Tim Leong, the art director for Wired and former editor-in-chief of Comic Foundry magazine, has come up with a pretty amazing infographic tracking the titles that have appeared on the New York Times paperback “graphic books” over the past year. The chart is great, but Tim also did some solid number-crunching, and there are lots of interesting results, starting with the fact that the charts were dominated not by Marvel or DC, but by Oni Press and Image.

This doesn’t speak so much about comics as a whole as about a particular segment of the comics world: graphic novels and collected editions. Marvel and DC still dominate the world of single-issue comics sold in the direct market, but the Times looks at sales from independent and chain bookstores, online booksellers and newsstands, as well as comics shops. In that world, two indie properties, both backed by media tie-ins, ruled in 2011. (It would be interesting to see how the hardback charts compare; my guess is that they are more superhero-centric.)

The Hollywood Reporter makes a big deal about The Walking Dead dominating the charts this past week, saying, “No graphic novel series has ever dominated the list quite like Kirkman’s Walking Dead,” although a glance at Leong’s chart makes it clear that Scott Pilgrim dominated even more, with the six volumes of Scott Pilgrim spending a total of 167 weeks on the charts compared to 102 weeks for the seven volumes of The Walking Dead. Incidentally, the next two books were Watchmen (of course!) and The Adventures of Ook and Gluck, Kung-Fu Cavemen from the Future, which is a kids’ graphic novel by the author of the Captain Underpants books.

Leong’s graphic provides a lot of food for thought. What happened in September, for instance, when all the Scott Pilgrim and Walking Dead books pretty much disappeared from the charts? (I looked at the charts for those weeks and nothing jumped out at me, but who knows?) What happened to the five books that came in at No. 1 and then disappeared? And is it better to hit the top spot for a couple of weeks or sit at a lower rank for almost a year? It’s hard to see behind the rankings to hard numbers, but it does seem that the bookstore market is nurturing some diversity.

Outline for "Seconds," by Bryan Lee O'Malley

Bryan Lee O’Malley’s hotly anticipated follow-up to his bestselling Scott Pilgrim series will be published in 2013 by Random House’s Villard imprint, Publishers Weekly reports.

Virtually nothing is known about the graphic novel beyond its title, Seconds, which O’Malley revealed in a tweet early last month. Random House’s Ryan Doherty will edit the book.

Published by Oni Press, all six volumes of the Scott Pilgrim series appeared on The New York Times bestseller list, thanks in part to director Edgar Wright’s 2010 adaptation. Although the film failed to ignite the box office, the books continue to sell well: The second volume, originally released in 2005, landed in BookScan’s Top 20 for graphic novels sold in bookstores in June — 10 months after the movie’s opening. The final volume, Scott Pilgrim’s Finest Hour, received a 100,000-copy first printing.

As part of the Wait, What? podcast I do for the Savage Critics – You do listen, right? If not, shame on you – someone asked the other week what I thought of Oni Press, and I admitted that I am a fan of pretty much everything Oni puts out. It was a thought that reappeared in my head this weekend, re-reading Sarah Oleksyk’s spectacular Ivy and thinking, “Man, Oni owns the YA comic market, doesn’t it?” – even though Oni themselves call the book for Older Readers, for obvious reasons if you’ve read it… but as a YA book, it’s just so, so good. So, this week: Five Oni Press books you should really make a point of reading, if you haven’t already.

#0, Because You All Know About This One Already, Right?: Scott Pilgrim
One of those rare things that not only lives up to, but surpasses, the massive amount of hype surrounding it, Bryan Lee O’Malley’s Scott Pilgrim series remain some of the best comics of the last ten years: Funny, smart and with surprising heart, the six volumes in the series are really must-reads for anyone who’s interested in comics, or wants to see one of the most accomplished cartoonists of his generation at work.

#1: Local
Picking up from his own Demo, Brian Wood’s twelve issue series (with art by Ryan Kelly, who comes up with some lovely, understated but beautiful, stuff) unfolded, at first, like a series of unrelated interludes before building to something unexpectedly affecting, and intensely personal. Up until this point, I’d been interested in Wood’s writing more than actually loving it, but there was something about the way this series transcended even his own ideas for it that really convinced me. As a plus for the aesthete snobs amongst you, the collection is worth it for the design alone.

#2: Wasteland
If there are two genres that, generally, do nothing for me, it’s “Post-Apocalyptic Dystopia” and “Fantasy”. Why, then, do I find myself loving Wasteland so much? It’s probably that Antony Johnston and Chris Mitten take the book so far beyond what you’d expect from a mash-up of those genres, and instead offer up one of the best examples of world-building and grandscale drama that you’ve seen in comics for a long time. Ignore the events of the Big Two and head over here for some of the best epic storytelling that you’ll find (And, while you’re at it, introduce yourself to the astoundingly underrated Mitten, whose art is just jawdroppingly good).

#3: Breakfast After Noon
I think we call all agree that Andi Watson should be lionized as an Official Comics Treasure, right? There’s just something about his comics – whether he’s writing, drawing or, in the case of this romantic comedy, both – that is at once true to life and so attractively stylized that you can only wish that life really was like that. There’re a lot of good Watson comics from Oni – I wouldn’t be surprised if some would prefer Love Fights, his quasi-attempt at a superhero comic – but Breakfast has always felt like the most Andi Watson-y Andi Watson comic to me, if that makes any sense. This is the good stuff.

#4: Queen & Country
Greg Rucka’s had a great run with Oni – His Whiteout and Stumptown could both easily have made his list, and Whiteout almost did, entirely thanks to my love of Steve Lieber’s art on it, because… well, it’s just amazing stuff. But, instead, I went for Queen & Country because it’s the longest-running of his series with the company, and because of that, offers the most satisfying character development across the whole series. As well as some impressive art (Jason Alexander’s run is my favorite, but I know that I am significantly in the minority on that one), this series offers some of Rucka’s best writing in comics, and the kind of plotting that you can only really get away with when you own the characters you’re screwing with.

#5: Ivy
I mentioned this above, and there’s every chance you saw some of the reviews when it was released earlier this year, but if you didn’t: Read this book. There is such sensitivity and subtlety and humanity in Ivy that deserves to be seen, admired and just plain loved, and yet I feel as if it’s a book that’s still flying under most people’s radars, somehow. Less a “coming of age” story as one that shows that that idea up as too simple and unrealistic, there’s a beauty here that nonetheless reflects the messiness and inexplicableness of life as we know it even as it punctures romantic notions of outsiders on the run from a world that doesn’t understand them. It’s the kind of book that you wish everyone could read, in a way, and one that, if I were kind benign ruler of the world, I would make essential reading in every high school across America.

Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark

Broadway | Michael Cohl and Jeremiah Harris, producers of the troubled Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, talk candidly about the $70-million musical — or “$65 plus plus,” as Cohl says — as it shuts down for more than three weeks for a sweeping overhaul. Will the production, plagued by delays, technical mishaps, injuries and negative reviews, hurt their reputation? “It might,” Cohl concedes. “It’s a matter of the respect of those whose opinions I care about. Most will recognize that Jere and I stepped in dog poo and are trying to clean it up and pull off a miracle. We might not.”

