Amazon Top 50

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


1 (-). Watchmen
2 (-). Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw
3 (+1). Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules
4 (-1). Diary of a Wimpy Kid
5 (-). Star Trek: Countdown TPB *
6 (N). A Drifting Life
7 (N). The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Volume 3: Century #1 *
8 (+1). Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
9 (-1). Batman: The Killing Joke
10 (-4). V for Vendetta
11 (+30). Dark Tower: Treachery *
12 (N). Secret Identity: The Fetish Art of Superman's Co-creator Joe Shuster
13 (-6). Mercy Thompson Homecoming *
14 (+7). Batman: R.I.P.
15 (+4). Time of Your Life (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 8, Vol. 4) *
16 (+9). The Joker
17 (+22). Batman: Year One
18 (-8). Blueberry Girl
19 (N). Batman: Arkham Asylum (15th Anniversary Edition)
20 (-9). Angel: After the Fall, Vol. 3
21 (-8). Wolves at the Gate (Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight, Volume 3)
22 (-8). Ignorance, Thy Name Is Bucky: A Get Fuzzy Collection
23 (+21). All Star Superman, Vol. 2
24 (-7). The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vol. 1
25 (+5). The Walking Dead, Vol. 9: Here We Remain
26 (-14). The Dresden Files: Welcome to the Jungle
27 (-). The Sandman Vol. 1: Preludes and Nocturnes
28 (N). Batman: The Long Halloween
29 (+7). Bone: One Volume Edition
30 (N). The Beats: A Graphic History
31 (-8). The Complete Calvin and Hobbes
32 (-4). Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History
33 (N). Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood
34 (-19). The Official Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide, 39th Edition
35 (-13). Serenity, Vol. 2: Better Days
36 (N). Crown of Horns (Bone, Vol. 9)
37 (N). From Hell
38 (N). The Sandman Vol. 3: Dream Country
39 (-1). The Long Way Home (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 8, Vol. 1)
40 (N). The Saturday Evening Pearls: A Pearls Before Swine Collection
41 (-12). The Complete Peanuts 1971-1972
42 (N). Dark Tower: The Long Road Home (Exclusive Amazon.com Cover)
43 (N). The Marvel Encyclopedia
44 (-1). The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vol. 2
45 (-21). Watchmen (Absolute Edition)
46 (N). Y: The Last Man Vol. 4: Safeword
47 (-12). No Future For You (Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight, Volume 2)
48 (N). Angel: After The Fall Volume 1
49 (N). The DC Comics Encyclopedia, Updated and Expanded Edition
50 (N). The Absolute Sandman, Vol. 3


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


Commentary:

* It was an extremely volatile week on the Amazon list this week, with many titles taking huge jumps up or down the charts, and a greater number than usual titles either debuting or returning.

* The highest debut is Yoshihiro Tatsumi's A Drifting Life, which was positively reviewed earlier in the week by the New York Times. It ranked even higher earlier in the week, and as late as yesterday evening it was charting above a couple of the Wimpy Kid volumes.

* Also debuting high is the pre-order for the first issue of Moore & O'Neill's new League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. (You might think that this would also cause a resurgence of the previous LXG volumes, but you'd be wrong.)

* Aside from A Drifting Life, no other manga volumes make the list, with even Naruto completely disappearing.

* One of the biggest gainers is Marvel's Dark Tower, with the pre-order for the new collection climbing way up, and the first collection making a return appearance.

American Genius

Today's Bizarro is brought to you by Peace of Mind.

I got an email about this cartoon from a reader who wanted to inform me that "just because something is a conspiracy theory does not mean their aren't real conspiracies." Even though this person went on to identify himself as one of those meatheads who believes Obama was not born in the U.S. and is turning the country socialist, you can't argue with logic like that.

Along the same line of thinking, just because a TV network tells you it is a "news" channel, does not mean it is reporting facts. And just because that network claims to be "fair and balanced," does not mean it isn't demonstrably controlled by a political party attempting to control your behavior, take your money, and poison your environment. And just because that network's comical tag line is "we report, you decide," does not mean that you have much choice in what you decide based on their reporting. Sort of like the magician who says "pick any card," but always manages to get you to pick the card he wants you to have.

