Monkey Covers

Sunday is Monkey Covers day here at YACB. Because there's nothing better than a comic with a monkey on the cover!

Sheena fends off a gorilla in her leopard print bathing suit on Dan Zolnerowich's cover to Sheena, Queen of the Jungle #3 (1943).

(Standard disclaimer about gorillas who attack jungle girls not really being monkeys applies.)

Image courtesy of the GCD. Click on the image for a larger version.

Amazon Top 50

Here are the Top 50 Graphic Novels on Amazon this afternoon. All the previous caveats apply.


1 (-). Diary of a Wimpy Kid 5: The Ugly Truth
2 (+5). Odd Is on Our Side (Kindle edition)
3 (-). Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood
4 (-). Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days
5 (-3). Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History
6 (-). Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Boxset
7 (+8). Dork Diaries 2 (Kindle edition)
8 (+1). The Walking Dead Compendium Volume 1
9 (+1). Dork Diaries (Kindle edition)
10 (+10). Diary of a Wimpy Kid Box of Books
11 (+1). Walking Dead Volume 13
12 (-4). Maus II: A Survivor's Tale: And Here My Troubles Began
13 (+1). Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
14 (-9). Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art
15 (+2). Big Nate: From the Top
16 (+10). Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic
17 (+1). V for Vendetta
18 (+23). The Complete Calvin and Hobbes
19 (+10). Walking Dead Volume 12
20 (+23). The Walking Dead, Vol. 10: What We Become
21 (+12). Fables Vol. 14: Witches
22 (N). Black Butler, Vol. 4
23 (+19). Superman: Earth One
24 (+8). Dork Diaries 2: Tales from a Not-So-Popular Party Girl
25 (+15). The Walking Dead Volume 11: Fear The Hunters
26 (-3). Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 1: Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life
27 (-16). Watchmen
28 (+17). Dark Tower: The Gunslinger, Vol. 1 - The Journey Begins
29 (N). Avengers, Vol. 1
30 (-9). Serenity: The Shepherd's Tale
31 (+15). Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight Volume 7: Twilight
32 (R). Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 3: Scott Pilgrim & the Infinite Sadness
33 (N). Naruto, Vol. 50
34 (+5). The Walking Dead, Vol. 9: Here We Remain
35 (-16). Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight Volume 8: Last Gleaming *
36 (-12). Scott Pilgrim Volume 6: Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour
37 (-24). American Born Chinese
38 (-11). The Long Way Home (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 8, Vol. 1)
39 (-9). Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 4: Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together
40 (-6). The Walking Dead, Book 6
41 (-5). Batman: Year One
42 (-26). 40: A Doonesbury Retrospective
43 (N). Fullmetal Alchemist, Vol. 24
44 (N). Highschool of the Dead, Vol. 1
45 (-23). Scott Pilgrim Volume 5: Scott Pilgrim vs The Universe
46 (R). The Walking Dead, Book 5
47 (-22). Batman: The Killing Joke
48 (+1). Blackest Night
49 (+1). Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 2: Scott Pilgrim Versus The World
50 (R). Dork Diaries: Tales from a Not-So-Fabulous Life


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 Wimpy Kid stays on the top once again, and slips a bit more to #67 on the overall chart.

* Odd is on Our Side (Kindle Edition) moves up to #2 on the chart and is the #661 Paid book in the Kindle Store (the print edition of Odd is gone from the chart all together).

* A couple of the college books stay strong (Maus, Persepolis) while others slip, signaling the end of the start of the term.

* The story for Scott Pilgrim remains the same as last week: The box set remains strong, while individual volumes continue to be (relatively) weak, all in the bottom half of the chart.

* Three manga titles debut this week: the latest Black Butler and Naruto; and the first Highschool of the Dead volume. It's pretty rare for a first volume of a manga series to chart.

* The bottom of the top 50 chart is a relatively healthy #2,674 overall.

Monkey Covers

Sunday is Monkey Covers day here at YACB. Because there's nothing better than a comic with a monkey on the cover!

