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: Dog Days *
2 (-). Logicomix: An Epic Search for Truth
3 (+4). The Zombie Survival Guide: Recorded Attacks
4 (-). Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw
5 (-). Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules
6 (-). Diary of a Wimpy Kid
7 (-4). The Book of Genesis Illustrated by R. Crumb *
8 (+13). Bloom County Complete Library Volume 1 *
9 (-1). Predators and Prey (Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight, Vol. 5) *
10 (-). Watchmen
11 (N). 14 Years of Loyal Service in a Fabric-Covered Box: A Dilbert Book *
12 (+4). Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
13 (-1). Batman: Arkham Asylum (15th Anniversary Edition)
14 (-1). Batman: The Killing Joke
15 (+18). Batman: Year One
16 (+3). Fables Vol. 12: The Dark Ages
17 (-2). Asterios Polyp
18 (-9). Mercy Thompson Homecoming
19 (R). Tumor Chapter 1 (kindle)
20 (N). Bloom County: Complete Library Volume 2 *
21 (+20). Masterpiece Comics
22 (-4). The Walking Dead, Vol. 10: What We Become
23 (+19). The Cartoon History of the Modern World, Part 2: From the Bastille to Baghdad
24 (R). Time of Your Life (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 8, Vol. 4)
25 (-4). Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History
26 (-6). Naruto, Volume 46
27 (-16). The Complete Peanuts 1971-1974 Box Set
28 (+18). Marvel Encyclopedia *
29 (-2). Astonishing X-Men Omnibus *
30 (-16). Stitches: A Memoir
31 (-). Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art
32 (N). Dilbert: 2010 Day-to-Day Calendar
33 (+14). The Sandman Vol. 1: Preludes and Nocturnes
34 (+9). Maus II: A Survivor's Tale: And Here My Troubles Began
35 (N). Berserk Volume 31 *
36 (+4). Bone: One Volume Edition
37 (N). The Umbrella Academy: Dallas
38 (+7). Locke & Key: Head Games
39 (-11). Batman: The Long Halloween
40 (-15). The Complete Calvin and Hobbes
41 (R). The Arrival
42 (-7). Pokemon: Diamond and Pearl Adventure!, Volume 5
43 (R). Wolves at the Gate (Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight, Volume 3)
44 (N). Hellboy Library Edition Volume 3: Conqueror Worm And Strange Places
45 (R). Freedom's Just Another Word for People Finding Out You're Useless
46 (-20). The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz HC
47 (R). The Long Way Home (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 8, Vol. 1)
48 (-10). V for Vendetta
49 (-19). Batman: Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader? Deluxe Edition
50 (-33). Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood


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

N = New listing appearing on list for first time
R = Item returning to the list after having been off for 1 or more weeks


Commentary:

* A big week for strip collections: The first Bloom County compilation hops up into the top ten, while the pre-order for the second comes in at position 20; And two new Dilbert items debut at #11 & #32, and the previous collection also sneaks back onto the list.

* Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days is at #2 on the overall bestseller list, just behind Dan Brown and just ahead of Sarah Palin. (Where the Wild Things Are is at #10 on the overall list, but is not included on the Graphic Novel chart.)

* The Other debuts this week are the latest volume of Berserk, The Umbrella Academy: Dallas, and Hellboy Library Edition Volume 3.

Anatomically Incorrect

Bizarro is brought to you today by The King's Colonoscopy.

Speaking of which, it is time for me, once again, to pay a stranger to shove things into my rectum. Yes, I am overdue for a colonoscopy, the medical equivalent of prison rape.

I had one about ten years ago, when I turned 40, and after complaining to my friends about how it was the worst, most painful day of my life, they all said, "But you're not supposed to remember it. They give you that amnesia drug."

Huh? They gave me no such drug. I guess they forgot. Perhaps they took it themselves.

Now I'm (over)due for another and I don't want to do it because:
A. The last one was a nightmare
B. I don't have health insurance and it's expensive
C. I don't know where/who to go to. Am I supposed to pick someone randomly from the Yellow Pages and pay them to shove things into my butt? Sounds like more like Craig's List than modern medicine.

A reasonable blog reader might ask, "Why don't you have health insurance, Dan?"

Because in NY it is phenomenally expensive when you are not affiliated with any group or employer. The cheapest I've found is through the Freelancers Union (which isn't really a "union" but a group of freelancers who buy insurance together so it is cheaper) and it's still over $1000 a month for minimum coverage for my wife and me, and of course, that doesn't include "pre-existing conditions" or anything else they decide they don't want to pay for. I'd literally rather die than pay $12,000 a year to an extortion corporation, only to be denied money back later when I really need it. It is the definition of organized crime.

