May 2009
compiled/edited by B. Munn
We took a bit o a break for TCAF and the debut of the Sequential print edition, so we missed a week of the bestseller list. And who knows, now that the first long weekend of the season has come and gone, the list might go on Summer hiatus.
Anuwau, here we go. 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. Sequential readers will be pleased to not that George Sprott, Scott Pilgrim, and Darwyn Cooke (not to mention Gustave Dore, the Secret Wars II Omnibus Edition, and NBM’s “Gorgeous and …Hung?” by Kinky Jimmy) are all included in Amazon.ca’s Top 100 comics and graphic novels as I write this.
The Sequential 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) B is for Beer, Tom Robbins (Harper Collins)
3. (-) Fullmetal Alchemist 18, Hiromu Arakawa (VIZ)
4. (4) Naruto 43, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
5. (2) Naruto 42, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
6. (5) Naruto 44, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
7. (6) Vampire Knight 6, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
8. (8) Naruto 39, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
9. (10) Garfield Just Desserts, Jim Davis (Random)
10. (11) Naruto 40, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
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11. (-) Maus 1, Spiegelman (Knopf)
12. (9) Naruto 41, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
13. (-) Shugo Chara! 6, Peach-Pit (Random House)
14. (12) Naruto 38, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
15. (16) Naruto 36, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
16. (13) Naruto 37, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
17. (21) Hobbit, Tolkien et al (Harper Collins)
18. (-) Marvel Encyclopedia (Marvel)
19. (25) Wolverine 1: Prodigal Son, Tortosa/Johnston (Random House)
20. (15) Manga Metamorphosis, Kozumi Shinozawa (Tyndale)
—-
21. (17) Naruto 1, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
22. (14) Chibi Vampire 13, Yuna Kagesaki (Tokyopop)
23. 20. (17) Naruto 35, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
24. 28. (25) Louis Riel, Chester Brown (D+Q)
25. Naruto 34, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
26. Black Cat 20, Kentaro Yabuki (VIZ)
27. Maus II, Spiegelman (Knopf)
28. (-) Vampire Knight 5, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
29. 19. (-) Maximum Ride, Vol. 1, James Patterson (Yen)
30. (-) B.O.D.Y., Volume 5, Ao Mimori (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: Some new manga volumes.
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. (13) Doug Wright: Canada’s Master Cartoonist, Doug Wright (D+Q)
4. (3) Nightschool 1, Svetlana Chmakova (Yen) 5982
5. (4) Big Foot, Graham Roumieu (Plume) 6972
6. (10) Plain Janes, Castelucci/Rugg (Minx/DC) 8342
7. (6) Scott Pilgrim 5, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni)
8. (19) Senior’s Discount, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
9. (5) The Burma Chronicles, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
10. (11) Scott Pilgrim 3, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni)
—–
11. (7) Scott Pilgrim 1, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni)
12. (12) Pyongyang, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
13. (-) Lillian the Legend, Kerry Byrne (Conundrum)
14. (15) Ojingogo, Matt Forsythe (D+Q)
15. (-) Kaspar, Diane Obomsawin (D+Q)
16. (22) Essex County 1, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
17. (-) Papercut Heart, Ian Sullivan Cant (Conundrum)
18. 26. (24) Essex County 2, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
19. 9. (7) Scott Pilgrim 4, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni)
20. (30) the great hopeful someday, Elizabeth Belliveau (Conundrum)
—–
21. 17. (12) Middle Aged Spread, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
22. 20. (17) It’s a Good Life…, Seth (D+Q)
23. 25. (23) Shenzhen, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
24. 27. (26) Paul Goes Fishing, Rabagliati (D+Q)
25. 14. (19) Scott Pilgrim 2, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni)
26. 18. (29) Drop-In, Dave Lapp (Conundrum)
27. 16. (10) Baloney, Pascal Blanchet (D+Q)
28. 21. (18) Adventures of Rabbit and Bear Paws 1, Chad Solomon (Little Spirit Bear)
29. 24. (22) Adventures of Rabbit and Bear Paws: The Voyageurs, Chad Solomon (Little Spirit Bear)
30. (-) In Me Own Words/Bigfoot, Grham Roumieu (Plume)
Please feel free to comment or email about these lists.
2009-05-19