Posts Tagged "Bryan’s weekly best sellers"

10.Jun.2011 Canadian Comics Bestseller List: New Naruto Edition

compiled/edited by BK Munn

This semi-regular feature of Sequential presents a snapshot of comics sales in Canada.

Part 1 .
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 Sequential list.

Guide: numbers in parentheses indicate previous rank; (n) indicates a new book making its debut on the list; (r) indicates a book making a return to the list after an absence.

Sequential’s Over-All Top 30
from BookManager

1. (12) Percy Jackson and the Olympians – The Lightning Thief: The Graphic Novel, Rick Riordan/Robert Venditti/Attila Futaki
2. (2) Paying For It, Chester Brown (D+Q)
3. (1) Bone 1: Out from Boneville, Jeff Smith (Scholastic)
4. (7) Bone 2: The Great Cow Race, Jeff Smith (Scholastic)
5. (4) Bone 9: Crown of Horns, Jeff Smith (Scholastic)
6. (6) Bone 11: Tall Tales, Jeff Smith (Scholastic)
7. (5) Bone 3: Eyes of the Storm, Jeff Smith (Scholastic)
8. (9) Bone 4: Dragonslayer, Jeff Smith (Scholastic)
9. (8) Bone 5: Rockjaw, Jeff Smith (Scholastic)
10. (3) Louis Riel, Chester Brown (D+Q)
—–
11. (13) Scott Pilgrim 1, Bryan Lee O’Malley (ONI)
12. (n) Trickster: Native American Tales, Matt Dembicki (Fulcrum Publishing)
13. (10) Bone 8: Treasure Hunters, Jeff Smith (Scholastic)
14. (18) Bone Prequel: Rose, Jeff Smith and Charles Vess (Scholastic)
15. (14) Bone 6: Old Man’s Cave, Jeff Smith (Scholastic)
16. (11) Bone 7: Ghost Circles, Jeff Smith (Scholastic)
17. (n) Naruto 51, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
18. (16) Negima! 29, Ken Akamatsu (Kodansha)
19. (n) Vampire Knight 12, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
20. (17) Essex County, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
—–
21. (15) Maximun Ride 4, Kames Patterson et al (Yen)
22. (r) Zeus: King of the Gods, George O’Connor (First Second)
23. (21) Simpsons Comic Meltdown, Groening et al (Harper Collins)
24. (25) Scott Pilgrim 2, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni)
25. (19) Black Bird 8, Kanoko Sakurakoji (VIZ)
26. (24) Black Butler 1, Yana Toboso (Yen)
27. (20) Zita the Spacegirl, Ben Hatke (First Second)
28. (r) The Amulet of Samarkand, Jonathan Stroud/Andrew Donkin/Lee Sullivan (Disney)
29. (22) Scott Pilgrim 3, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni)
30. (r) Maximun Ride 4, Kames Patterson et al (Yen)

I expect that new Naruto to rank higher over the next few weeks, probably accompanied by a return of a few other Nruto volumes to the top 30.

Part 2. 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.

Sequential’s All-Canadian Top 30
from BookManager

1. (1) Paying For It, Chester Browb (D+Q)
2. (2) Louis Riel, Chester Brown (D+Q)
3. (3) Scott Pilgrim 1, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni)
4. (4) Essex County, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
5. (7) Scott Pilgrim 2, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni)
6. (5) Scott Pilgrim 3, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni)
7. (8) Scott Pilgrim 6, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni)
8. (6) Scott Pilgrim 4, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni)
9. (9) Scott Pilgrim 5, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni)
10. (29) 500 Years of Resistance, Gord Hill (Arsenal Pulp)
—–
11. (10) The Klondike, Zach Worton (D+Q)
12. (13) Two Generals, Scott Chantler (McClelland and Stewart)
13. (11) The Next Day, Jason Gilmore/Paul Peterson/John Porcellino (Pop Sandbox)
14. (23) Reunion, Pascal Girard (D+Q)
15. (15) Bitter Medicine: A Graphic Memoir of Mental Illness, Clem Martini/Olivier Martini (Freehand Books)
16. (14) The Never Weres, Fiona Smyth (Annick)
17. (12) Skim sc, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
18. (r) Red: A Haid Manga,Michael Yahgulanaas (D&M)
19. (16) Something Old, Something New, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
20. (r) Bigfoot, Graham Roumieu (Plume)
—–
21. (18) Harvey, Herve Bouchard/Janice Nadeau (Groundwood)
22. 17. (14) Killing Velasquez, Philippe Girard (Conundrum)
23. (21) Bigfoot, Pascal Girard (D+Q)
24. 19. (17) Nightschool 2, Svetlana Chmakova (Yen)
25. 20. (18) Nightschool 3, Svetlana Chmakova (Yen)
26. 24. (24) Kill Shakespeare 1, Mccreery/Del Col/Belanger (IDW)
27. 25. (28) Constructive Abandonment, Michael Dumontier/Neil Farber (D+Q)
28. 27. (22) Chimo, David Collier (Conundrum)
29. (r) Nightschool 1, Svetlana Chmakova (Yen)
30. (r) Nightschool 4 Svetlana Chmakova (Yen)

Wow, that’s a big jump for 500 Years of Resistance. A regular on this list since its publication last year.

From the publisher:
The 500 Years of Resistance Comic Book is a powerful and historically accurate graphic portrayal of Indigenous resistance to the European colonization of the Americas, beginning with the Spanish invasion under Christopher Columbus and ending with the Six Nations land reclamation in Ontario in 2006. Gord Hill spent two years unearthing images and researching historical information to create The 500 Years of Resistance Comic Book, which presents the story of Aboriginal resistance in a far-reaching format.

Other events depicted include the 1680 Pueblo Revolt in New Mexico; the Inca insurgency in Peru from the 1500s to the 1780s; Pontiac and the 1763 Rebellion & Royal Proclamation; Geronimo and the 1860s Seminole Wars; Crazy Horse and the 1877 War on the Plains; the rise of the American Indian Movement in the 1960s; 1973’s Wounded Knee; the Mohawk Oka Crisis in Quebec in 1990; and the 1995 Aazhoodena/Stoney Point resistance.
With strong, plain language and evocative illustrations, The 500 Years of Resistance Comic Book documents the fighting spirit and ongoing resistance of Indigenous peoples through 500 years of genocide, massacres, torture, rape, displacement, and assimilation: a necessary antidote to the conventional history of the Americas.
The book includes an introduction by Ward Churchill, a writer, political activist, and co-director of the American Indian Movement of Colorado.

23.Mar.2010 Canadian Bestsellers: March Break Edition

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. (1) Naruto 47, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
2. (2) Vampire Knight 9, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
3. (7) Book of Genesis, Robert Crumb (WW Norton)
4. (3) Negima 25, Ken Akamatsu (Random House)
5. (9) Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland, Camille Rose Garcia (HC)
6. (11) Red: A Haida Manga, Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas (Douglas & McIntyre)
7. (4) Seekers: Toklo’s Story, Erin Hunter (Harper Collins)
8. (-) The Dark-Hunters 2, Sherrilyn Kenyon et al (St Martins)
9. (5) Zombie Survival Guide, Max Brooks (Crown)
10. (8) Bleach 30, Tite Kubo (VIZ)
—–
11. (10) Watchmen, Moore/Gibbons (DC)
12. (6) Footnotes in Gaza, Sacco (Henry Holt)
13. (22) Maximum Ride: The Manga 2, James Patterson/NaRae Lee (Orbit/Yen)
14. (-) Naruto 2, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
15. (13) Garfield Fat Pack, Davis et al (Random)
16. (14) Asterix/Obelix’s Birthday, Uderzo (Orion)
17. (-) Inuyasha 46, Rumiko Takahashi (VIZ)
18. (18) Black Bird 3, Kanoko Sakurakoji (VIZ)
19. (15) Logicomix, Apostolos Doxiadis et al (Bloomsbury)
20. (12) Asterix/Olympic, Goscinny/Uderzo (Orion)
—–
21. (-) Skim SC, Tamaki (Groundwood)
22. (-) Zeus, George O’Connor (First Second)
23. (-) Walking Dead 1, Kirkman et al (Image)
24. (-) Black Butter 1, Yana Toboso (Orbit/Yen)
25. (20) One Piece 34, Eiichiro Oda (VIZ)
26. (-) Manga Mutiny (Tyndale)
27. (-) Naruto 1, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
28. (25) All Star Superman 2, Morrison/Quitely (DC)
29. (-) Dark Tower Fall of Gilead, Robin Furth et al (Marvel)
30. (-) Naruto 43, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)

Analysis: Only 2 Canadian Books in the top 30 overall.

