The Top 50 Selling Graphic Novels for December 2002

This list comes from digging through sales figures, asking too many questions and using Diamond Comics information. The snotty comments in white are mine.

1 TRANSFORMERS PROFILE BOOK #1 (Of 4) $12.95 DRE 12,298

Yeah, yeah, more retro stuff.  Did I mention enough over the last few months that I could not possibly care less about the Transformers?  

December is the first time in over 2 years there is no Lone Wolf and Cub graphic novel out to top the charts.  *sigh*  I miss that book.  Good thing I am so far behind it'll take me another year to read them all.

2 FABLES LEGENDS IN EXILE TP $9.95 DC 5,733

WOW!  I think Vertigo has its new hit here.  The comic itself sells around 18,000 a month, and the trade sells almost 1/3rd of that?  I loved the story in the comic, so this trade is highly recommended, especially for people who liked Sandman.

3 AMAZING SPIDER-MAN VOL 3 TP $12.99 MAR 5,361

More reprints of the JMS written stories, good super-hero stuff for the people who didn't buy it as the monthly.  

4 TOTAL SELL-OUT TP (MR) $14.95 IMA 4,967

A bunch of strips Brian Bendis did for newspapers and such that most of us haven't seen before.  The man can write better than most comics writers, can draw reasonably well and does 4 books a month.  This book is highly recommended, but I'm kind of shocked that none of the less talented, slower comics writers haven't tried to kill him yet.

5 MIKE MIGNOLAS BPRD COLL TP $17.95 DAR 4,409

A spin-off of Hellboy that is just as well done and is Highly Recommended, as is all of Mignola's work.  Go buy it.

6 NEW X-MEN 3 NEW WORLDS TP $14.99 MAR 4,267

6 more issues of Grant Morrison's excellent work on the New X-Men.  Highly recommended, and in a way, a joy to be able to recommend the X-Men after nearly 15 years of unreadable crap in the book.

7 GI JOE VOL 5 TP $24.99 MAR 3,797

Marvel keeps reprinting the GI Joe series after Dark Horse and Image tried to snap up the rights to do so.  If you liked the series in the 80's, you'll be shocked at how low your standards were when you read this.

8 LOVE HINA VOL 8 GN (Of 14) $9.99 TKP 3,556
9 STAR WARS A LONG TIME AGO VOL 4 SCREAMS IN VOID TP $29.95 DAR 3,162

Dark Horse is reprinting the Marvel Star Wars series, and each trade paperback is a LOT of fun as you see just how ill-prepared comics were for the Star Wars phenom.  A nice nostalgic glow fills this book, but you also get art by people like Gene Day, Walt Simonson and Al Williamson.  Highly Recommended for Star Wars fans.

10 SUPER FRIENDS TRUTH JUSTICE & PEACE TP $14.95 DC 3,140

Reprinting random issues of the Super Friends comic from the 70's that most fans avoided.  The first trade was goofy fun, and stories aimed at kids, and this one won't be any different.  You see, before comic shops, kids READ comic books, and they liked ones like this.  

11 PROMETHEA BOOK 2 TP $14.95 DC 3,075

By this point, Alan Moore was no longer doing a Wonder Woman Pastiche, and had turned the book into a fictional construct to aid in the exploration of his magickal beliefs.  Even if you don't believe as he does, it's fascinating reading that deals with the play of reality in fictional characters and has more ideas per page than most comics have in their entire run.  Highly recommended for a select audience.

12 ASTRO BOY VOL 11 TP $9.95 DAR 2,976
13 GI JOE VOL 2 RECKONINGS TP $12.95 IMA 2,878

Reprinting the GI comics that came out a couple of months ago.  Did I mention lately that I couldn't give less of a damn about GI Joe if paid to?

14 TRANSFORMERS GN RAGE IN HEAVEN $19.95 TIT 2,768

More Transformers reprints from the Marvel series if you want that sort of thing.  And if you do, you won't like anything I recommend.

15 USAGI YOJIMBO SHROUDED MOON TP $15.95 DAR 2,768
16 TANK GIRL VOL 4 ODYSSEY GN (MR) $15.95 TIT 2,735

Titan is doing a great thing in reprinting hard to find comics from the early 90's, and this is one of them.  Tank Girl was one of the few comics aimed at women that wasn't so cute it made you gag.  I already have these, and didn't LOVE them, but they are interesting and worth a look if you haven't seen them before.  Highly recommended for women readers. 

17 DAREDEVIL VOL 2 HC $29.99 MAR 2,713

Bendis's work in a hardcover.  If you didn't buy the monthly or the trade paperbacks, this is the same, tight plots, crisp dialogue and stories that push the limits of what has been done with a super-hero.  Highly recommended.

18 KOLCHAK NIGHT STALKER FEVER PITCH GN (MR) $6.95 MNS 2,692
19 X-TREME X-MEN VOL 2 INVASION TP $19.99 MAR 2,692

More Chris Claremont X-Men, if you like that sort of thing.  Sadly, I have outgrown his writing.

20 FORGE #9 $7.95 CRO 2,593

CrossGen's series reprinting 7 - 9 issues of their comics, now in a smaller, cheaper format.  I buy these simply because they are a GREAT way to get to read the stuff (which I find tolerable and bland) at a dirt cheap price.  If you like fantasy stories, this is just as much as a novel, and is just as good if not better than the runofthemill average fantasy novel.  Mildly recommended.