In related news, Christopher Tierney, the actor who was seriously injured on Dec. 20 after plummeting 30 feet during a performance, will rejoin rehearsals on Monday. [Bloomberg, The Hollywood Reporter]

Naruto, Vol. 50

Publishing | The 50th volume of Masashi Kissimoto’s insanely popular Naruto remained atop the bestseller list of graphic novels in bookstores for a second month, according to Nielsen BookScan. It’s also worth noting that the Top 20 for March included all six volumes of Bryan Lee O’Malley’s Scott Pilgrim series, and the return of return of perennial bestseller Watchmen. [ICv2.com]

Publishing | Gary Groth responds at length to Jim Shooter’s recent recollections of the dispute between Marvel and Jack Kirby in the 1980s over the company’s refusal to return his original art: “Shooter’s two blog entries purporting to accurately describe Kirby’s dispute with Marvel are such falsified claptrap that they reminded me of Mary McCarthy’s infamous quip about Lillian Hellman’s writing, made in an eerily similar context — that every word is a lie, including ‘and’ and ‘the.’” [The Comics Journal]

Creators | Sam Adams interviews cartoonist Ben Katchor about The Cardboard Valise, his early comic-strip experiences and influences, and much more. [The A.V. Club]

27: First Set

Creators | Collaborators Charles Soule, Renzo Podesta and W. Scott Forbes discuss their Image series 27. [USA Today]

Creators | Periscope Studio members Steve Lieber, David Hahn and Dylan Meconis talk about using the Wacom Cintiq for their work. [Computer Graphics World]

Creators | Writer Jai Nitz chats about writing some of Dynamite Entertainment’s Green Hornet titles. [The Oklahoman]

Comics | Cyriaque Lamar previews 18 sci-fi comics debuting over the summer. [io9.com]

And they were. If you missed part one, no worries; you can find it here. In part two, they discuss Marvel and DC, the recent focus on creator-owned comics, Dungeons & Dragons, their ad swap and more.

Zub: So, speaking of collaborators, how did your DC and Marvel work come about?

Cullen: I did a little thing for Marvel a year and a half ago, which was one of the Immortal Weapons books. That one came after I sent the editor a copy of The Damned. He finally got around to reading it and said, “Hey, you want to do this one-shot?” The new stuff all came about primarily through The Sixth Gun. A number of writers, artists and editors have picked it up, read it and either pushed me to their editors or thought I would work for other projects they had. It was definitely weird because I’m not used to anyone contacting me. I’m used to begging for work. For years I’ve gone to San Diego, and it’s the most humbling experience.

Zub: Yeah, up until now I’ve been going to San Diego with UDON and helping run the booth. This summer for me is, honestly, kind of terrifying. I’ve got this new trade now and I want to walk around, show publishers and say “I made this,” but I don’t know what the reaction’s going to be like. People are enjoying it, the sales are fine, but when you’re giving it to your peers -– editors, professionals, people you respect like that — you just don’t know.

Cullen: For someone like me, I’m networking adverse. I’m not good at it; I don’t like breaking the ice. I can’t stand those awkward first few minutes of meeting someone. Unfortunately, it’s the only way to do it. Thankfully there’s Facebook and Twitter for people who are paralyzed in person by it. You have to get out there.

Immortal Weapons #2

Zub: A lot of people don’t appreciate how important the social element is. Some people get bitter about it, too. They think “You’re getting that opportunity because of your friends,” but you need to be able to do the work, too. Admittedly, people enjoy working with someone they like more than a stranger or an asshole.

Cullen: I’m not going to recommend friends who can’t do the work. It reflects poorly on me. But that’s not just comics, that’s everywhere! People want to interact with folks who have similar interests and can engage them, not just be a cold sales pitch saying, “Will you publish me”, right?

Zub: I think some people, artists or writers, they feel like if they’re talking to an editor that will be their only shot ever and if they don’t make that connection right then, it’ll never happen. In reality it takes years, you go to shows for years; interacting with people for a long time before it kicks into whatever it’s going to be. I didn’t fully appreciate that before.

My first year at UDON, the gang was doing a couple books like Agent X and Sentinel, so I thought I had an “in.” I grew up on Marvel books, and I figured this is my big chance. So I put together a pitch with Ray Fawkes. We brainstormed a cool new take on a character that wasn’t being used at the time, and I was really proud of the pitch. And, of course, it didn’t even make a ripple because who the hell were we? We had no body of work, and no one gave a damn. At the time I was really hurt, but I didn’t know about all those other social elements. I didn’t think about the fact that everyone who writes at Marvel has been where we were. Nowadays Ray’s done Oni books and a Marvel gig and now I’ve got UDON books and an Image book under my belt and I have a greater appreciation of the whole process. The time will come if it’s meant to be and doing the work, doing it well, is the most important thing.

Cullen: I would go to the World Horror Convention year after year and they’d set up these pitch sessions. They did one in New York, before The Damned came out, and I had a pitch session with Marvel. I remember putting all these pitches together for all these different characters -– Moon Knight, Devil Dinosaur, Morbius -– this big folder full of pitches. I wanted to throw it all at the wall and see what happened. It was Axel Alonzo and Ruwan Jayatilleke in the room. I sat down there and couldn’t even tell you what I said in the five minutes I had. I’m certain I sounded like a 12-year-old boy asking out the first girl he ever wanted to date; Stuttering, muttering. I think I even pitched Top Dog, that Marvel kid’s comic from the 80’s. [laughs]

Zub: That’s awesome. I know what you mean. I just didn’t appreciate how much those guys get inundated with material from every direction. In the end if you’ve got a body of work and if someone there likes it, then that makes all the difference. I know that a book like Skullkickers may limit me right now because the only clear connection is a character like Deadpool or whatever. If I show that I can write stuff that has a different mindset and atmosphere, maybe something will come of it. I’ve got the day jobs, I’m doing a book I enjoy and have more ideas for the future. I’ve still got the Marvel heart on my sleeve but I can’t worry about it in the short term.

Cullen: That’s honestly a healthy attitude to have about it.

Zub: The nice thing is I’m doing a book I love writing right now and I have the ability to pitch something else and have people at least look at it. Yes, there’s a part of me that really wants to write Dr. Strange and wants to make my mark on these long running characters but what I’m doing right now is great too.

I think it’s great that you’re able to leave your day job and just jump right into this stuff. That’s the dream.

Skullkickers #7 variant

Cullen: It’s taking some getting used to. Now I have to really prioritize my day. I’ve never been busier, but I’m enjoying it.

Zub: It’s weird because there’s been a surge of fresh conversation about creator-owned books lately. How do you feel about that?

Cullen: There really has been.

Zub: When I think about the fact that if we would’ve gotten Skullkickers off the ground two years ago, when I originally pitched it, maybe it would have done well but it might’ve just fallen through the cracks. I have no way of knowing. But right now creator-owned books seem to be a talking point again, and it’s exciting.

Cullen: It’s been just a few months of real intensity. It’s nice to see the attention.

Zub: Between Scott Pilgrim and The Walking Dead, there’s been a sense that these properties are just as worthy as superheroes. I don’t know if a book like Chew would’ve shown up on peoples’ radars before and now they’re really pushing the forefront.

Cullen: Some of these books are really the gateway for new readers into comics as a whole. A book like Skullkickers is a fantasy book, a comedy book, and you can get people who might be into either of those things.

We get a bunch of people who come up to us at conventions and say “I don’t normally read westerns but I read The Sixth Gun”… do you get that with Skullkickers?

Zub: Totally. They tell me “I don’t read sword and sorcery stuff” or “I’m not a D&D guy” but they enjoy the book and they get into it anyways. It’s easy for new readers to pick up.

You’ve got so many fantasy elements in Sixth Gun. Are you getting fantasy fans on board?

Cullen: Yeah, we are. A lot of people categorize the book as a “horror-western” and to me it’s really a “fantasy-western.” There’s fantasy, swashbuckling, the Old West and monsters –- somewhere in there I’ve gotta catch something people are going to like.

