Small Press Spotlight: A Look at October’s Small Press Comic & TPB Sales Charts
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The Small Press Spotlight is a semi-regular feature on Hypergeek where I dedicate an article to all the excellent small press and indie publishers out there, as well as self-publishing artists. This is accomplished in the form of company/creator profiles, highlights of key works, reviews of the company/individual’s latest releases, and general articles about the small press scene.
As a follow-up to Diamond Distribution’s Top 20 Publishers, Top 300 Comics, and Top 300 TPBs & GNs for October 2009, I decided to use the raw data to construct the sales charts for small press titles in October 2009. As this is a chart for small press books I have removed all titles by DC, Marvel, IDW, Random House, Tokopop, Viz Media, Image, Dark Horse, BOOM!, and several others.
Along the way, I hope to to highlight some of the fantastic small press books that have me excited right now, and encourage readers to get out there and discover some great small press books!
Index
Top Small Press Comics
The Top ranking small press comic for October was Archie #602 (Archie Comics), with an Overall Quantity Ranking at position #72. Archie has been seeing an incredible sales boost recently, due to the media hype surrounding the marriage of Archie and Veronica, and this issue continues the same future-based story arc that began in Archie #600. In Archie #602 the story flashes forward a few months, and fans get to see the outcome of Veronica’s pregnancy… it’s Twins! *ahem* – No, don’t worry, I don’t buy Archie 
.
Coming in at number two is Crossed #7 (Avatar Press), with an Overall Quantity Ranking at position #135. Written by Garth Ennis, with artwork by Jacen Burrows, Crossed is a post-apocalyptic tale set in a world where civilization has been brought to its knees by a plague of zombie-like beings. I say zombie-like, because the plague in Crossed causes it’s victims to carry out their most evil thoughts and wishes, including murder, rape, mutilation, arson, etc. The carriers of the virus are known as The Crossed, since a cross-like rash appears on their faces. Crossed is actually one of my favourite series, with some fantastic writing by Ennis, which focuses on the personal dramas of the survivors of the disaster; as well as a lot of brutality and gore, of course! If you’ve ever seen the George A. Romero movie, The Crazies, this story shares a very similar premise, except with that special Garth Ennis charm!
Coming in a number three is Vampirella Second Coming #2 (Harris Comics), with an Overall Quantity Ranking at position #145. Harris Comics are trying another reboot of the Vampirella franchise that they acquired after its original publisher, Warren Publishing, went bankrupt. Harris Publications acquired the company assets at auction in August 1983, although legal murkiness and a 1998 lawsuit by Warren publisher James Warren resulted in his reacquisition of the rights to sister publications Creepy and Eerie. Harris Comics published Vampirella stories in various series and miniseries from 1991 to 2007. Harris also published Vampirella #113, a one-issue continuation of the original series, containing solely reprinted stories, in 1988.
Coming in a number four is Ignition City #5 (Avatar Press), with an Overall Quantity Ranking at position #170. Written by Warren Ellis, with artwork by Gianluca Pagliarani, Ignition City is a steampunk alternate history, set in the year the year 1956, where World War II was interrupted by a Martian invasion. As a result, space travel became commonplace. Ignition City itself is a circular island spaceport, the interior of which is populated by former spacemen. The story follows Mary Raven, a young woman who travels to Ignition City after her father, a formerly famous spaceman named Rock Raven, is killed there. Ignition City #5 was actually the final part of the miniseries, but Avatar Press have a TPB & HC version coming out quite soon, so make sure you pick one up, because this was a great story, and well worth checking out!
Coming in a number five is Escape from Wonderland #2 (Zenoscope Entertainment), with an Overall Quantity Ranking at position #179. Written by Raven Gregory, with artwork by Daniel Leister, Escape from Wonderland is the third and final part of the Wonderland trilogy that began with Return to Wonderland, and continued with Beyond Wonderland. The Wonderland trilogy a spin-off from Zenoscope’s Grimm Fairy Tales series, which itself ranks at #6 in the small press charts. Escape from Wonderland tells the tale of Alice Liddle, the heroine of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, and her teenage daughter, Calie Liddle (an anagram of “Alice”).
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Avatar Press seem to have the have the largest amount of titles in this month’s small press comic charts, with a total of six titles, four of which are written by Warren Ellis, and two of which are written by Garth Ennis – No surprises there then!!
Zenescope Entertainment take the number two spot publisher’s spot, with a total of five titles, three of which were tales set in the Grimm Fairy Tales setting.
