 VIZ 1,460
54 FABLES VOL 6 HOMELANDS TP (MR) $14.99 DC 1,385

This was a big selling trade last month, and with these sales, it's pretty close to selling 10,000 copies. A big hit for DC and it shows that Vertigo readers are shifting over to trades, since that's about half of what the comic sells on a monthly basis. A good read, but not a good starting place, since this story of fairy tale characters in the real world is pretty dense, and shoudl be read from the beginning.

55 WALKING DEAD VOL 1 DAYS GONE BYE TP (MR) $9.95 IMA 1,379

Remember how I said last month that the Walking Dead books are great to read, and sell a lot of copies every month? Here's another 1400 sold...of you like horror books or horror movies, this is a must read as are all four of the Walking Dead trades.

56 MARVEL MASTERWORKS ATLAS TALES TO ASTONISH VOL 1 HC 2ND ED $49.99 MAR 1,366

I don't expect anyone but Hard Core fans to buy this book, but I'm glad Marvel has put it out. This reprints the first ten issues of one of Marvel's monster based comic series that they were flooding the market with before they hit on Super-heroes. Each story is pretty much the same, either a Big Monster is stopped by a scientists, or there is a twist ending of some kind, all in 8 pages. The stories are a bit silly, drawn by some of the best people to ever work in comics and give you a nice nostalgic glow, since they read like the old Drive-In monster movies from the 50's. I LOVE the book, but them, I'm the kind of fan it is aimed at.

57 SPIDER-GIRL VOL 5 ENDGAME DIGEST TP $7.99 MAR 1,266

A solid, light little comic that reads exactly like a 80's Marvel book, with the same sort of soap opera super-heroics that was so prevalent back then. It can get a little confusing, since it's written from the idea of Pater Parker and Mary Jane have gotten old and their daughter has taken over the super-heroing, but with the $8 price tag, and the sense of old school super-hero stuff, it's a nice light read.

58 VILLAINS UNITED TP $12.99 DC 1,248

This is really the only one of the “Infinite Crisis” tie-ins that can stand on its own. A story about two groups of DC super-villains fighting each other is well written, well drawn, and does a great job of making a bunch of throw-away characters interesting. There will a new series featuring these characters this summer, and I am excited to read it if it is as good as this story was. Highly recommended.

59 DESCENDANTS OF DARKNESS VOL 9 GN $9.99 VIZ 1,235
60 LUIS ROYO SUBVERSIVE BEAUTY REG ED HC (MR) $19.95 HEA 1,216
61 CAPTAIN UNIVERSE UNIVERSAL HEROES TP $13.99 MAR 1,210

Back in the late 70's, the character Captain Universe was created at Marvel. The idea of the character was that there were super-powers that would “jump into” people who were about to be pivotal in a major crisis. It was a cute idea that allowed for people to tell short stories about a bunch of different people and how they would react to getting super-powers. This trade paperback reprints those stories, and features pedestrian stories and some of Steve Ditko's least inspired art. The book is out to promote a new mini-series, but it's the definition of bland, middle of the road Marvel fare from the 70's.

62 BILLY THE KIDS OLD TIMEY ODDITIES TP $13.95 DAR 1,204
63 SHI JU NEN TP $12.95 DAR 1,191
64 LADY SNOWBLOOD VOL 2 DEEP SEATED GRUDGE TP (MR) $14.95 DAR 1,179
65 MARVEL MASTERWORKS ATLAS TALES TO ASTONISH VOL 1 HC VAR ED $54.99 MAR 1,173
66 MARVEL MASTERWORKS INCREDIBLE HULK VOL 3 HC VAR ED $54.99 MAR 1,173
67 NEW RECRUITS TP $12.95 DAR 1,166
68 MAZE AGENCY VOL 1 TP $24.99 IDW 1,166

Really, these sales are pretty good for this book. In the late 80's, Mike W. Barr and a new artist named Adam Hughes worked on this mystery comic, and while it didn't sell very well, nit was loved by the people who did read it. This trade reprints a batch of those stories, and I didn't think the book would do this well. The book is clearly aimed at the broader Bookstore market, and will be a HUGE hit for people who like the kind of short mystery stories in “Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine” or the old Agatha Christy novels.

69 MARVEL MASTERWORKS INCREDIBLE HULK VOL 3 HC 2ND ED $49.99 MAR 1,160
70 OMAC PROJECT TP $14.99 DC 1,135
71 Y THE LAST MAN VOL 6 GIRL ON GIRL TP (MR) $12.99 DC 1,123

By this point in the series, it had kind of gone from a decent idea that was being well done, to one that was in need of some editing. The series explores the world after all male mammals have died except for one man, and he is attempting to get to his girlfriend in Australia. One problem with “Quest” stories is that then to drag if not written tightly and by this point, there series had almost become “Y meets yet another group of crazy women...can you guess what their craziness is?” A shame, really, because the first 3 or so books were good, solid Science Fiction.

