The Top 50 Selling Graphic Novels for September 2002
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 LONE WOLF &
CUB VOL 26 BATTLE IN DARK TP (MR) DAR
13,033
The best graphic
novel series ever and possibly the best comic series of all time.
The story of a masterless samurai and his small son is well known
in Japan and is finally getting a full reprinting here. I
praise it every month, and this month is no different. Highly
Recommended.
2 MARVEL
ENCYCLOPEDIA HC MAR
8,263
The new version of
the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe with character
stats, costume designs and a bunch of other stuff that bores me
beyond tears. I have no clue how much Spider-Man can bench
press, and if I ever need that information, please shoot me in
the back of the head immediately.
3 LEAGUE OF
EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN BOOK ONE TP
DC 8,001
Alan Moore and
Kevin O'Neill's wonderfully entertaining mini-series of a group
of Victorian heroes teaming up to fight evil. It's such a
great idea, I can't believe no one has tried it before. Well
worth reading, just to see Mina Harker and Captain Nemo interact...Highly
Recommended.
4 BATMAN DARK
VICTORY TP DC 5,280
A tale of Batman's
second year, a year long mystery sequel to "Dark Halloween"
and a much better mystery than the first one was. I loved
it so much I bought it in Hardcover. If you haven't read it
yet, it is one of the better Batman stories with beautifully
moody art. Highly Recommended.
5 MIDNIGHT
NATION TP IMA
4,426
One of JMS's
miniseries for Top Cow, so the breakdown is a very good story and
the art is filled with tons of computer color effects and huge
breasts. Highly recommended if you don't mind stick women
with breasts bigger than their head cluttering up the art.
6 GI JOE VOL 4 TP
MAR 4,107
Marvel continues
their project to reprint their 80's GI Joe series in trade
paperbacks. I hated these comics when they came out, and
they have soured with age.
7 ESSENTIAL
DAREDEVIL VOL 1 TP MAR
3,863
Nice to see a new
Essential, even though I hear Marvel may discontinue them. Bastards.
Daredevil was one series where Stan Lee didn't have a balancing
influence like Ditko or Kirby, so the soap opera stuff went
quickly out of control in a goofily fun way. For $15 you
get over 20 issues of a fun Silver Age comic with art by Wally
Wood and John Romita. BUY IT!
8 BONE VOL 8
TREASURE HUNTERS SC CAR
3,767
Bone reads much
better as a collected edition, but it has still slowed to a
snail's pace, and is missing the infectious fun of the earlier
books. Buy it only if you want to complete your set.
9 SPIDER-MAN
PETER PARKER RETURN O/T GOBLIN TP MAR
3,724
Bringing back the
Green Goblin after 25 years was one of the worst ideas from the
past 10 years. I'm surprised that Marvel hasn't buried it
and the people behind it in a ditch somewhere (although they did
fire the Editor in Chief and Editor behind it). I hated
this story when it saw print because of what it did to
continuity, and it hasn't gotten any better. The Goblin
should have stayed dead.
10 ASTRO BOY VOL 8 TP
DAR 3,671
11 INCREDIBLE HULK VOL
2 TP MORNING AFTER MAR 3,619
The first trade
showed that writer Bruce Jones had found a new, entertaining
approach to the Hulk...it must have sold well, since they rushed
out this skimpy trade soon after the first one, only reprinting 5
issues. Hey Marvel, we like the trades, but they be a bit
bigger for the money we shell out?
12 TRANSFORMERS DARK
DESIGNS GN TIT
3,580
13 SUPERMAN IN FIFTIES
TP DC
3,541
These are some of
the goofiest stories in comics history. I know a lot of
people are nostalgic for this type of stuff, but as you read the
clichéd stories with the endless gimmicks you'll see why Marvel
was such a breath of fresh air in the 60's.
14 NEW X-MEN HC
MAR 3,480
The first year of
Grant Morrison's run in a hardcover. If you don't already
have these stories as individual issues or in the trade
paperbacks, this is a fine collection that is well worth the
money. Highly recommended.
15 EXPO 2002 ANTHOLOGY
CBL 3,118
This yearly
anthology of stories by small press artists is thick enough that
it can withstand a few bad stories. I buy it every year as
a sampler to expose me to new creators, and it's always got
enough good stories to make me feel like it was worth the money.
Recommended for people who want to try new stuff or think that
comics are all super-hero stories.
16 OH MY GODDESS FINAL
EXAM TP DAR 3,078
17 LOVE HINA VOL 6 GN
TKP 3,000
18 ART OF JOSEPH
MICHAEL LINSNER HC IMA
2,996
This man has made a
huge career out of drawing one character, and his art in amazing
when it comes to that one character. It would be nice to
see him try a few other things (like his Killraven one shot for
Marvel), but this is pretty much a BIG Dawn pin-up book.
19 FORGE #6 (Note Price)
CRO 2,904
CrossGen's monthly
compilation series has gone up to $12, but it's still a nice way
to read the company's output, which always looks good, even if
some of the stories aren't the best. OK, the ones by
Barbara Kesel are painfully unreadable shit, but they look good
at least.
20 BATMAN WORLD'S
FINEST ARCHIVES VOL 1 HC DC 2,873
More Batman Golden
Age stories, long after the initial rush of the first two years.
These haven't been reprinted before, and should be OK reading for
Golden Age fans, of which I am one. But not a book for
casual comics readers, or even most modern comics fans.
