The Top 300 Selling Comics for Feb 2002
OK, if you need some explanation, this first number is the position on the sales chart, then the title and issue number of applicable, then the number of copies ordered through Diamond Comics (the main comics distributor and exclusive distributor of most comics) and then the comments are my pain-in-the-ass opinions and observations.
1 DARK KNIGHT STRIKES AGAIN #3 (Of 3) 171,546
It's late, it's selling buttloads of copies and some people don't like it, just like the first one. I am waiting for the inevitable trade paperback collection, but it's nice to have Frank Miller around. I know some people don't care for his artwork, but I am always in awe of not only how he draws, but how he knows what NOT to draw. And I also know that when I DO get the trade, I'll be in geekboy heaven.
2 ULTIMATES #2 107,342
How not to attract new readers to your big Super-Hero book aimed at a new audience. Have the first issue be all prologue set 60 years ago where the hero isn't even identified until that last page which ends on a cliffhanger. Which is EVERYTHING done in the first issue of this book. Ulitmates was GREAT for us long time fans who are looking for an updated version of our heroes, but for the new reader it was just confusing. Recommended for long time comics fans only.
3 NEW X-MEN #123 105,642
Grant Morrison continues to blow me away on this book. Even the transition issues between big stories have more fresh ideas than anything since Jack Kirby was flinging out new concepts in the 60's. Highly Recommended and possibly the best super-hero book done today, as it should be.
4 UNCANNY X-MEN #403 97,079
This one, on the other hand, is just a pain in the ass. The current "Banshee as a bad guy" story doesn't work for me at all, and features a lot of the X-Men standing around as things are being explained to them. I don't want to join the "Bash Joe Casey" bandwagon, but his work on this book has just been more fo the same, and pales next to Morrison's tripping and incredible re-working of the whole IDEA of the X-Men.
5 ULTIMATE X-MEN #15 94,713
Dropped it due to too much bad art and already being lost in a haze of continuity.
6 AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #40 90,551
OK, it's running 3 months behind, but the last issue (Aunt May telling Peter she knew he was Spider-Man) was very well done... I disliked when Marvel "whited out" the wonderful issue by J. M. DeMatties where Aunt May said she had known for a long time, and I am glad that they handled this again, giving a long time supporting character a more well-rounded personality and clearing up some of the goofier stuff that has hung around over the years. Now if they could get the damn book out on time so we had a sense of where they were going with things...
7 ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #19 77,513
8 ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #18 77,492
Bendis does the best Spider-Man anyone has written in years. The stories are easy for new readers to jump on to, the art is clear and doesn't use a lot of flash to tell the story and I finish each issue wanting to know what's next. Highly Recommended, even if you didn't much care for Spider-Man over the last 10 years or so.
9 X-TREME X-MEN #10 74,457
10 GREEN ARROW #13 73,218
Two months late, so I can only comment on the last issue by Kevin Smith, which, as always, had great dialogue and a wonderful sense of character. While I didn't care for all the mystic stuff the brought in at the end of the story arc, Green Arrow is back and is an interesting character again. Highly Recommended if it ever ships.
11 WOLVERINE #173 69,684
12 JLA #63 61,121
I think we shall see this book start slipping down the charts. Morrison made it a Must Read, Waid was very adept at telling Big Fun stories, but the current team is just doing good Super-team stories, and not the kind of story where you are edgy to find out "And then what?" And in a way, you can't blame them, since it's hard to do that on a continuing basis.
13 WOLVERINE HULK #1 60,642
I think the subtitle of this is "A nice way for Sam Keith to make a shitload of money so he can back back to doing good comics".
14 AVENGERS #51 54,381
Gee, issue #50 wrapped up a couple of subplots in the largest amount of exposition I have read in a comic since Steve Gerber's Defenders. It'll be good to see all the plots wrapped up over the next couple of months, but I think Busiek ran out of steam about a year ago.
15 BATMAN #600 53,153
The end of "Bruce Wayne, Murderer" and the start of "Bruce Wayne, Fugitive". The Murderer storyline has moved at a snail's pace through the crossovers, which is too bad, since the Bat-Books have the best creative teams that they have ever had currently. I have heard that this story will "shake up the status quo" which could be a good thing. I am hoping that new editor Bob Shreck finally makes the books his own and wipes away some of the goofier stuff O'Neil added (ie that Bruce Wayne is a mask for Batman, that people see him as an "urban legend" and that sort of thing). Mildly recommended due to being part of another Big Honking Crossover.
16 PUNISHER #9 51,330
OK, the issue by Zimmerman was a piece of utter shite by someone who didn't grasp the character at all. It will be very interesting to see if the new writer can give the humorous overkill that made this new Punisher series a must-read.
17 PETER PARKER SPIDER-MAN #40 47,731
The lost little black sheep of the Spider-Man franchise. It is a better book than Amazing, and I think is more solid that Tangled Webs, but tends to get ignored due to not having Big Name talent on it. Paul Jenkins doesn't grab me on any other book, but he has such a fine grasp of Peter Parker as a Character, that his work is a joy to read. Highly Recommended.
18 DAREDEVIL #30 47,333
Bendis again. Not his best work, but still a very good read, and a bit above all the other super-hero stuff on the shelves just due to it's dialogue and inventiveness. Highly Recommmended.
19 FANTASTIC FOUR #52 46,355
The new creative teams doesn't show up until issue 60? Is that why it feels like it's just treading water right now? The current story (The Inhumans are looking for a home and they are hated and feared by humanity) just shows how far the idea of the Inhumans has come from Kirby's idea of a hidden super-race. Now, they have so much baggage from bad decisions and silly twists that you can't do much of anything with them without it being a big mess.
20 X-FORCE #125 44,404
Love this book. I also love how people say "The art is all goofy and cartoony, so I don't like it" when Allred is doing very dynamic work with large strokes that more like Jack Kirby's work than anything out there. Highly Recommended even if I can't figure out why it is still a mature readers title.
21 RISING STARS #18 (RES) 44,048
22 SPAWN #119 42,767
You mean people still buy this? They can't be reading it, because you CAN'T read it.
