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compiled/edited by B. Munn

Intro: The bestselling graphic novels and comics collections 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. See here for our previous list.

Sequential’s Over-All Top 30 from BookManager

1. (2) Vampire Knight 8, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
2. (1) Zombie Survival Guide, Max Brooks (Crown)
3. (6) Bleach 29, Tite Kubo (VIZ)
4. (5) Manga Mutiny, Hidenori Kumai/Kozumi Shinozawa (Tyndale)
5. (3) Naruto 46, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
6. (4) Logicomix, Apostolos Doxiadis et al (Bloomsbury)
7. (18) Louis Riel, Brown (D+Q)
8. (9) Zombies: A Record of the Year of Infection, Roff et al (Chronicle)
9. (11) Book of Genesis, Robert Crumb (WW Norton)
10. (8) Watchmen, Moore/Gibbons (DC)
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11. (12) Asterix and Obelix Birthday, Uderzo (Orion)
12. (16) Celebrating Peanuts: 60 Years, Charles Schulz (Andrews McMeel)
13. (7) Rosario + Vampire 10, Akihisa Ikeda (VIZ)
14. (-) Black Cross, Greg Iles (New American Library)
15. (13) Fullmetal Alchemist 20, Hiromu Arakawa (VIZ)
16. (21) Maximum Ride 2, James Patterson et al (Orbit)
17. (25) Garfield 3 Pack, Davis et al (Random)
18. (-) Hobbit GN, Tolkien et al (Harper Collins)
19. (14) Naruto 1, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
20. (17) Black Bird 2, Kanoko Sakurakoji (VIZ)
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21. (-) B is for Beer, Robbins (Harper Collins)
22. (-) Johnny Cash: I See a Darkness, Reinhard Kleist (Abrams ComicArts)
23. (23) Vampire Knight 1, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
24. (-) Garfield 46, Davis et al (Random House)
25. (-) Masterpiece Comics, Sikoryak (D+Q)
26. (-) Stitches, David Small (McClelland and Stewart)
27. (-) Che, Spain Rodriguez (Verso)
28. (10) Negima! 24, Ken Akamatsu (Random House)
29. (-) Maus 1, Spiegelman (Knopf)
30. (15) Naruto 2, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)

That Peanuts 60-year book is expensive, like between 60 and 100 bucks, depending on where you get it.

Canadian Content: You have to wade through an awful lot of translated Japanese 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. On this list, a single sale in a single tiny bookstore can make all the difference. This list does not include books that are only illustrated but not written/created-by Canadians.

This week, it’s a war bewteen Lynn Johnston, Seth, and Bryan Lee O’Malley.

Sequential’s All-Canadian Top 30 from BookManager

1. (3) Louis Riel, Chester Brown (D+Q)
2. (?) Home Sweat Home, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)*
3. (3) Red: A Haida Manga, Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas (Douglas & McIntyre)
4. (20) Scott Pilgrim 3, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni)
5. (2) Skim, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
6. (10) George Sprott, Seth (D+Q)
7. (26) Scott Pilgrim 1, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni)
8. (27) Scott Pilgrim 2, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni)
9. (9) Big Foot, Graham Roumieu (Plume)
10. (12) Hot Potatoe: Fine Ahtwerks, Marc Bell (D+Q)
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11. (4) The Hipless Boy, Sully (Conundrum)
12. (7) The Plain Janes, Castelucci/Rugg (Minx/DC)
13. (21) Scott Pilgrim 4, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni)
14. (6) It’s a Good Life, If You Don’t Weaken, Seth (D+Q)
15. (5) Senior’s Discount, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
16. (8) Ojingogo, Matthew Forsythe (D+Q)
17. (11) Pyongyang, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
18. (13) In Me Own Words, Graham Roumieu (Plume)
19. (16) Collected Doug Wright 1, Doug Wright (D+Q)
20. (29) The Big 5-0, Lynn Johnston (Andrews)
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21. (19) Scott Pilgrim 5, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni)
22. (-) Back and Forth, Marta Chudolinska (Porcupine’s Quill)
23. (-) Rabbit and Bear Paws 1, Solomon (Lone Pine)
24. (15) Wimbledon Green, Seth (D+Q)
25. (14) The Nobody, Jeff Lemire (DC/Vertigo)
26. (25) Drop-In, Dave Lapp (Conundrum)
27. (17) the great hopeful someday, Elizabeth Belliveau (Conundrum)
28. (22) Clyde Fans Bk 1, Seth (D+Q)
29. (23) Essex County, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
30. (24) Nightschool 1, Svetlana Chmakova (Yen)

(note: previous rank in parentheses)
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*Lynn Johnston’s “Home Sweat Home” collection of For Better or For Worse strips was left off last week’s list. I’m pretty sure it would have ranked in the top 10. I missed it, I think.

Please feel free to comment or email about these lists.