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.

Sequential’s All-Canadian Top 30 from BookManager

1. (1) Red: A Haida Manga, Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas (Douglas & McIntyre)
2. (5) Skim sc, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
3. (2) Louis Riel, Chester Brown (D+Q)
4. (11) Senior’s Discount, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
5. (3) Bigfoot, Graham Roumieu (Plume)
6. (4) Skim HC, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
7. (29) Adventures of Rabbit and Bear Paws, Chad Solomon (Lone Pine)
8. (16) The Hipless Boy, Sully (Conundrum)
9. (22) It’s a Good Life, If You Don’t Weaken, Seth (D+Q)
10. (8) Scott Pilgrim 4, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni)
—–
11. (10) Hot Potatoe: Fine Ahtwerks, Marc Bell (D+Q)
12. (6) Scott Pilgrim 1, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni)
13. (15) Burma Chronicles, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
14. (7) Scott Pilgrim 3, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni)
15. (28) Essex County, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
16. (23) Nightschool 1, Svetlana Chmakova (Orbit/Yen)
17. (9) Pyongyang, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
18. (22) Nightschool 2, Svetlana Chmakova (Orbit/Yen)
19. (25) The Plain Janes, Castelucci/Rugg (Minx/DC)
20. (30) The Big 5-0, Lynn Johnston (Andrews)
—–
21. (12) Home Sweat Home, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
22. (13) Important Artifacts, Leanne Shapton (FSG)
23. (14) Runaways: Homeschooling, K.Immonen/Pachilli (marvel)
24. (17) Ojingogo, Matthew Forsythe (D+Q)
25. (18) Scott Pilgrim 2, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni)
26. (19) Just One More Hug, Lynn Johnston (AM)
27. (21) In Me Own Words, Graham Roumieu (Plume)
28. (24) Parker The Hunter, Darwyn Cooke (IDW)
29. (26) George Sprott, Seth (D+Q)
30. (27) Collected Doug Wright 1, Doug Wright (D+Q)

10.Mar.2010 Canadian Bestsellers: March 10 Edition

compiled/edited by B. Munn

The first list for March.

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. (1) Naruto 47, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
2. (2) Vampire Knight 9, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
3. (-) Negima 25, Ken Akamatsu (Random House)
4. (7) Seekers: Toklo’s Story, Erin Hunter (Harper Collins)
5. (4) Zombie Survival Guide, Max Brooks (Crown)
6. (25) Footnotes in Gaza, Sacco (Henry Holt)
7. (3) Book of Genesis, Robert Crumb (WW Norton)
8. (-) Bleach 30, Tite Kubo (VIZ)
9. (15) Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland, Camille Rose Garcia (HC)
10. (29) Watchmen, Moore/Gibbons (DC)
—–
11. (17) Red: A Haida Manga, Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas (Douglas & McIntyre)
12. (-) Asterix/Olympic, Goscinny/Uderzo (Orion)
13. (6) Garfield Fat Pack, Davis et al (Random)
14. (-) Asterix/Obelix’s Birthday, Uderzo (Orion)
15. (13) Logicomix, Apostolos Doxiadis et al (Bloomsbury)
16. (-) Black Bird 1, Kanoko Sakurakoji (VIZ)
17. (20) Louis Riel, Brown (D+Q)
18. (5) Black Bird 3, Kanoko Sakurakoji (VIZ)
19. (-) One Piece 30, Eiichiro Oda (VIZ)
20. (-) One Piece 34, Eiichiro Oda (VIZ)
—–
21. (-) Maus II, Spiegleman (Knopf)
22. (16) Maximum Ride: The Manga 2, James Patterson/NaRae Lee (Orbit/Yen)
23. (-) Manga Messiah, (Tyndale)
24. (-) Bleach 1, Tite Kubo (VIZ)
25. (-) All Star Superman 2, Morrison/Quitely (DC)
26. (-) D.n.angel Volume 13, Sugisaki Yukiru (Tokyopop)
27. (-) Asterix/Cleopatra, Goscinny/Uderzo (Orion)
28. (-) Bleach 2, Tite Kubo (VIZ)
29. (-) One Piece 29, Eiichiro Oda (VIZ)
30. (-) B is for Beer, Tom Robbins (HC)

Analysis: Only 2 Canadian Books in the top 30 overall.

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.

Sequential’s All-Canadian Top 30 from BookManager

1. (1) Red: A Haida Manga, Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas (Douglas & McIntyre)
2. (2) Louis Riel, Chester Brown (D+Q)
3. (-) Bigfoot, Graham Roumieu (Plume)
4. (3) Skim Hardcover, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
5. (-) Skim Paperback, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
6. (29) Scott Pilgrim 1, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni)
7. (17) Scott Pilgrim 3, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni)
8. (-) Scott Pilgrim 4, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni)
9. (9) Pyongyang, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
10. (8) Hot Potatoe: Fine Ahtwerks, Marc Bell (D+Q)
—–
11. (26) Senior’s Discount, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
12. (16) Home Sweat Home, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
13. (23) Important Artifacts, Leanne Shapton (FSG)
14. (-) Runaways: Homeschooling, K.Immonen/Pachilli (marvel)
15. (7) Burma Chronicles, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
16. (4) The Hipless Boy, Sully (Conundrum)
17. (11) Ojingogo, Matthew Forsythe (D+Q)
18. (-) Scott Pilgrim 2, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni)
19. (-) Just One More Hug, Lynn Johnston (AM)
20. (10) Nightschool 2, Svetlana Chmakova (Orbit/Yen)
—–
21. (-) In Me Own Words, Graham Roumieu (Plume)
22. (5) It’s a Good Life, If You Don’t Weaken, Seth (D+Q)
23. (6) Nightschool 2, Svetlana Chmakova (Orbit/Yen)
24. (12) Parker The Hunter, Darwyn Cooke (IDW)
25. (13) The Plain Janes, Castelucci/Rugg (Minx/DC)
26. (14) George Sprott, Seth (D+Q)
27. (15) Collected Doug Wright 1, Doug Wright (D+Q)
28. (19) Essex County, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
29. (22) Adventures of Rabbit and Bear Paws, Chad Solomon (Lone Pine)
30. (24) The Big 5-0, Lynn Johnston (Andrews)

Analysis: The top 30 Canadian books are all found in the top 960 comics.

