Diamond has released the figures for its top selling individual comics periodicals of ‘07. Marvel took 23 out of the top 25, with BUFFY #1 and JLA #7 to break up the string. It affords a bit of closure to see comics based on works by Stephen King doing so well here, because everyone always said “If only we could get best selling authors to write comics, we’d be okay!” It’s also interesting how much more publisher variety there was on the Top 100 Graphic Novel list. That’s the key to the whole ballgame right there.

2007 TOP SELLERS
Based on Actual Sales of Products Invoiced between January and December 2007
2007 TOP 300 COMICS
QtyRank	RetailRank	Description	Price	Ven
1	1	CAPTAIN AMERICA #25 CW*	$3.99	MAR
2	2	CIVIL WAR #7 (Of 7)*	$2.99	MAR
3	5	CIVIL WAR #6 (Of 7)*	$2.99	MAR
4	12	THOR #1*	$2.99	MAR
5	3	DARK TOWER GUNSLINGER BORN #1 (Of 7)*	$3.99	MAR
6	4	WORLD WAR HULK #1 (Of 5) WWH*	$3.99	MAR
7	7	DARK TOWER GUNSLINGER BORN #2 (Of 7)*	$3.99	MAR
8	8	WORLD WAR HULK #2 (Of 5) WWH*	$3.99	MAR
9	22	FALLEN SON DEATH O/CAPTAIN AMERICA WOLVERINE	$2.99	MAR
10	23	FALLEN SON DEATH O/CAPTAIN AMERICA IRON MAN	$2.99	MAR
11	27	NEW AVENGERS #31 CWI	$2.99	MAR
12	9	MIGHTY AVENGERS #1*	$3.99	MAR
13	18	JUSTICE LEAGUE O/AMERICA #7*	$3.50	DC
14	30	AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #539*	$2.99	MAR
15	31	BUFFY VAMPIRE SLAYER #1*	$2.99	DAR
16	10	WORLD WAR HULK #4 (Of 5) WWH*	$3.99	MAR
17	11	AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #544 OMD	$3.99	MAR
18	13	DARK TOWER GUNSLINGER BORN #3 (Of 7)*	$3.99	MAR
19	36	FALLEN SON DEATH O/CAPTAIN AMERICA AVENGERS	$2.99	MAR
20	14	WORLD WAR HULK #5 (Of 5) WWH*	$3.99	MAR
21	37	FALLEN SON DEATH O/CAPTAIN AMERICA CAPTAIN AMERICA	$2.99	MAR
22	38	AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #538 CW*	$2.99	MAR
23	15	WORLD WAR HULK MATCH TO #3 (OF 5)	$3.99	MAR
24	16	DARK TOWER GUNSLINGER BORN #4 (Of 7)*	$3.99	MAR
25	17	X-MEN FINCH #200*	$3.99	MAR

(more…)

Following up yesterday’s charts, our HTML is still less than desired, but here is Diamond’s year end chart for the Top 50 Manga. Although Viz dominates, Tokyopop claims the top spot with FRUITS BASKET Vol. 16.

