Celebrating Celebs

Bizarro is brought to you today by Questionable Public Behavior.

I think celebrities often go off the deep end because they are used to being above the rules. I've experienced this on rare occasions when a group in a small town invites me to perform or something. For an hour or two, they treat me like Mick Jagger or Dane Cook. I don't wait in lines, I get special favors, everyone treats me like gold, nobody disagrees with me or questions any whim. I don't take unfair advantage of those situations because they are so rare and I don't feel entitled to it. In fact, it's fairly embarrassing.

But if you lived every day of your life like that for years, I think there is a great temptation to begin to believe you really are that special and develop a general attitude that you are immune to the rules that guide most people. I think this explains some of the celebrity drug addictions, weapons possessions, speeding tickets, shoplifting arrests, and the way Bono looks on the recent cover of Rolling Stone magazine.

I hope I never get to the place that there is no one in my life who will stop me from leaving the house like that.

(DISCLAIMER: There are other reasons celebrities get into trouble. Lots of people who get into trouble are not celebrities. Some people are more prone to feeling entitled than others, whether they are celebrities or not. I like Bono's music and his work for charity. I am not equating myself with "real" celebrities. I don't think Mick Jagger and Dane Cook are crazy, I just used their pictures to illustrate a point. I really do, however, think that eye makeup on Bono is grotesque.)

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 (-). Diary of a Wimpy Kid
4 (-). Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules
5 (-). Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
6 (-). Watchmen (Absolute Edition)
7 (+1). V for Vendetta
8 (-1). Watchmen (hardcover)
9 (-). Batman: The Killing Joke
10 (+1). The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vol. 1
11 (+7). The Joker
12 (+17). Blueberry Girl
13 (+12). Batman: Arkham Asylum (15th Anniversary Edition)
14 (-). From Hell
15 (-). Batman R.I.P.
16 (-3). The Sandman Vol. 1: Preludes and Nocturnes
17 (-7). Star Trek: Countdown TPB *
18 (+5). Serenity, Vol. 2: Better Days
19 (-7). All Star Superman, Vol. 2
20 (N). Fruits Basket, Vol. 22 *
21 (+3). Watching the Watchmen: The Definitive Companion to the Ultimate Graphic Novel
22 (-2). The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vol. 2
23 (+9). Wolves at the Gate (Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight, Volume 3)
24 (-3). The Complete Peanuts 1971-1972 *
25 (+8). Crown Of Horns (Bone)
26 (N). Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History
27 (+19). Time of Your Life (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 8, Vol. 4) *
28 (N). The Vast Spread of the Seas (The Twelve Kingdoms)
29 (-7). The Walking Dead, Vol. 9: Here We Remain
30 (N). Jack of Fables Vol. 5: Turning Pages
31 (-14). Scott Pilgrim Volume 5: Scott Pilgrim vs The Universe
32 (+2). The Arrival
33 (N). Bone Volume 8: Treasure Hunters
34 (N). Serenity, Vol. 1: Those Left Behind
35 (N). Superman: Brainiac
36 (N). Batman: The Long Halloween
37 (N). Bone Volume 7: Ghost Circles
38 (N). Humbug (2 Volume Set) *
39 (-8). Vampire Knight, Vol. 6
40 (N). DC Universe: The Stories of Alan Moore
41 (-15). Naruto, Volume 38
42 (N). The DC Comics Encyclopedia, Updated and Expanded Edition
43 (-8). Naruto, Volume 41
44 (N). Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood
45 (-26). The Starman Omnibus, Vol. 2
46 (N). Eerie Archives Volume 1 *
47 (N). The Sandman Vol. 3: Dream Country
48 (-20). Naruto, Volume 39
49 (N). Bone Volume 6: Old Man's Cave
50 (-23). The Sandman Vol. 2: The Doll's House

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


Commentary:

* Blah blah Watchmen blah blah. Watchmen actually sat at the top of the regular All Books charts for most of the week, but slipped back down to #2 this afternoon. It would appear that at least for now there's no major after-movie drop off for Watchmen.

* Not sure if DC's After Watchmen promotion will bear much fruit, but at least a handful of the titles they're promoting make debuts on the chart this week, including The Long Halloween and The DC Universe Stories of Alan Moore. I'm surprised though that the new Swamp Thing hardcover doesn't chart.

* The top of the charts continue to be quite boring, with very little movement if any among the top ten titles. But there's plenty of volatility as you move down the charts.

* Naruto titles continue to fall down the charts, but I'm sure in a couple of weeks when the next batch are published they'll spike right back up again. In the meantime, the pre-order for volume 22 of Fruits Basket pops back up high on the list this week, after being missing entirely last week. And I'm surprised to see Fuyumi Ono's The Vast Spread of the Seas debuting so high, as this type of manga doesn't normally chart on bestseller lists.

* A lot of Bone action this week, with several older volumes popping up near the bottom of the chart.