I Twooted this last night, but how is it that even the dimmest Americans cannot see these two simple facts:
1. All politicians who oppose government-run health care actually HAVE government-run health care.
2. All politicians who oppose government-run health care are taking huge amounts of money from the insurance industry and big pharm.

Will this country ever wake up, or do I see residency in Europe in my future?

Contest #7 WINNERS!!!

This week's winner, coming in at 9 minutes after the hour, is someone or -thing going by the name of "Ha Ha Ha Whoops." Congratulations, HHHW, you'll be receiving valuable merchandise the likes of which you do not currently own!

Second place, coming in just moments behind HHHW, is our old friend "Marcello," who was the grand prize winner of Contest #4, all those weeks ago. (3 weeks) He'll be receiving some merchandise, too, as will the third place winner, the artist formerly known as "Giant." And currently know as, too, apparently.

Many congrats to all our dandy winners this week. Stop by tomorrow for another Bizarro cartoon with amusing commentary and musings by your host and MC for this evening, me.

Drive safely everyone.

(click on the image below to read the correct answers)

Contest #7

Click on the cartoon contest image below to enlarge.

RULES, ETC:
As usual, one image is the original cartoon, the warped image beneath it has been changed. Your mission, if you are courageous enough to conquer it, is to find those differences.

1. There are 15 differences between the two cartoons.
2. NONE of the differences have to do with the warped nature of the second image.
3. ALL of the differences are something missing, added, or moved, not just "bent" from the distortion. The differences will be subtle -- once you spot them, you should be relatively certain you've found it. (As opposed to something like, "I think the shadow of the coffee cup is a little bigger. Hmmm.")
4. FIRST PERSON to correctly list the 15 differences in the comments section of the contest post wins 5 packs of Bizarro Trading Cards, mailed by me personally from Bizarro International Headquarters in Brooklyn. I'll even lick the stamp, unless it's self adhesive. SECOND AND THIRD persons with correct answers will each get 2 packs of Bizarro Trading Cards!
5. Put your email address on your comment so I can contact you if you win. I won't post it or keep it or file it or sell it or mount a Broadway musical about it.

Enjoy and good luck!

Contest Today!!!!!

My apologies for the late announcement, but life is chaos.

Another contest today, 4pm this time. Read the rules below if you want to get a jump on things, a few details have changed. Good luck, my bloggy friends.

RULES, ETC:
As usual, one image will be the original cartoon, the warped image beneath it will have been changed. Your mission, if you are courageous enough to conquer it, is to find those differences.

1. There will be 15 differences between the two cartoons.
2. NONE of the differences will have to do with the warped nature of the second image.
3. ALL of the differences are something missing, added, or moved, not just "bent" from the distortion. The differences will be subtle, once you spot them, you should be relatively certain you've found it. (As opposed to something like, "I think the shadow of the coffee cup is a little bigger. Hmmm.")
4. FIRST PERSON to correctly list the 15 differences in the comments section of the contest post wins 5 packs of Bizarro Trading Cards, mailed by me personally from Bizarro International Headquarters in Brooklyn. I'll even lick the stamp, unless it's self adhesive. SECOND AND THIRD person with correct answers will each get 2 packs of Bizarro Trading Cards!
5. Put your email address on your comment so I can contact you if you win. I won't post it or keep it or file it or sell it or mount a Broadway musical about it.

Hope to see you at 4pm! Here's last week's contest if you want to see what to expect.

Easter Island Neighbor

Bizarro is brought to you today by Show Business.

I guess Jay Leno's new show made me think of this cartoon. Either that, or it was that time a few weeks ago that my business partner, Rey, said, "What about Easter Island but with Jay Leno's chin?"

I'm never really sure what Rey is talking about and I'm not even sure if he was talking about a cartoon in this case, but it gave me this idea, so here it is.

Except for the desk being missing, the Jay's new show doesn't seem all that different, right? Which is fine, he was very popular on The Tonight Show, so why change a winning formula? I guess I just thought it was going to be more different.

If anyone from the new Jay Leno Show is watching, can I be a guest, please? I think it would be good for my career.

Great Grafitti

This is awesome. Found this on one of my favorite websites about art and cartoons, DRAWN! There are no computer tricks here, just paint and film. Amazing stuff.

For some reason, it repeats after 4 minutes.