2007 TOP 50 MANGA
QtyRank	RetailRank	Description	Price	Ven
1	2	FRUITS BASKET VOL 16 GN (Of 20)	$9.99	TKP
2	9	NARUTO VOL 13 TP	$7.95	VIZ
3	10	DEATH NOTE VOL 1 TP	$7.99	VIZ
4	17	NARUTO TP VOL 1	$7.95	VIZ
5	18	NARUTO VOL 14 TP	$7.95	VIZ
6	16	DEATH NOTE TP VOL 12	$7.99	VIZ
7	4	FRUITS BASKET VOL 17 GN (Of 22)	$9.99	TKP
8	19	NARUTO VOL 15 TP	$7.95	VIZ
9	3	MEGATOKYO VOL 5	$10.99	DC
10	23	DEATH NOTE VOL 11 TP	$7.99	VIZ
11	25	DEATH NOTE VOL 9 TP	$7.99	VIZ
12	28	DEATH NOTE VOL 10 TP	$7.99	VIZ
13	1	EMPOWERED TP	$14.95	DAR
14	13	KINGDOM HEARTS II VOL 1 GN (OF 5)	$9.99	TKP
15	33	NARUTO VOL 17 TP	$7.95	VIZ
16	15	KINGDOM HEARTS CHAIN O/MEMORIES VOL 2 GN (Of 2)	$9.99	TKP
17	35	NARUTO VOL 18 TP	$7.95	VIZ
18	36	BLEACH VOL 20 TP	$7.95	VIZ
19	40	BLEACH TP VOL 19	$7.95	VIZ
20	41	NARUTO VOL 16 TP	$7.95	VIZ
21	21	WARCRAFT VOL 3 GN (Of 3)	$9.99	TKP
22	24	FRUITS BASKET VOL 18 GN (Of 22)	$9.99	TKP
23	42	DEATH NOTE VOL 3 TP	$7.99	VIZ
24	43	NARUTO VOL 21 TP	$7.95	VIZ
25	46	BLEACH VOL 18 TP	$7.95	VIZ
26	44	DEATH NOTE VOL 4 TP	$7.99	VIZ
27	48	BLEACH VOL 1 TP	$7.95	VIZ
28	49	NARUTO VOL 20 TP	$7.95	VIZ
29	50	BLEACH VOL 17 TP	$7.95	VIZ
30	51	NARUTO VOL 19 TP	$7.95	VIZ
31	53	NARUTO VOL 23 TP	$7.95	VIZ
32	54	NARUTO VOL 24 TP	$7.95	VIZ
33	29	FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST VOL 11 TP	$9.99	VIZ
34	56	NARUTO TP VOL 2	$7.95	VIZ
35	31	FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST TP VOL 13	$9.99	VIZ
36	60	DEATH NOTE TP VOL 05	$7.99	VIZ
37	61	DEATH NOTE VOL 7 TP	$7.99	VIZ
38	32	YOTSUBA MANGA TP VOL 04	$9.99	ADV
39	6	BERSERK VOL 15 TP (MR)	$13.95	DAR
40	7	HELLSING VOL 8 TP	$13.95	DAR
41	5	EMPOWERED VOL 2 TP	$14.95	DAR
42	65	NARUTO VOL 27 TP	$7.95	VIZ
43	39	FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST VOL 12 TP	$9.99	VIZ
44	68	BLEACH VOL 21 TP	$7.95	VIZ
45	69	NARUTO VOL 22 TP	$7.95	VIZ
46	66	DEATH NOTE VOL 2 TP	$7.99	VIZ
47	70	NARUTO VOL 26 TP	$7.95	VIZ
48	71	NARUTO VOL 25 TP	$7.95	VIZ
49	11	BERSERK VOL 16 TP (MR)	$13.95	DAR
50	12	BERSERK TP VOL 17 (MR)	$13.95	DAR

We can’t improve on the classic Variety-ese in their lead for this story:

Eyeing its next movie franchise, Luc Besson’s EuropaCorp has inked with Gallic graphic novel publisher Casterman for the bigscreen adaptation rights to Jacques Tardi’s classic comicbook series “Aventures Extraordinaires d’Adele Blanc-Sec.”

The star of nine GNs, Adele Blanc-Sec is a tough journalist who battles threats both occult and brutish between the wars. According to the piece, the film is viewed as the first of a trilogy.
EuropaCorp has also acquired Septieme Choc, a graphic novel publishing house aimed at encouraging work by young artists from underprivileged areas.

Hopefully Besson will keep Blanc-Sec’s clothes on and we’ll see this someday in America.

§ Kevin Colden talks about publishing FISHTOWN at IDW at The Daily Cross Hatch. the indie style ACT-I-VATE comics (and one time Xeric winner) is a welcome stretch for IDW:

Q: What’s the process for finally settling on a publisher? It sounds like you’d be discussing the possibility with IDW for a while.

A: Yeah. We’d been talking on and off for months. It just ended up that they were so enthusiastic about it that I just couldn’t say no. They were prepared to put a lot behind it, and that was important to me. I could have gone with a larger publisher, and maybe made a little more money, in terms of sales, but in the end, the way that they’re set up and the size company they are, I think they’re going to sell it well.

§ The local paper catches up with ComicSpace’s move to Portland, ME:

Maine’s creative economy is about to acquire a new element from an obscure source: The world of comic art on the Web.