23.Feb.2010 Canadian Bestsellers: Vancouver Olympics Edition

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. (1) Naruto 47, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
2. (2) Vampire Knight 9, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
3. (3) Book of Genesis, Robert Crumb (WW Norton)
4. (4) Zombie Survival Guide, Max Brooks (Crown)
5. (5) Black Bird 3, Kanoko Sakurakoji (VIZ)
6. (9) Garfield Fat Pack, Davis et al (Random)
7. (7) Seekers: Toklo’s Story, Erin Hunter Bettina Kurkoski (Harper Collins)
8. (-) Soul Eater, Vol. 2, Atsushi Ohkubo (Orbit/Yen)
9. (6) Maximum Ride: The Manga 1, James Patterson/NaRae Lee (Orbit/Yen)
10. (20) Tsubasa 25, Clamp (Random House)
—–
11. (25) Maus 1, Spiegelman (Knopf)
12. (23) Alice In The Country Of Hearts 1, Quinrose Soumei Hoshino (Tokyopop)
13. (12) Logicomix, Apostolos Doxiadis et al (Bloomsbury)
14. (8) Shugo Chara! 8, Peach-Pit (Random House)
15. (-) Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland, Camille Rose Garcia (HC)
16. (-) Maximum Ride: The Manga 2, James Patterson/NaRae Lee (Orbit/Yen)
17. (-) Red: A Haida Manga, Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas (Douglas & McIntyre)
18. (15) Zombies: A Record of the Year of Infection, Roff et al (Chronicle)
19. (-) Asterix and the Golden Sickle, Goscinny/Uderzo (Orion)
20. (26) Louis Riel, Brown (D+Q)
—–
21. (16) Dance in the Vampire Bund 6, Nozomu Tamaki (Seven Seas)
22. (11) Cirque Du Freak: The Manga, Vol. 1, Darren Shan/Takahiro Arai (Orbit)
23. (10) Otomen 5, Aya Kanno (VIZ)
24. (18) Fullmetal Alchemist 22, Hiromu Arakawa (VIZ)
25. (-) Footnotes in Gaza, Sacco (Henry Holt)
26. (-) Skim, Tamaki/Tamaki (Groundwood)
27. (22) Black Butler 1, Yana Toboso (Orbit)
28. (24) Black Bird 2, Kanoko Sakurakoji (VIZ)
29. (14) Watchmen, Moore/Gibbons (DC)
30. (13) Persepolis 1, Satrapi (Pantheon)

Analysis: This week sees the restoration of the current “Holy Trinity” of Canadian books (Red, Riel, and Skim) to the overall top 30. Also, Alice in Wonderland is coming out.

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.

Sequential’s All-Canadian Top 30 from BookManager

1. (2) Red: A Haida Manga, Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas (Douglas & McIntyre)
2. (1) Louis Riel, Chester Brown (D+Q)
3. (3) Skim, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
4. (5) The Hipless Boy, Sully (Conundrum)
5. (4) It’s a Good Life, If You Don’t Weaken, Seth (D+Q)
6. (-) Nightschool 2, Svetlana Chmakova (Orbit/Yen)
7. (11) Burma Chronicles, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
8. (17) Hot Potatoe: Fine Ahtwerks, Marc Bell (D+Q)
9. (18) Pyongyang, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
10. (6) Nightschool 2, Svetlana Chmakova (Orbit/Yen)
—–
11. (22) Ojingogo, Matthew Forsythe (D+Q)
12. (-) The Hunter, Darwyn Cooke (IDW)
13. (7) The Plain Janes, Castelucci/Rugg (Minx/DC)
14. (16) George Sprott, Seth (D+Q)
15. (10) Collected Doug Wright 1, Doug Wright (D+Q)
16. (8) Home Sweat Home, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
17. (12) Scott Pilgrim 3, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni)
18. (-) Strange Suspense/Ditko, Blake Bell (Fanta)
19. (13) Essex County, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
20. (15) the great hopeful someday, Elizabeth Belliveau (Conundrum)
—–
21. (-) I Never Liked Youm Chester Brown (D+Q)
22. (14) Adventures of Rabbit and Bear Paws, Chad Solomon (Lone Pine)
23. (19) Important Artifacts, Leanne Shapton (FSG)
24. (20) The Big 5-0, Lynn Johnston (Andrews)
25. (21) Scott Pilgrim 5, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni)
26. (23) Senior’s Discount, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
27. (24) Kaspar, Diane Obomsawin (D+Q)
28. (25) It’S The Thought That Counts, Lynn Johnston (Andrews)
29. (26) Scott Pilgrim 1, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni)
30. (27) Captain Canuck 1, Richard Comely/George Freeman (IDW)

Analysis: The top 30 Canadian books are all found in the top 840 comics. Captain Canuck is #837, just below Y: The Last Man Volume 6. Scott Pilgrim 1: Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life is #831, wedged between the exclamation mark-heavy Negima!? Neo 3 and Peah-Pit’s Shuga! Chara Volume 1.

(note: previous rank in parentheses)
—–

Please feel free to comment or email about these lists.

17.Feb.2010 Canadian Bestsellers: Valentine’s Edition

compiled/edited by B. Munn

And we’re back. Welcome to the first Sequential Bestseller list of 2010. A new year and a new decade. I try to do these weekly, but real life often gets in the way.

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. (-) Naruto 47, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
2. (-) Vampire Knight 9, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
3. (16) Book of Genesis, Robert Crumb (WW Norton)
4. (1) Zombie Survival Guide, Max Brooks (Crown)
5. (-) Black Bird 3, Kanoko Sakurakoji (VIZ)
6. (-) Maximum Ride: The Manga 1, James Patterson/NaRae Lee (Orbit)
7. (-) Seekers: Toklo’s Story, Erin Hunter Bettina Kurkoski (Harper Collins)
8. (-) Shugo Chara! 8, Peach-Pit (Random House)
9. (11) Garfield Fat Pack, Davis et al (Random)
10. (-) Otomen 5, Aya Kanno (VIZ)
—–
11. (-) Cirque Du Freak: The Manga, Vol. 1, Darren Shan/Takahiro Arai (Orbit)
12. (6) Logicomix, Apostolos Doxiadis et al (Bloomsbury)
13. (-) Persepolis 1, Satrapi (Pantheon)
14. (2) Watchmen, Moore/Gibbons (DC)
15. (3) Zombies: A Record of the Year of Infection, Roff et al (Chronicle)
16. (-) Dance in the Vampire Bund 6, Nozomu Tamaki (Seven Seas)
17. (-) One Piece 33, Eiichiro Oda (VIZ)
18. (-) Fullmetal Alchemist 22, Hiromu Arakawa (VIZ)
19. (7) Naruto 46, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
20. (-) Tsubasa 25, Clamp (Random House)
—–
21. (5) Asterix and Obelix Birthday, Uderzo (Orion)
22. (-) Black Butler 1, Yana Toboso (Orbit)
23. (-) Alice In The Country Of Hearts 1, Quinrose Soumei Hoshino (Tokyopop)
24. (-) Black Bird 2, Kanoko Sakurakoji (VIZ)
25. (10) Maus 1, Spiegelman (Knopf)
26. (23) Louis Riel, Brown (D+Q)
27. (-) Fables 13, Bill Willingham (DC)
28. (26) Complete Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi (Knopf)
29. (-) Black Bird 1, Kanoko Sakurakoji (VIZ)
30. (-) Zeus: King of the Gods, George O’Connor (First Second)

Analysis: It’s a brand-new day. Tons of new manga and juvenile/genre series have debuted since our last list, with a volume of the Olympians edging out Joe Sacco’s Footnotes in Gaza at the #30 spot.

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.

