The Top 50 Selling Graphic Novels for August 2002
1 LONE WOLF & CUB VOL 25 PERHAPS IN DEATH TP (MR) DAR 12,660
Nearing the end, this graphic novel series is STILL the best comic being published, and is Highly Recommended for everyone who enjoys adventure stories. Never predictable and filled with art that tells the story without words, this is one of the finest comic series ever.
2 DARK HORSE MAVERICK HAPPY ENDINGS TP DAR 6,332
A collection of short stories by Dark Horse creators and a few surprises, and at a decent price. However, Maverick seems to be a comic line that is fading from disuse.
3 CAPTAIN AMERICA RED WHITE & BLUE HC MAR 6,191
At this point, Marvel could have sold a LOT of issues of Captain America in the post 9/11 months, but they just couldn't get the books out there to meet demand. Hopefully, this thematic rip-off of the Black and White Batman book of a few years ago has some decent stories in it.
4 RISING STARS VOL 3 VISITATIONS TP IMA 5,585
Yeah, this is by the guy who did Babylon 5 and Amazing Spider-Man, and it's even MORE delayed than his Spider-Man issues. The first trade paperback was great, but the second one was a typical Image Rip-Off trade with three issues reprinted for $12. Hopefully this has a few more issues in it.
5 POWERS VOL 3 LITTLE DEATHS TP (MR) IMA 5,266
Not the best of the Powers stories, but a Powers story is still better than most comics. The premise is one that seems like it should have been done much sooner, a police drama about cops who solve crimes in a city filled with super-heroes with dead-on dialogue and art that serves the story rather than drawing attention to itself. Highly Recommended.
6 TRANSFORMERS TARGET 2006 GN TIT 4,165
There are times I feel like the only person who couldn't care less about these crappy toy tie in titles.
7 BATMAN BLACK & WHITE VOL 2 OVERSIZED HC DC 4,152
Reprinting the black and white stories from the back of Gotham Knights, and all of them have been wonderfully done, showing that the short story is NOT a dead art form. This collection will show them to their best advantage and is a PERFECT book for Batman fans who want solid Batman stories without the long continuity.
8 FANTASTIC FOUR 1234 TP MAR 4,134
Grant Morrison's wonderfully weird take on the Fantastic Four that a LOT of people were concerned about before it came out. Jae Lee's art doesn't fit the book, but still, the story overpowers any art problems and is Highly Recommended.
9 ASTRO BOY VOL 7 TP DAR 3,843
I must have missed out because I just don't know or care to know about Astro Boy.
10 SUPERMAN OUR WORLDS AT WAR VOL 1 TP DC 3,754
11 SUPERMAN OUR WORLDS AT WAR VOL 2 TP DC 3,688
A long, messy crossover all in two books. Most of the "deaths" in it have already been reversed, and the plot really doesn't hold together very well. This is the story that caused me to lose interest in the Superman books, so it's got THAT going against it as well.
12 CROW COLLECTED NEW PRTG TP (Net) (MR) BUD 3,551
I think I read at James O'Barr has gone back and added more stuff to this book, which would be a shame. It REALLY looks like he was a one-trick pony, as none of his other projects have been worth reading, but if you are one of the few comics fans who hasn't read this yet, it IS a well done comic series with art that improves by leaps and bounds from page to page. Highly Recommended if you actually haven't read it yet.
13 MARVEL VISIONARIES JIM STERANKO TP MAR 3,498
Jim Sternanko was one of Marvel's most innovative artists in the late 60's, and then went on to publish a movie fan mag that never really took off. Now, he's best known for saying comics cause terrorism and not delivering any of the projects he announces. Still, his stuff is worth reading for the 60's effects he put into these stories. Mildly recommended for people who like the 60's.
