There’s a lively round of compare-and-contrast going on over at MagaBlog over manga selections at Borders and Barnes & Noble outlets.
In the interest of science (and because I had a personal shopping day and didn’t feel like hauling myself up to Pittsburgh to go to the closest available Borders), I hit the Waldenbooks in the mall. While I prefer the shopping experience at the local Barnes & Noble (because it doesn’t induce claustrophobia and force me to go to the mall), I have to say that Waldenbooks has a much better manga selection.
It doesn’t have as many actual books, but it has more titles from a larger number of publishers. It positively stomps Barnes & Noble in terms of boys’ love and yaoi titles, carrying virtually everything Blu publishes and a fair amount from Kitty Media. It had more CMX and Dark Horse books than B&N and a competitive selection of stuff from Ice Kunion and Netcomics. And it had a copy of Red String, which I grabbed immediately because I’m curious about it and keep forgetting to tack it on to Amazon orders.
As far as other kids of graphic novels go, it’s pretty dire at Waldenbooks. I’m sure my memory is indulging in exaggeration, but all I remember seeing is a thin shelf of Marvel Ultimate titles.