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I’m pretty disappointed to see Days Missing #2 & #3 (Archaia) ranking so low! I really enjoyed both of these comics, and expected them to rank much higher. If the nice people at Archaia want to send me an advance copy of #4, I’d love to do an do a review, and possibly help out sales a bit!
| Small Press Chart Rank | Overall Quantity Rank | Overall Retail Rank | Index | Item Code | Description | Price | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 72 | 116 | 39.49 | AUG090642 | ARCHIE #602 | $2.50 | ARC |
| 2 | 135 | 113 | 19.93 | MAR094103-M | CROSSED #7 (MR) | $3.99 | AVA |
| 3 | 145 | 231 | 18.23 | AUG090617-M | VAMPIRELLA SECOND COMING #2 SUYDAM CVR | $1.99 | HAR |
| 4 | 170 | 148 | 14.93 | JUN090726-M | IGNITION CITY #5 (MR) | $3.99 | AVA |
| 5 | 179 | 163 | 14.15 | JUL091160-M | ESCAPE FROM WONDERLAND #2 | $2.99 | ZEN |
| 6 | 196 | 197 | 12.70 | JUL091166 | GRIMM FAIRY TALES #42 | $2.99 | ZEN |
| 7 | 197 | 115 | 12.48 | AUG091150-M | GFT HALLOWEEN SPECIAL 2009 A CVR NAVARRO | $5.99 | ZEN |
| 8 | 200 | 220 | 12.09 | AUG090662-M | SOULFIRE VOLUME TWO #1 TO CVR | $2.99 | ASP |
| 9 | 201 | 162 | 11.97 | AUG090708 | TRIBUTE MICHAEL JACKSON KING OF POP | $3.99 | BLU |
| 10 | 202 | 171 | 11.94 | JUL090703-M | CHRONICLES OF WORMWOOD LAST BATTLE #1 (MR) | $3.99 | AVA |
| 11 | 207 | 141 | 11.69 | JUN091143-M | TALES FROM WONDERLAND MAD HATTER #2 CVR A EBAS | $4.99 | ZEN |
| 12 | 208 | 238 | 11.57 | JUL090689 | SONIC THE HEDGEHOG #205 | $2.50 | ARC |
| 13 | 211 | 182 | 11.39 | MAY090691-M | ANNA MERCURY 2 #2 (MR) | $3.99 | AVA |
| 14 | 218 | 227 | 10.70 | AUG090712 | SIMPSONS COMICS #159 | $2.99 | BON |
| 15 | 226 | 234 | 10.09 | AUG090711 | BART SIMPSON COMICS #50 | $2.99 | BON |
| 16 | 228 | 254 | 9.92 | AUG090650 | SONIC UNIVERSE #9 | $2.50 | ARC |
| 17 | 240 | 217 | 8.82 | JUL090707-M | ABSOLUTION #2 (MR) | $3.99 | AVA |
| 18 | 245 | 236 | 8.41 | JUL090783-M | HACK SLASH SERIES #27 A CVR SEELEY (MR) | $3.50 | DDP |
| 19 | 254 | 230 | 7.85 | MAY090704-M | GRAVEL #14 (MR) | $3.99 | AVA |
| 20 | 256 | 211 | 7.81 | AUG091034-M | FVZA #1 A CVR BOLTON (MR) | $4.99 | RAL |
| 21 | 258 | 259 | 7.79 | AUG090660-M | ASPEN SHOWCASE KIANI | $2.99 | ASP |
| 22 | 261 | 257 | 7.37 | MAR094510 | SALEMS DAUGHTER #2 | $2.99 | ZEN |
| 23 | 273 | 246 | 6.08 | JUL090731 | FEMALE FORCE #7 OPRAH WINFREY | $3.99 | BLU |
| 24 | 282 | 239 | 5.20 | JUL091033 | STUFF OF LEGEND #2 | $4.99 | TH3 |
| 25 | 283 | 267 | 5.05 | JUL090734-M | PUPPY POWER BO OBAMA | $3.99 | BLU |
| 26 | 291 | 297 | 4.20 | JUL090668-M | DAYS MISSING #2 DALE KEOWN CVR | $2.99 | ARC |
| 27 | 292 | 304 | 4.14 | AUG090636 | DAYS MISSING #3 | $2.99 | ARC |
[Return to index]
Top Small Press TPBs & OGNs
The Top ranking small press collection for October was FreakAngels Volume 3 (Avatar Press), with an Overall Quantity Ranking at position #16. Written by Warren Ellis, with artwork by Paul Duffield, FreakAngels is a post-apocalyptic story, set in the flooded remnants of London. A group of around 300 survivors live in Whitechapel , and are watched over by the FreakAngels, a group of 11 individuals who all possess telepathic abilities. The story follows the trials and tribulations of the community, and the FreakAngels, as their society is threatened externally from refugee attacks, and internally from personal conflicts and crime. Originally published for free as a weekly webcomic at http://www.freakangels.com/, Avatar Press have also been publishing a print version of the story, which hots the shelves shortly after each ‘book’ of the webcomic comes to a close. This is the third such collection, and the only one that I haven’t been able to buy. I bought the signed hardcovers of the previous collections, but unemployment seems to have put the kibosh on that *sigh*
Coming in at number two is Terry Moore’s Echo Vol. 3: Desert Run (Abstract Studios), with an Overall Quantity Ranking at position #25. Echo is a science-fiction series, written, illustrated and lettered by Terry Moore of Strangers in Paradise fame. Echo follows the story of a young woman named Julie Martin, who witnesses the explosion of an top-secret experimental battle suit and its pilot. The suit, having been reduced to small pellets, rains down on Julie and bonds to her irreversibly, to form a strange breast-plate, which imbues her with kinetic energy based powers. Now Julie finds herself on the run from the army and the scientists who developed the suit, who want to keep the battle suit, and it’s destruction, a secret. Along the way she runs into a colorful cast of characters, and finds herself having to deal with massive and uncontrollable changes to her life. Echo is one of the best comics on the selves, and everyone should be buying this!