23 DETECTIVE COMICS #767 42,650
The best of the Batman books, written by Greg Rucka, who has really turned the book into a great crime book with good stories. For years, comics were done as endless soap operas in slavish imitation of what Stan Lee did without having the skill that Stan at making old ideas seem fresh. Now, writers like Rucka have brought back the idea that a story should have a beginning, a middle and an END, with minor threads moving forward through each story. That way, instead of feeling like you've bough another month's worth of soap opera, you can sit with a comic and feel like you have an entire package, even if that story is continued. THAT is what is bringing comics back from the brink of sales death.
24 CAGE #1 (MR) 42,310
Sweet Christmas, does this mean Cage will finally get to curse using real curse words? Holy Spit!
25 FATHOM #14 (RES) 41,869
Resolistited fromn 1984 I think.
26 MUTIES #1 40,843
Another X-Men mini-series, but this one actually seems like more than just "Take a character and waste four issues with it." But, like all Marvel mini-series, it will be a collected trade the month after it's done, so I'll buy it then.
27 ELEKTRA #8 40,216
No more Bendis, so I'll want to see how the new creative team is before I recommend it. So come back next month. Or just buy the back issues. Or make up your own damn mind and let me know.
28 PARADISE X O 40,051
The end of Marvel's big "Future History" series of mini-series. Great fun for long time fans, utterly indecypherable for anyone else. And I hate #0 issues on principle.
29 JSA #33 39,647
DC's best book. JSA shows that you CAN do stories about the Golden Age characters that are fresh, inventive and don't need a glossary of references. Why? They work on making the characters interesting and stories that seem like they matter. Highly recommended.
30 ULTIMATE MARVEL TEAM UP #13 38,887
Ending with issue #16, and while they can go on and on about it was always planned to end, I still think it was a combination of being the lowest selling Ultimate book by a long shot, and Bendis working on so many other books. While it's uneven art-wise, it has been a great series and is Highly Recommended, even for brand new readers, just because Bendis goes out of his way to make each issue read like it is someone's first.
31 INCREDIBLE HULK #37 38,844
OK, I missed out on this one. I read the first issue by Bruce Jones on-line and was blown away by it, so I'll pick up Marvel's collection of 34 - 36 and start getting the book with this issue. It's odd in that The Hulk doesn't really appear in the issue I read, but it is all about him. I'd be interested to see what new readers to comics think of it, but if you have a cursory knowledge of The Hulk, or dropped it when Peter David left, now's the time to try it.
32 SUPERMAN #179 38,073
The best of the Superman books, now that they are no longer interconnected. Still, it seems to be missing that Spark gets me excited over them, and I don't know what it is. The stories are OK and the art is good for the most part, but at the end of the issue I just don't much care. Not a good review, I know, but its almost as if the issues are biodegradable in my brain.
33 NIGHTWING #66 37,925
Also tying into the Big Batman Story, but not affecting it in any way other than delaying this book having a story of its own. I'm looking forward to Devin Grayson taking over, as this is one of the books I mean when I say that comics get stuck in being soap operas rather than telling a story with a beginning, middle and end.
34 EXILES #9 37,563
35 EXILES #10 37,542
The under-rated gem of the X-Men line, but another book that you need to know a lot of Marvel History to enjoy. The premise is that they leap into different alternative universes to fix things, which means they get to revisit a lot of old Marvel stories with a twist. Recommended for long-time Marvel fans, but mildly recommended for everyone else.
36 IRON MAN #51 37,526
The second issue of Mike Grell's run on the book, and for a man who was known for nearly silent issues of Green Arrow and Jon Sable, Freelance, the last issue of Iron Man (his first as new writer) was one of the wordiest I have ever read. I still dislike the art, but am giving the writing a chance.
37 BATMAN GOTHAM KNIGHTS #26 36,511
You know, I can't remember if I read this issue or not. That's a bad review in and of itself.
38 FURY #6 (MR) 35,825
39 ORDER #1 35,767
40 THOR #46 35,198
I was reading some of the old Thor stories in an Essential book, and while they are goofy and very derivative of Superman at the time, they were fun. I wish Marvel could figure out a way to do FUN Thor stories that make me want to read the book again.
41 BATGIRL #25 35,065
42 CATWOMAN #4 34,656
The last Catwoman series was OK, with "Good Girl" art by Jim Balent, and a number of different writers who turned out mildly entertaining stories. The new Catwoman series by Ed Brubaker is amazingly well-done, reading (as is the big trend now) like a well-done crime novel. If you passed on the last series because it was a hooter book, pick this one up. Highly Recommended.
43 MIDNIGHT NATION #10 (Of 12) 34,581
44 ALIAS #6 (MR) 34,385
I'm almost getting tired or recommending books by Bendis, but this one is easily one of Marvel's top 5 comics. After a great opening story arc, this one is off to a good start as well. If you haven't read it because it's a Marvel book or because you have heard bad things about the first story arc (Ick, a Marvel comic with sex inferred...) just pick up the most current issue and see what I mean as it sets up the next story as well as having interesting characters and crackling dialogue. Highly recommended.
45 ACTION COMICS #788 34,353
46 NIGHTCRAWLER #4 34,273
I am so glad all of these "Icon" mini-series are over. For all the bluster about cutting back on the number of X-Books, these mini-series just seemed to multiply like roaches. And NONE of them had any impact on the main X-Books (meaning they were glorified filler issues) and none of them were "special" like the very early X-Men mini-series were.
47 ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #601 33,747
48 POWER COMPANY #1 33,720
This is Kurt Busiek's new series for DC, and seems to have started off well, even though it had one fo the most annoying gimmicks I have seen in a while. Before the first issue came out, each character had a #1 issue that showed what happened before THIS #1 issue. Maybe it is a decent way to introduce the characters, but I don't like that you had to buy 7 comics to know what was going on in the #1 issue.