Zub: I think both of our books have real cross-genre appeal going for them. They work in multiple fan camps. Taking elements from different areas and retooling them to surprise and entertain.

from Skullkickers #7

Cullen: The Sixth Gun as I originally pitched it was definitely a horror story. It was much smaller in many ways, and I don’t think the audience would have responded as positively if we had gone that direction with it. It was originally conceived as a six issue mini-series and it was a bleak, very dark and depressing story. Drake was a villain. He was the bad guy in the piece even though he was our point of view character. Maybe he is even now, but…

Zub: He definitely has moral greyness. In Skullkickers, because I’d written the two idiots as wholly morally reprehensible in the short stories, I needed to pull back a bit and make sure it stayed fun in the series. They used to be maliciously nasty and now they’re more ineptly bad for everyone around them.

Cullen: You want it to be fun at times, dark other times. When I get together with the Oni guys they’ll ask me “Is Drake evil or just morally grey?” and I don’t want to answer that question yet. I know how his arc plays out but I kind of like that even my publisher isn’t sure just yet.

Zub: Swashbuckling is a great term for both books. The adventure is the thing, not good versus evil.

Cullen: Okay, so let’s get back on this creator-owned stuff… We got some buzz when we did the ad swap between our two books.

Zub: Yeah, and that’s also how this whole interview between you and I came about, too.

Cullen: I don’t think the ad swap is anything groundbreaking, but I got a lot of people asking me about it, wanting to know how it came about and why we did it, all that. Why do you think people reacted that way to it?

from Skullkickers #7

Zub: Whether it’s true animosity or just a big game, there’s this entire Marvel versus DC antagonism, right? This sense that they’re at each other’s throats for the market share. So publishers, business people in any industry, everyone thinks that if they’re not actively partnered together they can’t possibly be happy for someone else’s success. This weird assumption that every sale you get is one you took away from me or some crazy crap. The feeling that I have to choke you out in order to “win,” something ludicrous like that. So the idea that two companies would be cool enough to say “Hey, let’s brag about each other because we feel there’s some crossover appeal here” is nice and it’s noteworthy. I don’t understand why more companies don’t do it.

Cullen: I freely admit that, especially now that I’ve grown past it, several years ago I had real difficulty being happy for other peoples’ success, even good friends.

Zub: Oh, I’ve been there. The more people I meet in this industry, the more folks you see going through upswings in their success and it puts you through an emotional ringer wondering “Am I not doing the right thing? Am I missing opportunities?”

Cullen: I had a really rough time of it. I couldn’t be happy for anyone and I had to fight through that because it was petty and stupid. I think a lot of creators have to fight through it.

Zub: Totally. You go to a convention and you see other people with line-ups at their booth or you hear about some amazing new project just announced and all you can think is “I really want to be there. I want to feel that.” You can’t help that but you have to look past it.

The Sixth Gun #7

Cullen: People love to talk about the things they hate and the things they think are terrible or stupid, but we don’t spend nearly enough time talking about the things that are awesome. I’m glad we did the ad swap because I think people who like The Sixth Gun will enjoy Skullkickers. They have different vibes, different moods, but the audiences are compatible. I am happy to be able to say “this is something I like and I think you’ll like it too.”

Zub: Places like Twitter where creators, retailers and fans are having frank discussion is part of it too. People seem more willing to talk about the things they enjoy. I don’t want to rage about what sucks in such an immediate forum like Twitter. I want you to know what I like, to get excited about possibilities. I find myself being more positive, hoping it’ll follow The Golden Rule. I want people to speak positively about me and the best way I can do that is to make sure I’m not spewing negativity.

Cullen: Yeah, it all comes back.

Zub: As much as I feel I’ve learned things working at UDON, this summer in particular, emotionally, it feels a bit like I’m starting over. I’m making impressions on people who didn’t even know my name before. I’m out there for the first time saying “I have ideas” and “I write stories.” That scares the crap out of me.

[pause]

It’s been great talking about the books. I am so glad we had this conversation, Cullen.

Cullen: Yeah, I am too. I appreciate it. We will have to meet up at San Diego and drown our sorrows.

[both laugh]

Although the final volume of Scott Pilgrim has come and gone, Bryan O’Malley’s epic comic lives on overseas — with new cover art by O’Malley himself!

The image at right is for a Japanese edition of Scott Pilgrim that collects vols. 5 and 6. The image, colored by Mariel Kinuko Cartwright, is a not-so-subtle homage to a classic illustration for Street Fighter Zero 2 (also known as Street Fighter Alpha 2).

Although his follow-up project to Scott Pilgrim hasn’t been announced yet, O’Malley has done several new Scott Pilgrim illustrations for foreign editions of his series that you can view on his website, Radiomaru.com.

I’ve got to hand it to Comics Alliance/Moviefone blogger (and CBR alumnus) Andy Khouri: Late last week, he assembled two absolutely stunning image galleries for his readers’ delectation. First up, over on CA, he put together the first of what he promises will be a his latest weekly look at the “Best Art Ever (This Week)”, an extensive selection of cool artwork — some old, some new, some fan, some pro — from around the Internet. Highlights in this week’s batch include the above Scott Pilgrim pin-up by Bryan Lee O’Malley, Wonder Woman and her invisible jet by Mike Allred, a steampunk version of The Lord of the Rings‘ Witch-King by Max Arkes, and He-Man and the Masters of the Universe by Gilbert Hernandez (!!!!!!).

And on CA’s AOL sister site Moviefone, Khouri kicked off a put together the latest installment in a similar weekly feature with a gallery of the incredible movie poster art of Tyler Stout, the go-to artist for Austin’s legendary Alamo Drafthouse Cinema. Stout’s movie-nerd-friendly offerings include The Big Lebowski, The Monster Squad, The Lost Boys, The Thing, The Road Warrior, Inglourious Basterds, Big Trouble in Little China, Lost, Let the Right One In, RoboCop, Total Recall, the Star Wars Trilogy…wait, is this a list of the art you’ll find in the gallery, or am I just rattling off my DVD collection? Fortunately for me, it’s both! Feast your eyes, folks.

[UPDATE: As you can see from the strikethrough text above, turns out both these features have been ongoing for some time. More's the pity I'm only tuning in now! Thanks to Colin Panetta for the correction.]

Today’s Six by 6 sprang out of a recent post Comics Reporter Tom Spurgeon did on five of his favorite superhero fights. It’s a pretty excellent list and made me want to come up with my own, though I thought I might see if I could expand it a bit by staying away from the superhero genre and moving into other realms. What great fights could I find in the world of manga or alt-comix, I wondered?

Turns out I didn’t have to look too far. I should note though that this list is by no means definitive — it’s simply a list of six comic book battles that I like a whole lot. I’ve probably forgotten some. Actually I’ve probably forgotten plenty. Feel free to let me know what I’ve overlooked in the comments section.

1. Popeye vs. Bluto. The animosity that spawned a thousand or so animated cartoons began in E.C. Segar’s comic strip in 1932, where the spinach-eating sailor faced off against a then burly pirate who evenly matched Popeye in strength and ferocity. The battle lasted about two weeks and reached such a fever pitch that it became almost an abstract arrangement of slashing lines. Popeye socked a lot of folks in the strip and some of them even socked back rather hard, but none of them were as ferocious as this one was.