14 CATWOMAN DARK END O/T STREET TP DC 3,378
DC gets the early issues of the new series as well as the Detective Comics backup into print, and it's worth it. One of the few series revamps that actually WORKS as well as changes a character so much it needs to have its series re-started. Catwoman is firmly planted in the world of crime fiction, with minimalistic art that makes the characters seem more real than in other, more highly rendered works. Highly recommended
15 LEGION OF SUPER HEROES GREAT DARKNESS SAGA NEW ED TP DC 3,025
Reprinting the Legion of Super-Heroes story that CAN stand on it's own. This was possibly the best story this book ever saw, and it gave Keith Giffen a career. Highly recommended for pure super-hero fans.
16 FORGE #5 (Note Price) CRO 2,940
Crossgen's monthly repackaging of half of their line and a nice cheap way to get their comics. I find the books blandly written, although the art and coloring is amazingly done. Mildly recommended for SF and Fantasy fans.
17 DAREDEVIL LOVES LABOR LOST TP MAR 2,843
ALL of the Marvel Knights Daredevil work has been nothing short of incredible, and I am shocked to see that it sells as well as it does, being as how it is so experimental in art and storytelling. Highly recommended for fans of crime fiction and abstract art.
18 BIGG TIME (MR) DC 2,830
Ty Templeton has a sly sense of humor that doesn't get to assert itself much anymore. He's been working in cartoon series adaptations, but this graphic novel looks to be a return to the style he used in the series Stig's Inferno. Recommended sight unseen, but give it a flip test to see if it's your cup of tea.
19 SPIRIT ARCHIVES VOL 8 HC DC 2,826
Continuing the reprinting on Will Eisner's best known work. Recommended for those who don't have it in some other form, as the Spirit stories may be 60 years old but read as if they were done last month. Most Golden Age comics look rushed, are goofy and most of their charm comes from that, but The Spirit was wonderfully done by a master of comic book storytelling.
20 EDGE #5 (Note Price) CRO 2,777
The other Crossgen monthly collection. Same mild recommendation as Forge.
21 LUCIFER VOL 3 DALLIANCE W/DAMNED TP (MR) DC 2,742
I keep hearing I should like this, but I don't. The story just doesn't grab me.
22 KOLCHAK NIGHT STALKER GET OF BELIAL GN (MR) MNS 2,702
As a kid, this was one of my favorite TV shows, and the idea behind it is simple and wonderful. Carl Kolchak covers stories that should be in tabloids, but are REAL. The graphic novels are supposedly based on scripts that weren't used, but by the end of the first season, it was easy to see that they had run out of decent ideas. I'll check it out when it comes out.
23 RED STAR VOL 2 NOKGORKA TP ARS 2,666
Another comic getting a lot of attention that I just haven't read yet. Hey, I can't read EVERYTHING, can I?
24 LOVE HINA VOL 5 GN TKP 2,627
25 ULTIMATE MARVEL TEAM-UP HC MAR 2,507
This was a VERY good series written by Bendis and drawn by a series of independent artists who you wouldn't think of drawing straight super-hero books. If it were a trade paperback I'd recommend it in a heartbeat, but as a hardcover, it's Mildly recommended for hard core Bendis fans. The rest shoudl write Marvel asking for a trade paperback of it.
26 SHIELD AMERICAS FIRST PATRIOTIC COMIC BOOK HERO TP ARC 2,454
Archie gets into the market of reprinting their Golden Age stuff. In the 40's they were one of the bigger super-hero publishers, but little is written about this line, mostly because Archie dominates the company. For Golden Age Fans only, as the stories are VERY crude.
27 RESIDENT EVIL CODE VERONICA VOL 2 TP (MR) DC 2,432
A second comic graphic novel coming out too late to capitalize on the movie. THAT CAME OUT SIX MONTHS AGO!!!
28 HOWARD THE DUCK TP (MR) MAR 2,277
Steve Gerber returns to the character that Movies destroyed. In the 70's Howard was a breath of fresh, satiric air that poked fun at comic book storytelling, the world around writer Steve Gerber and anything that passed through the media. This mini-series collected into a graphic novel pokes fun at current comic book trends, boy bands and the like, but it is mostly a nostalgia trip.