So thanks to the reader for alerting me to the existence of "real" conspiracies and for reminding me that there are always a handful of angry, uneducated, bigoted nitwits you can convince to waves signs and throw teabags while complaining about rising taxes when their own rates have been untouched for 16 years and are about to go down.

Fortunately for the rest of us, their numbers are lower at the moment and relatively few people showed up for the comical Fox-Network-GOP-instigated-and-promoted "grass roots" tax revolt last Wednesday. I have little faith that their numbers will continue to dwindle, but for the time being, the desperation of the GOP and its "news" network is humorous to watch, anyway.


DISCLAIMER: This blog is not intended to insult educated conservatives who mourn the loss of their party to the neo-cons.

Childhood Memory

Bizarro is brought to you today by Happy Lucky Freaky Phone Call.

When I was a child in the 1960s, my imaginary friend was a long-haired, pot-smoking, peace-loving hippie dude who played bass for Janis Joplin and whom I called, "Yip."

Yip would hang out in my room, smoking, playing his guitar and recounting stories from various bars and hotels from his latest tour. My parents were cool about it, though they would occasionally complain about the noise and the "oddly sweet smelling smoke" that always filled my room. They couldn't see Yip, of course, but they humored me and pretended they could. When I told them about the time he got so drunk that he fell out of the tour bus window outside of Indianapolis and the whole crew, driver included, were so wasted that nobody noticed until they had gotten to Cleveland, they laughed appropriately. In later years, they confessed to pressing their ears against my bedroom door and marveling at how good I was at switching voices during our conversations.

Then one day it all came to an end when they entered my room without knocking and Yip didn't have time to hide. Mom fainted, Dad called the police and I never saw Yip again.

I guess we all have to say goodbye to childhood sometime.

Standing Tall

Bizarro is brought to you today by Hurricane Damage.
As I've mentioned on this here ding dang blog thang before, I'm putting together a book of super hero cartoons. This is the latest addition to the project, hope you get a smile out of it.

I did another "standing erect" cartoon about cavemen some years ago that, although it is not obscene by any means, is too "adult" to run in the nation's funny papers. It's not a hysterical classic by any means, but I like it and offer it here for your discerning eyes.

Until tomorrow: Stand tall, friends.

New Library Comics: March 2009

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


Aesfi, Christo. The adventures of Charlz from Marz / Hermosa Beach, [Calif.] : Dreamland, 2008-

Apple : a place for people who love entertainment : creative illustration collection. vol. 2 / Richmond Hill, Ont. : Udon Entertainment, 2008-

Aranzi Aronzo Inc. The complete Aranzi hour / [New York : Vertical Inc., c2008]

Bajram, Denis. Universal War One vol. 1 / New York : Marvel, 2008-

Bechdel, Alison, 1960- Fun home : a family tragicomic / Boston : Houghton Mifflin, 2006.

Blanchet, Pascal, 1980- White Rapids / Montreal : Drawn & Quarterly, 2007.

Breeden, Jennie. The devil's panties vol. 3 / [Fairfax, Va.] : Silent Devil Inc., 2007-

A comics studies reader / Jackson : University Press of Mississippi, 2009.

Cthulhu tales : the whisper of madness. / Los Angeles, CA : Boom! Studios, c2008.

Eastman, Kevin B. Underwhere / Northampton, MA : KESI Entertainment, c1995.

Ellsworth, Theo. Capacity / Jackson Heights, NY : Secret Acres, 2008.

Gaskin, Samuel C. Fatal faux-pas / Jackson Heights, NY : Secret Acres, c2008.

Geissman, Grant. Foul play! : the art and artists of the notorious 1950s E.C. comics! / New York : Harper Design, 2005

Gould, Chester. The complete Chester Gould's Dick Tracy vol. 6 : 1939-1940 / SanDiego, Calif. : IDW Publishing, 2006-

Hommer, Sascha. Insekt / Berlin : Reprodukt, 2008.

