The Top 50 Selling Graphic Novels for May 2002
1 LONE WOLF & CUB VOL 22 HEAVEN & EARTH 13,203
Still the best thing being published. Lone Wolf and Cub is a Japanese comic that only reads like Manga in that the art tells the story without a lot of overwriting. I can't recommend this book series enough, and would say that if you have never read a comic book in your life, this is one to read.
2 MURDER MYSTERIES HC 8,444
I'm happy that Neil Gaiman's success as a novelist did not cause him to leave comics all together, and P. Craig Russel's work is always a joy to read, but do they have to put what would be a nice $6 Prestige Format book out as a hardcover? It seems a bit like gouging the customer to me and I'll wait for the paperback version.
3 ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN VOL 3 TP 7,790
Marvel's big success story is Ultimate Spider-Man, with the early issues in best selling trades, the regular issues going up in sales, and Bendis (the writer) making it look so easy you wonder why there has ever been a crappy Spider-Man story.
4 SPAWN BOOK O/T DEAD HC 6,461
Someone still reads this crap?
5 GI JOE VOL 2 TP 5,678
Marvel has decided that since the new GI Joe series is doing well that they will reprint their GI Joe series. I guess if you liked it then this is a good way to get it, but I hated it back then and I don't much care for it now.
6 FORGE #2 5,252
7 EDGE #2 4,889
These are CrossGen's new trade paperback reprints of their monthly comics, and I like this idea. I picked up the first two, and while I was not blown away by the work, I thought that most of the stories were well drawn. I even tried an experiment, since one of my friends said that I put too much credence on writing credits and read all of the stories without looking at the credits. When I finished, I then checked the credits and the ones by Mark Waid were well done, easily read and good solid stories; the ones by Ron Marz were workmanlike and readable, but nothing I would have gone out of my way for; and the ones by Barbara Kesel were unreadable with stilted dialogue, endless exposition and little to no introduction to the characters. They are $10 each and reprint about 8 comics, so it's a good value and a good way to give CrossGen a try. Now if other companies would do similar stuff to get away from the 32 page monthly format, I'd be very happy.
8 WARREN ELLIS ATMOSPHERICS GN (MR) 4,468
And after the novel I just wrote, I'll just say that I dislike Ellis's work for Avatar, since it reads like splatterporn and I know he can do much better.
9 ASTRO BOY VOL 4 TP 4,406
10 BLADE O/T IMMORTAL SECRETS TP (MR) 4,079
11 CLASSIC STAR WARS LONG TIME AGO VOL 1 TP 3,498
More old Marvel stuff getting reprinted, this time the old Star Wars comics series. Hard to believe what they were putting into that book back then, and very easy to tell that no one had a clue where Lucas was going with his movies. They are tolerable stories and better read for a curiosity factor than anything else. Where else can you see Han Solo fighting side by side with a 7 foot tall pink rabbit?
12 UNIVERSE X VOL 2 TP 3,493
For hard core Marvel fans only...and I dislike that they had to split the story up into two trade paperbacks. The reason you BUY a trade paperback is to get the whole story at once, dammit.
13 ABSOLUTE AUTHORITY VOL 1 OVERSIZED HC 3,275
Ellis's best work in a bigger format so that the art is shown off. This is Highly Recommended to people who don't already have these stories, since Ellis invents the Big Screen way of doing super-hero books with this run.
14 OH MY GODDESS WRONG NUMBER TP 3,171
15 BULLETPROOF MONK TP 2,943
16 FATHOM VOL 1 TP 2,854
Oh Dear Ghods, another reprinting of a Top Cow Titty book. For people who aren't old enough to buy Playboy or rent Andy Sidaris movies.
17 PUNISHER HC 2,688
The trade paperback came out a year or so ago, now Marvel is putting it out as a hardcover for a new program of upscale books. And this is a good one to do it with. Garth Ennis and the rest of the "Preacher" team literally strip away all the crap from The Punisher and make it a simple, yet entertaining violent comedy. Highly Recommended for people who love action movies and novels.
18 NEON GENESIS EVANGELION VOL 6 TP* 2,605
19 ADV OF BARRY WEEN BOY GENIUS GORILLA WARFARE VOL 4 TP 2,574
While Judd Winnick's work on some books is less than stellar (Green Lantern) Barry Ween is a fun little diversion, half Dexter's Laboratory, half South Park, and all funny. Recommended, but this is the second half of a story, so buy Volume 3 first.
