Top 50 Selling Graphic Novels For May 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 LOEG BOOK ONE TP $14.95 DC 10,562
That would be the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Alan Moore's latest work to be made into an inferior movie. I thought that this was out as a trade paperback already, but I guess it must have just been a hardcover. It's really a fun work, gathering a bunch of Victorian public domain characters into an action story and is Highly Recommended for mature readers.
2 MARVEL ENCYCLOPEDIA VOL 3 HULK HC $19.99 MAR 5,490
A Big book going over the history of the Hulk for the people who went to the movie and said, "Wow, I wonder what the Hulk is like in the comics." If you want a coffee table book about the Hulk, this I it. If you want to know what the hulk used to be like, buy the 2 Hulk Essentials instead, since they will give you a FAR better look at how the character was used.
3 TRANSMETROPOLITAN VOL 8 DIRGE TP $14.95 DC 5,303
By this time, Transmet has started to drag horridly, and the story was being padded so it could made the 5-year mark. It will prolly work better as a trade, and if you haven't read it before, it's a good story. Just read the first 6 trades first...or instead.
4 POWERS VOL 4 SUPERGROUP TP $19.95 IMA 4,885
Powers is one of the most interesting super-hero books out there, mostly because it's not a super-hero book, but a cop book set in a super-hero universe. AND, rather than simply resting on that premise, Bendis constructs mysteries that would not work without the super-hero concept instead of hammering mystery stories into super-hero clothes. This book is Highly Recommended.
5 SPIDER-MAN BLUE HC $21.99 MAR 4,611
The team behind Daredevil: Yellow and the Batman: Dark Halloween stories doing a story about Peter Parker's early days as Spider-Man. If it is as good as their other work, it will be well worth reading, but I don't think I need a hardcover of it.
6 NEW X-MEN VOL 4 RIOT AT XAVIERS TP $11.99 MAR 4,568
Grant Morrison doing what he does best, taking what seems like a bland idea and making it amazingly interesting. This one is that one of the students in the X-Men's school has decided that he is better than humans and...well...just read it. If you liked the movie of the X-Men or quit reading the book when you couldn't figure out what was going on anymore, this book is stand-alone and Highly Recommended.
7 BATMAN HUSH HC $19.95 DC 4,568
Reprinting the first few issues of the Jim Lee Batman. No, it's not the complete 12 issue run, so it's really a high priced way to get part of a story. Wait for the entire thing to be collected if you are interested.
8 ALAN MOORE PORTRAIT O/EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMAN $14.95 ABI 4,568
A HUGE collection of essays about Alan Moore. For Alan Moore fans only.
9 HULK MOVIE TP $12.99 MAR 4,294
Adapting the movie and throwing in some random reprints. The DVD will cost this much used a month after it comes out, so why not just save your money for then.
10 LOVE HINA VOL 10 GN $9.99 TKP 4,107
A manga collection that is selling amazingly well in bookstores to women. Not my style of manga, but that's perfectly fine.
11 DAREDEVIL VOL 6 LOWLIFE TP $13.99 MAR 3,876
Highly recommended, as the repercussions of a New York Tabloid "outing" Daredevil as Matt Murdock is dealt with in ways that comics haven't done before. Daredevil is an amazing comic, really, as it still sells very well, despite not having a lot of super-hero action, a dark art style and a story that spends more time dealing with the after-effects of an action than the action itself.
12 JLA OBSIDIAN AGE BOOK ONE TP $12.95 DC 3,790
Confusing super-hero wankery that is part of a VERY convoluted story that brings Aquaman back from the dead. Like anyone cares. He wasn't even dead a YEAR before they brought him back in a story that took MONTHS to finish up.
13 YU-GI-OH VOL 1 MILLENNIUM PUZZLE TP $7.95
VIZ 3,761
14 30 DAYS O/NIGHT TP $17.99 IDW 3,559
STILL selling, as these are the re-orders two months after the first printing came out. It's a pretty steep price for the book, IMHO, but still a VERY well done horror comic that is better than it has a right to be. Highly recommended.