49 SUPERMAN MAN OF STEEL #123 32,556
50 GREEN LANTERN #147 32,243
I have heard that this book is picking up, which would be odd to me, since I finally dropped it a couple issues ago. I like Winnick's writing on Exiles and his creator owned stuff, but Green Lantern just didn't work for me. I'll try again with issue 150, but it's almost as if he can't handle super-hero stuff. I LOVE his character work, and the humor work he does, but Green Lantern was just flat when it came to the main stories.
51 ROBIN #99 31,924
Tying into the Bruce Wayne Murderer story in the worst way, in that it's listed on the cover as being part of it, has some subplot stuff, but doesn't really advance the story for either what is tying in to it, or the main book itself. It will be very interesting to see how well this book does after Chuck Dixon leaves and if the new writer starts moving things forward.
52 Just Imagine Stan Lee W/JOHN BYRNE CREATING ROBIN 31,759
I really wanted to like these books. I am a big Stan Lee fan, and the idea behind them is a lot of fun. However, they have just been bland reworkings of DC ideas, missing that sense of FUN that Stan injected most of his work with.
53 CABLE #102 30,196
54 BIRDS OF PREY #40 30,164
55 BATMAN LEGENDS O/T DARK KNIGHT #152 30,000
The current story by J. M. DeMatties is a lot of fun, but I think the editor needs to go out of his way to get creators who either have great stories in them or have never done Batman before to bring this mag up to the level it should be. When it started, this was a very special book. Now, it feels like a bland version of "Batman Fill-Ins."
56 THUNDERBOLTS #61 29,197
So, in order to try and get people reading the book again, they are going bi-weekly and will have two different stories, one in even numbered issues and another in odd numbered issues. I think that's a way to tell that the writer has pretty much lost control and can't tell a simple, single story.
57 WONDER WOMAN #179 27,916
58 AVENGERS CELESTIAL QUEST #6 (Of 8) 27,863
While I am really enjoying this mini-series, it is SO drenched in 70's storylines that I would imagine if you haven't been reading comics for 25 years, you'd be lost. Recommended for people who remember when Steve Englehart was a cutting edge writer.
59 CAPTAIN AMERICA DEAD MAN RUNNING #2 27,629
60 TOMB RAIDER JOURNEYS #2 (Of 12) 27,629
61 SPIDER-MAN TANGLED WEB #11 27,390
This has been a fun, if uneven series. When it is good, it's amazing, and when it's bad it's just...there. The last issue, the story of two kids who are involved in the periphery of one of Spider-Man's fights was very well done, while the three parter before that was just barely tolerable and felt padded. Check it out and give it the flip test before you buy it.
62 DEADPOOL FUNERAL FOR A FREAK #3 26,901
A funny parody of the "Death of Superman" story from 1992, but do we really need to be making fun of a 10 year old story, or should comics be trying to do NEW funny stories?
63 FLASH #183 26,045
I want to like this book. Really, I do. It has some innovative stuff going on and individual issues are well done, but I just don't think of this is a book I really like yet. Maybe it's the art, or maybe it's that it's trying to be a "crisis all the time" book and you never get a good sense of the Flash as more than just a super-hero, no motivation or character work.
64 HOWARD THE DUCK #2 (MR) 25,460
Buying it as a trade. Sorry.
65 YOUNG JUSTICE #42 24,838
A fun, enjoyable boiok that always gets ragged into the big crossovers, much to its detriment.
66 LEGION #5 24,232
The Legion of Super-Heroes is the first DC book I ever collected, and I have bought it through all its ups and downs. Now it's recovering from a horrid down period, but it still isn't in an UP period. I like some of the tings they are doing, but it just isn't holding together for me. I have thought for a while that DC should retire the concept of super-heroes 1000 years in the future and wait until someone can put together a great series on it, and this books shows that the idea will just kind of limp along until they get someone great to work on it.
67 TITANS #38 23,839
The new art team is very good, and the book IS fun to read. It just isn't special anymore. Here's hoping the new team with #40 can pump some life into it.
68 HARLEY QUINN #17 23,547
A fun, silly book that has become "Harley and Ivy" over the last year or so. The art by Terry Dodson is Incredibly good, and the stories have just been all out fun, with no other purpose than to get you to like reading the book for 22 pages. Highly recommended.
69 SPIDER-GIRL #44 23,478
Saved from cancellation again, this time by a price increase, and worth reading for younger readers (and people who miss the stuff from the clone saga, oddly enough).
70 TASKMASTER #1 (Of 4) 23,478
71 APHRODITE IX #4 23,414
I got hooked on trying the book after some people raved about it, so I bought issue #2 about a year ago. Then #3 came out about three months later. Now #4 is out. In the meantime I read 1-3 and it makes no damn sense at all. This is why we would make fun of Image. Purty art that, in the end, is a waste of paper.
72 TOM STRONG #16 22,951
Now THIS is what more comics should be. Alan Moore does a pulp hero with a dash of simple charm that makes the book fun for kids, while filled with enough mind-bending ideas that adults will love it MORE. There are not enough ways to praise this comic other than to make it Highly Recommened and tell you to give it a try. Each issue gives you more fun than a year's worth of most comics.
73 SOJOURN #8 21,942
74 CAPTAIN MARVEL #29 21,601
Marvel is hiking the price on this book a quarter in order to make a profit on it, which means this is prolly the line of cancellation or pretty close to it. I like this book a lot, after not really being into it when I passed on the first few issues. Now, Peter David has hit his stride, and is doing some very entertaining work. Recommended for super-hero fans with a sense of humor.
75 JOSS WHEDONS FRAY #7 (Of 8) 21,049
76 RED STAR #8 20,655
77 PATH PREQUEL 20,501
78 RUSE #5 20,368
79 STAR WARS #39 STARK HYPERSPACE WAR (4 Of 4) 20,363
80 SPECTRE #14 20,273
This book isn't for everyone, but for me, it's one of the most heartfelt books in comics. DeMatties has taken the basic concept of The Spectre and turned it on its ear, making it a book about forgiveness and redemption. It reads more like a Vertigo book than a super-hero book, which prolly frustrates the people who pick it up to see Hal Jordan bash heads. Highly Recommended for Vertigo fans and people who want philosphy instead of fight scenes.