21 STAR WARS TALES VOL 3 TP $19.95 DAR 2,506

I LOVE this series, simply because it's the only Star Wars series that uses the characters we care about.  A few top name creators doing short stories, but mostly stories by average creators.  Recommended for Star Wars fans, but there's not enough here to convert you.

22 EDGE #9 $7.95 CRO 2,484

The other CrossGen anthology reprint book.

23 ISOLATION & ILLUSION COLL P CRAIG RUSSELL TP $14.95 DAR 2,396

P. Craig Russell is one of the best artists in comics, but I am a story person...and these sort of sketchbook things always leave me cold.  

24 SWAMP THING DARK GENESIS TP - NE (MR) $19.95 DC 2,331

Alan Moore's Swamp Thing.  Not just the comic that gave us the entire Vertigo line, but an amazingly entertaining and thought provoking horror comics, with insanely creepy art and amazing ideas that have been ripped off to the point where they just seem like a part of movies and TV.  Highly Recommended. 

25 ELEKTRA VOL 1 INTROSPECT $16.99 MAR 2,276

I guess this is Greg Rucka's first issues on the book, collected, and if so, highly readable work with excellent art.  Lots of good trade paperback collections this month since this is Recommended for people who didn't buy the individual issues.

26 GTO VOL 8 GN (Of 20) $9.99 TKP 2,210
27 BASTARD SAMURAI VOL I SAMURAI NOIR TP $12.95 IMA 2,155
28 RESIDENT EVIL CODE VERONICA BOOK 4 TP (MR) $14.95 DC 2,112

More Resident Evil stuff long after anyone has any interest in Resident Evil (It's Gamecube only, ferchrissakes).  It's not even decent zombie goodness.

29 WARREN ELLIS BAD SIGNAL TP $6.95 AVA 2,090

Cory!!'s rule of Warren Ellis comics:  If his name is in the title, it's not worth reading.  $6.95 for less than 40 pages of story?  Pass.

30 KARE KANO VOL 1 GN (Of 13) (RES) $9.99 TKP 2,079
31 MAC RABOY FLASH GORDON VOL 1 TP $19.95 DAR 2,035

A nice reprint of classic Flash Gordon newspaper strips.  For hardcore strip collectors, as the stories simply have not help up to the test of time.

32 SPYBOY YOUNG JUSTICE TP $9.95 DAR 1,904

Reprinting the two issue crossover that is for fans only...too many characters, none get a decent introduction.

33 DRAGONBALL VOL 10 TP $12.95 VIZ 1,882
34 MARS VOL 8 GN (Of 15) $9.99 TKP 1,805
35 KABUKI VOL 6 SCARAB TP $19.95 IMA 1,762

I know this book gets a lot of good reviews, but I have yet to be able to make it through an entire issue of Kabuki.  I guess this is more of it if you want it, but much like Shi, they haven't put out an actual story featuring the character in ages.

36 KODOCHA VOL 5 SANAS STAGE GN (Of 10) $9.99 TKP 1,729
37 ANGELIC LAYER VOL 4 GN (Of 7) $9.99 TKP 1,718
38 FIRST VOL 3 SINISTER MOTIVES TP $15.95 CRO 1,707
39 MEGATOKYO CHAPTER ZERO $9.95 ICE 1,696

A collection of the on-line strip...normally I feel that on-line strips are narrow interest for fans only (Penny Arcade is for gamers, PVP is for on-line gamers, etc...) but Megatokyo is a brilliantly drawn story of two typical fanboys who go to Japan and don't have the money to come back.  This seems like a limited premise, but the story evolves so quickly that reading it online is like reading a comic book a day at a time.  Do yourself a favor and try this book, and remember that it starts good, but improves almost on a page by page basis.

40 PEACH GIRL VOL 8 PKT GN (Of 13) $9.99 TKP 1,685

Moving to the country...gonna eat myself some peach girls...

41 AP HOW TO DRAW MANGA COMPILATION VOL 3 TP $17.95 ANT 1,597
42 X 1999 VOL 9 REQUIEM TP $15.95 VIZ 1,587
43 CALL OF DUTY VOL 1 TP $14.99 MAR 1,565

Marvel's "Crying Fireman" stories, which lost all credibility with me when they went from stories of firefighters to a ghost story.  It just didn't work for me, but I'm glad that Marvel at least tried something other than two guys pounding on each other in tights for once. 

44 KNIGHTS OF THE DINNER TABLE BUNDLE OF TROUBLE VOL 10 (Note Price) $11.99 KZR 1,554

The more I read KODT, the more I enjoy it.  If you have even played D&D or the like, this collection of early issues is a must read and is Highly Recommended.

45 INITIAL D VOL 5 GN (Of 20) $9.99 TKP 1,543
46 RAGNAROK VOL 5 GN (Of 10) $9.99 TKP 1,543
47 SORCERER HUNTERS VOL 13 GN (Of 13) $12.99 TKP 1,521
48 3X3 EYES KEY TO SACRED LAND TP (MR) $13.95 DAR 1,499
49 WILL EISNERS NAME O/T GAME SC $19.95 DC 1,477

Hey, DC, want to promote the fact that one of the greatest comic creators in history is still doing new stories that stretch the medium?  Thanks, that would be SO great.  Highly Recommended, even if DC can't take out a SINGLE AD TO PROMOTE THE BOOK.

50 AKIRA CINEMANGA VOL 1 (Of 5) $14.99 TKP 1,444

Milking the Akira cow one more time, this time making a comic from animation cells.  Buy the DVD and the Dark Horse collection of the original manga and ignore these crappy Cinemanga nightmares.

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