Amazon Top 50

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


1 (-). Twilight: The Graphic Novel, Volume 1 *
2 (-). Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days
3 (-). Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw
4 (-). Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules
5 (-). Diary of a Wimpy Kid
6 (+2). Kick-Ass
7 (-1). The Walking Dead Volume 11: Fear The Hunters
8 (+3). The Splendid Magic of Penny Arcade: The 11 1/2 Anniversary Edition
9 (-). The Book of Genesis Illustrated by R. Crumb
10 (-3). Fables Vol. 13: The Great Fables Crossover
11 (-1). Dark Tower: The Fall of Gilead
12 (-). Watchmen
13 (+1). Star Wars: Legacy Volume 8 - Tatooine *
14 (+15). Dark Avengers, Vol. 2: Molecule Man *
15 (N). Negima! 25
16 (+1). Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight Volume 6: Retreat *
17 (+1). Logicomix: An Epic Search for Truth
18 (+8). The Walking Dead Compendium Volume 1
19 (-4). The Complete Calvin and Hobbes
20 (+15). The Walking Dead, Vol. 10: What We Become
21 (+27). Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood
22 (+6). Batman: The Killing Joke
23 (+21). Asterios Polyp
24 (+3). The Zombie Survival Guide: Recorded Attacks
25 (N). Halo: Helljumper *
26 (+6). V for Vendetta
27 (-14). Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History
28 (R). Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art
29 (-6). Starman Omnibus Vol. 4 *
30 (-6). Batman: Arkham Asylum (15th Anniversary Edition)
31 (R). Tales from the Crypt #8: Diary of a Stinky Dead Kid
32 (+10). Predators and Prey (Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight, Vol. 5)
33 (-11). Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
34 (R). The Walking Dead, Vol. 9: Here We Remain
35 (N). Bleach, Vol. 30 *
36 (+3). Bone: The Complete Cartoon Epic in One Volume
37 (-4). The Complete Persepolis
38 (R). The Arrival
39 (-23). Naruto, Vol. 47
40 (-15). Stitches: A Memoir
41 (R). Mercy Thompson: Homecoming
42 (-3). Maus II: A Survivor's Tale: And Here My Troubles Began
43 (N). Twelve Kingdoms, The - Hardcover Edition Volume 4: Skies of Dawn *
44 (N). Deadpool Volume 1: Secret Invasion Premiere HC *
45 (-26). All Star Superman, Vol. 2
46 (R). The Sandman Vol. 3: Dream Country
47 (R). The Sandman Vol. 2: The Doll's House
48 (R). The Sandman Vol. 1: Preludes and Nocturnes
49 (R). Marvel Encyclopedia
50 (-7). Berserk Volume 33



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:

* Kick-Ass continues to inch up the charts. For comparison, it is #316 on the overall chart, while Diary of a Wimpy Kid, just above it on the comics chart, is #183 on the overall chart. So it still has a way to go to challenge Twilight (#96 overall) and the Wimpy Kid. (But as the movie draws closer...?)

* Marvel have a second good week in a row. In addition to their non-Marvel Universe properties remaining strong, the second Dark Avengers hardcover moves up into the top 20, and a Deadpool hardcover debuts in the bottom half of the list.

* The Walking Dead continues to grow, with four collections now sitting in the top 50.

* The highest debut at #15 is the latest Negima! volume. Last week's manga champ, Naruto, takes a steep drop to #39.

CONTEST #19 WINNERS!!

This was a spirited contest this week, lots of entries and a good time was had by all. Our winners this week are as follows:
Grand Prize!!!!...Megan
2nd Prize!!!...Spyra
3rd Prize!!...Marcello

Both our second and third place winners are previous winners, but I think Megan is new. Many congrats to the winners and everyone who played. If you want to see the winning answers as Megan submitted it, click here.

If you'd like to see the answers graphically displayed in high-tech, click here.

Tune in tomorrow and every day for more monkey shines, and next Thursday for another contest!

CONTEST #19

FIRST PERSON TO SOLVE THE PUZZLE BELOW AND POST THE ANSWERS IN THE COMMENTS SECTION WINS! HURRY!

