Right to Reflect Arms

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I've been lagging a bit behind in my posts this week because I'm busy trying to get my deadlines covered for an upcoming trip to the left coast. Next weekend is the National Cartoonists Society's annual convention and awards dinner, and this year it is in Hollywood. We have it in a different city each year, a tradition started a little over 25 years ago. Before that, it was always in New York, since it started in the early 1900s. Can't remember the year, no time to look it up.

The convention is fun and mostly an excuse for those of us in this relatively rare business to get together to drink more than we normally do and commiserate about deadlines, editors, the failing newspaper industry, and whichever of our lousy colleagues just got a TV or movie deal even though our work is WAAAAY funnier than theirs.

We also dress up in tuxedos and evening gowns, give each other awards for various types of cartooning and pretend we're at the Oscars. Yes, I've worn an evening gown as well as a tux, as have many other cartoonists.

The convention isn't as wacky as it many might think, though. Most professional cartoonists are fairly nerdy introverts with a few notable exceptions like Mort Walker (Beetle Baily) who is high on mushrooms most of the time and has been dressing like a Roman centurion since the late 80s.

Amazon Top 50

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

1 (-). Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw
2 (+3). Star Trek: Countdown TPB
3 (-1). Watchmen
4 (-). Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules
5 (-2). Diary of a Wimpy Kid
6 (-). Time of Your Life (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 8, Vol. 4)
7 (+10). The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Volume 3: Century #1
8 (-). Stephen King's Dark Tower: Treachery
9 (+19). The Walking Dead Compendium Volume 1 *
10 (+1). Batman: The Killing Joke
11 (-4). V for Vendetta
12 (+35). Y: The Last Man, Vol. 2 (Deluxe Edition)
13 (+23). Bone: One Volume Edition
14 (-5). Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
15 (+4). Mercy Thompson Homecoming *
16 (-2). Invincible: The Ultimate Collection Volume 4
17 (-1). Blueberry Girl
18 (N). Blazing Combat
19 (N). The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vol. 2
20 (+11). Batman: Arkham Asylum (15th Anniversary Edition)
21 (-8). Serenity, Vol. 2: Better Days
22 (N). A Drifting Life
23 (+1). The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vol. 1
24 (-9). Wolverine: Origin
25 (+4). The Sandman Vol. 1: Preludes and Nocturnes
26 (N). The Arrival
27 (+17). The Joker
28 (-8). The Long Way Home (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 8, Vol. 1)
29 (+4). Batman: R.I.P.
30 (-). The Complete Persepolis
31 (+6). Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History
32 (-). No Future For You (Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight, Volume 2)
33 (-7). Batman: Year One
34 (+12). Fullmetal Alchemist, Vol. 18
35 (N). The New Brighton Archeological Society
36 (-15). Angel: After the Fall, Vol. 3
37 (+1). Serenity, Vol. 1: Those Left Behind
38 (-16). The Complete Calvin and Hobbes
39 (+4). Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art
40 (N). Secret Invasion
41 (N). The Gunslinger Born (The Dark Tower Graphic Novels, Book 1)
42 (+7). Vindication (Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Vol. 6) *
43 (-18). Weapon X (Wolverine)
44 (N). The Marvel Encyclopedia
45 (N). Return to Labyrinth Volume 3
46 (N). B.P.R.D. Volume 10: The Warning
47 (N). Maus II: A Survivor's Tale: And Here My Troubles Began
48 (N). The Walking Dead, Vol. 9: Here We Remain
49 (N). The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: The Black Dossier
50 (N). Creepy Archives Volume 3



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


Commentary:

* The Star Trek Movie prequel overtakes Watchmen, the first non-Wimpy Kid item to do so since Watchmen's movie bump.

* Speaking of movie bumps, Wolverine's seems to be fading, withe the related titles slipping or falling off the list.

* Movement upwards on League of Extraordinary Gentlemen titles, as the new volume's release also provides interest in the previous volumes.

* The highest debut belongs to Fantagraphics' Blazing Combat hardcover. Also debuting strongly is The New Brighton Archeological Society, a kid-friendly book from Image.

* A good week for compendiums, with volumes for Y, the Last Man and Walking Dead making big moves, and Invincible remaining strong.

FCBM5 Day 15

It's day fifteen of the Fifth Annual YACB Free Comic Book Month!

Our next selected entry is from Matt Pfaff. The five comics that Matt listed are:

1. Green Lantern
2. Fables
3. Ignition City
4. Batman
5. Ender's Game

And his other thing of interest is steampunk.

For Matt I have the first issue of Daniel Hogan's girl-and-her-robot comic Tinn Man.

For Matt's bonus comic, I'm sending him the Donald Duck Halloween comic.

Matt's comics should be in the mail within a week. Enjoy!

There's still time to send in your entry for the YACB Free Comic Book Month; details are here.

Current FCBM Statistics:
25 entries
36 free comics sent so far
16 days remaining