15 HELLBLAZER FREEZES OVER TP $14.95 DC 3,372
Reprinting another of the recent story arcs. I really wish they would go back and reprint Jamie Delano's run, since it was very under-rated. This run isn't so good, and I can't really recommend this book.
16 HEROBEAR & THE KID VOL 1
INHERITANCE TP $19.95 AST 3,256
17 OH MY GODDESS VOL 16 MYSTERY CHILD TP $18.95 DAR 3,199
Still buying this as a monthly comic, and it's one of the manga that I really enjoy. But there is no way on the planet you can pick up this book and know what is going on. Start with #1.
18 UNCANNY X-MEN VOL 2 DOMINANT SPECIES TP $11.99 MAR 3,141
A moderately entertaining story for hard-core super-hero fans. This book suffers by comparison to the Morrison X-Men book, but it's still a super-hero book that assumes you've been reading for quite a while.
19 DAREDEVIL LEGENDS VOL 4 TYPHOID MARY TP $19.99 MAR 3,127
The Typhoid Mary stories are Legendary? I saw them as a pale attempt to do a crazy version of Elektra. I have no idea what is a legend anymore I guess. Next thing you know, Secret Wars II will be Legendary. OK, it is, but only in how shows that you could get Marvel fans to buy utter crap for nine issues.
20 PROMETHEA BOOK THREE TP $14.95 DC 3,112
Alan Moore's "Promethia" is not a comic for everyone, but it is one of the most thought provoking comics on the stands. Dealing with his beliefs in magick in the context of a mythological archetype is not the kind of thing people are used to from his ABC Line (which mostly has been Moore's twists on standard comics), but I find each issue amazing to read, and I highly recommend this collection.
21 X-TREME X-MEN VOL 3 SCHISM TP $16.99 MAR 2,810
If you like Chris Claremont's work on the X-Men, this is for you. If you like comics from THIS decade, you'll have a lot of trouble forcing yourself through it.
22 THUNDER AGENTS ARCHIVES VOL 2 HC $49.95 DC 2,608
The ONLY reason to pick this up is the incredible artwork of people like Wally Wood, Steve Ditko, Reed Crandall and others. The stories are silly and campy, but they are done with such skill and artistry, it's a joy to read them. There isn't enough Wally Wood artwork available on the market for me, and I recommend this for people who love his art...anyone else should prolly just buy a few EC reprints and pass on this.
23 SOJOURN VOL 3 TP $15.95 CRO 2,594
24 MARVEL MANGAVERSE VOL 3 SPIDER-MAN LEGEND SPIDER-CLAN TP $11.99
MAR 2,565
The Manga version of Spider-Man. Well, no because that was a much different book. This is more the American vision of what a manga Spider-Man would be. I don't know of a single person over the age of 18 who can force their way through this book, but hey, those kids need comics too, bless their hearts with the loud hair and their big music and their listening to the Limp Biscus and their saggy trousers and tattooed girlfriends and...wait, these are comics fans. They don't HAVE girlfriends.
25 BATTLE ROYALE VOL 1 GN (OF 5) (MR) $9.99 TKP 2,565
Oh my god! He's got a steel chair!
26 ASTRO BOY VOL 15 TP $9.95 DAR 2,450
27 KARE KANO VOL 3 GN $9.99 TKP 2,392
28 ORIGIN TP $14.99 MAR 2,377
Reorders of the origin of Wolverine. If you haven't read it yet, you'll be very shocked to learn that he's NOT a mutant, but was instead bitten by a radioactive end table. And his claws were given to him by Johnny Appleseed to make divots for planting apple trees!
29 GTO VOL 11 GN $9.99 TKP 2,305
30 BARNUM HC $29.95 DC 2,305
Howard Chaykin does the story of PT Barnam...because we know that people are clamoring for that. I mean it. I get two or three emails a day asking when I will be writing a novel about PT Barnum fighting Dr. Octopus with his spike heel and garter wearing girlfriend by his side.
