Amazon Top 50

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


1 (+5). Scott Pilgrim Volume 6: Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour *
2 (+1). Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days
3 (+7). Cover Run: The DC Comics Art of Adam Hughes
4 (+3). Diary of a Wimpy Kid 5 *
5 (-). Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 3: Scott Pilgrim & the Infinite Sadness
6 (-5). Troublemaker Book 1: Alex Barnaby Series 3 *
7 (-3). Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 1: Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life
8 (-6). Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 2: Scott Pilgrim Versus The World
9 (+6). Blackest Night *
10 (-1). Twilight: The Graphic Novel, Volume 1
11 (+13). Green Lantern: Blackest Night *
12 (+13). Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
13 (N). Irredeemable Vol 3 *
14 (-3). Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood
15 (N). Batwoman: Elegy *
16 (-). The Walking Dead Compendium Volume 1
17 (-4). Watchmen
18 (N). The Last Airbender: Prequel: Zuko's Story
19 (-7). Kick-Ass
20 (+2). Walking Dead Volume 12 *
21 (+16). Blackest Night: Green Lantern Corps *
22 (-8). Hellboy Volume 10: The Crooked Man and Others
23 (N). Jack of Fables Vol. 7: The New Adventures of Jack and Jack
24 (R). The Complete Far Side 1980-1994
25 (+19). Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art
26 (+8). The Walking Dead Book 5
27 (+13). The Walking Dead Volume 11: Fear The Hunters
28 (N). Prince Valiant: 1939-1940 (Vol. 2) *
29 (-2). The Complete Calvin and Hobbes
30 (-12). Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season Eight Volume 6: Retreat
31 (R). Wilson
32 (-3). The Book of Genesis Illustrated by R. Crumb
33 (-14). Wednesday Comics
34 (-13). Tales from a Not-So-Popular Party Girl (Dork Diaries)
35 (+8). Batman: The Killing Joke
36 (R). The Walking Dead, Vol. 10: What We Become
37 (-9). Instructions
38 (-21). Blacksad
39 (R). Wolves at the Gate (Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight, Volume 3)
40 (R). No Future For You (Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight, Volume 2)
41 (R). Wolverine: Old Man Logan
42 (-16). Star Wars: Knights of The Old Republic Volume 9 - Demon *
43 (-23). Criminal, Vol. 5: The Sinners
44 (-36). Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History
45 (-6). The Long Way Home (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 8, Vol. 1)
46 (R). Batman: Year One
47 (R). The Walking Dead, Vol. 9: Here We Remain
48 (R). Bloom County: The Complete Library, Vol. 2: 1982-1984
49 (N). The Boredom of Haruhi Suzumiya
50 (N). Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl Adventure!, Vol. 7 *


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 lot of volatility in the chart this week, including the top 10, which sees its two halves going in different directions.

* The three Blackest Night pre-order hardcovers continue to move up the chart in anticipation of their release later this month.

* The highest debut belongs to the latest Irredeemable collection, followed closely by the Batwoman hardcover and a Last Airbender prequel. A couple of new mange squeak in at the bottom of the chart.

Bizarro iPhone App!!

Four quick facts about the Bizarro iPhone app:

1. Live content each day. What common peasants see in the newspaper today, super-high-tech coolios like you will see on your phone.

2. A year's worth of searchable archive at any given moment.

3. Only $1.99 per year. (That's all?! Are you freakin' kidding me?!) No, I am not.

4. Has magical ability to improve your sex life. *

5. The homepage is really long. Click on that picture I put here and measure it. Long.

Spread the word, spread the love, keep your poison ivy to yourself.
Your pal,
Dan Piraro

*depends on individual level of faith

Humor Formula

Bizarro is brought to you today by Invaders.

If there is one thing I've learned in my bazillion years as a syndicated cartoonist it is that there are lots of people who don't get any given cartoon. Especially if it has a history reference in it.

For those folks, the British Invasion is the name given to the many British rock bands in the late sixties that were so very popular in the United States. The term was a play on words in reference to the British invasion of the colonies during the American Revolutionary War. The War of 1812 would be another famous example of the British invading something.

