Top 50 Selling Graphic Novels For April 2003
This list comes from digging through sales figures, asking too many questions and using Diamond Comics information. The snotty comments in white are mine.
1 BATMAN HUSH HC $19.95 DC 7,304
Oh look, a hardcover of the first few issues of the Jim Lee Batman. For $20. Rather than waiting until a story arc is done, DC is pumping out the hardcover to try and get the money while the money is good. I don't care for this story because I think Jim Lee's storytelling talents are nearly non-existant. While his work here is better than what he pumped out under Image, but it's still all flash and full page spreads and no substance.
2 ORBITER HC $24.95 DC 7,228
A nice book by Warren Ellis and Colleen Doran that is way overpriced. No, (I haven't bought it yet. Do you people think I am MADE of money?
3 HELLBOY ART O/MIKE MIGNOLA HC $49.95 DAR 5,360
Mmm...purty.
4 ULTIMATE X-MEN VOL 5 ULTIMATE WAR TP $10.99 MAR 4,548
More of Mark Millar's X-Men stuff, which I haven't much cared for. This one doesn't work either, with gaping plot holes covered up by big scenes of stuff blowing up.
5 INCREDIBLE HULK VOL 3 TRANSFER OF POWER TP $12.99 MAR 4,395
Bruce Jones, on the other hand, has turned the Hulk book around by taking it back to its roots and finding a new way to write it. For YEARS, Hulk was written as a "Hulk comes to town, beats stuff up and leaves". Then, Peter David did a good job on the book, and quite possibly the best comics work he's ever done. Once he leaves, no one seems to know what to do...until Bruce Jones comes on the book and does it as a horror comic, dealing with the horror of having a monster inside you. Highly recommended!
6 GREEN ARROW QUIVER TP $17.95 DC 4,134
Oh heavens, it's the Kevin Smith run on the comic now in a trade paperback instead of a hardcover. I recommended then, I recommend it now, for those of us who are cheap bastards.
7 LOEG BOOK ONE TP $14.95 DC 4,104
Another hardcover being printed as a trade paperback for the first time, and this time it's Alan Moore's Legion of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Soon to be a movie. Screw the movie, if you don't have this comic, buy it. Probably one of Moore's best works, and that's saying something.
8 JSA VOL 4 FAIR PLAY TP $14.95 DC 4,012
Another in the series reprinting every issue of the JSA. For super-hero fans, this is a great super-team book. Each story captures the feeling of everything being on the verge of a crisis that ONLY the Justice Society can stop, which is how ever superhero comic should read. Highly recommended for Super-Hero fans.
9 STAR WARS INFINITIES EMPIRE STRIKES BACK TP $12.95 DAR 3,905
A what if type book telling a different version of Empire Strikes Back where Han Solo is the Jedi and Leia is...oh who cares, this is a silly idea that exists to take more money from Star Wars geeks.
10 STAR WARS A LONG TIME AGO VOL 5 FOOLS BOUNTY TP $29.95 DAR 3,430
This is a fun idea, tho. Reprinting about 25 issues of the Marvel Star Wars comic from the 80's. These books go for $10 each in the back issue market, and while they aren't GREAT, they are pure nostalgic fun with some really good art by Gene Day and Walt Simonson. Highly recommended for Star Wars fans.
11 COWBOY BEBOP SHOOTING STARS VOL 1 GN $9.99 TKP 3,323
12 LUCIFER VOL 4 DIVINE COMEDY TP $17.95 DC 3,308
I hear this is good, but every time I try to read it, I get utterly lost.
13 SUPER FRIENDS TRUTH JUSTICE & PEACE TP $14.95 DC 3,277
Reprinting old Super Friends comics from the 70's, and these are goofy, silly and aimed right at kids from that time. It shows why kid's comics HADE such a hard time in the 70's, since the stories were talking down to them. I've read far worse, but I can't recommend this unless you are wallowing in nostalgia.