Two men who founded some of the most popular and influential comic art sites on the Internet, places like ComicSpace.com and WebComicsNation.com, are teaming up and setting up shop in Portland.

Joey Manley and Josh Roberts were in the city last week, scouting office space downtown and reviewing resumes for a programmer to add to their staff.

Their effort, funded by an infusion of venture capital from investors in Web development, is set to launch in the spring under the ComicSpace.com name. When it debuts, the site will strengthen Maine’s connection to the world of Web comic art, in which artists and writers publish and sell original work on the Internet.

Maine…webcomics…venture capitol…what is not to love? No wonder The Beat is caught being effusive towards the end of the article.

§ Some very very important mainstream news from the past few weeks that we missed:
• Mark Millar and Steve McNiven are doing WOLVERINE.
• Dan Didio is now the line editor for Teen Titans, because Eddie Berganza is too busy.
• THE ORDER, a team book by Matt Fraction has been cancelled by Marvel after only 10 issues and internet fans were sad.
• You know this is kind of interesting; highly regarded newish writer Jason Aaron signed an exclusive at Marvel but gets to keep writing SCALPED, his creator owned Vertigo book. As many have pointed out, “exclusive” is an increasingly flexible term these days. Of course, given the lifespan of the average creator owned book these days, maybe it wasn’t too much of a worry.

§ Joe Quesada steps in the breach one more time and answers FAN questions about you-know-what. We are thoroughly tired of you-know-what by now, and the article is loooong. For instance, on why making a deal with the devil is better than getting a divorce:

Now, there are those that say, “but he made a deal with the Mephisto, how is that better?” I would at least see something in that statement if it was Peter who conjured up Mephisto. If Peter had no options and then proceeded to perform some ritual in order to invoke Mephisto, or in essence reached out to him as a last ditch effort, then yes, I would agree because now you’re validating and saying it’s okay to seek out the Mephisto guy to fix a problem. But, that’s not what happened. It was Mephisto in this case, as he is prone to do, who comes to Peter at his weakest moment and uses this to his advantage. Why? Because he’s a villain.

That’s a very short excerpt of Quesada’s answer. Masochists/completists/continuitians only!

§ Another groundbreaking pact by Platinum Studios.

§ Kenneth Johnson, the producer of the HULK tv show, posts a list of the 117 ways David Banner hulked out on the classic show :

106. Being fed poisoned sushi

Above, this year’s Grand Prix winners Charles Berberian(L) and Philippe Dupuy(R) stand beside last year’s, Jose Munoz. The winning cartooners really do come out on a balcony and address the throng; that is why Angoulême is the true pinnacle of the comics year.

Tom covers the early linkage, including this really stunning one of the local festivities surrounding the show.

While EXIT WOUNDS has been getting much well-deserved acclaim, it seems that THE ARRIVAL is the graphic novel that is picking up, as they say, awards seasons mo. This story from a local Aussie paper profiles creator Shaun Tan and lists some of the book’s kudos:

Tan said yesterday he had begun talks with a Los Angeles producer about turning The Arrival into a film, vindicating his decision to knock back a job on an American animated film six years ago to spend four years hunched over his drawing board to create the book.

The book has been a publishing hit around the world. It reached No. 7 on the New York Times children’s book bestseller list and the Mexican Government bought 30,000 copies for distribution to schools around the country.

The book was published in Australia originally, and won the WA Premier’s Prize and the NSW Premier’s Literary Award, beating out Robert Hughes and celebrated novelist Peter Carey. and now, of course, book of the year at Angoulême.

The wonders continue to unfold over on the newly refurbished and enhanced Fantagraphics website. For instance, they are now running free webcomics, and the first is “Chocolate Cheeks” by Steven Weissman. Now, to be honest, in order to get to the comics, you have to sign up in a way that might please the Dept. of Home Security—they want everything but your shoe size. But still, it’s STEVEN WEISSMAN! When asked for this kind of information, The Beat always uses a well disguised alias.

Meanwhile, over on Flog, they ask you to guess who this cartoonist is. The answer may surprise but to play is FREE!

On the other hand, if women in comics are responsible for this kind of thing, then we must say it is time to call a halt:

June Manga invites you to join the Mile High Club in All Nippon Airlines: Paradise at 30,000 Feet by Kei Azumaya!