RULES, ETC:
As usual, two images are posted below, one is the original cartoon, the warped image beneath it has been changed in 15 ways. Your mission, if you are the disco royalty that I think you are, is to find those differences.

1. There are 15 differences between the two cartoons.
2. NONE of the differences have to do with the warped nature of the second image.
3. ALL of the differences are something missing, added, or moved, not just "bent" from the distortion. The differences will not be too subtle, so once you spot one you should be relatively certain you've found it. (As opposed to something like, "Is the hat on this one is a shade lighter than the other one? Hmmm.")
4. FIRST PERSON to correctly list the 15 differences in the comments section of the post wins 4 packs of Bizarro Trading Cards, mailed by me personally from Bizarro International Headquarters in Brooklyn. I'll even lick the stamp, unless it's self adhesive. SECOND AND THIRD persons with correct answers will each get 2 packs of Bizarro Trading Cards!
5. Put your email address on your comment so I can contact you if you win. I won't post it or keep it or file it or sell it or mount a Broadway musical about it.
6. If you live outside the U.S., I may not be able to send you a prize. Depends. Canada is probably fine, Saudia Arabia, probably not.

Click on the image below to ENLARGE and PLAY!

Contest TONIGHT, Cartoon Right Now

Bizarro is brought to you today by the Assassin's Handbook.

I've often wondered who first thought of the tear-off-a-strip-of-paper ad. It really was a stroke of genius: simple, effective, inexpensive. It caught on like wildfire and swept the world, whoever first came up with it must feel very proud. They've done more for the world than most politicians ever will.

My good friend, Cliff, came up with this idea. I don't know why. Cliff spends most of his time in a teepee outside of Dickshooter, Idaho, and occasionally an idea for a cartoon will pop into his head and he'll mail it to me on a postcard.

Later today will be another cartoon contest. I'll post it at 7pm Eastern Time. I hope you will play.

Laws of Nature and Beyond

Bizarro is brought to you today by Better Living Through Force.

I haven't much to say about this GPS cartoon other than I hope everyone understood it. The idea was that the GPS led them to a cliff above their destination, then instructed them to drive off the edge. It seemed funny when I thought of it, but I'm not sure about the final result. I like GPSs but I don't like the voice. I prefer to just use the map part, like the one on my phone, and find my own way. I don't trust the robot voice to always know the best way.

At long last I am back in front of my computer where I belong. I went to Florida this past weekend with CHNW. I was hired to do a speech for a humanist group down there, the Center For Inquiry folks, and had a great time. Good people, smart questions, laughed a lot, took me to lunch after. What's not to like?

After the talk on Saturday, CHNW, her dad and I drove to an interesting little place called Ybor City where we hit some shops and had a beer. In old timey times there was a big cigar factory there where hundreds of people hand-rolled cigars all day. The tradition continues as there are cigar shops all over the place and a few people sitting in storefront windows rolling away. If you're into cigars, this is a real treat.

This pic at left was taken with my iPhone and I think it turned out pretty swell.

Even if you're not into cigars, it is strange to see so many smoke-friendly establishments within
the borders of our law-infested land. Smoking is so uniformly despised in the U.S., even outdoors, that walking down 7th Street in Ybor City feels more like Cuba than Florida. I often get chastised by friends and fans for smoking cigars, but I try to be considerate. I usually smoke at home and never smoke around crowds of any kind unless I'm walking quickly. I figure if my passing by with a cigar is enough to set someone off, they need more help than anti-smoking laws can give them.

Lots of things annoy me momentarily in public – bad music, mullets, cologne, confederate flags, cigarettes(they smell very different from cigars because they are crap tobacco and full of chemicals), people wearing fur, the smell of someone's fastfood, people who talk too loud on cell phones, defenders of Dick Cheney, the way everyone but me drives – but I just figure that's the price of leaving my house.

I cannot imagine a society in which we legislate against everything that briefly annoys someone. This encyclopedia of signs at a playground in Sarasota springs to mind. Looks like fun, doesn't it?

Monkey Covers Birthday Bonus

Guess how old I turn today...

Monkey Covers

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

The Tiny Titans have all been turned into monkeys on Art Baltazar's cover for Tiny Titans #9!


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