81 JLA SHOGUN OF STEEL 20,241
82 STAR WARS QUI GON & OBI WAN AUROIENT EXPRESS #1 (Of 2) 20,102
83 DOOM PATROL #5 20,076
I tried the first 3 issues and it made no impact on me at all. DC, if you are going to revive old books, make them Big and Exciting. Marvel has figured out how, by hiring writers who can tell GREAT stories. Don't try things with the same old hacks, comics are too expensive to keep doing the same old stuff.
84 X-MEN EVOLUTION #4 19,858
85 PROMETHEA #19 19,847
Another of the Alan Moore books. What started as a knock-off of Wonder Woman has become a book where Moore explored the idea of archetypical myths, mystic history and the birth of ideas. Highly Recommended, but when you pick the book up, know that you are going to have to WORK your brain when you read it.
86 JUSTICE LEAGUE ADVENTURES #4 19,571
When you look at the other DC "Adventures" books, the sales on this are incredible. It is a good book aimed at kids, and if they like the cartoon (or the Batman or Superman cartoons) they'll like this book. Hopefully, DC will collect it in nice, thick, fairly affordable books so it can reach an audience.
87 BLACK PANTHER #41 19,523
88 SUPERGIRL #67 19,497
89 SPYBOY YOUNG JUSTICE #1 19,427
Spyboy was a concept that just didn't quite work out at Dark Horse for some reason. I don't know why, since it was funny, well done and had a nice "feel" to it, with a lot of little tie-ins and extras. You can't say Dark Horse didn't promote it.
90 HAVEN BROKEN CITY #3 (Of 9) 18,800
91 STAR WARS STARFIGHTER CROSSBONES #2 (Of 3) 18,566
92 CITIZEN V & V BATTALION EVERLASTING #1 (Of 4) 18,348
93 BANISHED KNIGHTS #2 18,200
94 HELLBLAZER #171 (MR) 18,093
This issue shows what is both good and bad about the current run on this book. The storyline is that John Constantine is found dead in an LA S&M club of spontaneous combustion, and it follows the cops investigating it. A good story, but not a Hellblazer story. Hopefully, the next writer will remember that these are supposed to be story about John Constantine...magickian, not leftover crime stories to shoehorn him in to!
95 DEFIANCE #1 17,402
96 TRANSMETROPOLITAN #53 (MR) 17,307
As it moves on toward its ending, I have said before (and will say again) this book has run out of gas. It should have been paced so that it ended with issue 50. Still worth reading if you were reading it from day one, but the bite and bile of the first 36 issues has been bled out of the book, leaving it a bit of a shell.
97 UNIVERSE #5 17,147
OK, somehow this Top Cow Crossover mini-series has become an actual open-ended series. I guess that means that they didn't much plan where they were going with it and decided that it could be a team book of some kind?
98 SUICIDE SQUAD #6 17,142
Hey, it keeps Keith Giffen off of Welfare.
99 DEADMAN #3 17,115
100 100 BULLETS #33 (MR) 16,844
101 GI JOE MIA 16,834
Not even a year into the new series and they are already releasing spin-offs to milk the popularity. I guess it's a good idea, since I dont think that the nostalgia factor will keep it selling as well as it has for very long.
102 SCION #21 16,823
103 GEN 13 #74 16,621
The current "Think like a gun" story has been a LOT of fun. Gen 13 is better than it has ever been, story-wise, with good character work, crisp action stories and a feeling that anything can happen. I have heard that if sales don't pick up on this story arc, it will be canceled with issue 80, which would be a shame. The book is FINALLY one of the better Wildstorm comics, and is Highly Recommended.
104 NEGATION #3 15,707
105 STEAM PUNK #11 15,521
This still comes out? I love the book, but it is horridly complex, and the long gaps between issues make it hard to follow. I normally dislike series of mini-series type books, but I think that is how this one should be published if they can't meet a decent schedule.
106 CRUX #11 15,441
107 SUPERBOY #97 15,436
Sorry. Time's up. This book turns to crap whenever Karl Kesel is not working on it, and now is no exception. I think I have finally discovered that DC has no second tier talent, and when the heavy hitters move on, they are left with blah writers who do bland comics. And at $2.25 a pop, I can't pay for comics that don't make me go "That was great!!"
108 BTVS #42 UGLY LITTLE MONSTERS (3 Of 3) 15,287
109 MIKE MIGNOLAS BPRD HOLLOW EARTH #2 (Of 3) 15,223
Mike Mignola's art is a thing of beauty and joy to read, and his choice of subject matter is always fun. However, with all of his stuff being put into trade paperbacks by Dark Horse, I don't feel the need to pick it up monthly, but instead wait for the trade paperbacks. Then I can read the whole thing at once.
110 LADY DEATH HEARTBREAKER #1 15,212
Boobs! Boobs! Boobs! What's the story? There isn't one, just blood and boobs for people with the attention span of a gnat after 5 double espressos.
111 MYSTIC #21 15,058
112 CROSSGEN CHRONICLES #6 14,963
113 BTVS HAUNTED #3 (Of 4) 14,670
114 SAURIANS UNNATURAL SELECTION #2 (Of 2) 14,660
115 FIRST #16 14,649
116 SIGIL #21 14,452
117 MERIDIAN #21 14,022
118 SCI SPY #1 (Of 6) 13,862
I love the team of Doug Moench and Paul Gulacy, and even tho this book looks a bit goofy, I'll buy it when it is collected in a trade. Notice how I am just soured on buying comics in the monthly format anymore?
119 LUCIFER #23 (MR) 13,756
120 MONARCHY #11 13,713
So, DC has to alter and mess with "The Authority" because they feel it goes too far, but they have no problem green-lighting crappy "spin offs" that don't have the complexity and sense of wonder. Thank goodness the spin-offs are dying quick deaths, as next issue is the last one for this book.
121 SIMPSONS COMICS #67 13,522
I Recommend this book every month it's out, and this is no different. Usually funny, and sometimes funnier than the TV show.
122 ESTABLISHMENT #6 13,320
Another Authority spin-off/rip-off. I expect it's canceled by issue #12 as well.