ANAL – All Nippon Air Lines – is a unique airline company. All of its employees are beautiful gay men. On top of that, relationships between employees, or even between passengers and employees, are highly encouraged! This is of course the premise for many hilarious situations and strange adventures both for them and for their passengers.

“This is pretty much all the staff member’s favorite title to work on this year,” explains production manager Fred, “It has gotten us into all kinds of trouble with its somewhat controversial title!”

To celebrate the release, June Manga is producing a limited edition dust jacket. “The bookstores didn’t want to actually see ANAL written on the cover,” explains sales manager Eric. “But the play on words is what really makes the book unique. We figured a limited edition dust jacket would be a way to give the fans what they want, but also make the bookstores happy.”

DMP/June is the publisher behind this effort.

Above, Kanako Inuki’s PRESENTS

Dave Carter decided to count the number of female creators working at the Top Four publishers as listed in the latest Previews, and comes up with a list of 9. Two (Robin Furth and Jessica Ruffner) are writing various book-related adaptations at Marvel. One (Amy Wolfram) is a TV writer working on a comics based on the show she writes. One is Gail Simone. Artists: Adriana Melo, Nicola Scott, Sandra Hope, Jan Duursema and Laura Allred.

I’m pretty sure Allred is a colorist and not an artist, but at least her name was in the catalog.
Carter’s nut ‘graph:

So as far as creator gender representation in mainstream comics goes, things are no better than they were ten, twenty or thirty years ago–the days of Louise Simonson, Jo Duffy, Ann Nocenti, June Brigman, Marie Severin, Ramona Fradon, etc.

In fact, there are more female editors at the major companies than there are female creators. Over at Image, there’s no one, except the occasional Colleen Doran and contributors to anthologies like NYC Mech.

Which all sounds very depressing, but then you look back in the real world, and Marjane Satrapi, Gabrielle Bell and Nina Paley are all making movies; Posy Simmonds, Hope Larson, Jill Thompson, Carla Speed McNeill, Raina Telgemeier, Ellen Lindner, Jessica Abel and Sara Varon are all making books; and so are Svetlana Chmakova, Queenie Chan, Amy Hadley, Joanna Estep and Rivkah, not to mention Clamp and Hiromu Arakawa, Natsuki Takaya, Kanako Inuki and Maiocco Anno; and Danielle Corsetto, Dorothy Gambrell, Dylan Meconis, Julia Wertz, and Lauren Weinstein and probably one or two other people I’ve forgotten.

Isn’t this just a comment on how pinched and narrow the entire “comics mainstream” has become? Isn’t it sad?

We are a sucker for a curmudgeonly old timer (or at least someone who writes like a COT) taking to a local editorial page on a comics related topic, and today’s piece by Cathy Gillentine in The Galveston County Daily News fills the bill just right. Gillentine is annoyed by the shrinking comics page in the paper:

To me, it looks kind of strange. I carefully check out each page figuring the page with the puzzle and Heloise contains the least popular comics, the full black and white page has the next favorite bunch and the colored comics are supposedly everybody’s favorites.

The problem with this is, I don’t agree with the choices and I don’t know who decided the positions. My two favorites, “One Big Happy” and “Sally Forth,” are both on the black and white, middle choice page.

Incidentally, when they made the announcement, they said everything missing off the pages would be in the online comics collection. I got online and counted 225 comics, more than anybody ever had.

Our takeaway? This is an outrage and something must be done!

PS: we’re guessing the “Sally Forth” Gillentine enjoys is not the one by Wally Wood but rather the one created by Greg Howard (above.)

[via io9]

Annnnd here’s the top selling graphic novel chart. Manga has its own chart which we’ll hopefully be posting later on.

Sorry this looks funny. We’re trying to fix.

