Someone Else Has Probably Already Made This Observation

So in looking at the two-page spread of the new Fortress of Solitude in last week's Action Comics Annual #10, I noticed that there are statues of the old (pre-Crisis/ZH/Reboot) Legion of Super-Heroes in there, not the current LoSH.

Which led me to a realization: The current Supergirl and The Legion of Super-Heroes comic is probably set not in the future of 'New Earth' (i.e. the current DCU), but rather in the future of the 'New Parallel Earth' (or whatever they end up calling it) that is being hinted at.

This would explain why the Supergirl in SatLoSH is different than the one appearing in the modern day DCU. I also seem to recall some multiversing going on in the final issue of the old Legion when the new LoSH was introduced.

Happy(?) Valentines Day

Cover to the Empty Love Stories Special by Ty Templeton from Funny Valentine Press.
 

Who Rules on Amazon?

I checked out the Comics & Graphic Novels bestsellers list on Amazon; I expected that, like in bookstores, manga would rule the day at Amazon, but that's not the case. Here are the current top selling Comics & Graphic Novels at Amazon (edited to remove things on the list which aren't actually comics or graphic novels):

1. 300


2. Astonishing X-Men Vol. 3: Torn


3. The Complete Calvin and Hobbes


4. Watchmen


5. Lost Girls


6. American Born Chinese


7. Serenity: Those Left Behind


8. Penny Arcade Volume 3: The Warsun Prophecies


9. Making Comics: Storytelling Secrets of Comics, Manga and Graphic Novels


10. Fun Home


11. Persepolis


12. Batman: The Dark Knight Returns


13. V for Vendetta


14. Understanding Comics


15. Fables Vol. 8: Wolves


16. The Walking Dead, Vol. 6: This Sorrowful Life


17. Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall


18. The Complete Far Side 1980-1994


19. Bone: One Volume Edition


20. Maus: A Survivor's Tale (box set)


21. Lucifer Vol. 11: Evensong


22. Bone Volume 1: Out From Boneville


23. The Halo Graphic Novel


24. Theories of Everything: Selected, Collected, and Health-Inspected Cartoons, 1978-2006


25. Fables Vol. 1: Legends in Exile


26. Pride of Baghdad


27. Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories 2


28. Marvel Zombies


29. Bleach Vol. 17


30. Kingdom Come


31. Frank Miller's Complete Sin City Library


32. Our Kingdom Vol. 5


33. Scrum Bums: A Get Fuzzy Collection


34. Y: The Last Man Vol. 8 - Kimono Dragons


35. Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History


36. Maus II: A Survivor's Tale: And Here My Troubles Began


37. Ronin


38. The Complete Peanuts 1959-1962 Box Set


39. Y: The Last Man Vol. 6: Girl on Girl


40. Preludes and Nocturnes (The Sandman, Vol. 1)


41. Fables Vol. 2: Animal Farm


42. Death Note Vol. 1


43. Garfield Blots Out the Sun: His 43rd book


44. Try Rebooting Yourself: A Dilbert Collection


45. Virtuoso Di Amore


46. It's A Magical World: A Calvin and Hobbes Collection


47. Watchmen (Absolute Edition)


48. The Walking Dead Vol. 5: The Best Defense


49. Lost Portrait


50. Justice: Volume 2

The first manga doesn't appear on the list until position #27!

A couple of caveats:

1) Amazon updates its bestsellers lists hourly, so it'll probably be different by the time you look at it.

2) There are a lot of non-comics books on the list; it's unknown if there are any comics & graphic novels that didn't make the list because they're labeled wrong.

(Manga is a subcategory of Comics & Graphic Novels; there is a separate Manga bestsllers list, and it does track with the broader list.)


Why such a poor showing for manga in Amazon? I have a couple of theories:

1) Amazon's pricing structure usually doesn't give discounts on items priced under $10; since most manga are $9.99 or less, there's no cost savings for ordering most manga on Amazon. (Although that doesn't stop the similarly priced Serenity graphic novel from hitting the top ten.)

2) One needs a credit card to order from Amazon; teenagers--one of manga's major audiences--typically don't have credit cards.


A few more observations about the list:

* 300 on top is not surprising, since the movie comes out next month. Good to see Dark Horse having movie-related product available before the movie for a change.

* Big ticket items make a strong showing, with The Complete Calvin & Hobbes and Lost Girls both in the top 5. Amazon shoppers love those 40% discounts on expensive hardcover box sets!

* Plenty of evergreen titles here, like Watchmen, Dark Knight Returns, V for Vendetta, Persepolis, and Maus.