Casper gives King Kong a fright on the cover of The Friendly Ghost, Casper #129 (1992).

(Standard disclaimer about witch-grabbing giant gorillas not really being monkeys applies.)

Image courtesy of the GCD. Click on the image for a larger version.

Amazon Top 50

Here are the Top 50 Graphic Novels on Amazon this afternoon. All the previous caveats apply.


1 (-). Diary of a Wimpy Kid 5: The Ugly Truth
2 (-). Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History
3 (+2). Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood
4 (-1). Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days
5 (+6). Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art
6 (-2). Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Boxset
7 (-1). Odd Is on Our Side (Kindle edition)
8 (+1). Maus II: A Survivor's Tale: And Here My Troubles Began
9 (-1). The Walking Dead Compendium Volume 1
10 (+3). Dork Diaries (Kindle edition)
11 (+12). Watchmen
12 (-5). Walking Dead Volume 13
13 (+11). American Born Chinese
14 (+8). Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
15 (-3). Dork Diaries 2 (Kindle edition)
16 (R). 40: A Doonesbury Retrospective
17 (+10). Big Nate: From the Top
18 (+8). V for Vendetta
19 (+25). Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight Volume 8: Last Gleaming *
20 (+9). Diary of a Wimpy Kid Box of Books
21 (-7). Serenity: The Shepherd's Tale
22 (-1). Scott Pilgrim Volume 5: Scott Pilgrim vs The Universe
23 (-7). Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 1: Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life
24 (-6). Scott Pilgrim Volume 6: Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour
25 (+7). Batman: The Killing Joke
26 (-16). Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic
27 (R). The Long Way Home (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 8, Vol. 1)
28 (N). Axe Cop Volume One
29 (+6). Walking Dead Volume 12
30 (-11). Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 4: Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together
31 (+5). The Arrival
32 (+2). Dork Diaries 2: Tales from a Not-So-Popular Party Girl
33 (-). Fables Vol. 14: Witches
34 (-6). The Walking Dead, Book 6
35 (R). Batman and Robin, Vol. 2: Batman vs. Robin
36 (+14). Batman: Year One
37 (N). New Avengers by Brian Michael Bendis, Vol. 1
38 (R). Predators and Prey (Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight, Vol. 5)
39 (-2). The Walking Dead, Vol. 9: Here We Remain
40 (-1). The Walking Dead Volume 11: Fear The Hunters
41 (-11). The Complete Calvin and Hobbes
42 (-22). Superman: Earth One
43 (-5). The Walking Dead, Vol. 10: What We Become
44 (-1). Batman: Hush
45 (-14). Dark Tower: The Gunslinger, Vol. 1 - The Journey Begins *
46 (-1). Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight Volume 7: Twilight
47 (N). Secret Avengers, Vol. 1: Mission to Mars
48 (-). The Walking Dead Book 2
49 (-). Blackest Night
50 (-35). Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 2: Scott Pilgrim Versus The World


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 Wimpy Kid stays on the top once again, and slips a bit more to #56 on the overall chart.

* The bi-annual college course assault on the chart continues; Understanding Comics moves into the top 10, Watchmen & American Born Chinese move up, but Fun Home takes a bit of a tumble.

* The Scott Pilgrim Box Set remains strong, but individual volumes separate and fall; vol. 2 all the way down to #50 (#2,830 overall), and vol. 3 off of the chart all together.

* Dead Watch: Just seven Walking Dead collections in the top 50 this week, down one from last week.

* Axe Cop is the highest debut this week, and two of Marvel's Avengers hardcovers show up as well.

Amazon Top 50 of 2010: Graphs

It's a little later than I promised, but here are a few graphs looking at the position of some series on the Amazon Top 50 charts during 2010:

(You should be able to click on a graph to get a larger version.)

(Remember, a title in position 1 on the chart gets a score of 50, so higher number = higher on the graph = better.)