14 BATMAN HARVEST BREED SC $17.95 DC 3,216
Haven't read it yet, but another softcover of a hardcover. I wish that DC would cut the prices cut the prices a bit more when the do the softcover, since most other softcovers of 100 or so pages usually end up being between $10 and $13, but a reprint of a hardcover ends up being $18.
15 ALIAS VOL 1 TP $19.99 MAR 3,124
Bendis, you magnificent bastard. This is his "adult" Marvel series that got a LOT of attention when it first came out and has settled into the middle of the sales charts, and should be higher. If you haven't read this, like super-heroes and are over 18, this is a book you should be going out of your way to read. Told in Bendis's "film noir" style, delves into the darker side of a super-hero universe.
16 METROPOLIS TP $13.95 DAR 3,109
17 BATMAN ADVS DANGEROUS DAMES & DEMONS TP $14.95 DC 2,879
18 WILL EISNERS SPIRIT ARCHIVES VOL 10 HC $49.95 DC 2,695
19 XENOZOIC TALES VOL 1 TP $14.95 DAR 2,664
20 KOLCHAK NIGHT STALKER LAMBS TO SLAUGHTER GN $6.95 MNS 2,588
21 CAPTAIN MARVEL VOL 1 NOTHING TO LOSE TP $12.99 MAR 2,573
22 TRANSFORMERS ARMADA VOL 1 TP $13.95 DRE 2,542
23 INU YASHA VOL 13 TP $8.95 VIZ 2,496
24 X2 MOVIE TP $12.99 MAR 2,496
25 FANTASTIC FOUR VOL 1 IMAGINAUTS TP $17.99 MAR 2,481
26 PETER PARKER SPIDER-MAN VOL 4 TRIALS & TRIBULATIONS TP $11.99
MAR 2,481
27 HULK LEGENDS VOL 1 HULK/WOLVERINE 6 HRS TP $13.99 MAR 2,465
28 CROUCHING TIGER HIDDEN DRAGON GN #3 $13.95 ONE 2,465
29 LEGION O/SUPER HEROES ARCHIVES VOL 12 HC $49.95 DC 2,435
30 30 DAYS O/NIGHT TP $17.99 IDW 2,419
31 JUSTICE LEAGUE O/AMERICA ARCHIVES VOL 8 HC $49.95 DC 2,358
32 CARDCAPTOR SAKURA MASTER O/T CLOW VOL 4 GN $9.99 TKP 2,328
33 FORGE #13 $7.95 CRO 2,266
34 MAC RABOY FLASH GORDON VOL 1 TP $19.95 DAR 2,113
35 MARMALADE BOY VOL 6 GN $9.99 TKP 2,083
36 VECTOR #13 $7.95 CRO 2,067
37 CHOBITS VOL 5 GN $9.99 TKP 2,037
38 PATH VOL 2 BLOOD ON SNOW TP $15.95 CRO 1,899
39 FUSHIGI YUGI VOL 8 FRIEND GN $9.95 VIZ 1,883
40 KODOCHA VOL 6 SANAS STAGE GN $9.99 TKP 1,822
41 ESSENTIAL INCREDIBLE HULK VOL 1 TP NEW PTG $14.99 MAR 1,822
42 ADAM STRANGE MAN O/TWO WORLDS TP $19.95 DC 1,807
43 ROUTE 666 VOL 1 HIGHWAY O/HORROR TP $15.95 CRO 1,792
44 TOKYO MEW MEW VOL 1 GN $9.99 TKP 1,746
45 Y THE LAST MAN VOL 1 UNMANNED TP $12.95 DC 1,700
46 SHADOW STAR NOTHING BUT TRUTH TP $14.95 DAR 1,623
47 RANMA 1/2 VOL 22 TP $9.95 VIZ 1,593
48 NEGATION VOL 2 BAPTISM O/FIRE TP $15.95 CRO 1,531
49 MODERN MASTERS VOLUME 1 ALAN DAVIS TP $12.95 TWO 1,516
50 WIZARD ALEX ROSS MILLENNIUM HC UPDATED LTD ED $24.99 WIZ 1,485