2. Captain Easy vs. Slugg. Though Fantagraphics has only just begun reprinting the work of Roy Crane, I was first introduced to his work in that seminal coffee-table tome, The Smithsonian Collection of Newspaper Comics. In a lengthy sequence from the daily Wash Tubbs and Captain Easy strip, Tubbs and Easy are shanghied aboard a whaling vessel ruled by a brutal hook-handed first mate named Slugg. The whole thing comes to a climax with Easy battling the now-insane Slugg aboard the burning ship. It one of the most memorable sequences in a book that’s full of memorable sequences, and sold me forever on Crane’s genius

3. Knives Chau vs. Ramona Flowers. It seems ridiculous to have a list like this and not include something from Bryan Lee O’Malley’s epic video game/anime/romance mash-up. It’s hard to pick just one sequence here, so I’m going to go out of left field and pick the library battle between Knives and Ramona in Volume 2, partly because it has some of my favorite bits of dialogue (“My name is Knives Chau and I’m a Scottaholic”) and mainly because I just love the way O’Malley paces out the fight. There are a lot of great battles in Scott Pilgrim, but this is one of my favorites.

4. Hellboy vs. the Hectate. “You’re very, very ugly and you have a giant snake body.” So says Hellboy while rejecting the advances of a rather evil supernatural figure in as violent a manner as possible. As with Scott Pilgrim, there’s a seemingly infinite number of great fight scenes to choose from in Mike Mignola’s Hellboy series. I picked this one just cause I love Hellboy’s banter and the way Mignola draws snake ladies.

5. Ogami Itto vs. a lot of ninjas and Retsudo. Kazuo Koike and Goeski Kojima’s Lone Wolf and Cub makes a lot of claims to being about honor and integrity, but really it’s about disgraced samurai executioner Ogami Itto killing a whole lotta people. It all comes to a head in the final two volumes of the 28-book manga, with Itto facing wave after wave of deadly killers before finally squaring off against Retsudo, the man who framed him. It’s a tense, relentless finale that serves as a fitting capstone to the bloody saga.

6. Sangrecco vs. everybody. Rafael Grampa came roaring out of the gate with the release of Mesmo Delivery, a high-octane, gory short story that revolves around two big fight sequences, the first involving a burly truck driver and a collection of oddball hicks; the second featuring the trucker’s traveling companion, a ruthless killer named Sangrecco, who proceeds to lay the afore-mentioned hicks to waste with a pair of knives. It’s easily the most violent and gruesome entry on this list, but no less thrilling or mesmerizing because of it.

Build your own Scott Pilgrim T-shirt

MightyFine T-shirts, makers of the Squirrel Girl and Rainbow Galactus T-shirts, among others, have updated their MyTee application that lets you build your own T-shirts. First up is a do-it-yourself Scott Pilgrim shirt in the style of a two-player fighting game that allows you to pick what characters you want to match up — Scott vs. Nega Scott, Ramona vs. Roxy, Knives vs. Gideon or whoever you’d like to see brawl for it all.

In addition, MODOK fans should check out the site as well … right now you can design your own MODOK shirt, which includes four different designs, but per MightyFine they’ll be launching something called a “MODOK maker” in full next month. Can’t wait.

Oni Press: Scott Pilgrim
Why? Because the world clamors for new Pilgrim, even though Bryan Lee O’Malley has finished the series and said all he wants to say with the character. What better way to ensure that people stop asking for more than killing off the character?
How? A polybagged 32 page oneshot, of which at least half is actually made up of pin-up “tributes” by big name artists featuring Ramona crying while wearing uncharacteristically revealing clothing, with ghost Scott faces made up of the clouds behind her. The actual story will consist mostly of showing us a middle-aged, fat and content Scott before he dies in an extremely uninteresting accident, hinting at a golden age of further adventures between Finest Hour and his death, just to tease fans at all those untold stories.

IDW: Snake Eyes
Why? Because killing Cobra Commander worked so well – No, really, GI Joe: Cobra II #12 was genuinely really good – and because, if you kill Snake Eyes, then follow his soul to hell and then revive him, you have finally cemented the idea that Snake Eyes is really Wolverine in the Joeverse. Because, let’s face it, he really is.
How? A polybagged 32 page oneshot, preceded by at least six months of press ahead of release teasing the death of a beloved character, preferably including some variation on the phrase “The death of Cobra Commander was only the beginning.” The actual story should put Snake Eyes in a position where he’s never been before while still fulfilling fan expectations for awesomeness, so let’s see him fight a dinosaur. With laser guns. That’d work, right?

Dark Horse: Buffy The Vampire Slayer
Why? Because, never mind [member of the Fantastic Four that I am purposefully not naming because I want to keep JK as spoiler free as possible], killing off Buffy would break the internet in half and then invite the denizens of Whedonesque in to stomp all over the pieces. Also, if it’s timed with the release of the rumored new Buffy reboot movie, all the better.
How? A polybagged 32 page oneshot, with additional text pieces from Joss Whedon (about the death of his creation), Sarah Michelle Gellar (pretending that she’s been reading the comic all along) and editor Scott Allie backing up a story where Buffy is finally brought low by some mundane thing to act as a metaphor for the fact that life will always bring challenges that we have not prepared for. Plus, some character will acknowledge that Buffy has died before, but comment about how this time is different, before the issue ends with a tease that nothing will ever be the same for at least a year before the series reboots as Season 10.

Archie: Jughead
Why? Because killing Miss Grundy clearly didn’t work. No, a Major Comics Death has to be one of the core characters but one that doesn’t really break any of the franchise’s major concepts irrevocably. You can’t kill Archie, Betty or Veronica, but that guy who likes burgers and wears a paper crown? Your days are clearly numbered, my friend.
How? A polybagged 32 page oneshot, with an 8 page lead story in which Juggie’s poor diet catches up with him in superfast style, causing a fatal heart attack that he could’ve recovered from if only his cholesterol hadn’t been so unnaturally high. That’s backed with pin-up tributes, a text piece on the historical importance of the sidekick by Michael Chabon, and at least seven one-page PSAs on why everyone should have a good diet from cast members including, but not limited to, Archie, Veronica, Betty, Kevin Keller and one of the Pussycats that isn’t Josie. Also: A tease for the sequel oneshot, wherein Sabrina The Teenage Witch attempts to bring Jughead back to life while four new characters try to take his place, World Without Jughead: Heavy Is The Head That Wears The Crown.

Shamefully, I would totally read that Jughead story.

“Fun fact! NINE of the TOP TEN graphic novels in 2010 were creator-owned books! Walking Dead, Kick-Ass and Scott Pilgrim among them.”

–Savage Dragon cartoonist Erik Larsen, speaking the truth. Of course, the flip side of this is that NINE of the TOP TEN graphic novels in 2010 had major Hollywood properties to thank for much of their notoriety, Walking Dead, Kick-Ass, and Scott Pilgrim among them. (The tenth was a Superman book that got over with mass audiences largely on the strength of a fortuitous press comparison to Twilight.) I don’t mean to short-change the success of Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore, Charlie Adlard, Mark Millar, John Romita Jr., and Bryan Lee O’Malley, but proponents of creator ownership and creators’ rights probably ought not break out the MISSION ACCOMPLISHED banner just yet.

Avengers #1: Top-selling comic of the year

Diamond Comic Book Distributors announced its 2010 numbers yesterday, and the results were mixed: Sales of comics, graphic novels, and magazines in comics stores were down 3.5% for the year, but they moved up a bit in the last three months of the year, which is a hopeful sign.

In terms of market share, Marvel won the year with 38% of the dollar share and 43% of units sold (I’m rounding here). DC was second with 30 and 34%, respectively, and tagging along after them were Dark Horse, Image, IDW, Dynamite, and Boom! Studios. Viz, the top manga publisher, had 1.4% of the dollars and less than 1% of the unit share, which is about where they have been in previous years.