20 WONDER WOMAN ARCHIVES VOL 3 HC 2,517
This is the only DC Golden Age Archive I am not collecting. I just have no interest in Wonder Woman, and never really have. Maybe its that I dislike Greek mythology, maybe I just don't care for her stories, but I bought the first volume and have yet to finish a single story in it.
21 EIGHTBALL 20TH CENTURY EIGHTBALL TP (RES)
(MR) 2,501
22 WARLANDS VOL 2 TP 2,496
23 CLIVE BARKERS HELLRAISER COLLECTED BEST TP 2,460
MORE reprints of older Marvel stories, these from the late 80's and early 90's. Hellraiser was an anthology comic that was better than the movie series it was based on. This has stories by the likes of Neil Gaiman before they were known and is Highly Recommended for horror fans.
24 NAMES OF MAGIC TP (MR) 2,367
Reprinting the mini-series that revamped "Books Of Magic" into the series it is now. Meh.
25 MARVEL MASTERWORKS IRON MAN HC 2,341
This is a reprint of the Masterworks they did ages ago, and all of these stories have been reprinted in The Essential Iron Man. But, I like the Masterworks for their presentation and detail, so if you are a hard core Silver Age Marvel fan, this is Highly Recommended. If not, buy the Essential Iron Man and get these stories and a lot more in black and white for $15.
26 GREEN LANTERN CIRCLE OF FIRE TP 2,258
Reprinting the convoluted miniseries/event from a year or so ago. It just didn't work well for me as they had different character teaming up with Green Lantern to fight...well, it's confusing. And not very good.
27 INU YASHA VOL 11 TP 2,185
The heartwarming tale of a girl and a demon in a hidden dimension found inside a well. Yep, it's a Japanese comic, but by the creator of Lum, Ranma 1/2 and Maison Ikkoku. Not her best work, but solid sit-com type entertainment. Mildly recommended.
28 COMICS JOURNAL LIBRARY VOL 1 JACK KIRBY TP 2,138
Interviews and letters from Jack Kirby, but the interview they have is one with Kirby at his most bitter against Stan Lee. Kirby later regretted the interview and apologized to Stan according to long time Kirby friend Mark Evanier, but this interview still exists and is not the way I chose to remember the man most people consider the greatest comic book artist of all time.
29 HUMAN TARGET FINAL CUT HC (MR) 2,097
A original graphic novel from Vertigo by the writer of 100 Bullets. I didn't care the issues of 100 Bullets I have read, and hardcover books of around 100 pages for $25 piss me off, so pass until the softcover comes out and you can leaf through it to see if it's worth the money.
30 CRUX VOL 1 TP 2,097
31 BLAZE OF GLORY TP 2,008
A reprint of Marvel's Western mini-series of a couple of years ago. Normally, I just point this stuff out, but this mini-series was incredibly well written and drawn, and showed the new "creator focused" direction Marvel would go in. I recommend this book, even if you don't like westerns. It's truly one of the undiscovered gems Marvel published and is Highly Recommended.
32 VAMPIRE MASQUERADE GN BECKETT (MR) 1,920
33 DRAGONBALL VOL 8 TP 1,884
34 LOVE HINA VOL 2 GN 1,884
35 SUPERMAN TARZAN SONS O/T JUNGLE TP 1,884
I'm sorry, but these characters go together about as well as peanut butter and Drano. Can we hold off the intercompany team-ups now that we're just drawing a name from each company and slamming them together to pass the time and four issues of a comic?
36 NO NEED FOR TENCHI VOL 12 NO NEED FOR
ENDINGS TP 1,874
37 GHOST RIDER HAMMER LANE TP 1,604
Reprinting Devin Grayson's Ghost Rider mini-series. It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't any good either.
38 BTVS FALSE MEMORIES TP 1,557
39 ANGELIC LAYER VOL 1 GN 1,500
40 X 1999 VOL 7 RHAPSODY TP 1,500
41 SORCERER HUNTERS VOL 10 GN 1,422
42 TENTH NO SWEETS AFTER DARK TP 1,417
43 EL HAZARD VOL 1 TP 1,391
44 ANGEL LONG NIGHTS JOURNEY TP 1,349
45 KODOCHA VOL 1 SANAS STAGE GN 1,204
46 NOCTURNALS DARK FOREVER TP 1,188
Nocturnals is a nice little horror book that isn't as good as Hellboy, but well worth reading if you have the extra pocket money. Mildly recommended.
47 RAGNAROK VOL 1 GN 1,137
48 KARE KANO VOL 1 GN 1,131
49 FLIPPED #2 1,079
50 GTO VOL 2 GN 1,079
I have no clue about any of these, but with sales this low, you prolly won't find them in most comic shops. Sorry.