compiled/edited by B. Munn
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. (-) Fruits Basket 22, Takaya Natsuki (Tokyopop)
3. (2) Vampire Knight 6, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
4. (3) Naruto 34, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
5. (7) Naruto 37, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
6. (5) Naruto 35, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
7. (9) Naruto 36, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
8. (10) Naruto 38, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
9. (16) Naruto 41, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
10. (4) Bleach 26, Tite Kubo (VIZ)
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11. (6) Naruto 40, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
12. (8) What It Is, Lynda Barry (D+Q)
13. (12) Naruto 39, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
14. (11) Maximum Ride 1, James Patterson/NaRae Lee (Orbit/Yen)
15. (14) V for Vendetta, Moore/Lloyd (DC)
16. (-) Naruto 1, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
17. (13) Naruto 32, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
18. (15) Watchmen Hardcover, Moore/Gibbons (DC)
19. (20) Pokemon: Diamond and Pearl Adventure! 2, Ihara Shigekatsu (VIZ)
20. (18) Rosario+Vampire 6, Akihisa Ikeda (VIZ)
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21. (-) Batman: Killing Joke, Moore/Bolland (DC)
22. (-) Louis Riel, Chester Brown (D+Q)
23. (-) Naruto 31, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
24. (-) Sandman: Preludes/Nocturnes, Gaiman et al (DC)
25. (19) Naruto 33, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
26. (-) Naruto 2, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
27. (17) Rosario+Vampire 2, Akihisa Ikeda (VIZ)
28. (23) Vampire Knight 5, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
29. (29) Persepolis 1, Satrapi (Pantheon)
30. (-) Maus I, Spiegelman (Knopf)
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: Future historians will wonder at the sheer mass of Naruto-related pulp that seems to have smothered the population of Canada.
Canadian Content: You have to wade through an awful lot of translated Japanes manga, U.S. superhero fantasies, 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. (2) Louis Riel, Chester Brown (D+Q)
2. (1) Skim, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
3. (4) Scott Pilgrim 5, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni)4169
4. (3) The Burma Chronicles, Guy Delisle (D+Q)6016
5. (6) Plain Janes, Castelucci/Rugg (Minx/DC)
6. (5) Big Foot, Graham Roumieu (Plume) 8608
7. (7) Home Sweat Home, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
8. (12) Scott Pilgrim 3, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni)11847
9. (17) Scott Pilgrim 1, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni) 13310
10. (8) Ojingogo, Matt Forsythe (D+Q)
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11. (20) Pyongyang, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
12. (-) Scott Pilgrim 2, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni)15237
13. (9) Senior’s Discount, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)15267
14. (-) It’s a Good Life…, Seth (D+Q) 15553
15. (10) Scott Pilgrim 4, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni)16019
16. (16) Essex County 1, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
17. (-) In Me Own Words (Bigfoot), Graham Roumieu (Plume)
18. (11) Paul Goes Fishing, Rabagliati (D+Q)
19. (19) Baloney, Pascal Blanchet (D+Q)
20. (22) Milk Teeth, Julie Morstad (D+Q)
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21. (13) Drop-In, Dave Lapp (Conundrum)
22. (14) Spirit 1, Darwyn Cooke (DC)
23. (15) the great hopeful someday, Elizabeth Belleveau (Condundrum)
24. (18) Family Business, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
25. (23) Essex County 3, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
26. (21) Witness My Shame, Shary Boyle (Conundrum)
27. (24) Dramacon Ultimate Edition, Svetlana Chmakova (Tokyopop)
28. (26) Essex County 2, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
29. (27) The Big 5-0, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
30. (28) Shenzhen, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
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Please feel free to comment or email about these lists.