And what comics were we reading this year? Well, we weren’t exactly breaking new ground. Individual volumes of Scott Pilgrim and The Walking Dead dominated the graphic novel list, which is not surprising given that both had strong media tie-ins. The comics list had a bit more variety, and it’s interesting that the last two issues of Blackest Night outsold the first two issues of Brightest Day.

Here’s the list of the top ten periodical comics for the year:

1. Avengers #1
2. X-Men #1
3. Blackest Night #8
4. Siege #1
5. Blackest Night #7
6. New Avengers #1
7. Brightest Day #0
8. Brightest Day #1
9. Siege #2
10. Batman: Return of Bruce Wayne #1

And here’s the top ten graphic novels:

1. The Walking Dead Vol. 1
2. Kick-Ass Premium HC
3. Walking Dead Vol. 11
4. Scott Pilgrim Vol. 6
5. Superman: Earth One HC
6. Scott Pilgrim Vol. 1
7. The Walking Dead Vol. 12
8. The Walking Dead Vol. 2
9. The Walking Dead Vol. 13
10. Scott Pilgrim Vol. 2

The Walking Dead: Compendium One

The Walking Dead and Scott Pilgrim dominated graphic novel sales in bookstores in December, claiming nine of the Top 10 spots on the Nielsen BookScan chart.

Buoyed by the record-setting first season of the AMC television adaptation, zombie comic landed the top spot with The Walking Dead: Compendium One, the $60, 1,088-page collection of the first 48 issues of the Robert Kirkman-Tony Moore-Charlie Adlard series. Three volumes of The Walking Dead, including new editions of the first two collections, appeared in the Top 10, and five in the Top 15.

All six volumes of Bryan Lee O’Malley’s Scott Pilgrim made the Top 10, which could be attributed to the November release of Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World on DVD and Blu-ray — or a sign that the series is on its way to becoming a perennial bestseller.

Meanwhile, Superman: Earth One, the hardcover graphic novel whose blockbuster sales led J. Michael Straczynski to abandon the Superman and Wonder Woman monthly series so DC Comics could fast-track a sequel, plummeted from No. 1 on the chart to No. 15. The retail news and analysis site ICv2.com suggests the book may be a victim of availability — there may not be enough additional copies to replenish what’s been sold — rather than a decrease in interest. Indeed, Superman: Earth One is No. 5 after nine weeks on The New York Times hardcover graphic books list.

Afrodisiac

If you’re looking for a company that started and ended strong 2010, look no further than AdHouse Books, the independent company that’s published books by Joshua Cotter, Paul Pope and James Jean, among others. Although they aren’t the kind of company that puts out a huge amount of books, they are one you can always count on to put out something interesting.

As for those bookends for the year, AdHouse kicked off 2010 with the release of Afrodisiac by Brian Maruca and Jim Rugg, and ended it with Duncan the Wonder Dog by Adam Hines, which landed at the top of some folks‘ best comics of the year lists. (Including my own; it came in at No. 16 on CBR’s list for 2010).

I spoke with AdHouse Publisher Chris Pitzer about the previous year, the above two books, their new AdDistro initiative and what they have coming up for 2011. My thanks to Chris for sending over a lot of cool art to show you as well.

JK: Thanks for agreeing to talk to us today, Chris. I thought we could start off talking about 2010, and in particular some the bigger projects you put out.Let’s start with something that seems like it came out a long time ago, Afrodisiac. It seemed to garner a lot of attention when it came out in January.

Chris: Thanks for the interest in AdHouse, JKP! I dig what the Robot 6 blog does, so I appreciate the opportunity to chat about this stuff. In regards to Afrodisiac, it was an HONOR to work with Jim and Brian on that. We’ve been “dancing” around the topic of publishing it for years, and it was nice to finally have it happen. Yeah, it feels like so long ago, doesn’t it?

Flyer for the Afrodisiac Tour

JK: Time flies when you’re having fun! So I know you guys did some grassroots promotion around the book when it came out, from tours to art contests. Ultimately how do those kinds of things help the book?

Chris: I think they help. I have to admit that the marketing for Afrodisiac was like no other book I’ve worked on. Jim and Brian went so far as to create a Google doc that listed all aspects of getting the word out. We tried a few avenues that didn’t pan out, but overall, I think our marketing was a success. Heck, we had to go back for a second printing. I think I’ve said it other places, but Jim Rugg is aces in my book.

You mentioned the tour, and honestly, I think that was more of my wanting to have finally participated in something like that. I grew up seeing mentions of tours in the back of comics like Mage, or Bone… and it just seemed like a magical thing. So, we undertook it during a snowstorm, and I personally had a great time. The second stop of the tour was Chapel Hill Comics, and I just recently saw Andrew Neal publish the list of his best-selling books for 2010. The No. 3 book was Afrodisiac. It held the No. 1 spot for a long while until a little book called Scott Pilgrim came out.

So yeah, it’s ALL good.

Spotting Deer

JK: This past summer you kicked off AdDistro, where you’ve started to distribute stuff that you didn’t publish. How does that work exactly?

Chris: I guess it started by my wanting “hard-to-find books” (that I really liked) to be easily accessible. It’s funny, because the “distro” part isn’t anything new. Other publishers have been doing it for years, but I dropped a press release about it, and it seemed to gain steam. But back to how it started… I saw Nobrow Press mentioned on the drawn.ca site in regards to their Birchfield Close book. I was intrigued, so I ordered that and a few other things to see what they were like. They were BEAUTIFUL. So I approached them about possibly helping them distribute in the U.S. and Canada. Around the same time, I had discovered Koyama Press at TCAF and I fell in love with their stuff as well. So, it seemed like the work was out there to start a “room” of the “house” devoted to other publisher’s work. We added Malachi Ward on that first wave, and we’ve slowly been adding more (Ben Marra & Reliable House Press) work ever since. So, basically it works by my purchasing from the publishers or creators, and then making the work available to select stores and online on our website.

JK: How have these books been doing?

Chris: The books have been doing really well. We’ve gone back for reorders on many occasions. We took the latest Nobrow batch up to the Brooklyn Comic and Graphics Fest, and we came back with only ONE of their books. Their latest output is insane. I can’t believe bringing FIVE new titles out within two weeks, but that’s what they did. The icing on that latest batch has to be A Graphic Cosmogony. That type of book is right up my alley.

JK: If someone was interested in being distributed by AdDistro, what would they need to do?

Chris: Pretty much show me the finished product, and be willing to discount so that i can resell to retailers. From there it gets tricky, since I kind of keep AdDistro along the lines of AdHouse. I only really distribute things I “love”. It really is a lot of work and money to run it, and I can see it going crazy if I let it. The other aspect is I really only want to take on things that “need” help. So, if a work is already pretty available, it doesn’t really make sense for me to try and help get it out there as well. Does that make sense?

Duncan the Wonder Dog print

JK: Yeah, it does. Moving back to AdHouse’s projects, you published a book that I really loved this year — Adam Hines’ Duncan the Wonder Dog. How did Duncan end up at AdHouse, and what was it that drew you to this project?

Chris: Duncan the Wonder Dog came in as a blind submission. When I asked Adam why he chose AdHouse to pitch, he mentioned that he thought AdHouse was small enough to actually garner a response. The scope of the project as well as the execution is what drew me to it. Adam is a really interesting person, and I think that transfers to his work as well. Lots of thought going on there. I’m glad you dug it.

JK: The book has gotten a lot of well-deserved critical praise. How many top ten lists has it been on now? And how is the book doing?

