compiled/edited by B. Munn
We skipped a week with the Sequential Bestseller List but are back with a vengeance to chronicle Watchmen mania. For the record, although Sequential uses Bookmanager figures, most Canadian news sources use numbers provided by the more-comprehensive BookNet. Both the Globe and Mail and National Post use these numbers. The most recent Post list has the Watchmen at #9, while the Globe doesn’t list it at all. On the Chapters-Indigo list, Watchmen is currently at #15. On Amazon.ca, Watchmen ranks at #2, after Lawrence Hill’s The Book of Negroes. On the BookManager list, Watchmen is #13 overall and #3 in paperback fiction. And now:
The Top 30 Graphic Novels in Canada, courtesy of BookManager. The full list by BookManager is available, with some work, 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 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 30 overall and (at the bottom) the top 30 by Canadian creators. See here for last week’s list.
Top 30 Comics and Graphic Novels in Canada
1. (1) Watchmen, Moore/Gibbons (DC)
2. (-) Vampire Knight 2, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
3. (2) Naruto 34, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
4. (3) Naruto 35, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
5. (-) Bleach 25, Tite Kubo (VIZ)
6. (4) Naruto 36, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
7. (5) Naruto 37, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
8. (25) V for Vendetta, Moore/Lloyd (DC)
9. (-) Rosario+Vampire 6, Akihisa Ikeda (VIZ)
10. (10) Skim, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
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11. (-) Naruto 38, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
12. (-) Naruto 41, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
13. (21) Persepolis 1, Satrapi (Pantheon)
14. (9) Naruto 33, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
15. (-) What It Is, Lynda Barry (D+Q)
16. (-) Hobbit GN, Tolkien et al (Harper Collins)
17. (-) Watchmen Hardcover, Moore/Gibbons (DC)
18. (19) Daniel X Alien Hunter, Patterson (Little Brown)
19. (20) Maus II, Spiegelman (Knopf)
20. (-) Naruto 39, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
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21. (11) Rosario+Vampire 5, Akihisa Ikeda (VIZ)
22. (-) Black Cat 19, Kentaro Yabuki (VIZ)
23. (-) Naruto 40, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
24. (6) Pokemon: Diamond and Pearl Adventure! 2, Ihara Shigekatsu (VIZ)
25. (-) Fruits Basket 21, Takaya Natsuki (Tokyopop)
26. (7) Tsubasa 20: Reservoir Chronicle, Clamp (Random House)
27. (-) The Joker (Hardcover), Brian Azzarello et al (DC)
28. (-) Sardine in Outer Space, Joann Sfar (Holt)
29. (28) Vampire Knight 2, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
30. (-) Vampire Knight 5, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
Standard explanation: 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. This week: Canada remains one nation, under Naruto, but Alan Moore has a few books on the list, and the Canadian-published, Queen of U.S. comics Lynda Barry returns to the list.
Canadian Content: You have to wade through an awful lot of translated Japanes manga, U.S. superhero titles, and collected editions of Sherman’s Lagoon to come up with a list of 30 bestselling books created by Canadians. In total, BookManager lists over 4000 graphic novels, trades, and strip collections, the vast majority of which are not by Canadians.
Sequential’s All-Canadian Top 30 from BookManager
1. (1) Skim, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
2. (5) The Burma Chronicles, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
3. (4) Louis Riel, Chester Brown (D+Q)
4. (3) Home Sweat Home, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
5. (2) Scott Pilgrim 5, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni)
6. (7) Ojingogo, Matt Forsythe (D+Q)
7. (10) Senior’s Discount, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
8. (6) Big Foot, Graham Roumieu (Plume)
9. (-) Scott Pilgrim 3, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni)
10. (8) Scott Pilgrim 4, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni)
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11. (11) Plain Janes, Castelucci/Rugg (Minx/DC)
12. (12) Drop-In, Dave Lapp (Conundrum)
13. (13) Baloney, Pascal Blanchet (D+Q)
14. (18) I Never Liked You, Chester Brown (D+Q)
15. (-) Pyonyang, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
16. (-) Witness My Shame, Shary Boyle (Conundrum)
17. (15) Milk Teeth, Julie Morstad (D+Q)
18. (25) Essex County 3, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
19. (-) Strange and Stranger, Blake Bell (Fanta)
20. (9) Spirit 1, Darwyn Cooke (DC)
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21. (20) the great hopeful someday, Elizabeth Belleveau (Condundrum)
22. (23) Essex County 1, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
23. (24) Dramacon Ultimate Edition, Svetlana Chmakova (Tokyopop)
24. (-) Middle Age Spread, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
25. (-) Essex County 2, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
26. (22) The Big 5-0, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
27. (17) Scott Pilgrim 1, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni)
28. (19) Family Business, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
29. (21) It’s a Good Life, If You Don’t Weaken, Seth (D+Q)
30. (30) Paul Has a Summer Job, Rabagliati (D+Q)
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Please feel free to comment or email about these lists.