Sequential’s All-Canadian Top 30 from BookManager

1. (2) Louis Riel, Chester Brown (D+Q)
2. (1) Red: A Haida Manga, Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas (Douglas & McIntyre)
3. (4) Skim, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
4. (15) It’s a Good Life, If You Don’t Weaken, Seth (D+Q)
5. (24) The Hipless Boy, Sully (Conundrum)
6. (25) Nightschool 1, Svetlana Chmakova (Orbit/Yen)
7. (11) The Plain Janes, Castelucci/Rugg (Minx/DC)
8. (6) Home Sweat Home, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
9. (12) Big Foot, Graham Roumieu (Plume)
10. (26) Collected Doug Wright 1, Doug Wright (D+Q)
—–
11. (19) Burma Chronicles, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
12. (9) Scott Pilgrim 3, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni)
13. (17) Essex County, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
14. (-) Adventures of Rabbit and Bear Paws, Chad Solomon (Lone Pine)
15. (21) the great hopeful someday, Elizabeth Belliveau (Conundrum)
16. (10) George Sprott, Seth (D+Q)
17. (5) Hot Potatoe: Fine Ahtwerks, Marc Bell (D+Q)
18. (20) Pyongyang, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
19. (22) Important Artifacts, Leanne Shapton (FSG)
20. (28) The Big 5-0, Lynn Johnston (Andrews)
—–
21. (13) Scott Pilgrim 5, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni)
22. (18) Ojingogo, Matthew Forsythe (D+Q)
23. (3) Senior’s Discount, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
24. (-) Kaspar, Diane Obomsawin (D+Q)
25. (-) It’S The Thought That Counts, Lynn Johnston (Andrews)
26. (7) Scott Pilgrim 1, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni)
27. (-) Captain Canuck 1, Richard Comely/George Freema (IDW)
28. (-) Last Straw, Lynn Johnston (Andrews)
29. (-) Just One More Hug, Lynn Johnston (Andrews)
30. (-) Adventures of Rabbit and Bear Paws 2, Chad Solomon

Analysis: With the possible exception of Last Staw and Just One More Hug, two For Better or For Worse compilations from the 1980s, none of the books on this week’s Canadian list are new to the list. All have appeared on the list at least once sometime over the previous 12 months. Conclusion? No new major Canadian comics are being published. We are in the doldrums. At this point you would think at least one English-language graphic novel by a Canadian would be published per week, but 52 graphic novels a year is a little too much to ask, I guess. I know this list isn’t the most accurate guide to popularity, sales or even, in general, what’s out there. But still, I wish there was more variety, more quantity, more quality. And that the buying and reading public would appreciate same.

Also, outside of Watchmen, the only superhero book on either the international or Canadian list is Capt. Canuck.

(note: previous rank in parentheses)
—–

Please feel free to comment or email about these lists.

14.Jan.2010 2009 in Review

2009: The Year in Review

by Bryan Munn

Well, here we are a few weeks into 2010 and our annual look back at the past year in Canadian comics news as seen through the Sequential blog. This time around, a shorter review than 2008.

2009 was an eventful year for us at Sequential. Although Max and I both had lots going on with outside projects (little things like relationships, paying the bills, and staying sane), we did our best to keep our fingers on the passionate pulse of comics, as well as maybe contributing in a small way to the overall flow.

The year started with the news that long-running French-language Mensuhell was closing down; in February, we found out that Canadian artists make peanuts; in March, we learned that Guy Delisle was in Israel for his next book; and on and on. (You take a month-by-month tour of Sequential by checking out the links in the sidebar.)

May was the Toronto Comics Arts Festival and for this event we published the first print issue of Sequential, a landmark for this site that hopefully contributed to the discussion in this country and internationally about our favourite artform. Sequential was also on hand for the Toronto Word on the Street event in September, shining our brilliant spotlight on new work by Evan Munday, Willow Dawson, and Jeff Lemire. Hopefully, we’ve helped get the word out about some worthwhile comics over the past year, be they digital or print, free or not-so-free.

For all the talk of recession and economic hard times, the actual effect on the business of comics and comics sales has been hard to gauge in Canada. I’m sure individual retailers have a handle on the numbers, but for the most part, they aren’t talking. Besides a spate of store closings, the news has largely been balanced out with tales of new openings and generally rosy reports from the convention floors. In other retail news, we had comic shop owners as alleged voyeurs and eternally optimistic promoters. (label: comics retailers)

Despite lingering and urgent (I kid, I think) international economic questions such as the pricing controversy, overall, the major comics news of 2009 is that there are so many comics still being published. The predicted apocalypse of print hasn’t seemed to find the publishers of Canadian graphic novels. Conundrum Press and Mecanique Generale are still pumping out small runs of new books by interesting young talents, people still make minicomics, and hundreds of people still work as cartoonists, writers, and artists of some sort in the comics biz. Graphic novels are still a hot publishing story and many Canadians remain at the forefront of the artform. Which brings us to…

1. Newsmaker of the Year: The Cartoonist Seth

Rather than countdown a list of top stories, I’ve tried to choose one story that exemplifies the kind of year it was in comics and Seth fits the bill both because of the amount of coverage he received this past year and what that says about the current state of affairs. Now, as a friend of the artist (full disclosure) as well as fan, I’m tempted to discount the impact he continues to have on comics, but thinking and writing about the subject as I do on an almost daily basis for Sequential, I find it hard to deny that, far and away, 2009 was Seth’s year. A book of the year in George Sprott, combined with several important design and reprint projects, and a touring art show, made it hard to ignore the cartoonist and his work. To begin with, Seth had a monster critically-acclaimed graphic novel on his hands with George Sprott: 1894-1975. Originally serialized in the New York Times, the episodic story of the final hours in the life of an obscure 1970s Canadian television host was expanded into a much longer (and larger) book that had everyone singing its praises. My views on the book are already on record, but the book also made many best of year and best of decade lists, became a relative bestseller, and was well-reviewed in the mainstream press. The subtext of all this attention is that Seth is currently one of the more exciting cartoonists internationally and the attention given to this book really functions as a sort of barometer for the success of graphic novels in general and Canadian comics in particular. The triumph of George Sprott is also the triumph, for better or for worse, of the narrative of Seth as the ne plus ultra of Canadian cartooning: just as Ernie Bushmiller’s Nancy became the dictionary definition of comic strip, so too has Seth come to stand for the entirety of the artform in this country. Is his prominence a bad thing for comics? As a spokesman for comic art and ambassador of the Canadian graphic novel, Seth is an articulate double-threat, but his cred often seems to eclipse younger artists and points of view, especially for mainstream journos and lazy bloggers (mea culpa). On the other hand, his position has made him an enthusiastic and effective champion of new comics he finds deserving and for causes, like last year’s Skim controversy, that require an outspoken (and Seth can be very outspoken) figurehead or ringleader. Furthermore, his dedication to all aspects of comic art, beyond his own output, has guaranteed that the disdained and neglected work of several generations of cartoonists has become part of our current cultural dialogue, in turn inspiring and educating modern readers and creators. And I’m not just talking about what something like the Wright Awards, co-founded by Seth, does to highlight the work of young cartoonists. Witness also the ongoing Peanuts repackaging and the new John Stanley Library from D+Q –if not for Seth, would we even be tempted to consider Thirteen Going on Eighteen as one of the greatest comic book series ever? And let’s not forget the ultimate example and vindication of Seth’s diligent advocacy over the past decade, the Collected Doug Wright, a project that neatly sums up of many of Seth’s characteristic strengths and preoccupations, including his cultural nationalism, his care in design and love of great cartooning.

Whether you view his own thoughtful, painstakingly beautiful comics and larger than life character as artistic genius, as carefully cultivated careerism, or a mixture of both, there’s no denying that Seth prismatically represents the current state of comics in Canada. If Seth didn’t exist, it would be necessary to invent him, if only so we could talk about the rise of the newest generation of Canadian comics superstars like Jeff Lemire and Bryan Lee O’Malley.

(search “Seth” or “Sprott” at Sequential)

2. Awards

Following last year’s debacle over the Skim graphic novel and the Governor General’s Awards, it was heartening to see the French-language GN Harvey, by Herve Bouchard and artist Janice Nadeau win a GG this year. Elsewhere, a wonderful group of books and creators were the recipients of some of Canadian comics’ highest honours. Looking back, it seems we somehow missed reporting on several awards.