YouTube Means I Don't Have to Do 'Real' Blogging Today

Too busy to write up a real blog post, so here are a couple of YouTube videos:

Introducing The Book:




March of the Librarians:

Gon Gone No More?

One of my all-time favorite manga series is Masashi Tanaka's Gon, a wonderful comic about a take-no-duff little dinosaur living in the present natural world. Tanaka is a fantastic draftsman and storyteller; there's no dialog or sound effects in Gon, just expertly crafted drawings of animals and their surroundings. The way that Tanaka is able to get emotion out of his realistic animal characters is astounding. Oh, and it's really funny too.

Gon was the first manga series published by DC, pre-CMX (under the Paradox Press imprint). Five volumes came out, that was a while ago and they're out of print. But potential good news: in an interview with Newsarama, Gail Simone lets slip that DC/CMX is likely bring back Gon, bringing the old volumes back in print and bringing out new volume too!

New Library Comics: Week of February 5, 2007

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


Assorted meats : preview book. /Ann Arbor, Mich : Biohazard Publishing, 1997.

Constantini, Gianluca. El Indio. /Italy : Centro Fumetto, 2004.

Deitch, Kim, 1944- Shadowland /Seattle, Wash. : Fantagraphics, 2006.

Fillion, Patrick, 1973- Guardians of the cube /[S.l.] : Class Comics, [2004?-] no. 1

Grennan, Simon. Ghost on the stair & other stories : astonishing stories of post-industrial epiphanies /Seattle, WA : Fantagraphics, 1998.

Hanabusa, Yoko. Idol dreams /Milwaukie, OR : Dark Horse Manga, 2006.

Hashimoto, Takako. Response /Milwaukie, OR : Dark Horse Manga, 2005.

Heartbreakers superdigest /Fullerton, Calif. : Image Comics, 1998- vol. 2

Hoshiai, Misao. Holding on to Alex /Milwaukie, OR : Dark Horse Manga, 2006.

Hudlin, Reginald. Black Panther /New York : Marvel, 2005.

Itoh, Kako. A girl in a million /Milwaukie, OR : Dark Horse Manga, 2005.

Kitoh, Mohiro. Shadow star /Milwaukee, OR : Dark Horse Comics, c2001- vols. 1-2

Lee, Stan. Marvel masterworks presents here comes Daredevil, the man without fear! /New York : Marvel Comics, c2003- vol. 1

Lee, Stan. Marvel masterworks presents the Silver Surfer /New York, N.Y. : Marvel Comics, 2003. vol. 1

Mack, David. Kabuki /Fullerton, CA : Image Comics, c1997- vols. 2, 3, 5

Marti. Taxista : obra completa /Barcelona : Glénat, c2004.

Martín, Miguel Angel. Brian the brain : un technomelodrama del siglo XXI /Barcelona : Ediciones la Cúpula, c2005.

Mitsuba, Takanashi. Crimson hero /[S.l.] : Viz Media, 2005- vol. 1

Page, Tyler, 1976- Stylish vittles /Minneapolis, Minn. : Demention Comics, c2002- vols. 1-2

Prado, Miguelanxo. Trazo de tiza /Barcelona : Norma Editorial, c2003.

Sanford, Jay Allen. Triple-x-cinema : a cartoon history /San Diego, Calif. : Re-Visionary Press, [1998?]

Seto, Andy, 1969- Shaolin soccer /Fremont, CA : ComicsOne Corp., c2003- vols. 1-2

Shibata, Masahiro. Sarai /Femont, Calif. : Comics One, 2002- vol. 1

Smith, Rick. Baraka and black magic in Morocco : a graphic travelogue /Gainesville, FL : Alternative Comics, c2003.

Stevenson, Robert Louis, 1850-1894. Graphic classics : Robert Louis Stevenson /Mount Horeb, Wis. : Eureka Productions, c2004.

Tatsumi, Yoshihiro, 1935- Abandon the old in Tokyo /Montreal : Drawn & Quarterly, 2006.

Tommaso, Rich. Clover honey /Seattle, WA : Fantagraphics Books, c1995.

Weird science /Timonium, Md. : Gemstone Publishing, c2006- vol. 1

Whats up. /[United States?] : [s.n.], [200-?]

Wood, Wallace. Sally Forth /Seattle, WA : Eros Comix, 1993-1995. nos. 1, 6

Monkey Covers

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

It's giant ape vs. T-Rex on Brian Buniak's 1990 cover to Dark Horse Presents #47!

(Standard disclaimer about dinosaur-wailing giant apes not really being monkeys applies.)

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