Coming in at number three is Pinocchio: Vampire Slayer (Slave Labor Graphics), with an Overall Quantity Ranking at position #49. Written by Van Jensen, with artwork by Dustin Higgins, Pinocchio: Vampire Slayer is a mash-up/parody of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Pinocchio. After seeing Geppetto die at the hands of vampires, Pinocchio swears revenge in this darkly funny graphic novel. As the vampires plot the enslavement of mankind, only a one-puppet army stands in their way. But will a wooden boy and his endless supply of stakes—courtesy of plenty of lies and his elongating nose—be enough to save the day?
Coming in at number four is Hatter M: The Looking Glass Wars Volume 2: Mad with Wonder (Automatic Pictures), with an Overall Quantity Ranking at position #71. Written by Frank Beddor & Liz Cavalier, with artwork by Sami Makkonen, the Looking Glass Wars books are an alternative take on the world of Wonderland from the Lewis Carrol’s Alice stories. The Looking Glass War books tell the story of Royal Bodyguard Hatter Madigan’s maniacal quest to find Alyss. In Volume 2, Hatter follows the Glow from London to the battlefields of America’s Civil War in search of the Princess who must some day be Queen. The America that Hatter encounters is a sprawling, wounded, boiling landscape of innocence and energy run amok. The war is tearing the country apart and yet Hatter must maintain his sanity in this maelstrom of holy rollers, child healers, prophetic snake handlers, deranged outlaws and passionate southern belles. As Hatter searches he learns he is not the only Wonderland presence that has found its way to the Promised Land. Queen Redd’s black imagination is fueling the Civil War and threatening our world with her evil.
Coming in at number five is Hack/Slash Vol. 6: In Revenge & In Love (Devil’s Due Publishing), with an Overall Quantity Ranking at position #74. Written by Tim Seeley, with artwork by Kevin Mellon & Emily Stone, Hack/Slash is about a girl named Cassie, who hunts down killers, known as “slashers”, with Vlad, a freakish man who frequently wears a gas mask. In this volume of the series, Cassie and Vlad are stopped in their tracks as Cassie is blamed and arrested for the murders committed by the very slashers she has sworn to eliminate. Things get worse as they cross paths with everyone’s favorite 8-year-old dream-reaper, Ashely. All this, as well as a much un-requested encore by the worst slasher this side of Nef, Six Sixx.
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Again, Avatar Press seem to have the have the largest amount of titles in this month’s small press TPB charts, with a total of four titles, all of which are written by Warren Ellis! In fact, Avatar are the only publisher to rank over 2 titles in this month’s small press TPB charts, so emerge as the clear leader. Nice work!
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I’m pretty disappointed to see Nexus Space Opera (Rude Dude) ranking so low! Space Opera was a wonderful story, and one of Rude & Baron’s best Nexus stories to date. Hopefully this wont discourage them from doing more Nexus stories in the future, but I imagine it probably will. Damn you all for killing one of my favourite comic properties!!!
Also of note in the month’s TPB/OGN charts is that The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume III: Century #1 1910 is still ranking #26 in the small press TPB charts, five month’s after its original release.