Scott Pilgrim:

This graph is fairly typical for a franchise with a movie based on it. Interest in Scott Pilgrim starts in March, then intensifies in June. Unfortunately, June is also when Amazon decides to reclassify vols 4 & 5 as not being graphic novels for a time. A sizable discount keeps interest high through the autumn, until November when prices return to normal Amazon levels and interest softens a bit.


Diary of a Wimpy Kid:

This graph is for the raining king of Amazon graphic novels, Diary of a Wimpy Kid.This was another franchise that was a victim of an Amazon reclassification, as three of the titles disappear in late April. Volume 5 was introduced as a pre-order in March, and by August it was ensconced at the top of the chart where it has stuck around ever since.


The Walking Dead:

The Walking Dead got a big boost from the television series. Unlike our previous two franchises, there are many more collected volumes and many more ways of purchasing the same story (trade paperbacks, hardcovers, and the compendium). Thus we see the growing interest taking the form of a greater density of titles on the chart, even as no single volume ever dominates.


Maus:

Finally here's Maus. Even with its collected editions over twenty years old, it gets periodic interest in January and September due to its widespread use as a text in college courses.

Monkey Covers

Sunday is Monkey Covers day here at YACB. Because there's nothing better than a comic with a monkey on the cover!

Archie and Jughead are trapped by a gorilla in a phone booth on Stan Goldberg's cover to Archie's Story & Game Digest Magazine #23 (1992).

(Standard disclaimer about escaped gorillas not really being monkeys applies.)

Image courtesy of the GCD. Click on the image for a larger version.

Amazon Top 50

Here are the Top 50 Graphic Novels on Amazon this afternoon. All the previous caveats apply.


1 (-). Diary of a Wimpy Kid 5: The Ugly Truth
2 (+2). Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History
3 (-1). Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days
4 (-1). Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Boxset
5 (+11). Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood
6 (-1). Odd Is on Our Side (Kindle edition)
7 (+1). Walking Dead Volume 13
8 (+2). The Walking Dead Compendium Volume 1
9 (+11). Maus II: A Survivor's Tale: And Here My Troubles Began
10 (+1). Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic
11 (+13). Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art
12 (+2). Dork Diaries 2 (Kindle edition)
13 (+4). Dork Diaries (Kindle edition)
14 (+5). Serenity: The Shepherd's Tale
15 (-6). Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 2: Scott Pilgrim Versus The World
16 (-10). Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 1: Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life
17 (-5). Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 3: Scott Pilgrim & the Infinite Sadness
18 (-5). Scott Pilgrim Volume 6: Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour
19 (-1). Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 4: Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together
20 (+3). Superman: Earth One
21 (-6). Scott Pilgrim Volume 5: Scott Pilgrim vs The Universe
22 (+13). Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
23 (+3). Watchmen
24 (+3). American Born Chinese
25 (-18). Dilbert: 2011 Day-to-Day Calendar
26 (+12). V for Vendetta
27 (+5). Big Nate: From the Top
28 (+3). The Walking Dead, Book 6
29 (-7). Diary of a Wimpy Kid Box of Books
30 (-). The Complete Calvin and Hobbes
31 (N). Dark Tower: The Gunslinger, Vol. 1 - The Journey Begins *
32 (+14). Batman: The Killing Joke
33 (-8). Fables Vol. 14: Witches
34 (+3). Dork Diaries 2: Tales from a Not-So-Popular Party Girl
35 (-7). Walking Dead Volume 12
36 (+8). The Arrival
37 (-8). The Walking Dead, Vol. 9: Here We Remain
38 (-4). The Walking Dead, Vol. 10: What We Become
39 (-6). The Walking Dead Volume 11: Fear The Hunters
40 (+2). Tron: Betrayal
41 (-1). The Walking Dead Book 5
42 (+1). Odd Is on Our Side
43 (+5). Batman: Hush
44 (N). Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight Volume 8: Last Gleaming *
45 (-9). Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight Volume 7: Twilight
46 (R). Blankets
47 (R). Batman: Arkham Asylum (15th Anniversary Edition)
48 (-1). The Walking Dead Book 2
49 (R). Blackest Night
50 (R). Batman: Year One


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 Wimpy Kid stays on the top once again, but again slips, to #50 on the overall chart.

