Amazon Top 50 - January 2, 2015

Here are the Top 50 Comics & Graphic Novels on Amazon Friday morning. See About the Amazon Top 50 Lists for more information on how this list is compiled.


1 (+6). Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant?: A Memoir
2 (R). The Essential Calvin and Hobbes (Kindle)
3 (R). The Indispensable Calvin and Hobbes (Kindle)
4 (R). The Authoritative Calvin and Hobbes (Kindle)
5 (N). Attack of the Deranged Mutant Killer Monster Snow Goons (Kindle)
6 (-5). Saga Volume 4
7 (-3). Dilbert 2015 Day-to-Day Calendar
8 (N). Homicidal Psycho Jungle Cat (Kindle)
9 (N). The Days Are Just Packed (Kindle)
10 (-). Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
11 (-6). Batman: The Killing Joke, Deluxe Edition
12 (-6). The Walking Dead Compendium Two
13 (-10). The Walking Dead Compendium One
14 (-6). The Walking Dead, Vol. 22: A New Beginning
15 (-13). How to Tell If Your Cat Is Plotting to Kill You
16 (-5). Batman: Year One
17 (R). Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic
18 (-6). Hyperbole and a Half (paperback)
19 (R). The Argyle Sweater 2015 Day-to-Day Calendar
20 (+10). Batman: Hush
21 (-6). The Terrible and Wonderful Reasons Why I Run Long Distances
22 (+11). Cartoons from The New Yorker 2015 Day-to-Day Calendar
23 (-17). Saga Volume 1
24 (-5). Watchmen
25 (+12). The Wicked + The Divine Volume 1
26 (-12). Saga Volume 2
27 (-5). V for Vendetta
28 (N). Peanuts 2015 Wall Calendar
29 (R). Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant? (Kindle)
30 (-7). Ms. Marvel Volume 1: No Normal
31 (-14). The Walking Dead, Vol. 21: All Out War, Part 2
32 (-14). Saga Deluxe Edition Volume 1
33 (-20). Saga Volume 3
34 (N). Pearls Before Swine 2015 Day-to-Day Calendar
35 (R). Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood
36 (-4). Batman: The Long Halloween
37 (+1). Sex Criminals Volume 1
38 (-17). Darth Vader and Son
39 (N). Dilbert 2015 Wall Calendar
40 (+4). Syllabus: Notes from an Accidental Professor
41 (N). The Oatmeal 2015 Wall Calendar
42 (N). Hyperbole and a Half 2015 Wall Calendar
43 (-16). Civil War
44 (R). Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art
45 (-20). Kingdom Come
46 (R). Infinity Gauntlet
47 (R). The Complete Persepolis
48 (R). The Complete Maus
49 (R). Serenity: Leaves on the Wind
50 (-24). The Walking Dead, Vol. 20: All Out War, Part 1

Items with asterisks (*) are pre-order items.

N = New listing appearing on list for first time
R = Item returning to the list after having been off for 1 or more weeks

Commentary:

• The New Year begins, and an old familiar comic returns to the top of the chart. Roz Chast's graphic memoir Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant? makes many mainstream Best of 2014 lists, and thus it makes its way to the top of the Amazon chart again.
• Also with the start of the new year we see many comics-related desk and wall calendars make the chart this week.
• Earlier in the week there was a sale on the Kindle versions of the various Calvin & Hobbes collections, which is why, even though the sale is over, the lingering effects of which brings them into the top ten on the chart this week.
• With the start of the new semester just around the corner, the industrious students have peeked ahead at their syllabi and started to order the comics they'll need for their classes. This is the bi-annual University Effect that sees books like Fun Home, Persepolis, Maus and Understanding Comics return to the chart like the swallows to Capistrano. 
• Normally during the present week I'd be compiling the annual statistics for these chart summaries to present the year-end wrap up column. However, since I'm now also doing the DC Month-to-Month sales column for The Beat and the November column is running late, that's going to take priority for the next few days. Which is to say that the Amazon annual summary column is still coming, just likely a bit later than usual.