Hubert, 1971- Miss don't touch me / New York : Comics Lit, 2009.

I saw you : comics inspired by real life missed connections / New York : Three Rivers Press, 2009.

Immonen, Kathryn. Never as bad as you think* / [Los Angeles, Calif.] : Boom Studios, 2008.

Kariya, Tetsu, 1941- Oishinbo, a la carte / San Francisco : VIZ Media, 2009.

Kochalka, James. Johnny Boo : Twinkle Power / Marietta, Ga. : Top Shelf Productions, 2008.

Kôsen. Saihôshi / [Las Vegas, Nev.] : Yaoi Press, c2007.

Kôsen. Stallion / [Las Vegas, Nev.] : Yaoi Press, c2006.

Kovac, Tommy. Skelebunnies : [complete collection] / San Jose, Calif. : SLG, 2009.

Kreitz, Isabel. Die Sache mit Sorge : Stalins Spion in Tokio / Hamburg : Carlsen, 2008.

Lay, Carol. The big skinny : how I changed my fattitude : a memoir / New York : Villard, c2008.

Little, Troy, 1973- Angora Napkin / San Diego, Calif. : IDW, 2009.

Mallratte, Fiona. Tranny : boys will be girls / Portland, OR : Manx Media, 2008.

Manhwa 100 : the new era for Korean comics / Seoul, Korea : C&C Revolution, Inc. ; Glendale, CA : Distributed by Netcomics, c2008.

Marvel Europe. / New York : Marvel Enterprises, 2009.

Mawil. Das grosse Supa-Hasi : Sonntag-Nachmittags-Album für die ganze Familie / Berlin : Reprodukt, 2005.

Mawil. Meister Lampe / Berlin : Reprodukt, 2006.

McCay, Winsor. The complete Dream of the rarebit fiend (1904-1913) by Winsor McCay 'Silas' / [S.l.] : rarebit-fiend-book.com, 2007.

McGregor, Don. Sabre / Dallas, Ga. : Image Comics, c1998.

McKeever, Ted. Eddy Current / Berkeley, CA : Image Comics, 2008.

McNamara, Jason. First moon / San Francisco, CA : AiT/Planet Lar, c2006.

Messner-Loebs, William. Journey : the adventures of Wolverine MacAlistaire vol. 2 / San Diego, Calif. : IDW Publishing, 2008-2009.

Miller, Frank, 1957- Daredevil : born again / New York : Marvel Publishing, 2009.

Moore, Alan, 1953- Saga of the Swamp Thing vol. 1 / New York : DC Comics, 2009-

Morales, Robert. Captain America : truth / New York : Marvel Publishing Inc, 2009.

Neal, Nate. The sanctuary nos. 1-3 / Grand Rapids, Mich. : OM Comics, c2006-

Nemoto, Takashi, 1958- Monster men Bureiko lullaby / Brooklyn, NY : Picture Box Inc., [2008?].

Nowlan, Philip Francis. Buck Rogers in the 25th century : the complete newspaper dailies vol. 1 : 1929-1930 / Neshannock, Pa. : Hermes Press, c2008-

Ōba, Tsugumi. Death note vol. 1 / San Francisco, CA : VIZ Media, 2008.

Obomsawin, Diane. Kaspar / Montréal, Quebec : Drawn and Quarterly, 2009.

Oscar Wilde / Mount Horeb : Eureka Productions, 2009

Pekar, Harvey. Another dollar / New York, NY : DC Comics, c2009.

Poe, Marshall. A house divided / New York : Aladdin Paperbacks, 2009.

Prizewinning political cartoons / Gretna, La. : Pelican Pub., 2008.

Rosson, Keith. The best of intentions : the Avow anthology / Elkford, BC : Fork In The Road Press, c2003.

Sequential art anthology 2008. / Savannah, GA : Savannah College of Art and Design, 2008.