Chris: Yeah, it’s always hard to tell if a book will be loved by the critics and public. I mean, I loved it, but that doesn’t always translate to sales. I think I’ve seen Duncan on a handful of the top ten lists. What really caused a take off was the PW Comics Week mention. Then Time and the Techland had reviews that dropped pretty much on the same day… right before BCGF. So, with those, and my solicitation plea for people to order this book in advance, the first printing has just recently gone out of print. We JUST decided to do a second printing. It’s not like we can automatically do a second printing. A lot of stars have to align, due to the book’s size/scope. Luckily, the book is being solicited again in the January Previews. so people who are just hearing about the work can re-order through their preferred retailer. Order code: JAN11 0895.

JK: From what I think I’ve heard, this is just the first of nine graphic novels that Hines has planned that will be set in this world. Are you guys already thinking about when the next one will come out?

Chris: Yeah, Adam has a plan already in place. Don’t quote me, but I think the next “show” should happen in a few years. And yes, he has nine shows planned, but they won’t all take on the size/scope of show one. He’s going to “mix it up” with a few volumes.

The Downsized

JK: Looking ahead now to 2011, I was hoping you could give us the details on the releases you’ve got planned. Let’s start with The Downsized by Matt Howarth. What’s this project about and what drew you to it?

Chris: The Downsized is funny because what drew me to it was the fact that I’m still a fanboy at heart. A few years back I created a shelf of library bound comics. Things I loved that I figured may never be collected, or things I wanted to collect in a bound comic book format (to keep things like letter pages, ads, covers, etc. with the work). So, as I’ve been going to shows, or if I have the time, I try and get an autograph of the creator related to each book. I hit Matt Howarth up for an autograph. He checked out the AdHouse site. We started talking about projects, and eventually came to an agreement to work on The Downsized. I don’t consider it your typical Howarth type of work, so I’m really fascinated to get the work out there. In regards to what the book is about, as I mention in the solicit copy… “Think Big Chill for the new millennium.”

JK: It looks like Lamar Abrams will be back with more Remake. What can we expect from this volume?

Chris: The Remake Special is pretty neat in that it’s one long adventure book. Where as the first book was a collection of short stories… this volume follows three characters on a quest of REVENGENCE! It’s awesome.

JK: And you’re publishing new work by Jay Stephens, Welcome to Oddville! How did this one end up at AdHouse?

Chris: It’s weird, but a LOT of projects just happen because you’re in the right place at the right time. Jay gave me a “pitch” at the 2010 TCAF, and I almost cried when he said he was actually considering AdHouse as a publisher for it. I mean, I have LOVED Jay’s work since forever. So, yeah, this is a big one for us.

Welcome to Oddville

JK: What can you tell us about it?

Chris: Well, it’s the size of a Bandes Dessinees (at least in my mind) and collects Jay’s full color newspaper strips that ran a few years ago. There is some really quirky stuff in there, but I guess that’s stating the obvious, if Jay Stephens is involved. It’s nice in that it’s one of those “all ages” type of books that everyone should enjoy. And I’m not saying “it’s for kids”… I’m saying that it has kicks for everyone!

JK: And finally, What’s Even the Giants?

Chris: Even the Giants is a bizarre collection from the talented pen of Jesse Jacobs. There’s a loose narrative that pans in and out of the book, while single page strips of ONE MILLION MOUTHS is presented. It’s really kind of tough to explain. I LOVE Jesse’s drawings, and I like the fact that we’re printing it with three spot colors. I haven’t done a book with 3 spots, so I find that interesting. Jesse does fantastic work. I think he has a project planned with Koyama as well.

JK: Awesome, thanks Chris. As a part of our anniversary, we’ve been asking creators a series of questions, and I thought we could just include your answers here. What were your favorite comics in 2010?

Chris: If I could only pick one comic for 2010, it would be Lose by Michael DeForge. I love that guy’s stuff. Otherwise, as weird as it may seem, anything I’m carrying in the AdDistro I love. I was excited to find Mike Bertino making comics again. My first partners in the Distro, Koyama Press and Nobrow, are both still kicking out BEAUTIFUL stuff.

Even the Giants

JK: What works or creators got overlooked in 2010 that warrant more attention/praise?

Chris: I don’t know how many people tracked down Dan Zettwoch’s Tel-Tales #1, but it became one of my top three minis of all time. I waxed about it here.

JK: What was the biggest news story of 2010, in terms of the comics industry?

Chris: Jeez. I’m terrible at this stuff. Probably Scott Pilgrim? I thought it was a pretty good movie, and I love the exposure it brought comics.

JK: What do you hope to see from the industry in 2011?

Chris: I hope the industry stays strong. Specifically, the direct market. Times are tough, and I saw a forecast of sorts that predicts stores will close. Well, that affects us all, in a way. I’d love to see more stores that embrace the indie in a smart way.

JK: Where do you see the shift to more digital distribution impacting your work in 2011?

Chris: Digital isn’t a big biz for us. We like it, and hope we grow into it, but I can’t say anything might impact us.

JK: Is there anything I missed, or anything else you have coming up you want to talk about? I imagine you’re working on the back half of 2011 now, correct?

Chris: Yep. We still have a number of projects planned for the second half of 2011! One really nice art book. One possible sequel. One possible new project from a guy we’ve known forever. How’s that for being secretive? We’re celebrating 2011 as our NINTH year of making funny books, so we’re trying to do it up nice. And if people are looking for a swell calendar, don’t forget that Joseph Lambert helped us create a great serigraph version.

The digital comics scene is still developing, but the iPad was the game changer. For many people, it was the first time that they could comfortably read comics on a handheld screen. Now, it’s just a question of marketing—this year, publishers will grapple with bringing comics to a wider audience, outside the existing readership, and balancing the digital marketplace with the established brick-and-mortar retail structure.

Here, then, is a look back at our digital year.

January

Apple announces the iPad.

February

Graphic.ly

Graphic.ly, which at this point still hasn’t released their product to the public, acquires iFanboy.

Forbes.com reports that Apple’s iBookstore would have “Comics and Graphic Novels” as a top-tier category. Plans must have changed, as the current version, sadly, features no such category.

March

Jason Thompson explores iPhone apps that pick up manga from illegal scan sites. At the end of the year, many of these apps are still going, but with less content than before.

Rantz Hoseley tells Heidi MacDonald that Longbox, billed as “iTunes for comics,” would launch its public beta at Emerald City Comicon.

Tokyopop CEO Stu Levy tells ICv2 that Tokyopop would publish its own iPhone content this year and that he is very excited about the iPad, especially the iBookstore. At the end of the year, only one new Tokyopop book (Hetalia: Axis Powers) is available digitally, and Tokyopop is completely absent from the iBookstore.

iVerse, one of the pioneers of iOS comics apps, announces it will have a comics app ready to go the day the iPad launches.

April

With the launch of the iPad just days away, Marvel announces that it will have its own app, developed by comiXology.

Comic apps on the iPad at its launch include Comics by comiXology and Comics+ by iVerse.

IDW announces four iPad apps, mirroring its iPhone apps: an IDW app and branded apps for G.I. Joe, Transformers, and Star Trek. (IDW’s apps were developed by iVerse.)

The Japanese publisher Animate begins publishing yaoi manga directly to the Kindle, in both English and Japanese.

Apple rejects a proposed iPhone app from Pulitzer Prize-winning political cartoonist Mark Fiore because it “ridicules public figures”—which is pretty much what political cartooning is all about. A few days later, Apple reverses that decision.

ICv2 estimates North American digital comics sales at between half a million and a million dollars annually.

I note that all the manga apps in the iTunes store take content from illegal scan sites.