* The college rush continues, with Maus, Persepolis and Fun Home all in the top 10.

* Demand for individual volumes of Scott Pilgrim continue to soften, though the box set remains strong.

* Dead Watch:Eight Walking Dead collections in the top fifty this week, down from nine last week.

* Two new titles debut as pre-orders: Dark Tower: The Gunslinger, Vol. 1 (the only Marvel title on the chart this week); and the final Buffy Season 8 collection.

* The bottom of the list is a distressingly low #4,048 this week.

Monkey Covers

Sunday is Monkey Covers day here at YACB. Because there's nothing better than a comic with a monkey on the cover!

Congorilla and Staman leap into action on Gene Ha's cover to Starman/Congorilla #1 (2011).

(Standard disclaimer about super-hero gorillas not really being monkeys applies.)

Image courtesy of the GCD. Click on the image for a larger version.

Stats Week: My Year in Music 2010

Last.fm conveniently keeps track of all of the music I listen to. Here are my top twenty-five artists, albums & tracks for 2010:

Artists

 1. Scala & Kolacny Brothers
 2. The Bamboos
 3. Kylie Auldist
 4. The Pipettes
 5. Laura Vane & the Vipertones
 6. Pink Martini
 7. Glee Cast
 8. Kelly Willis
 9. Nikki Yanofsky
10. Anamanaguchi
11. Great Big Sea
11. Equation
13. Lori McKenna
14. Dick Brave & The Backbeats
15. Hilary McRae
15. Paper Aeroplanes
15. Gizelle Smith & the Might Mocambos
18. Cara Dillon
18. Lunik
20. Daft Punk
20. Saint Etienne
20. Sara Gazarek
20. She & Him
24. Jill Phillips & Andy Gullahorn
24. Colbie Caillat


Albums

 1. Kylie Auldist - Made of Stone
 2. Scala & Kolacny Brothers - On the Rocks
 3. Laura Vane & the Vipertones - Laura Vane & the Vipertones
 4. Scala & Kolacny Brothers - Dream On
 5. Scala & Kolacny Brothers - It All Leads to This
 5. The Bamboos - 4
 7. The Bamboos - Side Stepper
 8. Kelly Willis - Translated from Love
 9. Anamanaguchi - Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game (Original Videogame Soundtrack)
10. Scala & Kolacny Brothers - One-Winged Angel
11. Dick Brave & The Backbeats - Dick This!
12. Hilary McRae - Through These Walls
13. The Pipettes - We Are The Pipettes
13. Gizelle Smith & the Mighty Mocambos - This Is Gizelle Smith & The Mighty Mocambos
15. Saint Etienne - Travel Edition 1990-2005
15. Daft Punk - Tron: Legacy
17. Sara Gazarek - Return to You
18. Jill Phillips & Andy Gullahorn - Christmas
19. Paper Aeroplanes - The Day We Ran Into the Sea
19. The Pipettes - Earth vs. The Pipettes
21. The School - Loveless Unbeliever
22. Karen Elson - The Ghost Who Walks
23. Delain - April Rain
23. Colbie Caillat - Breakthrough
23. The Living Sisters - Love to Live