2007 TOP 100 GRAPHIC NOVELS
QtyRank	RetailRank	Description	Price	Ven
1	1	CIVIL WAR TP	$24.99	MAR
2	6	MARVEL ZOMBIES HC*	$19.99	MAR
3	2	HEROES HC*	$29.99	DC
4	7	WATCHMEN TP	$19.99	DC
5	3	300 HC	$30.00	DAR
6	13	WALKING DEAD TP VOL 06 SORROWFUL LIFE (MR)	$12.99	IMA
7	4	LOEG BLACK DOSSIER HC (MR)*	$29.99	DC
8	16	CIVIL WAR ROAD TO CIVIL WAR TP	$14.99	MAR
9	18	Y LAST MAN TP VOL 09 MOTHERLAND (MR)	$14.99	DC
10	34	WALKING DEAD VOL 7 CALM BEFORE TP (MR)	$12.99	IMA
11	14	FABLES TP VOL 09 SONS O/EMPIRE (MR)	$17.99	DC
12	57	WALKING DEAD VOL 1 DAYS GONE BYE TP	$9.99	IMA
13	15	CIVIL WAR AMAZING SPIDER-MAN TP	$17.99	MAR
14	26	ASTONISHING X-MEN VOL 3 TORN TP	$14.99	MAR
15	28	BOYS TP VOL 01 (MR)	$14.99	DE
16	5	HULK PLANET HULK HC	$39.99	MAR
17	66	FABLES VOL 1 LEGENDS IN EXILE TP	$9.99	DC
18	10	DARK TOWER GUNSLINGER BORN PREM HC	$24.99	MAR
19	17	ULTIMATES 2 VOL 2 GRAND THEFT AMERICA TP	$19.99	MAR
20	21	52 VOL 1 TP	$19.99	DC
21	63	CIVIL WAR CAPTAIN AMERICA TP	$11.99	MAR
22	50	WALKING DEAD VOL 5 BEST DEFENSE TP (MR)	$12.99	IMA
23	54	WALKING DEAD VOL 2 TP MILES BEHIND US TP (MR)	$12.99	IMA
24	41	BATMAN DARK KNIGHT RETURNS TP	$14.99	DC
25	56	Y LAST MAN VOL 1 UNMANNED TP	$12.99	DC
26	31	30 DAYS OF NIGHT TP*	$17.99	IDW
27	44	CIVIL WAR FRONT LINE BOOK 1 TP	$14.99	MAR
28	12	MARVEL ENCYCLOPEDIA VOL 4 SPIDER-MAN HC	$24.99	MAR
29	27	JUSTICE VOL 2 HC	$19.99	DC
30	43	BUFFY VAMPIRE SLAYER LONG WAY HOME TP	$15.95	DAR
31	49	BATMAN YEAR ONE DELUXE SC	$14.99	DC
32	32	52 VOL 2 TP	$19.99	DC
33	37	CIVIL WAR WOLVERINE TP	$17.99	MAR
34	77	WALKING DEAD VOL 4 HEARTS DESIRE TP (MR)	$12.99	IMA
35	33	MARVEL ZOMBIES ARMY O/DARKNESS HC	$19.99	MAR
36	90	DMZ VOL 2 BODY O/A JOURNALIST TP (MR)	$12.99	DC
37	91	FABLES VOL 2 ANIMAL FARM TP	$12.99	DC
38	22	MOUSE GUARD VOL 1 FALL 1152 HC NEW PTG	$24.95	ARS
39	64	KINGDOM COME TP*	$14.99	DC
40	36	MARVEL ENCYCLOPEDIA VOL 3 HULK HC	$19.99	MAR
41	68	CIVIL WAR FRONT LINE BOOK 2 TP	$14.99	MAR
42	118	CIVIL WAR X-MEN TP	$11.99	MAR
43	38	52 VOL 3 TP	$19.99	DC
44	70	JACK OF FABLES VOL 1 NEARLY GREAT ESCAPE TP (MR)	$14.99	DC
45	105	Y LAST MAN VOL 2 CYCLES TP (MR)	$12.99	DC
46	74	PREACHER VOL 1 GONE TO TEXAS TP NEW EDITION (MR)	$14.99	DC
47	47	FABLES VOL 8 WOLVES TP (MR)	$17.99	DC
48	80	Y LAST MAN VOL 8 KIMONO DRAGONS TP (MR)	$14.99	DC
49	187	SERENITY TP	$9.95	DAR
50	42	ALL STAR SUPERMAN VOL 1 HC	$19.99	DC
51	133	ULTIMATE X-MEN VOL 15 MAGICAL TP	$11.99	MAR