May

Masaaki Hagino, of the Japanese e-book developer Voyager Japan, says that the iTunes store rejected 30% of the Kodansha manga his company adapted for the iPhone due to relatively mild violence and nudity

IDW announces it is creating comics apps for the BlackBerry; it is the first publisher to do so.

June

Marvel announces its first comic to be released in print and digital form on the same day: Invincible Iron Man Annual. The total cost of the digital version, which was released as three separate issues, was a dollar more than the print comic. Six months after this was big news, the price of the digital version has not dropped.

Longbox launches its public beta.

Apparently unaware of the irony, Apple forces the creators of Ulysses: Seen, a graphic-novel adaptation of James Joyce’s Ulysses, to re-frame a number of panels to eliminate some nudity. A few days later, they reverse their decision.

Boom! Studios unveils its iPhone/iPad app and announces that it will make its entire backlist available digitally through comiXology, iVerse, Graphic.ly, and Panelfly.

DC announces its iPad app, developed by comiXology, and reveals that it will pay royalties to creators for digital downloads of their work. Joe Quesada hastens to clarify that Marvel is also paying digital royalties to its creators.

July

Fraud arrives in the digital paradise, as a rogue developer hacks into people’s accounts and uses them to buy his comics apps (poorly translated bootleg manga) and boost their ratings in the iTunes store.

Graphic.ly launches a Windows 7 version, making digital comics more accessible to non-Apple users.

As things get crowded in the digital ecosystem, webcomics entrepreneur Joey Manley says the big publishers are getting it right, for once.

August

Just in time for summer vacation: The Scott Pilgrim iPad app (developed by comiXology).

Image Comics joins the growing number of publishers who have their own iPad app.

Webcomics creators rise up in arms against a mobile app that is basically an RSS feed pre-loaded with comics—but that accessed their sites without their consent, and which they fear would steal readers.

September

Chip Mosher of Boom! Studios says that making their backlist available digitally has grown their audience rather than cannibalizing print sales.

Comics come to the digital library service Overdrive.

Marvel comics become available on the Graphic.ly platform.

The Walking Dead goes day-and-date in the comiXology app with a cover price of $2.99 (higher than the previous delayed issues but the same as the print comic).

October

At New York Comic-Con, Dark Horse announces its digital initiative (a stand-alone app that will debut this month) and Boom! Studios reveals that its titles will be available on MyDigitalComics.com. Yen Press becomes the first manga publisher to announce its own app, which is also a stand-alone app (and which has not yet launched).

ComiXology launches a Walking Dead comics app.

Barnes & Noble unveils a color version of their Nook e-reader.

November

The manga publisher Viz announces its iPad app.

Due to a glitch in the system, comiXology releases Ultimate Thor #2, which Marvel is publishing simultaneously in digital and in print, a week early. Benjamin Simpson buys it, reads it, and wakes up the next morning to find that Marvel has locked the comic on his device, making it unreadable until the official release date. This raises the question of whether digital comics readers are buying the comics or just a license to read them, a question later explored in depth by David Brothers.

ComiXology announces it will make their developer tools available to a select group of publishers to help speed up the process of getting their comics onto the platform.

December

Apple posts its lists of top apps of the year, and comics do very well: ComiXology’s Comics app and the Marvel and DC apps (both developed by comiXology) are among the top-grossing apps.

Digital Manga Publishing makes its Vampire Hunter D manga available on the Nook.

ComiXology launches a version of its app for Android devices.

IDW begins releasing graphic novels as stand-alone apps.

Someone figures out how to put bootleg manga on the Kindle.

Marvel announces that the Death of Spider-Man arc in its Ultimates line will be released simultaneously in print and digital.

Dark Horse announces the initial lineup for its comics app, which will launch with full story arcs of Hellboy, Conan, The Guild, Umbrella Academy, and other comics, both bundled and as single issues.

Finally, just as Time Magazine has its Person of the Year, I think it’s appropriate to designate a Digital Creator of the Year. It’s a tie, actually, between Alex De Campi, creator of Valentine, and Mike Jasper and Niki Smith, the co-creators of In Maps and Legends. Alex, Mike, and Niki published their comics on every imaginable platform this year—iPhone, iPad, Android, Kindle, Nook—and that sort of versatility is what creators will need to have in the coming year, as digital comics expand and develop in, hopefully, a variety of niches.

Well, I’m sure that’s how he felt after the Taylor Swift incident. But I’m not talking about Yeezy’s mental state, I’m talking about this illustration for the Chicago paper Redeye‘s “Pop Person of the Year” feature, which gives rapper/producer/outrage magnet Kanye West the Scott Pilgrim treatment. “This is both an honor and an outrage,” writesScott Pilgrim creator Bryan Lee O’Malley, who is not the illustration’s artist, “but as you know i love kanye AND chitown so ima let this one slide.” “Let’s have a toast for the douchebags” indeed!

Uncanny X-Force #1

Publishing | No comic cracked the 100,000-copy mark in the direct market in October, with the top title, Marvel’s Uncanny X-Force #1, selling an estimated 96,500 copies. Diamond’s graphic novel chart was led by DC Comics’ Superman: Earth One hardcover, which sold more than 16,000 copies. Retail news and analysis site ICv2.com notes that was the best number for a graphic novel since new volumes of Scott Pilgrim and The Walking Dead shipped in July. The website also pursues John Jackson Miller’s recent analysis of comics that don’t make it into Diamond’s Top 300, concluding: “Sales below the Top 300 may be growing in importance, but when we look at a fairly long period (10 months) either they aren’t big enough in the aggregate to make much difference, or their sales are changing at about the same rate as the Top 300’s. If anything, looking at year to date numbers, sales on titles below the Top 300 are shrinking faster than sales in the Top 300, at least in periodical comics.”

Meanwhile, Miller sifts through data made available by Diamond to determine that comics sales are 69.6 percent of the total market. [ICv2.com, The Comichron]

Conventions | Wizard Entertainment has announced its acquisition of Central Canada Comic Con in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Johanna Draper Carlson also picks up on rumors that the company is adding Mid-Ohio-Con to its growing stable. [press release, Comics Worth Reading]

My Friend Dahmer

Legal | John Backderf, aka cartoonist Derf, was excused from jury duty after he mentioned that he was close friends in high school with serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. (Derf’s Eisner-nominated comic My Friend Dahmer is being reworked and expanded into a full-length graphic novel.) [Cleveland.com]

Organizations | Retailer organization ComicsPRO has appointed Amanda Emmert to the new position of executive director and reduced the size of its board. [ICv2.com]

Publishing | Deb Aoki talks with Hikaru Sasahara, president of Digital Manga Publishing, about the Digital Manga Guild, a new program that will utilize fan translators, editors and letterers for no upfront pay. [About.com]

Conventions | Gary Tyrrell begins his wrap-up of New England Webcomics Weekend. [Fleen]

Conventions | PJ Hruschak reports on last weekend’s Mid-Ohio-Con. [Gamer Tell]

Libraries | Karen Green looks at how academic libraries classify graphic novels. [Publishers Weekly]

Incognito: Bad Influences

Creators | Frequent collaborators Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips discuss their series Incognito. “My thought behind it was what would superhero comics be like if during the early ’30s or early ’40s when they were starting, they stuck to the pulp roots and never went back to aiming them at children?” Brubaker says. “Initially, comics were much more like the pulps and then they realized, ‘Oh, these are being read by 4-year-olds.’ Suddenly, Batman didn’t have a gun. The pulps were read by older kids and teenagers and adults, so there was that darker edge to it.” [USA Today]

