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By: Bestseller List Shenanigans » Comics Worth Reading

Bestseller List Shenanigans » Comics Worth Reading — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 19:57:31 +0000

[...] comic bestseller list by giving away comics and paying retailers to order their book. Here’s more detail on what happened and EW’s response. The Dark Tower:The Gunslinger [...]

By: Johanna

Johanna — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 16:26:49 +0000

I look forward to seeing them! I like targeted lists like that to provide a guide into the wide world of webcomics.

By: Lisa Jonte

Lisa Jonte — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 16:24:32 +0000

Hmmm, put my money where my mouth is, eh? Ok, I can do that. Give me a little tie to compile a list and I’ll post them on my LJ and send Johanna a link.

But first, there must be coffee. There must always be coffee.

By: Lyle

Lyle — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 16:32:27 +0000

Lisa, I’d like to hear which webcomics you think GLAAD. I’ll be honest, I don’t follow many webcomics, so I’d be happy to hear recommendations.

By: Comics Worth Reading

Comics Worth Reading — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 21:37:49 +0000

[...] Hopefully this is the final word on the Platinum Cowboys & Aliens buy-off/giveaway. Heidi received a note from Entertainment Weekly explaining how they created the top sales list that put Cowboys & Aliens in the top spot. [...]

By: Lisa Jonte

Lisa Jonte — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 15:12:06 +0000

*sigh*

Once again, I am disappointed by the lack of a webcomics category for a comics-oriented award.

By: Lea

Lea — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 03:08:01 +0000

“and more so after the nomination processwas explained to me, I meant.

By: Lea

Lea — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 00:53:33 +0000

Rumble Girls was left off the 2004 lists, which was personally disappointing, and more so after the nomination process, which focused on rewarding publishers who are typically unfriendly to gays.

Pfah.

By: jabolo

jabolo — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 21:06:17 +0000

I agree with Johanna about the distinction between ‘mainstream’ and ‘has a large fanboy audience’. I also agree with her criticisms of Runaways, one of the two marvel (or straight superhero titles, for that matter) which i read regularly.

Though its stupid fannish injokes and (lately) unsubtle plot resolutions haven’t quite put me off the thing.

By: Johanna

Johanna — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 18:43:13 +0000

I refuse to use the word “mainstream” in the typical comic sense because it’s just wrong. Bookstore graphic novels of general interest are mainstream; fetishized superheroes sold to an audience of young white men are not.

Yes, I am dogmatic about this.

By: Justin Jordan

Justin Jordan — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 18:33:19 +0000

“Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home, an “other label” (i.e. real-world major publisher Houghton-Mifflin) graphic novel that’s been named book of the year by Time Magazine, the best graphic novel of 2006 by any number of recognized national magazines, and given prominent display space in major chain bookstores. Oh, and sold a bunch of copies and was created by an actual, authentic lesbian. But that’s not as mainstream as the Justice Society of America!”

Well, there’s mainstream and comics mainstream, y’know?

I will say that one of the big comic websites is addressing this and will be having features on Fun Home and other ‘non mainstream’ stuff.

By: Mely

Mely — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 17:48:21 +0000

They're also wrong about "no issue appearing" this year, quite frequently: Jen Lee Quick's Off*beat 2 did come out in fall 2006, not to mention Rivkah's Steady Beat 2, which isn't on their list at all; and while they appear to have scraped LGTB offerings off BLU and June, they've made no effort to find any of the many, many titles with such elements in the main catalogs for Tokyopop, Viz, Netcomics, and IceKunion/Danbi, just to cover the main players in manga and manhwa. Del Rey at the moment is limited to XXXholic, I think, which at the moment means significant subtext not quite tipping over to text. GoComi's Cantarella got pretty texty in V5, though. In some respects, a lot of the titles to be listed aren't any better than the DC/Marvel titles; many of them are clearly fantasies aimed at an audience that, if not quite presumed to be straight, isn't presumed to be taking the stories as a reflection of real life, either. But if they're going to go the list-scraping route for recommendations, they ought to actually spend the time to check out all the publishers' lists. And the omission of Fun Home, as many people have already pointed out, is pretty glaring.