52	51	CIVIL WAR FANTASTIC FOUR TP	$17.99	MAR
53	85	FABLES VOL 3 STORYBOOK LOVE TP (MR)	$14.99	DC
54	135	CIVIL WAR IRON MAN TP	$11.99	MAR
55	53	CIVIL WAR PETER PARKER SPIDER-MAN TP	$17.99	MAR
56	45	JUSTICE VOL 3 HC	$19.99	DC
57	30	ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN VOL 17 CLONE SAGA TP	$24.99	MAR
58	128	EX MACHINA TP VOL 05 SMOKE SMOKE (MR)	$12.99	DC
59	132	100 BULLETS TP VOL 11 ONCE UPON A CRIME (MR)	$12.99	DC
60	48	SANDMAN TP VOL 01 PRELUDES & NOCTURNES	$19.99	DC
61	95	ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN VOL 18 ULTIMATE KNIGHTS TP	$15.99	MAR
62	103	ULTIMATE X-MEN VOL 16 CABLE TP	$14.99	MAR
63	142	Y LAST MAN VOL 3 ONE SMALL STEP TP (MR)	$12.99	DC
64	237	DMZ VOL 1 ON GROUND TP (MR)	$9.99	DC
65	24	SPIDER-MAN BIRTH O/VENOM TP	$29.99	MAR
66	451	STAR WARS CLONE WARS ADVS VOL 7 TP	$6.95	DAR
67	55	V FOR VENDETTA TP	$19.99	DC
68	364	RUNAWAYS VOL 7 LIVE FAST DIGEST TP	$7.99	MAR
69	174	CIVIL WAR YOUNG AVENGERS & RUNAWAYS TP	$11.99	MAR
70	73	FABLES VOL 4 MARCH O/WOODEN SOLDIERS TP (MR)	$17.99	DC
71	116	FELL VOL 1 FERAL CITY TP	$14.99	IMA
72	59	52 VOL 4 TP	$19.99	DC
73	479	HELLBOY ANIMATED VOL 1 BLACK WEDDING TP	$6.95	DAR
74	266	FRUITS BASKET VOL 16 GN (Of 20)	$9.99	TKP
75	62	BATMAN THE LONG HALLOWEEN TP	$19.99	DC
76	84	HELLBOY VOL 7 TROLL WITCH & OTHERS TP	$17.95	DAR
77	164	WALKING DEAD VOL 3 SAFETY BEHIND BARS TP	$12.99	IMA
78	401	NARUTO VOL 13 TP	$7.95	VIZ
79	147	CIVIL WAR X-MEN UNIVERSE TP	$13.99	MAR
80	149	CIVIL WAR THUNDERBOLTS TP	$13.99	MAR
81	168	Y LAST MAN VOL 4 SAFEWORD TP (MR)	$12.99	DC
82	197	CIVIL WAR MARVEL UNIVERSE TP	$11.99	MAR
83	413	DEATH NOTE VOL 1 TP	$7.99	VIZ
84	69	BATMAN YEAR ONE HUNDRED TP	$19.99	DC
85	71	SPIDER-MAN REIGN PREMIERE HC*	$19.99	MAR
86	296	PLAIN JANES	$9.99	DC
87	138	NEW AVENGERS VOL 4 COLLECTIVE TP	$14.99	MAR
88	183	DMZ VOL 3 PUBLIC WORKS TP (MR)	$12.99	DC
89	144	FABLES VOL 5 MEAN SEASONS TP (MR)	$14.99	DC
90	145	Y LAST MAN VOL 5 RING O/TRUTH TP (MR)	$14.99	DC
91	457	NARUTO TP VOL 1	$7.95	VIZ
92	460	NARUTO VOL 14 TP	$7.95	VIZ
93	148	Y LAST MAN VOL 7 PAPER DOLLS TP (MR)	$14.99	DC
94	190	Y LAST MAN VOL 6 GIRL ON GIRL TP (MR)	$12.99	DC
95	456	DEATH NOTE TP VOL 12	$7.99	VIZ
96	462	RUNAWAYS VOL 1 PRIDE & JOY DIGEST TP	$7.99	MAR
97	314	FRUITS BASKET VOL 17 GN (Of 22)	$9.99	TKP
98	152	FABLES VOL 7 ARABIAN NIGHTS & DAYS TP (MR)	$14.99	DC
99	467	NARUTO VOL 15 TP	$7.95	VIZ
100	575	STAR WARS CLONE WARS ADVS TP VOL 08	$6.95	DAR

