Marvel Fails at Bookstore Market

Dave Carter at Yet Another Comics Blog posted Amazon’s top 50 graphic novels as of Friday. I thought I’d kibitz.

The first thing I noticed was that the #1 seller isn’t really a comic, by my definition, but at this point, I doubt I can redirect the Wimpy Kid bandwagon.

More significantly, it takes until #39 before you see a Marvel comic, and that’s a Stephen King tie-in, so it barely counts. There is no Marvel superhero title on this list, while DC has *15*. (And that’s only the superhero books they put out; they have additional Vertigo titles listed.) Let’s say that again: there is no Marvel superhero collection or graphic novel in the top 50 Amazon sellers.

Are all of Marvel’s audience picking the periodical format as their preference? Do Marvel’s collections sell better in the comic shop direct market? Have readers gotten tired of Marvel not keeping their books in print and so don’t bother? I’m stumped.

Also, Tumor, a Kindle-only release, shows up very high for something with a restricted audience. In an earlier post, Dave discusses why manga doesn’t rank as highly as you might expect — he speculates (and I agree these reasons sound plausible) that it’s a combination of younger audience and lack of discount.