First, the Prix Bedelys. They used to have a crappy website, but now they have a blog of sorts so maybe I can keep better track. The 10th annual edition of these prizes, awarding Quebec comics, were handed out in May. There are four categories. The Albert Chartier reprint collection, Une piquant petite brunette won the Bedelys Quebec prize. $1000 was given to Chartier’s daughter. France’s Etienne Davodeau won the Bedelys Gold for his Lulu Femme Nue, Volume 1. Zarli’s Dragon Blanc, volume 2 won the Bedelys youth prize. And the defunct anthology comic Mensuhell, edited by Francis Hervieux, won the Bedelys Fanzine prize.

Although we hyped the Wright Awards and had lots of TCAF links, we never did actually report on the winners. I feel extra guilty about this because I was one of the awards organizers and was on the nomination committee (full disclosure). I try to keep the reporting of Wright Awards news at an objective arms length but I guess this time I kept it too far out there. Anyway, for the record, the winners of this year’s trophies were Skim, by Jillian & Mariko Tamaki (Best Book); Kate Beaton (Best Emerging Talent); and Matthew Forsythe’s Ojingogo (Pigskin Peters Award). Full release at the website.

Ditto the Expozine Prize. At first I thought we missed it, but the prize for the books collected at the most recent Expozine won’t be decided until March. Last year’s prize (2008) was announced on March 3, 2009 in Montreal.

In editorial cartooning, the top policart of the year was the Ottawa Citizen’s Cam Cardow, who won the National Newspaper Award in that category. The other two finalists were Brian Gable and John Lartner.

Luckily, we did manage to report on the Shusters and Bedeis Causa.

Prix Bedeis Causa Winners

Shuster Awards Winners

3. Bestsellers

The Sequential Bestseller List is a semi-weekly attempt at giving you a snapshot of what is popular in bookstores across the country. Using numbers from bookmanager.com, the list ranks Canadian comics in terms of sales through independent bookstores and some comics shops. Outside of Amazon and Chapters ranks or Diamond sales (which don’t separate Canadian from U.S. sales), these rankings are the only publicly accessible indicators of graphic novel and comics sales we have. This past year, lots of manga, Lynn Johnston, Watchmen, newspaper strip collections, and the occasional breakout Canadian book like the Scott Pilgrim series, Red, Skim, and the perennial fave Louis Riel all took turns at the top of the list. (label: bestsellers)

4. Passages

(label: obituaries)

Sadly, several comics professionals left us during the past year. We end our overview of 2009 with a final look back at these passages.

Roy Carless, 1920-2009. Working class editorial cartoonist from Hamilton.

Bruno Laporte, 1964-2009. Montreal cartoonist and proponent of Quebec bande dessinee.

Bob Muirhead, 1943-2009. Editorial cartoonist for the BC Salmon Arm Observer.

Martin Vaughn-James, 1943-2009. Emigre artist created several avant garde graphic novels in Canada.

23.Dec.2009 Canadian Bestsellers: December 23

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) Zombie Survival Guide, Max Brooks (Crown)
2. (10) Watchmen, Moore/Gibbons (DC)
3. (8) Zombies: A Record of the Year of Infection, Roff et al (Chronicle)
4. (-) Garfield 47, Davis et al (Random House)
5. (11) Asterix and Obelix Birthday, Uderzo (Orion)
6. (6) Logicomix, Apostolos Doxiadis et al (Bloomsbury)
7. (5) Naruto 46, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
8. (3) Bleach 29, Tite Kubo (VIZ)
9. (4) Manga Mutiny, Hidenori Kumai/Kozumi Shinozawa (Tyndale)
10. (29) Maus 1, Spiegelman (Knopf)
—–
11. (17) Garfield 3 Pack, Davis et al (Random)
12. (18) Hobbit GN, Tolkien et al (Harper Collins)
13. (-) Asterix Olympics, Goscinny & Uderzo (Orion)
14. (-) Red: A Haida Manga, Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas (Douglas & McIntyre)
15. (-) Fahrenheit 451, Tim Hamilton et al (FSG)
16. (9) Book of Genesis, Robert Crumb (WW Norton)
17. (26) Stitches, David Small (M&S)
18. (12) Celebrating Peanuts: 60 Years, Charles Schulz (Andrews McMeel)
19. (30) Naruto 2, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
20. (1) Vampire Knight 8, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
—–
21. (-) Naruto 4, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
22. (21) B is for Beer, Tom Robbins (Garper Collins)
23. (7) Louis Riel, Brown (D+Q)
24. (-) Evil Cats, Elia Anie (Headline)
25. (-) Tales from the Crypt 8, Kinney et al (Papercutz)
26. (-) Complete Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi (Knopf)
27. (-) Batman: Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader, Gaiman et al (DC)
28. (-) Asterios Polyp, David Mazzucchelli (Knopf)
29. (-) Sandman: Preludes Nocturns, Gaiman et al (DC)
30. (14) Black Cross, Greg Iles (New American Library)

Analysis: Well, you take a week off, and big changes happen. Plus, some Christmas perennials peep up and a mini-Gaiman tour.

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.

Sequential’s All-Canadian Top 30 from BookManager

1. (3) Red: A Haida Manga, Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas (Douglas & McIntyre)
2. (1) Louis Riel, Chester Brown (D+Q)
3. (15) Senior’s Discount, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
4. (5) Skim, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
5. (10) Hot Potatoe: Fine Ahtwerks, Marc Bell (D+Q)
6. (2) Home Sweat Home, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
7. (7) Scott Pilgrim 1, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni)
8. (13) Scott Pilgrim 4, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni)
9. (4) Scott Pilgrim 3, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni)
10. (6) George Sprott, Seth (D+Q)
—–
11. (12) The Plain Janes, Castelucci/Rugg (Minx/DC)
12. (9) Big Foot, Graham Roumieu (Plume)
13. (21) Scott Pilgrim 5, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni)
14. (8) Scott Pilgrim 2, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni)
15. (14) It’s a Good Life, If You Don’t Weaken, Seth (D+Q)
16. (-) I Never Liked You, C. Brown (D+Q)
17. (29) Essex County, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
18. (16) Ojingogo, Matthew Forsythe (D+Q)
19. (-) Nurma Chronicles, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
20. (17) Pyongyang, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
—–
21. (27) the great hopeful someday, Elizabeth Belliveau (Conundrum)
22. (-) Important Artifacts, Leanne Shapton (FSG)
23. (24) Wimbledon Green, Seth (D+Q)
24. (11) The Hipless Boy, Sully (Conundrum)
25. (30) Nightschool 1, Svetlana Chmakova (Yen)
26. (19) Collected Doug Wright 1, Doug Wright (D+Q)
27. (23) Rabbit and Bear Paws 1, Solomon (Lone Pine)
28. (20) The Big 5-0, Lynn Johnston (Andrews)
29. (22) Back and Forth, Marta Chudolinska (Porcupine’s Quill)
30. (26) Drop-In, Dave Lapp (Conundrum)

(note: previous rank in parentheses)
—–

Please feel free to comment or email about these lists.

08.Dec.2009 Canadian Bestsellers: December 8

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)
—–
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)
—–
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)
—–
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)
—–
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)
—–

*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.

01.Dec.2009 Canadian Bestsellers: December 1

compiled/edited by B. Munn

Back after a one-week break!