Tracks

 1. Scala & Kolacny Brothers - "Someone New"
 2. Scala & Kolacny Brothers - "With or Without You"
 2. Kylie Auldist - "Made of Stone"
 4. Scala & Kolacny Brothers - "Every day I love you less and less"
 4. Cantus Vocum Chamber Choir - "Dirait-on"
 6. Scala & Kolacny Brothers - "Can't Get You Out of My Head" 
 6. Scala & Kolacny Brothers - "One-Winged Angel"
 6. Kylie Auldist - "It's On"
 6. Kylie Auldist - "Lookin' For You"
 6. OK Go - "This Too Shall Pass (Marching Band Version)"
 6. Danielle Ate the Sandwich - "Party in the U.S.A."
12. Cara Dillon - "Spencer the Rover"
12. Scala & Kolacny Brothers - "Yellow"
12. The Apples in Stereo - "Sunndal Song"
12. Hilary McRae - "Every Day (When Will You Be Mine)"
12. Laura Vane & the Vipertones - "Roof Off"
12. Kylie Auldist - "I Will"
12. Kylie Auldist - "In a Week, In a Day"
12. Laura Vane & the Vipertones - "Did It Anyway"
12. Knightsong - "You Are the New Day"
21. Equation - "What Did You Do Today?"
21. The Bamboos Feat. Kylie Auldist - "Now That You Are Mine"
21. Laura Vane & the Vipertones - "Steam"
21. Laura Vane & the Vipertones - "You Give Me What I Want"
21. Laura Vane & the Vipertones - "Man of your word"
21. Laura Vane & the Vipertones - "No Words"
21. Kylie Auldist - "Kiss and Tell"
21. Kylie Auldist - "Ship Inside a Bottle"
21. Laura Vane & the Vipertones - "Am I Dreaming?"
21. Kerfuffle - "Three Ships"
21. The Pipettes - "Our Love Was Saved By Spacemen"

Amazon Top 50

Here are the Top 50 Graphic Novels on Amazon this afternoon. All the previous caveats apply.


1 (-). Diary of a Wimpy Kid 5: The Ugly Truth
2 (+4). Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days
3 (+11). Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Boxset
4 (+23). Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History
5 (+4). Odd Is on Our Side (Kindle edition)
6 (+2). Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 1: Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life
7 (-). Dilbert: 2011 Day-to-Day Calendar
8 (-3). Walking Dead Volume 13
9 (+1). Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 2: Scott Pilgrim Versus The World
10 (-8). The Walking Dead Compendium Volume 1
11 (+25). Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic
12 (+1). Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 3: Scott Pilgrim & the Infinite Sadness
13 (+1). Scott Pilgrim Volume 6: Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour
14 (+10). Dork Diaries 2 (Kindle edition)
15 (-). Scott Pilgrim Volume 5: Scott Pilgrim vs The Universe
16 (+16). Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood
17 (-14). Dork Diaries (Kindle edition)
18 (-1). Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 4: Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together
19 (-3). Serenity: The Shepherd's Tale
20 (+17). Maus II: A Survivor's Tale: And Here My Troubles Began
21 (+9). Dilbert: 2011 Wall Calendar
22 (-2). Diary of a Wimpy Kid Box of Books
23 (+8). Superman: Earth One
24 (+16). Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art
25 (-6). Fables Vol. 14: Witches
26 (+15). Watchmen
27 (R). American Born Chinese
28 (-10). Walking Dead Volume 12
29 (-4). The Walking Dead, Vol. 9: Here We Remain
30 (-18). The Complete Calvin and Hobbes
31 (-5). The Walking Dead, Book 6
32 (+1). Big Nate: From the Top
33 (-11). The Walking Dead Volume 11: Fear The Hunters
34 (-11). The Walking Dead, Vol. 10: What We Become
35 (-7). Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
36 (+8). Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight Volume 7: Twilight
37 (+13). Dork Diaries 2: Tales from a Not-So-Popular Party Girl
38 (+4). V for Vendetta
39 (-18). 40: A Doonesbury Retrospective
40 (-16). The Walking Dead Book 5
41 (-3). Star Wars: Legacy Volume 10 - Extremes
42 (-7). Tron: Betrayal
43 (-9). Odd Is on Our Side
44 (R). The Arrival
45 (R). The Complete Maus: A Survivor's Tale
46 (R). Batman: The Killing Joke
47 (-18). The Walking Dead Book 2
48 (R). Batman: Hush
49 (R). Dork Diaries: Tales from a Not-So-Popular Party Girl
50 (R). Brightest Day, Vol. 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 Wimpy Kid stays on the top once again, but slips to #36 on the overall chart.

* Kindle editions of Dork Diaries & Odd Is On Our Side remain popular for post-holiday purchasing.

