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.