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. (1) Zombie Survival Guide, Max Brooks (Crown)
2. (3) Vampire Knight 8, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
3. (2) Naruto 46, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
4. (-) Logicomix, Apostolos Doxiadis et al (Bloomsbury)
5. (19) Manga Mutiny, Hidenori Kumai/Kozumi Shinozawa (Tyndale)
6. (-) Bleach 29, Tite Kubo (VIZ)
7. (5) Rosario + Vampire 10, Akihisa Ikeda (VIZ)
8. (7) Watchmen, Moore/Gibbons (DC)
9. (6) Zombies: A Record of the Year of Infection, Roff et al (Chronicle)
10. (4) Negima! 24, Ken Akamatsu (Random House)
—–
11. (9) Book of Genesis, Robert Crumb (WW Norton)
12. (-) Asterix and Obelix Birthday, Uderzo (Orion)
13. (16) Fullmetal Alchemist 20, Hiromu Arakawa (VIZ)
14. (-) Naruto 1, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
15. (-) Naruto 2, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
16. (-) Celebrating Peanuts 60 Years, Schulz (Andrews)
17. (8) Black Bird 2, Kanoko Sakurakoji (VIZ)
18. (-) Louis Riel, Brown (D+Q)
19. (24) Garfield 47, Davis et al (Random House)
20. (-) Tales from the Crypt 8, Maia Kinney-Petrucha et al (Papercutz)
—–
21. (-) Maximum Ride 2, James Patterson et al (Orbit)
22. (-) Naruto 45, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
23. (-) Vampire Knight 1, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
24. (28) Naruto 43, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
25. (-) Garfield 3 Pack, Davis et al (Random)
26. (-) V for Vendetta, Moore/Lloyd (DC)
27. (29) Death Note 2, Tsugumi Ohba/Takeshi Obata (VIZ)
28. (26) Death Note 1, Tsugumi Ohba/Takeshi Obata (VIZ)
29. (-) Asterix the Gaul, Goscinny/Uderzo (Orion)
30. (-) Asterix Olympics, Goscinny/Uderzo (Orion)

Well, you take a week off, alot can happen, y’know?

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: The “Seth Signing Tour Effect” lingers and Lynn Johnston begins her annual “Holiday gift-book buying” charge up the charts.

Sequential’s All-Canadian Top 30 from BookManager

1. (3) Louis Riel, Chester Brown (D+Q)
2. (2) Skim, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
3. (1) Red: A Haida Manga, Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas (Douglas & McIntyre)
4. (4) The Hipless Boy, Sully (Conundrum)
5. (17) Senior’s Discount, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
6. (7) It’s a Good Life, If You Don’t Weaken, Seth (D+Q)
7. (24) The Plain Janes, Castelucci/Rugg (Minx/DC)
8. (-) Ojingogo, Matthew Forsythe (D+Q)
9. (11) Big Foot, Graham Roumieu (Plume)
10. (6) George Sprott, Seth (D+Q)
—–
11. (9) Pyongyang, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
12. (8) Hot Potatoe: Fine Ahtwerks, Marc Bell (D+Q)
13. (23) In Me Own Words, Graham Roumieu (Plume)
14. (29) The Nobody, Jeff Lemire (DC/Vertigo)
15. (12) Wimbledon Green, Seth (D+Q)
16. (14) Collected Doug Wright 1, Doug Wright (D+Q)
17. (25) the great hopeful someday, Elizabeth Belliveau (Conundrum)
18. (30) Important Artifacts, Leanne Shapton (Farrar, Strauss + Giroux)
19. (21) Scott Pilgrim 5, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni)
20. (10) Scott Pilgrim 3, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni)
—–
21. (26) Scott Pilgrim 4, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni)
22. (-) Clyde Fans Bk 1, Seth (D+Q)
23. (28) Essex County, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
24. (13) Nightschool 1, Svetlana Chmakova (Yen)
25. (16) Drop-In, Dave Lapp (Conundrum)
26. (18) Scott Pilgrim 1, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni)
27. (27) Scott Pilgrim 2, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni)
28. (-) I Never Liked You, Chester Brown (D+Q)
29. (-) The Big 5-0, Lynn Johnston (Andrews)
30. (15) The Burma Chronicles, Guy Delisle (D+Q)

(note: previous rank in parentheses)
—–
Please feel free to comment or email about these lists.

17.Nov.2009 Canadian Bestsellers: November 17

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. (1) Zombie Survival Guide, Max Brooks (Crown)
2. (3) Naruto 46, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
3. (5) Vampire Knight 8, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
4. (2) Negima! 24, Ken Akamatsu (Random House)
5. (14) Rosario + Vampire 10, Akihisa Ikeda (VIZ)
6. (4) Zombies: A Record of the Year of Infection, Roff et al (Chronicle)
7. (6) Watchmen, Moore/Gibbons (DC)
8. (10) Black Bird 2, Kanoko Sakurakoji (VIZ)
9. (9) Book of Genesis, Robert Crumb (WW Norton)
10. (15) Tsubasa 23, Clamp (Random House)
—–
11. (13) Tsubasa 24, Clamp (Random House)
12. (21) Ouran High School 13, Bisco Hatori (VIZ)
13. (-) Otomen 4 , Aya Kanno (VIZ)
14. (11) Black Bird 1, Kanoko Sakurakoji (VIZ)
15. (7) Red: A Haida Manga, Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas (Douglas & McIntyre)
16. (8) Fullmetal Alchemist 20, Hiromu Arakawa (VIZ)
17. (20) Vampire Knight 7, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
18. (22) Maus 1, Spiegelman (Knopf)
19. (-) Manga Mutiny, Hidenori Kumai/Kozumi Shinozawa (Tyndale)
20. (17) Pokemon 1, Shigekatsu Ihara (VIZ)
—–
21. (-) Death Note 3, Tsugumi Ohba/Takeshi Obata (VIZ)
22. (-) Bloody Kiss Volume 2, Furumiya Kazuko (Tokyopop)
23. (-) High School Debut 12, Kazune Kawahara (VIZ)
24. (18) Garfield 47, Davis et al (Random House)
25. (-) xxxHOLiC 14, Clamp (Random House)
26. (-) Death Note 1, Tsugumi Ohba/Takeshi Obata (VIZ)
27. (12) Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, Tim Hamilton (Farrar, Strauus & Giroux)
28. (-) Naruto 43, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
29. (-) Death Note 2, Tsugumi Ohba/Takeshi Obata (VIZ)
30. (-) Fables 12, Alred, et al (DC/Vertigo)

Comment: Only one Canadian book in the top 30?

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: The “Seth Signing Tour Effect” lingers and Lynn Johnston begins her annual “Holiday gift-book buying” charge up the charts.

Sequential’s All-Canadian Top 30 from BookManager

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

(note: previous rank in parentheses)
—–
Please feel free to comment or email about these lists.

10.Nov.2009 Canadian Bestsellers: November 10

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. (1) Zombie Survival Guide, Max Brooks (Crown)
2. (-) Negima! 24, Ken Akamatsu (Random House)
3. (2) Naruto 46, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
4. (6) Zombies: A Record of the Year of Infection, Roff et al (Chronicle)
5. (-) Vampire Knight 8, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
6. (3) Watchmen, Moore/Gibbons (DC)
7. (4) Red: A Haida Manga, Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas (Douglas & McIntyre)
8. (14) Fullmetal Alchemist 20, Hiromu Arakawa (VIZ)
9. (5) Book of Genesis, Robert Crumb (WW Norton)
10. (-) Black Bird 2, Kanoko Sakurakoji (VIZ)
—–
11. (28) Black Bird 1, Kanoko Sakurakoji (VIZ)
12. (-) Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, Tim Hamilton (Farrar, Strauus & Giroux)
13. (-) Tsubasa 24, Clamp (Random House)
14. (-) Rosario + Vampire 10, Akihisa Ikeda (VIZ)
15. (-) Tsubasa 23, Clamp (Random House)
16. (7) Rosario + Vampire 9, Akihisa Ikeda (VIZ)
17. (8) Pokemon 1, Shigekatsu Ihara (VIZ)
18. (-) Garfield 47, Davis et al (Random House)
19. (9) Complete Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi (Knopf)
20. (15) Vampire Knight 7, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
—–
21. (-) Ouran High School 13, Bisco Hatori (VIZ)
22. (10) Maus 1, Spiegelman (Knopf)
23. (11) Louis Riel, Chester Brown (D+Q)
24. (20) Shugo Chara! 7, Peach Pit (Random House)
25. (-) Asterix the Gaul, Uderzo/Goscinny (Orion)
26. (-) Fruits Basket 23, Takaya NAtsuki (Tokyopop)
27. (-) Vampire Knight 1, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
28. (13) Garfield Fat Cat 3-Pack, Davis et al (Random House)
29. (-) Akira 1, Katsuhiro Otomo (Random House)
30. (-) Camilla d’Errico’s Burn, Camilla d’Errico/Scott Sanders (Simon Shuster)

Comment: Only one Naruto in the top 30?