* – Combined multiple covers with same SRP.

Diamond has released its year -end figures for 2007, and as soon as we figure out the HTML, we’ll be putting up more of them. In the meantime here’s how to publishers shook out — it was Marvel’s year all the way as it widened its lead in both unit and dollar share over DC.

CAPTAIN AMERICA #25 was the top selling periodical of the year and CIVIL WAR was the best selling graphic novel.

Publisher	Dollar Share	Unit Share
MARVEL COMICS	40.25%	44.72%
DC COMICS	31.92%	34.71%
DARK HORSE COMICS	5.61%	4.48%
IMAGE COMICS	3.82%	3.41%
IDW PUBLISHING	2.08%	1.69%
VIZ MEDIA	1.84%	0.93%
TOKYOPOP	1.76%	0.75%
DYNAMIC FORCES	1.56%	1.87%
WIZARD ENTERTAINMENT	1.27%	0.90%
DEVILS DUE PUBLISHING INC	0.77%	0.68%
AVATAR PRESS INC	0.59%	0.52%
RANDOM HOUSE	0.52%	0.18%
EAGLEMOSS PUBLICATIONS LTD	0.46%	0.15%
GEMSTONE PUBLISHING-MARYLAND	0.45%	0.14%
FANTAGRAPHICS BOOKS	0.38%	0.14%
DIGITAL MANGA DISTRIBUTION	0.36%	0.12%
ARCHIE COMIC PUBLICATIONS	0.30%	0.47%
A. D. VISION	0.29%	0.11%
VIRGIN COMICS LLC	0.25%	0.29%
ONI PRESS INC.	0.23%	0.15%
OTHER NON TOP 20	5.29%	3.58%

Book Forum runs an excerpt from David Hajdu’s upcoming The Ten Cent Plague, a history of the persecution of comics books in the ’50s as the source of all juvenile delinquency.

The progressing crusade against comics on multiple levels provided Harry Wildenberg the opportunity to light many a cigar in satisfaction by 1949. In the final weeks of the preceding year, the National Parent-Teachers Association had issued a directive for a “national housecleaning” of comic books and had distributed a tutorial to help its local chapters spur municipal and state legislation to regulate the sale of comics, and thousands of PTAs around the country began following the plan. Around the same time, the National Institute of Municipal Law Officers distributed a set of guidelines for enacting comic-book controls. “The criminal and sexual theme of these tales have [sic] been the direct contributing cause of many incidents of juvenile delinquency and to the imbedding of immoral and unhealthy ideas in the minds of our youngsters,” wrote the general counsel for the institute. “It is inconceivable that a workable plan cannot be evolved. The police power can and must be exercised so as to eliminate the vice of objectionable comic books.” Shortly thereafter, the United States Conference of Mayors published a ten-page handbook, Municipal Control of Objectionable Comic Books, and the municipal-government trade journal, American City, reported, “Comic Book Control Can Be a Success.”

This looks to be an essential volume for the shelf on comics history. Oddly, we were checking out the Amazon page for the book and saw this plug from one Sean Wilentz, Professor of History, Princeton University:

“Every once in a while, moral panic, innuendo, and fear bubble up from the depths of our culture to create waves of destructive indignation and accusation. David Hajdu’s fascinating new book tracks one of the stranger and most significant of these episodes, now forgotten, with exactness, clarity, and serious wit, which is the best kind.

“Now forgotten”? Ah, Prof. Wilentz, you must have never met a 40-year-old comic book fan. Fear of a New Wertham is a clear and present danger for those of us who grew up schooled on the Seduction of the Innocent Menace lurking around the corner. Hopefully reading this book will help us say “Never again!” and mean it.

Link via Bookslut

A rather haltingly written wire service story once again proclaims that sisters are pow! bam! sock!ing it for themselves:

A program at an Upstate New York college has taken a look at the changing role of females in comic books, noting the transformation that characters such as Wonder Woman have undergone since their creation.