* It must be the start of a new college semester, as books like Maus, Persepolis, Fun Home, Understanding Comics, and Watchmen all see double digit jumps up the chart.

* There are no new titles on the chart this week..

* Dead Watch: Only nine Walking Dead collections on the chart this week, with every volume showing some slippage; though the latest collection stays in the top ten.

* The bottom of the list this week is #3,882 overall, a serious slide from the previous weeks.

Stats Week: Amazon Top 50 for 2010

Here are the top 50 comics from the weekly Amazon Top 50 posts of 2010:

1. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days
2. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth
3. Scott Pilgrim, vol. 1: Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life
4. Scott Pilgrim, vol. 2: Scott Pilgrim Versus The World
5. Scott Pilgrim, vol. 6: Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour
6. Scott Pilgrim, vol. 3: Scott Pilgrim and the Infinite Sadness
7. Kick-Ass
8. Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History
9. The Walking Dead Compendium Volume 1
10. The Book of Genesis Illustrated by R. Crumb
11. Watchmen
12. Twilight: The Graphic Novel, Volume 1
13. Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
14. The Walking Dead, vol. 11: Fear the Hunters
15. Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood
16. Scott Pilgrim, vol. 4: Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together
17. The Walking Dead, vol. 12
18. Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight, vol. 6: Retreat
19. Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art
20. The Complete Calvin and Hobbes
21. Troublemaker Book 1: Alex Barnaby Series 3
22. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw
23. The Walking Dead Book 5
24. Batman: The Killing Joke
25. V for Vendetta
26. Odd Is On Our Side
27. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Roderick Rules
28. Diary of a Wimpy Kid
29. Maus II: A Survivor's Tale: And Here My Troubles Began
30. Diary of a Wimpy Kid Box of Books
31. Serenity: The Shepherd's Tale
32. Dork Diaries 2: Tales from a Not-So-Popular Party Girl
33. Blackest Night
34. Dark Tower: The Fall of Gilead
35. The Adventures of Ook and Gluk, Kung-Fu Cavemen from the Future
36. Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight, vol. 7: Twilight
37. Logicomix: An Epic Search for Truth
38. Batman: Year One
39. The Walking Dead, vol. 13
40. Green Lantern: Blackest Night
41. Superman: Earth One
42. Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic
43. The Walking Dead Book 6
44. Dilbert: 2011 Day-to-Day Calendar
45. Instructions
46. Scott Pilgrim, vol. 5: Scott Pilgrim vs. The Universe
47. Fables Vol. 13: The Great Fables Crossover
48. 40: A Doonesbury Retrospective
49. Dork Diaries: Tales from a Not-So-Fabulous Life
50. Big Nate: From the Top

Methodology: I took my weekly (compiled on Friday) lists of Amazon Top 50 Comics & Graphic Novels, and for each week assigned a comic a numerical score equal to 51 minus its ranking; e.g. the #1 book got 50 points, the #2 book got 49 points, the #3 book got 48 points, etc., all the way down to the #50 book getting 1 point. I poured everything into a spreadsheet, and voila. There were a total of 345 different comics that made the Top 50 for at least one week during 2010. You can download a spreadsheet with all of the data here.

Several comics mysteriously dropped out of the Amazon Comics & Graphic Novels Comics & Graphic Novels Bestsellers lists at different points during the year, notably certain volumes of Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Scott Pilgrim, due to Amazon for some reason re-classifying them to not be comics. What to do? I could have tried to use overall sales ranking to try to intuit their comics chart ranking for those I knew about, but that would only work if I knew it was missing from the chart, which couldn't possibly be the case for everything. In the end in the interest of fairness I decided to take everything at face value and only give it a ranking for the week if it appeared on the comics chart.

I'll be back either tomorrow or this weekend with more analysis and a bunch of (hopefully interesting) charts.