72 VIDEO GIRL AI VOL 14 LENS STORY TP $9.99 VIZ 1,085
73 KNIGHTS OF THE DINNER TABLE BUNDLE OF TROUBLE VOL 14 TP $11.99 KZR 1,054

Knights of the Dinner Table is a comic about people who play games like Dungeons and Dragons, and rather than being a lame fantasy comic, it's a humor comic revolving around the games and their game. If you've ever played one of those games, this comic will have you laughing every page, and hooked on not just the game sessions, but the fun, quirky characters. If not, you'll be completely lost and not be able to figure out what is going on.

74 YU GI OH DUELIST VOL 12 TP $7.95 VIZ 1,054
75 ONE PIECE VOL 9 GN $7.95 VIZ 1,042
76 GI JOE VOL 8 RISE OF THE RED SHADOWS TP $14.95 DDP 1,023
77 RANN THANAGAR WAR TP $12.99 DC 998

Still selling (although it's selling the lowest of the Infinite Crisis tie-ins), despite being nearly unreadable. If you want to read the lead up to Infinite Crisis, you can easily skip this book and miss NOTHING in the main series.

78 DEATH NOTE VOL 3 TP $7.99 VIZ 986
79 SAIKANO VOL 7 GN (MR) $9.95 VIZ 986
80 TRANSFORMERS GI JOE VOL 1 POCKET ED TP $9.95 DES 973
81 MEOW BABY GN $16.95 FAN 973
82 BATMAN HUSH VOL 1 TP $12.95 DC 973

The only reason to pick this up is because you want to see how Jim Lee draws Batman, because the story is such a mess, you'll give up on trying to make sense of it after about 30 pages.

83 WALKING DEAD VOL 2 MILES BEHIND US TP (MR) $12.95 IMA 954

More sales for Image's best series. Go buy it now!

84 ASTONISHING X-MEN VOL 2 DANGEROUS TP $14.99 MAR 954

The second half of Joss Whedon's X-Men story. Whedon is known for “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Serenity”, and his skills at plotting and dialog are on full display here. This one is a notch below the first collection, but it's still better than most of the comics being printed nowadays. Highly recommended.

85 KAMIKAZE KAITO JEANNE VOL 2 $9.99 DC 948
86 BORGIA BLOOD FOR POPE HC (MR) $14.95 HEA 948
87 WALKING DEAD VOL 3 SAFETY BEHIND BARS TP (MR) $12.95 IMA 942

Remember last month how I said this series sells month in and month out? Another 1000 books sold. Great comic and all of the Walking Dead books are highly recommended.

88 BASTARD VOL 10 TP (MR) $9.99 VIZ 936
89 ASTONISHING X-MEN VOL 1 GIFTED TP $14.99 MAR 9233

More sales for Joss Whedon's X-Men run. Prolly the best X-Men comic not done by Grant Morrison, and a great book for people who liked the movie, and get confused by the endless soap opera that is the regular X-Men books.

90 ULTIMATE GALACTUS BK 2 SECRET TP $12.99 MAR 898

More re-orders of a book that's better than it has any right to be. It is set in Marvel's “Ultimate” universe, and rather than just retreading the classic Lee/Kirby Galactus story, it goes for a different approach, and focuses on the buildup to something BAD coming. It's the middle part of a single story, but it's one of the better books from the Ultimate line and is highly recommended.

91 GLASS WINGS GN $9.99 TKP 898
92 FABLES VOL 1 LEGENDS IN EXILE TP $9.99 DC 886

Vertigo's other Big Seller now, a series who's premise is that classic fairy tale character are living in the modern world. It takes the idea further than I thought it would, and is building from the idea, rather than just resting on the idea. The first book sets things up, and is a good way to tell if you'll like the rest of the series.

93 DAY OF VENGEANCE TP $12.99 DC 886
94 SUPERMAN BATMAN VOL 2 SUPERGIRL TP $12.99 DC 842

The origin of the new Supergirl, who pretty much has the same origin of the classic Supergirl that everyone remembers. It has skank-a-licious art by Michael Turner, and the story gets to be a bit confusing, but it is a nice way to get this classic character back in print.

95 LAND OF THE BLINDFOLDED VOL 6 $9.99 DC 836
96 ULTIMATES 2 VOL 1 GODS & MONSTERS TP $15.99 MAR 830
97 Y THE LAST MAN VOL 1 UNMANNED TP $12.99 DC 823

Still selling, and one of the better Vertigo books. The premise is that all male mammals have died by a man and his pet monkey...and while it sounds like the set up for a bad movie about sex, instead it attempts to tell a quest story and deal with the realism on the idea. A solid SF book, and while later volumes aren't quite as good, this is still a good read.

98 BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE GN $9.99 TKP 823
99 CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS TP $29.99 DC 823

Still selling, and the funny thing to me on this book is that for YEARS, DC said that there wasn't enough interest on the part of current fans for this book to be profitable. Now, they have put out three different hardcovers of it, this trade paperback, and a sequel. The story itself is almost required reading for comic geeks, but for non-fans...not so much.

100 TOP COWS BEST OF MICHAEL TURNER TP $24.99 IMA 823

And with that, I'm out of here!

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