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. This list does not include books that are only illustrated but not written/created-by Canadians.

This week: some new additions and old faces. I can’t help but wonder if the sudden jump for Seth’s “It’s a Good Life” isn’t related to his appearance at the D+Q store last week.

Sequential’s All-Canadian Top 30 from BookManager

1. (-) Red: A Haida Manga, Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas (Douglas & McIntyre)
2. (1) Louis Riel, Chester Brown (D+Q)
3. (2) Skim, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
4. (5) George Sprott, Seth (D+Q)
5. (4) Big Foot, Graham Roumieu (Plume)
6. (16) It’s a Good Life, If You Don’t Weaken, Seth (D+Q)
7. (6) The Plain Janes, Castelucci/Rugg (Minx/DC)
8. (12) Rabbit and Bear Paws 2: The Voyageurs, Chad Solomon (Lone Pine)
9. (13) Senior’s Discount, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
10. (18) Pyongyang, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
—–
11. (8) The Hipless Boy, Sully (Conundrum)
12. (7) Scott Pilgrim 5, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni)
13. (15) In Me Own Words, Graham Roumieu (Plume)
14. (20) The Burma Chronicles, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
15. (9) the great hopeful someday, Elizabeth Belliveau (Conundrum)
16. (24) Drop-In, Dave Lapp (Conundrum)
17. (10) Scott Pilgrim 4, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni)
18. (11) Scott Pilgrim 1, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni)
19. (14) Scott Pilgrim 3, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni)
20. (17) Nightschool 1, Svetlana Chmakova (Yen)
—–
21. (19) Home Sweat Home, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
22. (21) Scott Pilgrim 2, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni)
23. (22) Essex County, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
24. (23) Doug Wright: Canada’s Master Cartoonist, Doug Wright (D+Q)
25. (25) Rabbit and Bear Paws 1, Chad Solomon, Lone Pine
26. (29) The Nobody, Jeff Lemire (DC/Vertigo)
27. (-) Back + Forth: A Novel in 90 Linocuts, Marta Chudolinska (Porcupine’s Quill)
28. (26) Important Artifacts, Leanne Shapton (Farrar, Strauss + Giroux)
29. (-) Middle-Age Spread, Lynn Johnston (Andrews MacMeel)
30. (27) The Big 5-0, Lynn Johnston (Andrews MacMeel)

(previous rank in parentheses)
—–
Please feel free to comment or email about these lists.

03.Nov.2009 Red Jumps to the top of Bookmanager sales lists

Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas most recent book Red is the #1 best seller this month…

Canadian Bestsellers: We’re Back!

compiled/edited by B. Munn

Our first list since the end of Summer. Whew. I forgot how time-consuming this thing is.

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. Zombie Survival Guide, Max Brooks (Crown)
2. Naruto 46, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
3. Watchmen, Moore/Gibbons (DC)
4. Red: A Haida Manga, Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas (Douglas & McIntyre)
5. Book of Genesis, Robert Crumb (WW Norton)
6. Zombies: A Record of the Year of Infection, Roff et al (Chronicle)
7. Rosario + Vampire 9, Akihisa Ikeda (VIZ)
8. Pokemon 1, Shigekatsu Ihara (VIZ)
9. Complete Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi (Knopf)
10. Maus 1, Spiegelman (Knopf)
—–
11. Louis Riel, Chester Brown (D+Q)
12. Naruto 38, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
13. Garfield Fat Cat 3-Pack, Davis et al (Random House)
14. Fullmetal Alchemist 20, Hiromu Arakawa (VIZ)
15. Vampire Knight 7, Matsuri Hino (VIZ)
16. Naruto 41, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
17. Bleach 1, Tite Kubo (VIZ)
18. Naruto 42, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
19. Skim, Mariko and Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
20. Shugo Chara! 7, Peach Pit (Random House)
—–
21. Halo Encyclopedia (DK)
22. Fruits Basket 21, Takaya NAtsuki (Tokyopop)
23. Naruto 45, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
24. Pokemon 2, Shigekatsu Ihara (VIZ)
25. Naruto 37, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
26. Bleach 28, Tite Kubo (VIZ)
27. The Hobbit, Tolkien et al (Harper Collins)
28. Black Bird 1, Kanoko Sakurakoji (VIZ)
29. One Piece 22, Eiichrio Oda (VIZ)
30. Naruto 1, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)

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. This list does not include books that are only illustrated but not written/created-by Canadians.

Sequential’s All-Canadian Top 30 from BookManager

1. (-) Red: A Haida Manga, Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas (Douglas & McIntyre)
2. (1) Louis Riel, Chester Brown (D+Q)
3. (2) Skim, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
4. (5) Big Foot, Graham Roumieu (Plume)
5. (3) George Sprott, Seth (D+Q)
6. (-) The Plain Janes, Castelucci/Rugg (Minx/DC)
7. (20) Scott Pilgrim 5, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni)
8. (-) The Hipless Boy, Sully (Conundrum)
9. (12) the great hopeful someday, Elizabeth Belliveau (Conundrum)
10. (17) Scott Pilgrim 4, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni)
—–
11. (-) Scott Pilgrim 1, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni)
12. (4) Rabbit and Bear Paws 2: The Voyageurs, Chad Solomon (Lone Pine)
13. (-) Senior’s Discount, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
14. (-) Scott Pilgrim 3, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni)
15. (-) In Me Own Words, Graham Roumieu (Plume)
16. (-) It’s a Good Life, If You Don’t Weaken, Seth (D+Q)
17. (8) Nightschool 1, Svetlana Chmakova (Yen)
18. (7) Pyongyang, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
19. (-) Home Sweat Home, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
20. (6) The Burma Chronicles, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
—–
21. (19) Scott Pilgrim 2, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni)
22. (-) Essex County, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
23. (16) Doug Wright: Canada’s Master Cartoonist, Doug Wright (D+Q)
24. (-) Drop-In, Dave Lapp (Conundrum)
25. (-) Rabbit and Bear Paws 1, Chad Solomon, Lone Pine
26. (9) Important Artifacts, Leanne Shapton (Farrar, Strauss + Giroux)
27. (-) The Big 5-0, Lynn Johnston (Andrews MacMeel)
28. (-) Captain Canuck 1, Richard Comeley et al (IDW)
29. (11) The Nobody, Jeff Lemire (DC/Vertigo)
30. (-) Papercut Heart, Ian Sullivan Cant (Conundrum)

(previous rank in parentheses)
—–
Please feel free to comment or email about these lists.

01.Sep.2009 The C-List: End of the Month Critically-Lauded Clearance

I’m going to try to shift the format of the C-List from straight, slightly ironic linkage to Canadian comics news stories to a more critical, slightly ironic, perhaps meatier linkage to Canadian comics news stories, but in the meantime, and because I basically took the summer off, here’s one last kick at the can, Beta-style:

Item: Jeff Lemire, creator of 3 critically-lauded comics in the past year, is interviewed.

Item: Veteran critical laud-er Brad Mackay takes a big flying smooch at one of the most critically lauded American graphic novels of the year, Asterios Polyp.

