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 (+1). Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules
4 (-1). Diary of a Wimpy Kid
5 (-). Star Trek: Countdown TPB *
6 (N). A Drifting Life
7 (N). The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Volume 3: Century #1 *
8 (+1). Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
9 (-1). Batman: The Killing Joke
10 (-4). V for Vendetta
11 (+30). Dark Tower: Treachery *
12 (N). Secret Identity: The Fetish Art of Superman's Co-creator Joe Shuster
13 (-6). Mercy Thompson Homecoming *
14 (+7). Batman: R.I.P.
15 (+4). Time of Your Life (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 8, Vol. 4) *
16 (+9). The Joker
17 (+22). Batman: Year One
18 (-8). Blueberry Girl
19 (N). Batman: Arkham Asylum (15th Anniversary Edition)
20 (-9). Angel: After the Fall, Vol. 3
21 (-8). Wolves at the Gate (Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight, Volume 3)
22 (-8). Ignorance, Thy Name Is Bucky: A Get Fuzzy Collection
23 (+21). All Star Superman, Vol. 2
24 (-7). The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vol. 1
25 (+5). The Walking Dead, Vol. 9: Here We Remain
26 (-14). The Dresden Files: Welcome to the Jungle
27 (-). The Sandman Vol. 1: Preludes and Nocturnes
28 (N). Batman: The Long Halloween
29 (+7). Bone: One Volume Edition
30 (N). The Beats: A Graphic History
31 (-8). The Complete Calvin and Hobbes
32 (-4). Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History
33 (N). Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood
34 (-19). The Official Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide, 39th Edition
35 (-13). Serenity, Vol. 2: Better Days
36 (N). Crown of Horns (Bone, Vol. 9)
37 (N). From Hell
38 (N). The Sandman Vol. 3: Dream Country
39 (-1). The Long Way Home (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 8, Vol. 1)
40 (N). The Saturday Evening Pearls: A Pearls Before Swine Collection
41 (-12). The Complete Peanuts 1971-1972
42 (N). Dark Tower: The Long Road Home (Exclusive Amazon.com Cover)
43 (N). The Marvel Encyclopedia
44 (-1). The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vol. 2
45 (-21). Watchmen (Absolute Edition)
46 (N). Y: The Last Man Vol. 4: Safeword
47 (-12). No Future For You (Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight, Volume 2)
48 (N). Angel: After The Fall Volume 1
49 (N). The DC Comics Encyclopedia, Updated and Expanded Edition
50 (N). The Absolute Sandman, Vol. 3


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


Commentary:

* It was an extremely volatile week on the Amazon list this week, with many titles taking huge jumps up or down the charts, and a greater number than usual titles either debuting or returning.

* The highest debut is Yoshihiro Tatsumi's A Drifting Life, which was positively reviewed earlier in the week by the New York Times. It ranked even higher earlier in the week, and as late as yesterday evening it was charting above a couple of the Wimpy Kid volumes.

* Also debuting high is the pre-order for the first issue of Moore & O'Neill's new League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. (You might think that this would also cause a resurgence of the previous LXG volumes, but you'd be wrong.)

* Aside from A Drifting Life, no other manga volumes make the list, with even Naruto completely disappearing.

* One of the biggest gainers is Marvel's Dark Tower, with the pre-order for the new collection climbing way up, and the first collection making a return appearance.

American Genius

Today's Bizarro is brought to you by Peace of Mind.

I got an email about this cartoon from a reader who wanted to inform me that "just because something is a conspiracy theory does not mean their aren't real conspiracies." Even though this person went on to identify himself as one of those meatheads who believes Obama was not born in the U.S. and is turning the country socialist, you can't argue with logic like that.

Along the same line of thinking, just because a TV network tells you it is a "news" channel, does not mean it is reporting facts. And just because that network claims to be "fair and balanced," does not mean it isn't demonstrably controlled by a political party attempting to control your behavior, take your money, and poison your environment. And just because that network's comical tag line is "we report, you decide," does not mean that you have much choice in what you decide based on their reporting. Sort of like the magician who says "pick any card," but always manages to get you to pick the card he wants you to have.

So thanks to the reader for alerting me to the existence of "real" conspiracies and for reminding me that there are always a handful of angry, uneducated, bigoted nitwits you can convince to waves signs and throw teabags while complaining about rising taxes when their own rates have been untouched for 16 years and are about to go down.

Fortunately for the rest of us, their numbers are lower at the moment and relatively few people showed up for the comical Fox-Network-GOP-instigated-and-promoted "grass roots" tax revolt last Wednesday. I have little faith that their numbers will continue to dwindle, but for the time being, the desperation of the GOP and its "news" network is humorous to watch, anyway.


DISCLAIMER: This blog is not intended to insult educated conservatives who mourn the loss of their party to the neo-cons.