123 HUNTER AGE OF MAGIC #8 (MR) 13,278
124 IMPULSE #83 13,193
Finally canceled. I don't mean to piss on it's grave, but this book really shouldn't have been continued after Mark Waid left, since NO ONE who has come after has a decent handle on the character or the kind of stories that should be told with him.
125 AZRAEL AGENT O/T BAT #87 13,161
How is this still published? DC cancels books that sell better than it all the time, unless Dennis O'Neil has pictures of Paul Levitz doing horrid things to farm animals.
126 STRANGERS IN PARADISE VOL III #47 13,012
127 CODENAME KNOCKOUT #10 (MR) 12,794
128 SANDMAN PRESENTS THESSALIAD #2 (Of 4) (MR) 12,730
Another of the mini-series showing that Vertigo no longer has any new ideas at all, but instead will just feed off of whatever Neil Gaiman left lying around.
129 PURGATORI HEARTBREAKER #1 12,310
130 SAVAGE DRAGON #96 12,130
131 VAMPI #16 REG ED 12,076
132 KINDRED #2 (Of 4) 12,029
133 ORION #23 11,997
Only 2 issues left, and I hate you all for not supporting this wonderfully entertaining super-hero book by Walt Simonson. Highly recommended and don't worry if you haven't bought an issue before, since Walt gives you more than enough info to let you know what is going on. Besides, you never know when he'll drop in a wonderfully funny bit like when Darksied was told that DeSaad was dead...and Darksied merely responded, "What...again?"
134 BATMAN GOTHAM ADVENTURES #47 11,848
135 CHASTITY HEARTBREAKER #1 11,763
136 BART SIMPSON COMICS #7 11,726
Every company has a misfire, and this is Bongo's. I love their other Simpsons and Futurama comics, but this one specializes in goofy stories that have aliens, magic and the like. It's OK when the regular series does it once a year for Halloween, but when it's a regular series of them, it just comes off as crappy comics.
137 AMERICAN CENTURY #12 (MR) 11,481
138 AGENCY #6 (Of 6) 11,284
139 IMAGE INTRODUCES LEGEND OF ISIS #1 11,120
These "Image Introduces" books have all been painfully horrid, and I don't see this one as an exception to that rule.
140 RADIX #2 10,811
141 HAUNTED #3 (Of 4) 10,423
This is Peter David's book for Chaos, and as such, is the only book from the company that has an actual plot to go with its McFarlane rip-off artwork. The story has been very well-done, and in genuinely creepy. This one is Highly Recommended.
142 OBERGEIST EMPTY LOCKET 9,770
143 LAST SHOT #4 9,568
144 TEKKEN FOREVER #2 (Of 4) 9,562
145 GROO DEATH & TAXES #3 (Of 4) 9,530
146 FARSCAPE WAR TORN #1 (Of 2) (RES) 9,477
147 10TH MUSE #10 9,355
148 TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES #2 9,350
OK, so not every comic that was hot in the 80's is a big hit when it comes back. Even when done by the original creators. Maybe it's because the Turtles were a one note joke that went on a big longer than they should have the first time.
149 ROBO DOJO #1$3.50 9,291
150 GREYSHIRT INDIGO SUNSET #4 (Of 6)$3.50 9,185
151 CRUSADES #12 (MR)$2.50 9,100
With sales this low, it's prolly not long for this world, but this is the best Vertigo book being published. An interesting cast, a great storyline and art from Kelly Jones that might not be for everyone, but is a style that I like. Highly Recommended, even though it's prolly too late for a sales bump.
152 POWERPUFF GIRLS #24 8,829
153 JADE REDEMPTION #4 (Of 4) 8,749
154 OUTLAW NATION #18 (MR) 8,542
Last issue, I think. This was another of Jamie Delano's wonderful comic stories that just was too complex to be broken up into neat trade paperbacks, or for causal readers. Then again, ARE there any casual readers of comic books anymore?
155 SUPERMAN ADVENTURES #66 8,542
Canceled due to low sales and the fact that they aren't making new episodes of the cartoon anymore. At one point, this was DC's best Superman book, but by the third year they were passing it off to anyone who was in the office and needed some extra cash, and it showed.
156 WOLVERINE BLOODHUNGRY 8,467
I have no idea what this is, but that's pretty crappy sales for a Wolverine comic.
157 FOUR WOMEN #5 (Of 5) (MR) 8,318
Why isn't this book by Sam Keith selling? It's got his wonderfully evocative artwork and the story is actually less confusing than a lot of his work has been in the past. I'm buying it as a trade paperback, but I would think that the creator of The Maxx would be selling a bit better. Guess that's why he's doing a Wolverine mini-series next month.
158 OH MY GODDESS PART XI #6 MYSTERY CHILD (4 Of 8) 8,170
159 USAGI YOJIMBO #55 7,936
160 GRIP STRANGE WORLD OF MEN #4 (Of 5) (MR) 7,718
One of the Hernandez Bros doing a Vertigo mini-series that no one seems to care about. Is it just me, or is the shine of their star now?
161 TALEWEAVER #6 (Of 6) 7,686
I didn't even know what this series was, let alone that DC was putting it out. I guess they wanted to keep it on the down low which is always a good idea when trying to sell comics.
162 COWBOY BEBOP #1 (Of 4) 7,590
The series is currently running on Cartoon Network's "Adult Swim", but I haven't had a chance to see it. Looks like stuff blows up tho, so that's a good thing.
163 BLADE O/T IMMORTAL #65 SKIN (2 Of 2) 7,250
164 DRAGONBALL Z PART 5 #2 (Of 12) 7,239
165 ENNIS & MCCREAS BIGGER DICKS #1 (Of 4) (MR) 7,223
I wanted to like the first series SO MUCH. Ennis is a funny writer, and the characters sound fun, but it's written much like how Brad Pitt talks in "Snatch" and I felt like I needed subtitles to wade through the Brit slang and phonetic spellings.
166 COWBOY BEBOP #2 (Of 4) 7,208
167 Knights Of The Dinner Table #64 7,117
This is the best of the "gaming humor" books, if you have ever been a gamer, this book is Highly Recommended. If not, you won't get half the jokes.