Item: Speaking of critically-lauded, Dave Lapp’s Drop-In graphic novel gets some lauding action at the Montreal Review of Books.

Item: The critically-lauded Watchmen graphic novel tops Booknet’s bestseller list of comics and GNs for the last 2 weeks of August, according to Quill and Quire. The list pretty-well matches that of the Bookmanager list that I use for Canadian bestsellers, with the exception of Maus and a couple of Garfield collections.

Item: Oh yeah, Disney bought Marvel for $4 billion. Critically-lauded satirist Steve Murray got the memo at the National Post.

31.Aug.2009 Canadian Bestsellers: August Update Edition

compiled/edited by B. Munn

Our third truncated list for the Summer Time. Normally, I compile a weekly list of Top 30 overall and Top 30 by Canadian creators bestselling comic books. I just don’t have the time lately, so I’ve decided to offer an infrequent, shorter version of the weekly list.

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.

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. This list does not include books that are only illustrated but not written/created-by Canadians.

Sequential’s All-Canadian Top 20 from BookManager
1. (4) Louis Riel, Chester Brown (D+Q)
2. (2) Skim, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
3. (6) George Sprott, Seth (D+Q)
4. (-) Rabbit and Bear Paws 2: The Voyageurs, Chad Solomon, Little Spirit Bear
5. (5) Big Foot, Graham Roumieu (Plume)
6. (12) The Burma Chronicles, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
7. (-) Pyongyang, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
8. (13) Nightschool 1, Svetlana Chmakova (Yen)
9. (-) Important Artifacts, Leanne Shapton (Farrar, Strauss + Giroux)
10. (11) Essex County 3, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
—–
11. (-) The Nobody, Jeff Lemire (DC)
12. (15) the great hopeful someday, Elizabeth Belliveau (Conundrum)
13. (-) Rabbit and Bear Paws 1, Chad Solomon, Little Spirit Bear
14. (9) Milk Teeth, Julie Morstad (D+Q)
15. (17) Pohadky, Marek Colek Pat Shewchuck (D+Q)
16. (1) Doug Wright: Canada’s Master Cartoonist, Doug Wright (D+Q)
17. (-) Scott Pilgrim 4, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni)
18. (-) Essex County 1, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
19. (-) Scott Pilgrim 2, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni)
20. (7) Scott Pilgrim 5, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni)

(previous rank in parentheses)
—–
Please feel free to comment or email about these lists.

18.Jun.2009 Canadian Bestsellers: Summer Solstice Edition

compiled/edited by B. Munn

Our second truncated list for the Summer Time. Normally, I compile a list of Top 30 overall and Top 30 by Canadian creators bestselling comic books. I just don’t have the time lately, so I’ve decided to offer an infrequent, shorter version of the weekly list. If you are still jonesin’ for a mainstream bestseller list, the Globe and Mail offered a list of graphic novels this past week that included all the usual suspects (Buffy, Wolverine, Naruto).

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. (The other day, George Sprott was #10 on amazon.ca). See here for our previous list.

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. This list does not include books that are only illustrated but not written/created-by Canadians.

Sequential’s All-Canadian Top 20 from BookManager

1. (1) Doug Wright: Canada’s Master Cartoonist, Doug Wright (D+Q)
2. (5) Skim, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
3. (10) Home Sweat Home, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
4. (2) Louis Riel, Chester Brown (D+Q)
5. (6) Big Foot, Graham Roumieu (Plume)
6. (4) George Sprott, Seth (D+Q)
7. (7) Scott Pilgrim 5, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni)
8. (13) Senior’s Discount, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
9. (-) Milk Teeth, Julie Morstad (D+Q)
10. (3) Plain Janes, Castelucci/Rugg (Minx/DC)
—–
11. (-) Essex County 3, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
12. (11) The Burma Chronicles, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
13. (9) Nightschool 1, Svetlana Chmakova (Yen)
14. (12) Ojingogo, Matt Forsythe (D+Q)
15. (8) the great hopeful someday, Elizabeth Belliveau (Conundrum)
16. (14) Scott Pilgrim 3, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni)
17. (-) Pohadky, Marek Colek Pat Shewchuck (D+Q)
18. (-) Papercut Heart, Ian Sullivan Cant (Conundrum)
19. (-) Never Wink at a Worried Woman, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
20. (-) Baloney, Pascal Blanchet (D+Q)

(last week’s rank in parentheses)
—–
Please feel free to comment or email about these lists.

05.Jun.2009 Sequential Bestsellers: Shorter Version

compiled/edited by B. Munn

A truncated list for the Summer Time. Normally, I compile a list of Top 30 overall and Top 30 by Canadian creators bestselling comic books. I just don’t have the time lately, so I’ve decided to offer an infrequent, shorter version of the weekly list.

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.

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. This list does not include books that are only illustrated but not written/created-by Canadians.

Sequential’s All-Canadian Top 20 from BookManager

1. (3) Doug Wright: Canada’s Master Cartoonist, Doug Wright (D+Q)
2. (1) Louis Riel, Chester Brown (D+Q)
3. (6) Plain Janes, Castelucci/Rugg (Minx/DC)
4. (-) George Sprott, Seth (D+Q)
5. (2) Skim, Mariko Tamaki/Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
6. (5) Big Foot, Graham Roumieu (Plume)
7. (7) Scott Pilgrim 5, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni)
8. (30) the great hopeful someday, Elizabeth Belliveau (Conundrum)
9. (4) Nightschool 1, Svetlana Chmakova (Yen)
10. (8) Home Sweat Home, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
—–
11. (9) The Burma Chronicles, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
12. (14) Ojingogo, Matt Forsythe (D+Q)
13. (8) Senior’s Discount, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
14. (11) Scott Pilgrim 3, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni)
15. (12) Pyongyang, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
16. (24) Essex County 2, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
17. (-) Scott Pilgrim 4, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni)
18. (11) Scott Pilgrim 1, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni)
19. (22) It’s a Good Life…, Seth (D+Q)
20. (15) Kaspar, Diane Obomsawin (D+Q)

—–
Please feel free to comment or email about these lists.

19.May.2009 Sequential Bestsellers: May 20 (Spring Books Edition)

compiled/edited by B. Munn

We took a bit of 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.

Anyway, 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)
—–
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) Naruto 35, Masashi Kishimoto (VIZ)
24. (28) 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)
5. (4) Big Foot, Graham Roumieu (Plume)
6. (10) Plain Janes, Castelucci/Rugg (Minx/DC)
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) Essex County 2, Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
19. (9) Scott Pilgrim 4, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni)
20. (30) the great hopeful someday, Elizabeth Belliveau (Conundrum)
—–
21. (17) Middle Aged Spread, Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel)
22. (20) It’s a Good Life…, Seth (D+Q)
23. (25) Shenzhen, Guy Delisle (D+Q)
24. (27) Paul Goes Fishing, Rabagliati (D+Q)
25. (14) Scott Pilgrim 2, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni)
26. (18) Drop-In, Dave Lapp (Conundrum)
27. (16) Baloney, Pascal Blanchet (D+Q)
28. (21) Adventures of Rabbit and Bear Paws 1, Chad Solomon (Little Spirit Bear)
29. (24) Adventures of Rabbit and Bear Paws: The Voyageurs, Chad Solomon (Little Spirit Bear)
30. (-) In Me Own Words/Bigfoot, Graham Roumieu (Plume)

—–
Please feel free to comment or email about these lists.

Canadian Bestsellers: May 19 (Spring Books Edition)

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)
—–
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.

06.May.2009 Canadian Bestsellers: May 6 (TCAF Edition)

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)
—–
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)
—–
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)
—–
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)
—–
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)

—–
Please feel free to comment or email about these lists.