Today's cartoon formula: Old guy still dressing like a mod from the sixties attempts to hit on young woman by making an outdated reference and she shoots him down with history. Who said that stuff we learned in school wouldn't come in handy some day?

The Many Costumes of Wonder Woman

The original, from Sensation Comics #1 (1942)

A quick change from skirt to shorts in Sensation Comics #5 (1942)

 She goes mod in Wonder Woman #178 (1968)

She has a different outfit nearly every issue, such as this stylish ensemble from Wonder Woman #181 (1969)

Going to all-white in Wonder Woman #186 (1970)

The white outfit saw many variations, such as this stylish fighting ensemble in Wonder Woman #201 (1972)

But then in Wonder Woman #204 (1973) she was back to the classic outfit with shorts (although by this point the shorts are noticeably shorter....)

In Wonder Woman #288 (1982), the classic bird emblem is replaced with a stylized WW.

 When George Perez rebooted Wonder Woman with a new #1 (1987) in the wake of Crisis, he kept her standard costume, though adding a good deal more hair.

Though he also gave her a variety of specialized costumes, such as this warrior ensemble in Wonder Woman vol. 2 #10 (1987).

In Wonder Woman vol. 2 #93 (1995), the character Artimis became the 'official' Wonder Woman and inherited the now-classic WW costume, while Diana continued her super-hero career in a black outfit, complete with, yes, a jacket!

John Byrne took over the title with Wonder Woman vol. 2 #101 (1995) and returned Diana to the WW costume, with a few variations.

The shorts would continue to get shorter over the years. By the time Wonder Woman vol. 2 #139 (1998) rolled around, she was for all purposes now fighting crime in a bathing suit.

Although the length and volume of her hair varied over the years, Wonder Woman was always known for her long locks. But in Wonder Woman vol. 2 #190 (2003), she shockingly cut her hair super-short! (A change that would only last about 6 months—apparently Amazon hair grows much faster than normal human hair...)

 With another relaunch in Wonder Woman vol. 3 #1 (2006), her costume returns to a version of the classic bird emblem, and her belt has morphed into the WW emblem.

In Wonder Woman vol. 3 #6 (2007) Diana briefly returned to her all-white super-spy outfit.

And now in 2010, Jim Lee has once again given Wonder Woman a new costume, with black pants and jacket. How long will this change last...?

Smells

Bizarro is brought to you today by A Good Read.

As many of my readers know, I'm not a fan of many of America's anti-smoking laws and I can honestly say that I'd hold the same opinion even if I didn't smoke. Quite frankly, blanket bans on public smoking verge on fascism. It proposes no health risk whatsoever to smell someone's cigarette, cigar or pipe as it wafts by in an unenclosed space. None. You could smell smoke in a public park every day for a thousand years and not get cancer. Tobacco smoke is not cyanide gas.

Allowing merchants to ban smoking in their establishment is fine. But to ban it in all buildings, regardless of the preferences of the owner, manager, or patrons is ridiculous. Why can't a bar owner in NYC decide for himself if he wants to allow smoking? No one is required to be in a bar. Proponents of these laws say that it exposes the employees to a health risk. First, the health risk of breathing second-hand smoke on the job is negligible, far less than eating meat and dairy. Second, no one is required to work there.

In California (and some other places) you can't smoke within 25 feet of a building. For those of you outside of California, this isn't a joke, they're actually protecting the health of bricks and masonry. This law is clearly nothing more than a vendetta against a habit that some people find unappealing.

There are plenty of habits I find unappealing, if I can get enough people behind me, does it make sense in a free society to ban them? I love music but hearing music that I did not choose to listen to at that moment bugs the crap out of me, for instance: In cars, stores, restaurants, taxis, nightclubs, you name it. Nine times out of ten it is something I do not have on my iPod and I can honestly say that it annoys me as much as smelling smoke annoys other people. I'm sure there are other people who feel the same way, shall we outlaw all music that is audible to more than the person who chose to play it?