Drawn to Diversity, a program of Alfred University, examines cultural diversity and stereotypes in comic books, newspaper comic strips and advertising cartoons.

“We want people to be more cognizant of what they see,” said Mechele Romanchock, coordinator of the university’s diversity programs.

At first we were trying to be polite about the whole thing, but we’re increasingly baffled to see all these stories coming out that somehow posit that Wonder Woman is at the epicenter of the “women in comics” movement, whatever that is. Viz, Tokyopop, Marjane Satrapi, Alison Bechdel, Megan Kelso…THAT is where the change is coming from, not from a character that hasn’t been marketing towards girls in 30 years. Heck, even Archie comics are more germane than Wonder Woman.

Or maybe we’re all wrong and it’s this.

To cleanse the palette, we recommend this nice profile of Colleen Coover by Steve Duin.

Colleen and her sister, Janine, grew up reading coverless comics that her grandmother salvaged from her job at the neighborhood Five & Dime. Archie Andrews and Richie Rich taught her to read, and Dan DeCarlo and Harvey Comics’ artists like Warren Kremer, Ernie Colon and Sid Couchey introduced her to the wondrous effect of sharp, clean lines on the comic page.

UPDATE: The Daily News story is up now

Captain America is back and he’s packing heat. Less than a year after the legendary star-spangled superhero was killed off in his comic book, his former teenage sidekick is being promoted to fill those big red boots in the latest issue, out Wednesday.

ICv2 rounds up plans for mainstream media coverage of the new Captain America this week. There will be a story in the NY Daily news, an appearance by Ed Brubaker on NPR on Monday morning, and a return trip by Joe Quesada to the Colbert Report on Tuesday night.

With an actual election underway, it may not be a slow news week, so who knows if news of a gun-toting Captain America will take off again?

Meet The Spartans, a compendium of near-humor from the “Creators” of Epic Movie, Scary Movie, etc etc. was the winner at the box office this weekend, taking in $18.7 million to Rambo Part XLVII’s $18.1 million. Rambo put up a valiant effort before succumbing to the Greek hordes. 300’s place in lore is secure, if regrettable.

We’re a little under the weather and behind the eightball, so no major postings today.

Evan Dorkin talks about DC’s “cartoonist ban”:

First up from the files, the only piece of art I was allowed to draw for the Superman and Batman: World’s Funnest book for DC Comics. Not that it appears anywhere in the book. Long story short, part of which has been covered here before: DC has a clause that prevents folks from writing and drawing material unless said person is on the payroll or incorporated. Fear of lawsuits from freelancers claiming their work-for-hire entitles them to ownership of Batman or whatever the hell under some newly-inaugurated copyright laws or whatever the hell. I guess based on DC’s history they fully expect people to try to do whatever underhanded thing they can to chisel money and ownership of other people’s characters when the opportunity even vaguely arises. Or whatever the hell.

End result, I wasn’t allowed to draw a page of World’s Funnest even though I tried to get around it by various means, all of which went bust. Can I have someone else write the page I would draw? A hassle, apparently. Pretend Sarah wrote it? We’d get in trouble and the world would break in half. Use a pseudonym? It could mean jail time and Siegel and Schuster regaining control of Pete Ross. Sign an agreement that I wouldn’t pursue my questionable rights to the DC empire if I drew a goddamned page of a comic? No, no, a thousand times no. They wouldn’t put me on the payroll for a lousy single page, and I wasn’t going to incorporate for a lousy single page, so, no go (Somehow this hasn’t been an issue at Marvel, expect them to lose the rights to every one of their characters any minute now. I’ve got dibs on Fight-Man and whoever else is left over after the great purge).

Philippe Dupuy and Charles Berberian have won the Grand Prix* at Angoulême. It’s the first time a team of cartoonists have won. As winners, they will chair the jury for next year’s festival. As Tom points out, it’s another win for the ’90s generation of cartoonists who have defined recent French comics.

Depuy and Berberian have several books available from Drawn & Quarterly including Get a LIfe, which features their best known character, Mr. Jean, and the more autobiographical Maybe Later.

* Note, the Grand Prix is the prize given to the top cartoonists at the festival, not the top book, as we had mistakenly posted yesterday. Sorry for the dumbass mix-up. As punishment, we need to go to Angoulême to learn the difference first hand.