29 SOCK MONKEY GLASS DOOR KNOB HC DAR 2,237
30 COMPLETELY PIP & NORTON TP DAR 2,202
31 BATMAN BRUCE WAYNE MURDERER TP (O/A) DC 2,078
Reprinting the start of the huge story that started with the 10 cent Batman issue. The story was done well enough, but went on for FAR too long, and crossed into too many books without moving things forward.
32 BONE VOL 8 TREASURE HUNTERS HC CAR 1,888
Since Bone now seems to be written for collected version, the slow pace probably reads better in this format. However, it still feels like the book has lost its way and is trying too hard to be Serious and Meaningful.
33 MYSTIC VOL 3 SIEGE OF SCALES TP CRO 1,857
34 THOR LORD OF ASGARD TP MAR 1,835
Reprinting recent issues where Thor is crowned King of Asgard after the death of Odin. I know it's fantasy, but King don't do a lot that is worth reading about, and Dan Jurgens is not what I would call an innovative creator. Hopefully someone will come along and remind us that when Kirby did Thor it was a book filled with action and rich fantasy before such things were popular.
35 BTVS HAUNTED TP DAR 1,702
36 MAD ABOUT MOB TP DC 1,658
A big reprint of all of the MAD parodies of mob movies. Does the target audience even KNOW the Godfather movies? They can't be watching the Sopranoes either, since it's basically rated "R".
37 FOUR WOMEN TP (MR) DC 1,640
Sam Keith, who did such brilliant work at The Maxx and Zero Girl writes and draws a horror story that doesn't have a single supernatural element. As such, it shows a maturing of his work and a keep skill at characterization without losing sight of the plot. If I have ANY criticism, it's that the story goes by too fast, and I wanted more...Highly Recommended for mature readers only.
38 CYBERTRONIAN TRANSFORMERS INDEX ANT 1,623
39 SPIDER-MAN DEATH OF GWEN STACY NEW PRTG TP MAR 1,623
Ah, the end of the Silver Age. Gil Kane and Gerry Conway took the Stan Lee Illusion of change and made actual change. Most of the stories Conway did after this were either goofy or just plain bad, but this was an amazing comic for its time, and Must reading for Spider-Man fans. The problem is that Marvel has devalued the story over time. First by having the ending (villian dies as a result of their plans while hero watches helplessly) repeated over and over, and then by actually undoing the ending and bringing back Norman Osbourn in such a way as he is now utterly unbeatable. But that doesn't stop the fact that this story is just as seminal to the history of Spider-Man as his origin story.
40 METABARONS VOL 3 POET & KILLER TP HUM 1,592
41 THREE FINGERS GN TOP 1,512
The creator of Three Geeks does a serious story. And no, I haven't read it yet either.
42 GLOOM COOKIE VOL 2 TP (MR) SLA 1,455
I am biased, as this is one of my favorite books and the writer is one of the few comic creators I trade e-mail with. But this is one of the best comics coming out for people who aren't super-hero fans. A mix of goth club life, fairy tales and general silliness with a great cast of strong interesting characters, it's Highly Recommended, although the art is this volume is nowhere close to the level of the first volume. Luckily, the artist who just come on the comic is very good.
43 X 1999 VOL 8 CRESCENDO TP VIZ 1,455
44 ANGELIC LAYER VOL 2 GN TKP 1,442
45 INITIAL D VOL 3 GN TKP 1,327
46 PEACH GIRL VOL 6 PKT GN TKP 1,313
47 FELIX THE CATS GREATEST HITS TP DAR 1,313
To be honest, all I know of Felix is how he looks. I can honestly say I have never seen a Felix the Cat cartoon.
48 KODOCHA VOL 3 SANAS STAGE GN TKP 1,309
49 JEREMIAH GUN IN WATER HC (MR) DAR 1,269
50 RAGNAROK VOL 3 GN TKP 1,189