I don't like ugly clothing or hairstyles, either. Let's ban them in all public buildings and within 25 feet of doorways. And in public parks and on beaches, too. Soda pop and junk food also disgust me and are as clear a long-term health risk as is smoking. Out you go. And don't get me started about some people's accents. A nasally southern twang makes me want to jump in front of a train.

I'm guessing that most people don't share my view and some may claim democracy and say the majority wins. But that's not really what a free society is about. It means we're all free to do what we choose if it isn't injuring others. An odor we find unpleasant isn't really injury, it's momentary inconvenience, as it is with music, ugly hairdos and twangy nose-talkers.

Mind you, I don't think smoking bans will ever be repealed, I'm just whining.

I Think I'm Going to be Sick...

Yep, Leslie and Maggie are here to stay. According to the last poll, you readers found Poo's parasites to be:

our new friends (41%)

Leslie & Maggie (37%)

disgusting (31%)

cute! (11%)

Thanks for voting and while you're here check out the new poll.

Oh, and if you're having trouble deciphering the itty-bitty, high-pitched word balloons of Leslie and Maggie, be sure to click on the comic to enlarge it for easier reading.

Snakes & Gay Sailors

Bizarro is brought to you
today by The Dog Throw.

Instead of discussing my "snake eyes" cartoon today, let's talk about a comic book story that a friend of mine sent me recently. This is a small story within a larger volume of (presumably tough-guy) war comics called "The Losers," circa early seventies. You'll want to click on each image to see the details and read the copy.


As you can see by the cover, even though we were up to our eyeballs in the Vietman War, this comic is about WWII.













On the title page of our story, Toro is a lovely young man with remarkably feminine characteristics. He has a Florence Henderson haircut, ties his fatigues to expose his abs, wears a belt from the Diana Ross Collection and what's that over his shoulder reaching for his pearl necklace? Oh, it's a fairy.







On page two, we find that not only is his walk "peculiar" but he talks like a 17th century dandy. He's also always "neat and clean" and I think we all know what that means. We can tell by the looks on the other sailors' faces that this makes them angry.









In case the reader has missed the subtle clues, on this next page they actually identify him as a "fairy." One sailor, whose arm movement is more than a little melodramatic, is curious to find out more about him and who can blame him? He's been at sea for a long time. But before he can so much as buy him a glass of Chardonnay, the unarmed group is confronted by hostiles bearing weapons and even one of the tough guys turns into a sniveling little girl.

The "manly" sailors run away, but Toro runs toward the enemy. This doesn't surprise us because we already know he is crazy. What we didn't know was that he has the ability to change a flower into a funny knife.










On the final page, one Japanese soldier jumps off a cliff rather than fight the fairy. If you're not familiar with WWII history, the Japanese were well known for this kind of cowardice, which is why they surrendered so easily and never flew manned planes into U.S. Navy ships. Further demonstrating his insanity (an appreciation of flowers and jewelry) Toro jumps to his death, too.

In the final frame we find out that the name "Toro" comes from a handmade knife which he carries "strapped to his thigh, under his pants" (which made me a little hot.) It is further explained to us that although he loved beautiful things, he loved freedom even more, in spite of the fact that he was not free to be a fairy in the Navy. All of this killing, shirt-tying and beautiful hair had driven him crazy. Or perhaps he just loved his country so much that he wished to relieve them of the unpleasant task of dealing with a homosexual among their ranks. Whatever the reason, he clearly did "not wish to remain".

I'm not going to say that the artist was gay but I do find the flower over Toro's anus somewhat provocative. Regardless, this was a daring story line for a '70s war comic. I'd love to know if the editors were making a case for gays in the military or if they were truly clueless. Remember, in those days gay characters were not on TV anywhere, were only rarely depicted in films (and usually with derision and/or pathos) and outside of progressive neighborhoods in San Francisco and New York, were not discussed in polite society. As a kid growing up in Tulsa, Oklahoma, I didn't even know what homosexuality was until I was midway through high school and some rednecks called me a fag, presumably because I was not dressed like a member of Lynyrd Skynyrd. A story like this would have confused me completely.

What have we learned from this?
Gays can be just as ruthless as straights.
Gays have weapons hidden in their pants.
Be wary of people with flowers sticking out of their butts.