Stats Week: The Ten Most Popular YACB Posts

Here are the ten most popular posts here at Yet Another Comics Blog since May 2010 (when Blogger started offering in-house stats for blogs):

Quick First Issue Reviews
I review several comics, including Gødland #1, which was pull-quoted for the trade collection

Quick Superman & Batman Reviews
I give middling reviews to several DC comics, including the final issue of Chuck Austen's notorious JLA arc.

Quick Comic Reviews
I review the second issue of We3, the first issue of Authority Revolution, and an issue of Azzarello & Lee's Superman run.

The Most Popular Graphic Novel in All the Land
It's Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Roderick Rules, which I took a photograph of a Borders window display.

Friday Night Fights: Hulk vs. The Thing
Who doesn't like to see Bruce & Ben throw down?

Friday Night Fights: Olive Oyl vs. Popeye
Olive pops Popeye one.

The Many Costumes of Wonder Woman
My overview of Wonder Woman's costume changes through the years.

Quick Comics Reviews
I review random issues of Adventures of Superman, Ultimate Spider-Man, and Wolverine.

The Sixth Sign
The apocalypse was nigh upon us in 2004, when William Shatner won his first Emmy award.

Amazon Top 50
No idea why this particular list compilation from August 2010 is so popular.


The first four are an order of magnitude in popularity above the others; I suspect they are coming up often in Google image searches...

New Library Comics: December 2010

Here's a list of the comics we added to our library collection last month:


Breathed, Berke. The Bloom County library. Volume three, 1984-1986. / San Diego, Calif. : IDW Publishing : Distributed by Diamond Book Distributors, 2010.

Hanson, Glen. Chelsea boys steppin' out! / Berlin : Gmünder, Bruno, c2006

Kirby, Robert. Curbside boys : the New York years / San Francisco, Calif. : Cleis Press, c2002

Miller, Frank, 1957- Give me liberty / New York : Dell Pub., 1992, c1990.

Miller, Frank, 1957- Martha Washington goes to war / Milwaukie : Dark Horse Comics ; [s.l.] : Titan [distributor], 1995.

Miller, Frank, 1957- Martha Washington saves the world / Milwaukie : Dark Horse Comics, 1999

Seth, 1962- Palooka-Ville no. 20 / Montreal, Quebec : Drawn & Quarterly, 1994-

Vanistendael, Judith, 1974- Dance by the light of the moon / London : SelfMadeHero, 2010

Wood, Wallace. Wild Wood : [160 pages of art and text]. / New York, NY : Digitally remastered by Pure Imagination Publishing, c2010.

As always, this listing is available as an RSS Feed.

Stats Week: 2010 - A Year of Reading Comics

Looks like it's going to be Stats Week here at YACB...

As I did last year, here's a chart showing how many comics I acquired each week, and how many I read each day of 2010:

My comics week starts on Thursday, as that's when the weekly DCBS shipment usually arrives. Each individual item counts as a comic, whether it be a 22 page floppy or a 600+ page graphic novel opus. The 'Roll' column represents the total delta from when I started keeping track (Feb 2009).

Whereas in 2009 I read 102 more comics than I acquired, in 2010 I only read 16 more than acquired. So while I managed to keep pace, I didn't make much of a dent in the backlog.

Ooo, here's a chart graphing the number of comics acquired each week:

Coming Soon: Amazon Combined Charts for 2010

As I did last year, I've compiled statistics for the combined Amazon Top 50 charts that I've been posting throughout 2010.

Soon I'll be posting the results, but to whet your appetite, here are some questions to ponder:

Which of the following was the top graphic novel on the Amazon Top 50 Charts for 2010:

• Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
• The Book of Genesis Illustrated by R. Crumb
• Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days
• Kick-Ass
• Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History
• Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood
• Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life
• Twilight: The Graphic Novel, vol. 1
• The Walking Dead Compendium, vol. 1
• Watchmen

Which of the following was the top graphic novel franchise on the Amazon Top 50 Charts for 2010:

• Batman
• Diary of a Wimpy Kid
• Green Lantern (incl. Blackest Night)
• Scott Pilgrim
• The Walking Dead