31 ROBOTECH MACROSS SAGA VOL 2 TP $14.95
DC 2,291
32 BEST O/SPIDER-MAN VOL 2 HC $29.99 MAR 2,219
Not really for comics fans, who want things reprinted either in story arc or consecutive issues, but a nice book for people who just want to read some of the good recent stories. I hope it sells well outside the comic market.
33 THOR VOL 3 GODS ON EARTH TP $21.99 MAR 2,219
Reprinting a bunch of the Dan Jurgens Thor issues I haven't read. Or bought. Or gave a second though. Now I cannot buy or read them in a much more convenient format!
34 CLAMP SCHOOL DETECTIVES VOL 1 GN $9.99
TKP 2,161
35 BATTLE O/T PLANETS VOL 1 KEY COMICS TP $19.99 DYN 2,147
Reprinting a bunch of AMAZINGLY crappy comics from the late 70's that didn't even sell well back then. And, from what I read in the introduction, the people who did the comics didn't even watch the show, let alone know anything about the characters. That was the great thing about the TV Adaptations from Western/Gold Key, they literally had nothing to do with the properties they were "based" on.
36 BATMAN CONTAGION TP $19.95 DC 2,104
Reprinting an older story arc where Batman was put into the story from the movie "Outbreak" written by a team of 5 writers, 20 artists, half a dozen editors and an editor in chief who was upset that they couldn't figure out a way to have Batman fight Velociraptors.
37 MARS VOL 10 GN $9.99 TKP 2,060
38 GI JOE VOL 3 MALFUNCTION TP $15.95 IMA 2,032
39 BTVS WILLOW & TARA TP $9.95 DAR 2,003
This Buffy stories are actually written by the actress who played Tara. *shrugs* I dunno. The Buffy comics have all been pretty bland, and these weren't much different.
40 HOUSE O/T BORDERLAND SC $19.95 DC 1,974
41 ULTIMATE X-MEN VOL 1 TOMORROW PEOPLE TP $14.95 MAR 1,931
Still selling. Still didn't like it. Not much changes, I guess.
42 JIMMY CORRIGAN SMARTEST KID ON EARTH SC $17.95 FAN 1,888
Nice to see this one on the list, as it is one of the most amazing works in comics EVER. Perfectly designed and drawn, the story of Jimmy Corrigan is heartbreakingly depressing, and yet so well done that you keep reading. It is filled with big moments made small and small moments made big that echoes memory and life better than anyone working in the medium. If you haven't read this, you need to pick up a copy, as it will change you mind as to how comics can be done and how they can tell a simple story in a complex way. Highly recommended.
43 KODOCHA VOL 7 SANAS STAGE GN $9.99
TKP 1,816
44 PEACH GIRL CHANGE O/HEART VOL 2 TP $9.99 TKP 1,772
45 MARVEL MASTERWORKS INCREDIBLE HULK VOL 1 2ND ED HC $39.99 MAR
1,686
Great repackaging of the first 6 issues of the Hulk from 1962...and it was VERY easy to see that Stan Lee had no idea what to do with the character. The way Banner becomes the Hulk changes on an issue-by-issue basis. Each issue feels like a different trial run for the book, and in many ways, it's good that it was canceled for a few years until Lee hit on the "misunderstood, childlike monster" approach. For Marvel fans, this is Highly Recommended, but for everyone else, pick up the Essential Hulk Vol. 1 for the same stories in a much cheaper format.
46 SHANG CHI MASTER O/KUNG FU VOL 1 TP $14.99 MAR 1,671
I ordered this and didn't get it. DAMN YOU COMIC SHOP!!! I WANT THE PAUL GULACY GOODNESS!
47 DRAGONBALL Z VOL 11 TP SHONEN JUMP ED
$7.95 VIZ 1,643
48 DRAGONBALL VOL 11 TP SHONEN JUMP ED $7.95 VIZ 1,643
49 MAN O/MANY FACES VOL 1 GN $9.99 TKP 1,542
50 ASTRO BOY VOL 14 TP $9.95 DAR 1,527
That's it. You can go now.