168 PLANET O/T APES #6 BLOODLINES (3 Of 3) 7,117
I don't think anyone cares about movie adaptations anymore.
169 STRAY BULLETS #24 (MR) 7,006
I recently read the second and third hardcover collections of this series, and am amazed at how well they flowed as BOOKS. The comic itself doesn't work for me at all, since so much of it is dependent upon reading it in one sitting. This is one of the top crime comics coming out, and along with Sin City seems to have started that boom.
170 DUNGEONS & DRAGONS TEMPESTS GATE #3 (Of 4) 6,570
171 CEREBUS #275 6,527
25 issues to go. Still, numbers like this are pretty good for a comic that everyone knows will be collected in book form, and I think that Dave Sim should be applauded for having an artistic vision and sticking to it. Even if he is losing his little mind as he does so.
172 DRAGONBALL PART 4 #7 (Of 10) 6,091
173 CANNON GOD EXAXXION #4 STAGE 1 (4 Of 8) (MR) 5,974
174 RANMA 1/2 PART 10 #11 (Of 11) 5,723
The seemingly endless story of a boy who turns into a girl when he is splashed with hot water. I'm kind of amazed that the book has gone on this long without running out of story ideas. This is one of the first manga books I ever bought, and it's still fun to read.
175 SUPER MANGA BLAST #19 (MR) 5,565
Dark Horse's excellent Manga Anthology. It's 128 pages, and every one of the serials they are running are well worth reading. Highly Recommended.
176 INTRODUCING TICK #1 5,422
For people who watch the TV show but haven't read the comic. You know, I think that many people watched the TV show as well.
177 SCOOBY-DOO #57 5,406
178 POISON ELVES PARINTACHIN #3 (Of 3) 4,890
I say it every month and no one listens. So I give up. Keep buying this worthless shite for all I care. You people make me sick.
179 SONIC THE HEDGEHOG #107 4,832
OK, Sega no longer HAS a game system, and Sonic hasn't been in a best selling video game for about 7 years, and the comic still outsells anything else done by Archie in the direct market? I have no way to explain that.
180 GUNDAM WING BATTLEFIELD OF PACIFISTS #5 (Of 5) 4,550
"Who are all those dead people? "Pacifists who took on our tank division."
181 BIG O PART 1 #1 (Of 5) 4,502
And how many of you men have no idea what the Big O is? That's why you're reading this instead of having some girl tearing at your clothing, so learn about it.
182 CARDCAPTOR SAKURA #25 4,497
183 GOLD DIGGER #29 4,263
The life story of Anna Nichole Smith, ladeez and gennlemen!
184 KODT ILLUSTRATED #11 4,061
A comic spin-off of Knights of the Dinner Table, a game about Role Playing Gamers, showing the actual adventured had by their characters. A curiosity for fans of that book, but just confusing to anyone else.
185 BLUE MONDAY LOVECATS (MR) 4,045
Is this based on the song by The Cure? Because if it isn't, I don't care about it at all.
186 WARREN ELLIS STRANGE KILLINGS #2 (Of 3) (MR) 3,955
I like Warren Ellis. He's lost a lot of steam by spreading himself too thin and doing crap books like this, tho. This is another in his Avalon comics that feel like one comic's worth of story stretched out over 3 comics. And all the different covers and ads for splatter-porn books in the back make it all seem sordid in a bad way. Buy it in collected form if you are a big fan, otherwise just pass on by and hope he puts out a new issue of Planetary before we all die of old age.
187 INU YASHA PART 6 #10 (Of 15) 3,710
188 NO NEED FOR TENCHI PART 12 #6 3,662
These two books are Manga sit-com type books where each story plays out as if it was a new episode of a TV show. Now some people think that it can get repetative (which it can be) but I think of it like I do a new episode of "Friends" where you know the characters, they change slowly over time, but the story itself is entertaining. Buy them in collected form, tho, since they do tend to be continued over 3 - 5 issues to get a complete story.
189 MARQUIS DEVILS REIGN HELLS COURTESAN #1 (Of 2) (MR) 3,588
A very good Guy Davis mini-series, with art that isn't to everyone's tastes. I buy it in paperbacks, though.
190 RAGNAROK #1 (Of 4) 3,535
Well, now that Ragnarok is starting, I'm not going to clean up after myself anymore. What's the point if it's the end of the world?
191 GLOOM COOKIE #11 (MR) 3,492
I do this from the bottom up, just so I don't burn out too quickly, and this is the first book on the list that is Highly Recommended. In a lot of ways, this is a very good comic that could be a great comic with decent art (which it used to have). This issue has two stories, one a funny short story about being an outcast in High School and petty revenge, and the second is a chapter in the fun soap opera part of the book. I think it's one of the best comics being published, and while primarily aimed at female readers, has enough fun stuff in it that anyone can enjoy it. SO BUY IT ALREADY!!
192 INCAL #8 (MR) 3,455
193 DEXTERS LABORATORY #28 3,418
194 DORK TOWER #16 3,343
195 HOW TO DRAW MANGA #12 3,311
OK, start with big eyes. Then just put a lot of speed lines around them and you've pretty much done your part, now pass it on to your army of underpaid assistants.
196 CERES CELESTIAL LEGEND PART 2 #3 (Of 6) 3,232
197 BASTARD #3 (1 Of 3) (MR) 3,163
The comic about The Bush Administration. But I Kid our political leaders...
198 ARCHIE #520 3,136
199 LOONEY TUNES #87 3,115
200 SCARY MISS MARY FUN WITH KNIVES #1 2,998
This comic already has action figures, dolls and the like...before a single issue comes out. Does that strike anyone else as odd? Like maybe it's a marketing campaign instead of a story? I bet she'll be on t-shirts at Hot Topic for the little goth-y girls to buy because she's cute and scary at the same time. You want cute and scary at the same time, you should look at some of the women I've dated and then talk to them.
201 SLAYERS SPECIAL #3 2,902
You know, I think this book needs more adjectives.
