compiled/edited by B. Munn
Just in time for the Toronto Comic Arts Festival and the debut of the first print issue of Sequential, it’s the weekly edition of the Sequential Bestseller List!
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, including several comic book stores and the D+Q store. Sales through most 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. Last week’s rankings are in parentheses.
Top 30 Comics and Graphic Novels in Canada
1. (1) Watchmen, Moore/Gibbons (DC)
2. (3) Naruto 42, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
3. (3) B is for Beer, Tom Robbins (Harper Collins)
4. (5) Naruto 43, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
5. (4) Naruto 44, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
6. (7) Vampire Knight 6, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
7. (6) Fruits Basket 22, Takaya Natsuki (Tokyopop)
8. (10) Naruto 39, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
9. (9) Naruto 41, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
10. (8) Garfield Just Desserts, Jim Davis (Random)
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11. (14) Naruto 40, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
12. (11) Naruto 38, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
13. (19) Naruto 37, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ
14. (12) Chibi Vampire 13, Yuna Kagesaki (Tokyopop)
15. (13) Manga Metamorphosis, Kozumi Shinozawa (Tyndale)
16. (16) Naruto 36, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
17. (22) Naruto 1, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
18. (15) Negima! 21, Ken Akamatsu (Random House)
19. (-) Maximum Ride, Vol. 1, James Patterson (Yen)
20. (17) Naruto 35, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
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21. (-) Hobbit, Tolkien et al (Harper Collins)
22. (-) What It Is, Lynda Barry (D+Q)
23. (24) V for Vendetta, Moore/Lloyd (DC)
24. (21) Skim, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
25. (-) Wolverine 1: Prodigal Son, Tortosa/Johnston (Random House)
26. (-) Vampire Knight 5, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
27. (-) The Wallflower 19, Tomoko Hayakawa (Random House)
28. (25) Louis Riel, Chester Brown (D+Q)
29. (20) Naruto 2, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
30. (-) Otomen, Volume 2, Aya Kanno (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: That new Wolverine manga has a strong-ish debut. Is it the only movie tie-in?
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. (1) Skim, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
2. (2) Louis Riel, Chester Brown (D+Q)
3. (5) Nightschool 1, Svetlana Chmakova (Yen)
4. (3) Big Foot, Graham Roumieu (Plume)
5. (4) The Burma Chronicles, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
6. (6) Scott Pilgrim 5, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni)
7. (-) Scott Pilgrim 1, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni)
8. (8) Home Sweat Home, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
9. (7) Scott Pilgrim 4, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni)
10. (16) Plain Janes, Castelucci/Rugg (Minx/DC)
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11. (11) Scott Pilgrim 3, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni)
12. (9) Pyongyang, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
13. (13) Doug Wright: Canada’s Master Cartoonist, Doug Wright (D+Q)
14. (19) Scott Pilgrim 2, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni)
15. (15) Ojingogo, Matt Forsythe (D+Q)19503
16. (10) Baloney, Pascal Blanchet (D+Q)
17. (12) Middle Aged Spread, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
18. (29) Drop-In, Dave Lapp (Conundrum)
19. (14) Senior’s Discount, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
20. (17) It’s a Good Life…, Seth (D+Q)
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21. (18) Adventures of Rabbit and Bear Paws: The Voyageurs, Chad Solomon (Little Spirit Bear)
22. (20) Essex County 1, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
23. (21) I Never Liked You, Chester Brown (D+Q)
24. (22) Adventures of Rabbit and Bear Paws: The Voyageurs, Chad Solomon (Little Spirit Bear)
25. (23) Shenzhen, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
26. (24) Essex County 2, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
27. (26) Paul Goes Fishing, Rabagliati (D+Q)
28. (27) Spirit 1, Darwyn Cooke (DC)
29. (28) Essex County 3, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
30. (30) the great hopeful someday, Elizabeth Belliveau (Conundrum)
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Please feel free to comment or email about these lists.