ICv2 has posted Diamond’s graphic novel figures for May, and… wait, where the hell is all the manga? A piddling 13 books cracked the top 100 graphic novels this time around:
QtyRank – Manga Rank – Title – Pub – Est.Qty
19 – 1 – NARUTO VOL 14 TP – VIZ – 5,857
28 – 2 – BLEACH VOL 19 TP – VIZ – 3,758
33 – 3 – BERSERK VOL 17 TP (MR) – DAR – 3,581
42 – 4 – MEGATOKYO VOL 5 – DC – 2,868
43 – 5 – LOVELESS VOL 5 GN (Of 7) (TKP) (MR) – TKP – 2,812
50 – 6 – GUNSMITH CATS BURST VOL 1 TP – DAR – 2,492
56 – 7 – NEON GENESIS EVANGELION ANGELIC DAYS VOL 5 – ADV – 2,267
58 – 8 – NEGIMA VOL 14 GN (MR) – RAN – 2,107
66 – 9 – STREET FIGHTER ALPHA VOL 1 GN (Of 2) – UDO – 1,987
76 – 10 – SAMURAI DEEPER KYO VOL 22 GN (Of 38) (MR) – TKP – 1,779
96 – 11 – GUNSMITH CATS OMNIBUS VOL 2 TP – DAR – 1,330
97 – 12 – INITIAL D VOL 26 GN (Of 32) – TKP – 1,314
99 – 13 – LOVE MODE VOL 5 GN (Of 11) (MR) – TKP – 1,266
Though manga seems to be winning the war in terms of sales in general in places like bookstores, it lost this month’s Direct Market skirmish to Marvel’s Civil War crossover. Collections of the comics event scored 16 spots on the top 100 chart:
QtyRank – Title – Est.Qty
3 – CIVIL WAR CAPTAIN AMERICA TP – 10,023
4 – CIVIL WAR WOLVERINE TP – 8,853
6 – CIVIL WAR TP – 8,589
7 – CIVIL WAR FRONT LINE BOOK 2 TP – 8,156
9 – CIVIL WAR PETER PARKER SPIDER-MAN TP – 7,572
11 – CIVIL WAR YOUNG AVENGERS & RUNAWAYS TP – 6,955
13 – CIVIL WAR X-MEN UNIVERSE TP – 6,842
14 – CIVIL WAR WAR CRIMES TP – 6,426
16 – CIVIL WAR COMPANION TP – 6,161
17 – BLACK PANTHER CIVIL WAR TP – 6,073
35 – CIVIL WAR AMAZING SPIDER-MAN TP – 3,557
52 – CIVIL WAR FRONT LINE BOOK 1 TP – 2,436
60 – CIVIL WAR X-MEN TP – 2,099
69 – CIVIL WAR ROAD TO CIVIL WAR TP – 1,891
79 – CIVIL WAR FANTASTIC FOUR TP – 1,651
98 – CIVIL WAR THUNDERBOLTS TP – 1,306
I have to say that if I ran a comic shop, even one that conscientiously tried to have a wide selection, I would have ordered a whole bunch of Civil War trades. It was big, it was successful, and it the core audience for that sort of thing (which must constitute a healthy chunk of just about any comic shop’s clientele) ate it up.
One mini-trend that I noticed in May’s list was the success of what I’d call “library books”:
QtyRank – Title – Pub – Est.Qty
8 – MOUSE GUARD VOL 1 FALL 1152 HC – ARS – 7,604
18 – PLAIN JANES – DC – 6,049
32 – RUNAWAYS VOL 3 HC – MAR – 3,614
65 – KORGI VOL 1 TP – TOP – 2,011
84 – RUNAWAYS VOL 3 GOOD DIE YOUNG DIGEST TP MAR 1,602
The success of Mouse Guard’s handsome collection indicates that interest hasn’t waned in the sleeper hit (and it can’t be a sleeper hit any longer, can it?), boding well for the sequel which is just about to drop.
DC must be happy that its returnability retailer outreach for The Plain Janes had a happy ending. I was surprised to see the shop in my area order shelf copies, since it’s not the kind of book they’d usually over-order. Runaways continues to do really well in collection, and the very pretty Korgi makes an extremely respectable showing.