202 KODT ILLUSTRATED TRAVELERS SPECIAL #1 2,902
203 BETTY & VERONICA #172 2,860
204 NINJA HIGH SCHOOL #92 2,828
205 BATTLE GIRLZ #1 2,785
206 HEDG #1 (MR) 2,769
207 SABRINA VOL 2 #30 2,737
208 SLAYERS SUPER EXPLOSIVE DEMON STORY #5 2,658
It's not just Explosive, it's SUPER Explosive...and it's not just any story it's a DEMON story!! How can it be bad with so many adjectives in it?
209 BETTY #110 2,642
So, Betty outsells Veronica. Guess that settles THAT debate.
210 NODWICK #13 2,573
211 KISSING CHAOS #7 (Of 8) (MR) 2,535
212 CAVEWOMAN MERIEMS GALLERY #2 (MR) 2,509
213 VERONICA #124 2,450
214 LODOSS WAR DEEDLITS TALE #7 2,445
215 CAVEWOMAN COVER GALLERY #1 2,424
There seems to be one or two of these Cavewoman pinup books every month, but I never see a Cavewoman comic with a STORY. Not that they'd be any better, since the few I read years ago were pretty horrid.
216 BETTY & VERONICA SPECTACULAR #53 2,418
Archie's drunken threesome dream.
217 ARCHIE DOUBLE DIGEST #132 2,371
218 ALICE IN SEXLAND #2 (A) 2,344
Didn't they make a ton of movies like this in the 70's? And didn't people come out of them thinking that they had wasted their money?
219 LODOSS WAR CHRONICLES HEROIC KNIGHT #18 2,323
220 TIM VIGILS WEBWITCH PREVIEW (MR) 2,312
Ick. Blood, disembowlings and graphic sex. I REALLY don't want to meet the people who would buy this comic.
221 AKIKO #47 2,291
And this charming kid's book is right next to the most vile shit being published in the sales chart. I don't know HOW to take that.
222 KILLER PRINCESSES #2 (Of 3) (MR) 2,238
223 PALS N GALS DOUBLE DIGEST #65 2,163
224 SMILE VOL 4 #3 2,147
OK, this book is not for me, but if you know of any young girls who like Sailor Moon, this is a book for them. It's an anthology of manga translations that is actually aimed at young girls. It's not selling well, but I give Major Props to the company doing it because THEY are trying to grow a new market, one that could, over time, do a lot more to save comics than getting someone to re-do Spider-Man's origin again.
225 ARCHIE DIGEST #188 2,131
226 WERESLUT #5 (RES) (A) 2,115
Since I started this, this book has been rising in sales, to the point where it is almost in the top 200 comics. That has to be the saddest thing I have even noticed.
227 JUGHEADS DOUBLE DIGEST #84 2,089
228 BETTY & VERONICA DIGEST #128 2,084
229 A G SUPER EROTIC ANTHOLOGY #1 (A) 2,041
230 GENUS #52 (A) 2,014
Furry porn. If you buy this, get help. Or a life. Or just fuck on out of here because I don't want you reading my site. Go. Now!
231 APHRODITE IX #1 (O/A) 1,999
232 KODOCHA #2 (Of 5) 1,929
233 MARMALADE BOY #3 (Of 5) 1,914
If I had a comic that sold worse than this one, I would consider working at McDonald's instead of in comics. If you can't outsell something called Marmalade Boy, you pretty much can consider yourself a failure, OK?
234 SILENT MOBIUS TURNABOUT #2 (Of 6) 1,908
235 AMELIA RULES #5 1,898
236 TIGERS OF LUFTWAFFE #5 1,807
So, a company that specializes in furry books and American Manga type stuff is doing WWII comics. This confuses me on a number of different levels.
237 JUGHEAD WITH ARCHIE DIGEST #173 1,781
This (and all the other Archie Digests) sell incredibly well on the newsstands and in grocery stores because they are still there, don't have long involved stories you have to have been reading for 10 years, and have clear art that serves to tell the story. Marvel is going back to that, but they still feel like an addict who backslides into big crossover arcs once in a while. Of course, no one reads down this far, but the fact that Archie's Digests outsell the X-Men when you compare total sales should be raising red flags to someone.
238 TONY DIGEROLAMOS TRAVELERS #14 1,765
239 SAINT TAIL #16 1,749
I'm a gonna be getting me some of the St Francis action when I need a piece of tail.
240 SEVENTH SEA #4 ABSOLUTION (Of 4) 1,722
241 GEOBREEDERS #36 1,717
242 FUTABAKUN CHANGE VOL 8 #1 1,669
243 FURRLOUGH #110 1,611
Furry fans are lower on the totem pole than most comics fans according to what I read on www.brunching.com. Isn't that kind of like saying that Star Trek Fans aren't as geeky as Lost in Space fans? We're all geeky losers, OK? Deal with it. Oh, and this book sucks dead goat penis.
244 DRAGON KNIGHTS #5 (Of 6) 1,605
245 VAMPIRELLA #7 - #10 PREVIEW ED 1,592
246 JACK STAFF #9 1,584
247 EVIL EYE #9 1,563
248 ANGRY YOUTH COMIX #3 (MR) 1,552
249 MIRACLE GIRLS #17 1,547
250 PUNCTURE #4 (RES) 1,547
251 COOL DEVICES #4 (A) 1,547
I wonder if this will have the Hello Kitty vibrator as a cool device. Because let's face it, it's pretty darn cool.
252 SUPER DOOPER GROOVY SPACE CHICKS #0 1,504
Rule #1: No comic other than ZAP has had a #0 issue worth reading. Ever.
253 ALISON DARE & HEART O/T MAIDEN #2 (Of 2) 1,499
254 LA BLUE GIRL MANGA ED #7 (A) 1,456
255 WARREN ELLIS STRANGE KILLINGS WRAPAROUND CVR #2 (Of 3) (MR) 1,451
I'm glad Warren Ellis signed an exclusive deal with DC so I don't have to see him doing trashy, worthless gimmick covers like this to afford his crack and hookers.
