Amazon Top 50 - May 15, 2015

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


1 (+4). The Walking Dead, Vol. 23: Whispers Into Screams
2 (-1). Civil War
3 (+3). Batman: Earth One Vol. 2
4 (-1). Batman: The Killing Joke, Deluxe Edition
5 (-3). Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
6 (-2). Infinity Gauntlet
7 (N). Rat Queens Volume 2: The Far Reaching Tentacles of N'Rygoth *
8 (+1). Marvel Encyclopedia
9 (-2). Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
10 (R). Syllabus: Notes from an Accidental Professor
11 (-3). The Walking Dead Compendium One
12 (+2). Darth Vader and Son
13 (+2). Vader's Little Princess
14 (+12). Goodnight Darth Vader
15 (+6). The Hedge Knight (Kindle)
16 (+1). Batman: Year One
17 (N). Injustice: Gods Among Us: Year Four #2 (Kindle)
18 (-). Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic
19 (-8). The Walking Dead Compendium Two
20 (+2). How to Tell If Your Cat Is Plotting to Kill You
21 (-1). Hyperbole and a Half (paperback)
22 (+2). Saga Volume 4
23 (-13). Batman Vol. 6: Graveyard Shift (The New 52)
24 (-8). Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant?: A Memoir
25 (+2). Ms. Marvel Volume 1: No Normal
26 (N). The Battle Begins: The Story of Creation (Kindle)
27 (N). Fables Vol. 21: Happily Ever After
28 (-16). Batman Vol. 5: Zero Year - Dark City (The New 52)
29 (-4). Batman Vol. 2: The City of Owls (The New 52)
30 (+6). Watchmen
31 (-1). Ms. Marvel Volume 2: Generation Why
32 (-1). Suicide Squad Vol. 1: Kicked in the Teeth (The New 52)
33 (-5). Batman Vol. 1: The Court of Owls (The New 52)
34 (-1). Exploring Calvin and Hobbes: An Exhibition Catalogue
35 (-6). Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe
36 (-13). Darth Vader and Friends
37 (N). Spider-Verse
38 (+11). Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood
39 (R). The Phantom Bully (Star Wars: Jedi Academy #3) *
40 (+6). The Sworn Sword (Kindle)
41 (-7). Injustice: Gods Among Us: Year Four #1 (Kindle)
42 (-). Saga Volume 3
43 (N). Thor Volume 1: Goddess of Thunder *
44 (R). Rat Queens Volume 1: Sass & Sorcery
45 (-8). Saga Volume 1
46 (R). Star Wars: Jedi Academy, Return of the Padawan
47 (N). Saga Volume 5 *
48 (-8). The Complete Calvin and Hobbes (paperback)
49 (R). Saga Volume 2
50 (-7). Plants vs Zombies: Timepocalypse

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:

• A new #1 book this week: the newest Walking Dead collection.
• The top debut this week is the second Rat Queens collection, with a somewhat surprising top ten debut.
• Also debuting this week are collections for Fables, Spider-Verse, Thor and Saga; as well as the next Kindle issue of Injustice and a sale-priced Kindle edition of a religious graphic novel: The Battle Begins: The Story of Creation.
• Since I began tracking these Amazon charts (back in 2009) it's long been a truism that Marvel have a problem selling their comics in the general book market. It may be time to reassess that alleged truism, since as of late they've been doing fairly decently: they have seven collections on the top fifty chart this week, including two in the top ten. Granted they still have some issues (like if Avengers: Age of Ultron is on its way to becoming one of the top grossing movies ever, where are the Avengers comics on this chart...?), but it looks like their days of being an also-ran are maybe over. I seem to recall in the past year or so that Marvel moved to a new book market distributor, so maybe that has something to do with it?