21 CHOBITS VOL 3 GN
TKP 2,847
22 EDGE #6 (Note Price)
CRO 2,817
The other CrossGen
Compilation book. Same thing applies as applies to Forge.
Why this one sells 100 copies less, I have no idea.
23 PHANTOM
VOL 3 GN TREASURES OF BANGALLA MNS
2,664
24 IN SHADOW OF EDGAR
ALLAN POE HC (MR) DC
2,660
A Vertigo hardcover
I know nothing about.
25 THUNDER
AGENTS ARCHIVES VOL 1 HC DC 2,533
I read that DC is
disappointed over the sales of this book, and probably won't
finish up reprinting the series, which will be a damn shame.
This was a series by Tower Comics in the 60's with art by Ditko,
Wally Wood and other artists of similar caliber. The few
stories I have read were well done, have held up over time and
were worth getting if you are a Silver Age fan. Highly
Recommended even if it's just for the art.
26 ARCHIE AMERICANA SER
BEST OF 40S VOL 2 ARC
2,363
More Archie stories
from the 40's. The first volume was interesting, and showed
trends among teenagers during and right after WWII, but it wasn't
until the mid 50's that Archie stories were good enough to read.
It's amazing that the art, while crude, is pretty much the same
house style as Archie comics have now.
27 X-MEN VISIONARIES
JIM LEE TP (RES) MAR 2,280
I really really disliked Jim Lee's art on the X-Men. I know it makes me a minority, but read these stories and try to make sense of them without knowing 10 years of comic book history.
28 HAMMER O/T GODS
MORTAL ENEMY TP IMA
2,237
By the artist of POWERS, so at least the story will look great. I haven't read it yet. Like I have time to read EVERYTHING.
29 FUTURAMA O RAMA VOL
1 TP BON
2,137
Reprinting the
first few issues of the Futurama comic book, which in some ways
was funnier than the TV show. Highly recommended.
30 SIGIL VOL 3 TP
LIZARD GOD CRO
2,115
31 INU YASHA VOL 12 TP
VIZ 2,054
A Japanese series
by the creator of Ranma 1/2, Lum and Maison Ikkoku. While
not one of her better series, it still has a nice mix of humor,
romance and action. Recommended for Manga fans.
32 DV8 NEIGHBORHOOD
THREAT TP (MR) DC 2,041
33 QUEEN & COUNTRY
VOL 2 MORNING STAR TP (MR) ONI
2,010
It's just sad that such a well done book is selling so poorly. A spy story that makes most spy novels look like something a kid made up to play James Bond, Greg Rucka has created a comic series that captures the imagination and gives a better "action adventure" story than most other work in the genre. Highly Recommended.
34 SCION VOL 3 TP
DIVIDED LOYALTIES CRO
1,997
35 ELEKTRA LIVES AGAIN
HC NEW PRTG (RES) MAR
1,962
One of Frank Miller's last works for Marvel, and a tour de force of showing that comics can be both storytelling and art. If it was a new creation, Miller would have gotten a LOT more praise for this book, but as is, it stands as one of the forgotten classics of the early 90's. Highly Recommended and MUCH better than Dark Knight 2.
36 SPIDER-MAN TANGLED
WEB VOL 3 TP MAR
1,936
More Spider-Man stories by alternative creators, and a mixed bag of some stories that come off brilliantly, and some that just feel like an experiment that isn't quite done yet. Still, it should sell better than this, and is Mildly recommended.
37 SKREEMER TP (MR)
DC 1,919
The only reason Vertigo is reprinting this series is that it was due to be reprinted by another company if they didn't. Sales aren't the great, and to be honest, the comic isn't all that great either. A mix of Brit storytelling, gangsters and clumsy SF. There's better stuff to buy this month.
38 ESSENTIAL UNCANNY X-MEN
VOL 1 TP NEW PRTG MAR
1,892
I love the Essential books, and this is a great book to get if you have no clue what the X-Men are all about. The early Claremont stories seem talky now (although not half as talky as his later work), but for the 70's it was a step forward, getting away from the joke-y Stan Lee style of comic writing.
39 BILLI 99 TP DAR
1,892
Tim Sale did the art for this (and now he's known for The Long Halloween and the Marvel "Color" mini-series) and it was actually printed as a mini-series by Dark Horse back in 1991. Haven't read it yet, but Sale's art, while crude, is very effective. I'll change this review once I read it.
40 DRAGONBALL VOL 9 TP
VIZ 1,879
41 GTO VOL 6 GN
TKP 1,849
42 STAR TREK NEXT
GENERATION GORN CRISIS TP DC
1,810
43 BTVS DEATH OF BUFFY
TP DAR
1,801
44 REAL BOUT HIGH
SCHOOL VOL 4 GN TKP
1,709
45 DEADLINE TP MAR
1,557
46 WISH VOL 2 GN
TKP 1,526
47 CERES CELESTIAL
LEGEND VOL 2 YUHI TP VIZ
1,448
48 ART OF JOSEPH
MICHAEL LINSNER LTD ED HC IMA 1,435
49 MORGANA BOOK 1 HC
HEAVENS GATE (MR) HUM 1,417
50 FLOOD NOVEL IN
PICTURES TP DAR
1,417
When you get down this far, I really don't have much of a clue about the books, usually they are manga collections or reprints of comics I don't read. I can't review everything.