The Top 50 Graphic Novels in Canada, courtesy of BookManager. The full list is available here. The list is compiled by BookManager based on sales through over 400 independent bookstores. Sales through comic shops and larger retailers like Chapters-Indigo and Walmart are not reflected in this list. For balance, you might want to try the Amazon.ca and Chapters-Indigo lists. This list has two parts, the top 50 overall and (at the bottom) the top 25 by Canadian creators.

Top 50 Comics and Graphic Novels in Canada

1. (1) Senior’s Discount, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
2. (-) Bleach, Vol. 22, Tite Kubo (VIZ)
3. (2) Garfield Goes Bananas, Jim Davis (Random House)
4. (5) Naruto Vol. 26, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
5. (4) Death Note, Volume 1, Tsugumi Ohba Takeshi Obata (VIZ)
6. (6) Naruto Vol. 27, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
7. (3) The Far Side 2008 Desk Calendar, Gary Larson (Andrews McMeel)
8. (7) Naruto Vol. 25, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
9. (8) Naruto Vol. 24, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
10. (42) Absolute Boyfriend, Vol. 5, Yuu Watase (VIZ)
11. (20) Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi (Pantheon)
12. (9) Dark Tower:The Gunslinger Born, Peter David/Robin Furth (Marvel)
13. (17) Naruto Vol. 23, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
14. (19) Death Note, Volume 2, Tsugumi Ohba Takeshi Obata (VIZ)
15. (11) Fullmetal Alchemist Vol. 15, Hiromu Arakawa (VIZ)
16. (10) Fruits Basket 18, Natsuki Takaya (Tokyopop)
17. (-) Death Note, Volume 3, Tsugumi Ohba Takeshi Obata (VIZ)
18. (-) Bleach, Vol. 21, Tite Kubo (VIZ)
19. (15) Naruto Vol. 22, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
20. (13) Vampire Knight Vol. 3, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
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21. (-) Hell Girl 1, Miyuki Eto (Random House)
22. (14) Vampire Knight Vol. 1, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
23. (12) Herman: Living With Animals, Jim Unger (ECW Press)
24. (31) Naruto Vol. 1, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
25. (32) Bleach, Vol. 1, Tite Kubo (VIZ)
26. (30) Naruto Vol. 19, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
27. (33) Death Note, Volume 8, Tsugumi Ohba Takeshi Obata (VIZ)
28. (43) Louis Riel: A Comic-Strip Biography, Chester Brown (D+Q)
29. (-) Negima! 16: Magister Negi Magi, Ken Akamatsu (Random House)
30. (18) Naruto, Vol. 2:2 Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
31. (29) Death Note, Volume 7, Tsugumi Ohba Takeshi Obata (VIZ)
32. (21) Vampire Knight Vol. 2, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
33. (16) Dilbert: Cubes and Punishment, Scott Adams (Andrews McMeel)
34. (-) Naruto Vol. 17, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
35. (27) Death Note, Volume 4, Tsugumi Ohba Takeshi Obata (VIZ)
36. (-) The Best of Pokemon Adventures: Red:Red, Hidenori Kusaka Mato (VIZ)
37. (25) Hobbit Graphic Novel, Tolkien et al (Harpercollins)
38. (23) Naruto Vol. 4, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
39. (-) Naruto Vol. 17, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
40. (24) The Authoritative Calvin And Hobbes, Bill Watterson (Andrews McMeel)
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41. (28) Naruto, Volume 3: Vol. 3, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
42. (26) Persepolis 2, Marjane Satrapi (Knopf)
43. (35) Naruto Vol. 20, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
44. (-) The Best of Pokemon Adventures: Yellow:Yellow, Hidenori Kusaka Mato (VIZ)
45. (-) Fushigi Yugi: Genbu Kaiden, Vol. 6, Yuu Watase Yu Watase (VIZ)
46. (-) Death Note, Volume 5, Tsugumi Ohba Takeshi Obata (VIZ)
47. (-) Fruits Basket 17, Natsuki Takaya (Tokyopop)
48. (-) Bleach, Vol. 20, Tite Kubo (VIZ)
49. (36) Naruto Vol. 21, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
50. (-) High School Debut Vol. 1, Kazune Kawahara (VIZ)

See here for last week’s list. I’ve added last week’s ranking in parentheses, with a (-) indicating an absence from the top 50 last week –although books that were not in the top 50 last week were most likely in the top 100, with the possible exception of a few newly published hits. The pattern that emerges from looking at these lists over a period of weeks is that certain books, especially manga series, continuously jostle with each other, sliding up and down the longer list on the strength of a new volume or a spate of purchases for the kiddies. I have to suspect that there is something up with that last spate of manga books I had previously never heard of (Highschool Debut, Fushigi Yugi). The top 60 is filled out with non-manga stalwarts The Complete Persepolis, Buffy, and Watchmen).

The BookManager List is a wondrous, scary place, where everyone from Todd Hignite to Charles Schulz to Dan DeCarlo to Jerry Siegel to Linda Medley duke it out and where one sale in one tiny bookstore can move a book from #999 to #200. This is also the place where you find books by Canadian creators and where the Canadian Top 25 comes from:

Sequential’s All-Canadian Top 25
from BookManager

1. (1) Senior’s Discount, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
2. (2) Louis Riel: A Comic-Strip Biography, Chester Brown (D+Q)
3. (2) Teaching is a Learning Experience!, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
4. (6) Essex County Vol. 1: Tales From the Farm, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
5. (4) The Plain Janes, Cecil Castellucci et al (DC/Minx)
6. (10) White Rapids, Pascal Blanchet (D+Q)
7. (5) Dramacon 3, Svetlana Chmakova (Tokyopop)
8. (7) She’s Turning into One of Them!, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
9. (13) Graphic Witness: 4 Wordless Graphic Novels, George A Walker (Firefly)
10. (21) Therefore Repent! Jim Munroe Salgood Sam (insomniac)
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11. (8) Dramacon 2, Svetlana Chmakova (Tokyopop)
12. (9) 365 Days: A Diary by Julie Doucet (D+Q)
13. (-) Wimbledon Green, Seth (D+Q)
14. (11) The BackBench Collection, Graham Harrop (Ronsdale Press)
15. (-) Keep The Home Fries Burning, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
16. (12) Middle Age Spread, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
17. (14) Scott Pilgrim 4: Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni)
18. (15) Never Wink at a Worried Woman, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
19. (16) Dramacon 1, Svetlana Chmakova (Tokyopop)
20. (17) Family Business, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
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21. (18) Remembering Farley, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
22. (19) The Big 5-0, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
23. (22) Sunshine and Shadow, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
24. (20) Scott Pilgrim 2: Scott Pilgrim vs The World, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni)
25. (23) Northwest Passage: Annotated Collection, Scott Chantler (Oni)