Which of the following was the top DC graphic novel on the Amazon Top 50 Charts for 2010:

• Batman: Arkham Asylum
• Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
• Blackest Night
• Cover Run: The DC Comics Art of Adam Hughes
• Fables Vol. 13: The Great Fables Crossover
• Green Lantern: Blackest Night
• Superman: Earth One
• The Sandman Vol. 1: Preludes and Nocturnes
• V for Vendetta
• Watchmen
• Wednesday Comics

Which of the following was the top Marvel Universe Super-Hero graphic novel on the Amazon Top 50 Charts for 2010:

• Captain America: Reborn
• Marvel Encyclopedia
• Siege
• Thor Vol. 3
• Wolverine: Old Man Logan
• X-Men: Second Coming

Which of the following was the top Dark Horse graphic novel on the Amazon Top 50 Charts for 2010:

• Buffy Season 8, vol. 6: Retreat
• Buffy Season 8, vol. 7: Twilight
• Hellboy Vol. 9: The Wild Hunt
• Serenity: The Shepherd's Tale
• Serenity Vol. 2: Better Days
• Troublemaker Book 1: Alex Barnaby Series 3

Which of the following was the top manga on the Amazon Top 50 Charts for 2010:

• Black Bird Vol. 3
• Bleach Vol. 30
• Hetalia Axis Powers Vol. 1
• Naruto Vol. 47
• Negima! Vol. 26
• Vampire Knight Vol. 9
• Yotsuba&! Vol. 8

Which of the following was the top comic strip collection on the Amazon Top 50 Charts for 2010:

• 40: A Doonesbury Retrospective
• 50,000,000 Pearls Fans Can't Be Wrong
• Bloom County: The Complete Library, vol. 2: 1982-1984
• The Complete Calvin & Hobbes
• The Complete Peanuts Boxed Set 1975-1978
• Dilbert 2011 Day-to-Day Calendar
• The Splendid Magic of Penny Arcade: The 11 1/2 Anniversary Edition

Which of the following graphic novels typically assigned as reading in college courses was most popular on the Amazon Top 50 Charts for 2010:

• American Born Chinese
• Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
• The Complete Persepolis
• Fun Home
• Maus I
• Maus II
• Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood
• Understanding Comics
• Watchmen

Which of the following was the top Stephen King-related graphic novel on the Amazon Top 50 Charts for 2010:

• American Vampire Vol. 1
• Dark Tower: The Fall of Gilead
• Dark Tower: The Battle of Jericho Hill
• Stephen King's N.
• Stephen King's The Stand Vol. 1: Captain Trips
• Stephen King's The Stand Vol. 2: American Nightmares

Which of the following was the top Joss Whedon-related graphic novel on the Amazon Top 50 Charts for 2010:

• Angel Vol. 6: Last Angel in Hell
• Buffy Season 8 Vol. 6: Retreat
• Buffy Season 8 Vol. 7: Twilight
• Serenity Vol. 2: Better Days
• Serenity: The Shepherd's Tale

(The answers may surprise you!)


Make your guesses in the comments section of this blog post; I'll pick some respondents at random to receive prizes (e.g. comics!) Let's set the deadline to be Wednesday (Jan 5) at Noon EST. (Please leave some way for me to get in touch with you, like your email or your Website/blog/etc.)

BTW, while the top item is included in the lists for each category, don't assume that the rest of the pick represent all of the top choices. E.g., don't assume because a DC graphic novel isn't listed in the choices for top graphic novel that it isn't the top DC graphic novel. (Did that make sense? I hope so...)

Monkey Covers

Sunday is Monkey Covers day here at YACB. Because there's nothing better than a comic with a monkey on the cover!

Blue Devil takes on Gorilla Grodd while the rest of the Rogues look on from the mirrors on Paris Cullins & Gary Martin's cover to Blue Devil #30 (1986).

(Standard disclaimer about intelligent gorillas bent on world domination not really being monkeys applies.)

Image courtesy of the GCD. Click on the image for a larger version.