Creators | Tom Spurgeon conducts a longish Q&A with Sarah Glidden, creator of How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less. [The Comics Reporter]

H Day

Creators | Whitney Matheson chats with Renee French about H Day and migraine headaches. [Pop Candy]

Creators | Brian Heater continues his four-part interview with Jaime Hernandez. [The Daily Cross Hatch]

Creators | Bryan Lee O’Malley talks briefly about the end of the Scott Pilgrim series, the movie, and what comes next: “I’m definitely going to do more comics, that’s always been my calling. So that’s the plan for at least the next few years. When you’re doing comics, they take so long that when I think about what I’m doing next it’s like, ‘Oh and then I’ll be 40.’ So that’s tough. When you really schedule out your life its kind of terrifying, but that’s what I do.” [Metro News]

Creators | Russell Leadbetter delivers a profile of Mark Millar in which we learn, among other things, that the writer’s favorite meal is pizza and chips, “washed down with Irn-Bru,” and his favorite director is Richard Donner. [Herald Scotland]

Creators | Jeff Lemire talks with a Superman fan site about his run on Superboy. [Superman Homepage]

One Piece, Vol. 6

Publishing | With the release today in Japan of the 60th volume of One Piece, 200 million copies of Eiichiro Oda’s hit comedy-adventure will have been published. What’s more, this volume’s 3.4 million copies will break the record set by the previous volume. As of late August, One Piece had sold 20 million copies in 2010 alone — four times that of Naruto, the second-highest selling manga. On a related note, a 35-year-old Japanese man was arrested for copyright violation for allegedly distributing four manga, including the 59th volume of One Piece, online. [Japanator, The Mainichi Daily News]

Crime | Six people accused in the July robbery of a 77-year-old New York comics collector who died of a heart attack hours later could be charged with murder if police can link the crime to his death. [Democrat and Chronicle]

Conventions | Wizard Entertainment CEO Gareb Shamus announced he has acquired the two-year-old NOLA Comic-Con, which will become part of the Jan. 29-30 Wizard World New Orleans Comic Con. [press release]

Retailing | Borders Group will shut down its 564,000-square-foot distribution center in La Vergne, Tenn., on Dec. 23, resulting in the elimination of 93 jobs. [Nashville Post, via ICv2.com]

Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 1

Publishing | The first volume of Bryan Lee O’Malley’s Scott Pilgrim ended its four-month reign as the top graphic novel in bookstores, dethroned by the 49th volume of Masashi Kishimoto’s Naruto. Scott Pilgrim maintains a steely grip on the BookScan chart, though, claiming six of the Top 10 spots. [ICv2.com]

Conventions | Adam Lehrer previews Tuscon Comic-Con, being held Saturday at the Hotel Arizona. [The Arizona Daily Star]

Retailing | Mike Sagert, convention organizer and former owner of Dream Days in Syracuse, N.Y., is profiled in article that includes quotes from Kurt Busiek and Tom Peyer. [The Daily Orange]

Creators | Brian Heater kicks off a four-part interview with Jaime Hernandez. [The Daily Cross Hatch]

How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less

Creators | Douglas Wolk talks with Sarah Glidden, creator of How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less: “A lot of the cartoonists whose work I love tend to find interesting ways to represent their thoughts. I love how Gabrielle Bell blurs the line between “real life” and imagination. Sometimes you read her work and wonder whether this or that situation actually happened to her, or whether it was a dream or fantasy. But in the end, does it really matter? It was part of her experience of the world. Then there’s Kevin Huizenga, who uses form in comics to pick apart the way the mind works in a more universal way, how our thoughts fold back on themselves. Or what rumination would look like if you could diagram it. It’s not that I think my work is similar, but reading comics like that has shown me how perception can be something worth investigating with comics.” [Techland]

Creators | Marc Librescu continues his three-part conversation with Bizarro cartoonist Dan Piraro. [TCJ.com]

Creators | Mike Russell chats with Berkeley Breathed about Bloom County, the IDW collections, Charles Schulz, and reclusive Calvin & Hobbes creator Bill Watterson: “The boy has gone to ground. We exchanged a large number of letters many years ago, where he’d penned brilliant, hilarious, deeply cruel cartoons of me or Opus at both our expenses. But now? Only quiet. I’ve got a very solid report that he was seen working at a Six Flags doing caricatures for 5 bucks. I’m serious. They said he looked really happy, albeit completely insane. I put out a bowl of milk for him on the porch on warm summer nights.” [AICN.com]

The awards were announced last night at the Long Beach Comic Con, and despite some controversy over the nominations, it’s a satisfying slate:

• Leah Adezio Award for Best Kid-Friendly Work: Diana Nock, The Intrepid Girlbot
• Best Female Character: Ramona Flowers, Scott Pilgrim by Bryan Lee O’Malley
• Kim Yale Award for Most Talented Newcomer: Kathryn Immonen: “The Runaways”
• Lulu of the Year: Kate Beaton
• Woman of Distinction Award: Lauren Sankovitch: editor, Marvel Comics
• Female Cartoonists Hall of Fame: Alison Bechdel

Acting board member Kynn Bartlett also responded to Johanna Draper Carlson’s questions about the group’s IRS status and its plans for the future, saying that the interim board will be working on getting the house in order but keeping the organization’s options open for the elected board, and asking people not to make donations until the group straightens out its status with the IRS.

Dark Horse

Publishing | Dark Horse is expected to announce today at New York Comic Con that it will price its digital comics at $1.49 per issue, 50 cents below the industry average. [ICv2.com]

Publishing | Although Marvel’s pricing announcement received the most attention, it certainly wasn’t the only news to come out of ICv2’s Conference on Comics and Digital, held Thursday at New York Comic Con. ICv2 Publisher Milton Griepp delivered a white paper indicating that sales were down 12 percent overall, with graphic novels down 20 percent and comics up just 1 percent; manga saw a 20-percent drop. Sales of digital comics, meanwhile, have increased to $6 million to $8 million in the U.S., more than 10 times ICv2′s estimate for 2009. [ICv2.com, The Beat, Comics Alliance]

Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 6

Publishing | Bryan Lee O’Malley’s Scott Pilgrim series continues to dominate graphic-novel sales in bookstores, taking six of the top seven spots on BookScan’s September chart. [ICv2.com]

Legal | A 35-year-old Lafayette, Indiana, man was sentenced to 11 years in prison for the attempted burglary of Castle Comics and Cards in June 2009. [Journal and Courier]

Conventions | Writer Chris Yambar is playing host on Saturday to Lawn-Con 2010 … in the front yard of his Youngstown, Ohio, home. Guests include Ron Frenz, Jimmy Proctor, Levi Krause and George Broderick Jr. [The Vindicator]

Retailing | Tufts University’s student newspaper spotlights Boston’s “robust comic book community,” focusing largely on the city’s comic stores. [The Tufts Daily]

Cover Run

Creators | Adam Hughes chats briefly about comics and covers, and reveals, perhaps unsurprisingly, that his long-churning All-Star Wonder Woman is “on hold at the moment.” [The Star-Ledger]

Creators | Jeff Kinney, author of the bestselling Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, grapples with the idea of his characters aging: “I worked my entire adult life to be a cartoonist, which is my dream, and to think that it might all be over in 3½ years is kind of shocking. But I don’t want to go back to the well again and again. I do think these things have a life span … I’m definitely not in the business of milking the cow as much as I can.” [The Vancouver Sun]

Creators | Meredith Deliso spotlights Julia Wertz (Drinking at the Movies) and Martin Lemelman (Two Cents Plain). [The Brooklyn Paper]