Seyfried, Gerhard, 1948- Die Werke. Alle! : sämtliche Cartoons, Illustrationen, Poster und Gemälde sowie Skizzen und Entwürfe / Frankfurt am Main [Germany] : Zweitausendeins ; Affoltern [Switzerland] : Buch 2000, 2008.

Shadmi, Koren. In the flesh / New York : Villard, c2009.

Talbot, Bryan. The adventures of Luther Arkwright / Milwaukie, Or. : Dark Horse, 2007.

Tan, Shaun. Tales from outer suburbia / New York : Arthur A. Levine Books, 2009.

Tanaka, Masashi, 1962- Gon vol. 7 / La Jolla, CA : WildStorm Productions, c2007-

Teenagers from the future : essays on the legion of super-heroes / Edwardsville, Ill. : Sequart Research & Literacy Organization, 2008.

Tezuka, Osamu, 1928-1989. Black Jack vol. 3 / New York : Vertical, c2008-

Urasawa, Naoki, 1960- Pluto : Urasawa x Tezuka vol. 1 / San Francisco, CA : VIZ Media, c2008-

Urosawa, Naoki, 1960- 20th century boys vol. 1 / San Francisco, CA : Viz Media, 2009-

Van Lente, Fred. Comic book comics no. 3 / Brooklyn, N.Y. : Evil Twin Comics, 2008-

Vankin, Jonathan, 1962- Tokyo days, Bangkok nights / New York : Vertigo, c2009.

Ward, Bill, 1919-1928. Torchy, the blonde bombshell / New York : Pure Imagination Publishing, 2008.

Watson, Esther. Unlovable / Seattle, Wash. : Fantagraphics, 2009-

Yaoi : anthology of boys love stories vols. 1-2 / [Las Vegas, Nev.] : Yaoi Press, 2007-



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

Apptitude for Driving

Bizarro is brought to you today by Future Serial Killers.

One of my business partners and closest friends habitually texts while he drives. He sends long paragraphs of information – some of it business related, some of it random musings – disjointed, short, sentences full of misspellings, all sorts of things. I have admonished him on numerous occasions and even refused to answer his texts when I know he is driving, but the habit is one he cannot seem to break.

I have tried to mentally prepare myself for the call I know will eventually come… "I'm sorry to have to tell you this, Dan, but Buzz has had an accident." (No, his name isn't really "Buzz," but I call him that to tease him about his other strange [but less dangerous] habit of shaving his entire body daily. At least he doesn't do it while he drives. That I know of.)

Buzz is also hooked on iPhone apps, so this joke is entirely aimed at him. The only thing I didn't do was make the character resemble him. Buzz is so disturbing looking that it would have distracted from the joke and confused readers. Meet Buzz (unshaven).

So please – if you're a good person who contributes positively to the world, don't text and drive. The rest of you can do what you want, but please keep your car off my balcony.

The Cost of Peace of Mind

Bizarro is brought to you today by The Beauty of Art.

Here's a fun little scribble that makes light of the multi-billion-dollar crime syndicate commonly called the "insurance industry".

I hate the insurance industry, especially in the field of health. Don't tell my parents, but I haven't had health insurance for almost 10 years. I know it's a risk, but every month that goes by that I don't need it makes me feel like I've robbed those bastards of a little more unearned profit. In the past 10 years, I've spent maybe five thousand dollars on health care. If I'd had insurance, I'd have racked up that total every few months and gotten nothing for it since none of those charges would have eclipsed the deductible. It's the curse of the self employed.

I'm hoping O actually gets his universal health care off the ground this year so I can get covered at a reasonable rate. Nothing fancy, just basic coverage in case my parachute doesn't open and I live to tell the tale.

NOTE: Please don't bother telling me how dangerous it is not to have health insurance, I know, I know. And don't bother telling me how inefficient government health care can be. I know that, too. Fact is, we have the most expensive health care system in the world by far and it is nowhere near the best. Don't believe the horror stories the meat puppets on FoxNews tell you about government health care. As usual, they are duping you and protecting the billionaire fatcats.