Literature, Visual Arts

Graphic Novel Best Sellers

At Art & Literature, graphic novels rarely receive their due. But with shifting definitions of what constitutes literature, I think it’s time that we give graphic novels some notice. Here is the graphic novel best seller list for the week of May 9 (as reported by The New York Times’ Art Beat):

Graphic Best Sellers (Hardcover)

1 DARK TOWER: TREACHERY, by Peter David and Robin Furth.

2 BATMAN: R.I.P., by Grant Morrison and Tony Daniel.

3 BATMAN: THE KILLING JOKE, by Alan Moore and Brian Bolland.

4 JOKER, by Brian Azzarello and Lee Bermejo.

5 CIVIL WAR, by Mark Millar and Steve McNiven.

6 UNCANNY X-MEN: MANIFEST DESTINY, by Ed Brubaker, Mike Carey and Matt Fraction.

7 WATCHMEN, by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons.

8 THE BEATS: A GRAPHIC HISTORY, by Harvey Pekar and others.

9 DARK TOWER: THE GUNSLINGER BORN, by Peter David and Robin Furth.

10 BATMAN: HEART OF HUSH, by Paul Dini and Dustin Nguyen.

Graphic Best Sellers (Paperback)

1 WATCHMEN, by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons.

2 STAR TREK: COUNTDOWN, by J.J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman and Robert Orci.

3 WOLVERINE: ORIGIN, by Paul Jenkins and Andy Kubert.

4 THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN: CENTURY – 1910, by Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill.

5 WOLVERINE: WEAPON X, by Barry Windsor-Smith.

6 THE SANDMAN: PRELUDES AND NOCTURNES, by Neil Gaiman, Sam Kieth, Mike Dringenberg and Malcolm Jones III.

7 TERMINATOR: SALVATION MOVIE PREQUEL, by Dara Naraghi and Alan Robinson.

8 BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS, by Frank Miller.

9 Y THE LAST MAN: ONE SMALL STEP, by Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra.

10 Y THE LAST MAN: CYCLES, by Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra.

Should I be surprised how many of the titles are associated with existing franchises? Or is the spinoff in perpetuum pretty standard for graphic novels?