256 WARRIOR NUN AREALA BOOKS OF PERIL #4 (Of 4) 1,435
Another of Ben Dunn's books that used to sell at a decent level but now can't be selling enough to make a profit. I didn't get into this book when it was Hot, and it doesn't look like it had enough going for it to stay hot.
257 VAGABOND PART 1 #4 (MR) 1,414
258 KULL MAN #4 (Of 5) 1,329
OK...Kull Man? How long until we get Conan Man? I can't even imagine what kind messed up comic this would be just from the name. And yesh, I will judge comics by their name, because if you can't even come up with a decent name for your book, how can you come up with a good story?
259 VAMPIRE YUI VOL 4 #1 1,302
260 OGENKI CLINIC VOL 8 #7 (A) 1,302
261 MAC AFRO #2 (MR) 1,281
262 LAST KISS #3 1,249
This is a wonderful little comic, where the writer bought up a series of old love comics from Charlton Comics and re-writes the captions to make them into humorous stories that shouldn't work, but do. It's too bad its $5 an issue, but it's amazingly funny.
263 POKEMON ADVS PART 6 #3 (Of 4) 1,196
Turn out the lights, the party's over. It seems that all good things must end. Pika-Pika-Pika no one cares.
264 DOJIN 2000 DANDI 2000 (A) 1,169
265 BIG FUNNIES #4 (A) 1,159
266 FANTASTIC STORIES #2 1,148
267 SANDWALK ADVENTURES #2 1,143
268 DOJIN 2000 PANST (A) 1,137
269 DOJIN 2000 HONEYQP (A) 1,132
270 WARHAMMER MONTHLY #52 1,116
271 I FEEL SICK #1 1,106
272 POTLATCH 2001 ANTHOLOGY 1,090
273 DOJIN 2000 EXTRAG (A) 1,084
274 APHRODITE IX #2 (O/A) 1,074
No one cares at this point. This crap of Top Cow putting out one or two issues of something and then forgetting about it while the artist tries to beat the final boss of Final Fantasy X is the kind of stuff that killed comics. And you know, when I got all 4 issues together, they didn't make any sense at all.
275 RETURN TO NORMAL (MR) 1,074
276 MIGHTY 1 #1 1,052
277 LETS STAY TOGETHER FOREVER #1 1,047
Yep, only 1,000 people want to stay together forever. The rest want to dump your sorry ass, preferrably right after you give them their presents.
278 DFE FATHOM ALT CVR #14 999
279 DEMON BEAST INVASION MANGA ED #6 (A) 999
Another Manga Tentacle Smut book. Someday, someone will explain why girls being attacked by tentacled aliens is supposed to be sexy, when I find it painfully Freudian.
280 ELVIRA #106 989
How is this book still being printed? With sales this low, they can't be making money in any way.
281 GENERIC COMIC BOOK #6 914
282 MILLENNIUM ED BATMAN #1 CHROMIUM ED 898
I really liked the Millennium Editions that DC put out, reprinting important books from their past, and the fancy cover ones are actually pretty fairly priced for what they were. Too bad reprints don't sell very well, because I would buy a series from both DC and Marvel that went through and reprinted stuff from their past. But I'm not a majority.
283 7 GUYS OF JUSTICE #13 877
284 L33T COMICS FOR GAMERS #1 856
I think the grand experiment of getting on-line fans to buy comics based on the on-line strips just hasn't worked out. Why? Well, to be truthful, most on-line strips are pretty bad, and if you can look at them for free, it's not that big a deal. But to pay $5 for a collection of them? No thanks.
285 FEMFORCE #115 845
I remember the big push for this book to hit 100, and people who were reviewing comics had forgotten about how for YEARS this was an excuse for bad artists to draw big breasted women, and spoke of it as a well-respected indy book. They were wrong. It was shite, it's always been shite, and always will be shite.
286 AMERICAS GREATEST COMICS #1 835
And with only 835 copies sold, we have proof that comics no longer care about being great. And aren't the Fantastic Four the World's Greatest Comic, making it better than this one?
287 TRUE XXX RATED BLUE #2 (RES) (A) 822
Oh heavens, a Triple X book that is working blue. OK, no one but stand up comics will get that joke. I don't care.
288 EXTINCTIONERS VOL 2 #10 (RES) (MR) 813
More proof that all the decent team names have been used up. Next series by these guys? The Destruticnatorerers.
289 MANGAZINE #30 808
Good thing Ben Dunn got that deal to do Manga-versions of Marvel characters, since his own stuff seems to be deader than Debbie Gibson's comeback album.
290 ASTRA #8 803
291 LADY DEATH GAUNTLET ASHCAN 771
OK, Ashcans were supposed to be giveaway promos that were hot about 10 years ago. Now you can buy a small, half done copy of a comic for twice the cover price of the comic when it does come out. If you bought this, please smack yourself upside the head because I can't reach you.
292 TIM VIGILS WEBWITCH PREVIEW NUDE CVR (MR) 771
This is why, no matter what High Profile writer works for Avalon, I will always think of them as doing splatter smut books. Tim Vigil seems to be stuck doing endless stories of violence happening to nude people. It must pay, but it would certainly mean that if that market dries up, he's going to be looking for work in weird places.
293 BALLAD OF UTOPIA #4 765
294 VAMPEROTICA WHEN DARKNESS FALLS #1 (MR) 749
295 SONIC THE HEDGEHOG TWO PACK 739
296 LADY DEATH HEARTBREAKER PREMIUM ED #1 734
I don't understand why Chaos has the burning need to put out 4 - 6 different version of every single book it publishes. Now, if they sold better, I could ALMOST see it, but this book pulled in around $3000 for them, and I would think with the printing, the packaging and paying an artist to do a new cover, they lost money on this "special premium."
297 SPAINS ZODIAC MINDWARP #1 (A) 712
298 MONSTERS IN MY TUMMY 712
299 VAMPI #16 DLX ED 702
300 TWO OVER TEN #4 (Of 5) 680
You know, if I was doing a mini-series that was getting semi-decent reviews and taking up a lot of my time and it clocked in that only 680 copies were sold, I would just sit and cry instead of finishing it. I mean, more people come to this website a month, and this site sucks.