Warren Ellis’ Frankenstein’s Womb is also still floating around in the charts at #28, three months after its original release!
| Small Press Chart Rank | Overall Quantity Rank | Overall Dollar Rank | Index | Item Code | Description | Price | Vendor | ISBN-13 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 16 | 17 | 3.95 | SEP090638 | FREAKANGELS TP VOL 03 (MR) | $19.99 | AVA | 9781592910786 |
| 2 | 25 | 33 | 3.15 | AUG090609 | TERRY MOORES ECHO TP VOL 03 DESERT RUN | $15.95 | ABS | 9781892597434 |
| 3 | 49 | 92 | 2.39 | JUL090644 | PINOCCHIO VAMPIRE SLAYER GN | $10.95 | SLA | 9781593621766 |
| 5 | 71 | 69 | 1.83 | APR098090 | HATTER M THE LOOKING GLASS WARS TP VOL 02 MAD WITH WONDER | $14.95 | AUT | 9780981873725 |
| 6 | 74 | 65 | 1.77 | MAY090765 | HACK SLASH TP VOL 06 IN REVENGE & IN LOVE (MR) | $18.99 | DEV | 9781934692684 |
| 7 | 76 | 71 | 1.76 | APR090698 | WOLFSKIN TP VOL 01 (MR) | $17.99 | AVA | 9781592910762 |
| 8 | 115 | 83 | 1.21 | JUL090846 | MASTERPIECE COMICS HC (MR) | $19.95 | DRA | 9781897299845 |
| 9 | 122 | 62 | 1.14 | JUL090984 | FAT FREDDYS CAT OMNIBUS (MR) | $29.99 | DIA | 9780861661619 |
| 10 | 137 | 167 | 1.00 | AUG090980 | KODT BUNDLE OF TROUBLE TP VOL 27 | $12.99 | KEN | 9781594591044 |
| 11 | 146 | 161 | 0.95 | AUG091044 | NEXUS SPACE OPERA TP | $14.95 | RUD | 9780979231131 |
| 12 | 153 | 149 | 0.91 | AUG090699 | LOOKING FOR GROUP TP VOL 02 | $14.95 | BLI | 9780981216317 |
| 13 | 154 | 111 | 0.90 | JUL090878 | COLLECTED VOYAGES OF SHEBUCCANEER TP (MR) | $19.99 | GRE | 9780974678481 |
| 14 | 155 | 177 | 0.89 | JUL090867 | MOME GN VOL 16 FALL 09 | $14.99 | FAN | 9781606991534 |
| 15 | 168 | 154 | 0.83 | FEB094178 | MERCY SPARX TP VOL 01 | $18.99 | DEV | 9781934692615 |
| 16 | 171 | 90 | 0.81 | JUN091034 | MANEATING COW & CHAINSAW VIGILANTE COMPLETE WORKS TP | $29.95 | NEW | |
| 17 | 188 | 181 | 0.75 | AUG090700 | FEMALE FORCE TP VOL 01 | $15.99 | BLU | 9781427638588 |
| 18 | 191 | 110 | 0.74 | JUL090864 | YOU ARE THERE HC | $26.99 | FAN | 9781606992944 |
| 19 | 216 | 164 | 0.67 | AUG090604 | SERPENT WARS GN | $17.95 | DIA | 9781905692316 |
| 20 | 221 | 342 | 0.66 | AUG090614 | WEIRD FISHES GN | $9.95 | SLA | 9781593621773 |
| 21 | 223 | 230 | 0.66 | AUG090698 | CTRL+ALT+DEL TP VOL 02 DARWIN WOULD BE PROUD | $12.95 | BLI | 9780981216324 |
| 22 | 250 | 100 | 0.59 | MAR058205-M | BONE ONE VOL ED SC | $39.95 | CAR | 9781888963144 |
| 23 | 263 | 212 | 0.56 | AUG090853 | BOOK ABOUT MOOMIN MYMBLE & LITTLE MY HC | $16.95 | DRA | 9781897299951 |
| 24 | 271 | 157 | 0.55 | MAY090647 | MOUSE GUARD HC VOL 02 WINTER 1152 | $24.95 | ARC | 9781932386745 |
| 25 | 272 | 131 | 0.54 | SEP090639 | FREAKANGELS HC VOL 03 (MR) | $27.99 | AVA | 9781592910793 |
| 26 | 273 | 431 | 0.54 | FEB094465 | LOEG III CENTURY #1 1910 (MR) | $7.95 | TOP | 9781603090001 |
| 27 | 286 | 255 | 0.52 | AUG090851 | PS238 TP VOL 07 DAUGHTERS SONS & SHRINK-RAY GUNS | $15.99 | DO | 9781933288406 |
| 28 | 296 | 493 | 0.51 | APR090689-M | WARREN ELLIS FRANKENSTEINS WOMB GN (MR) | $6.99 | AVA | 9781592910595 |
| 29 | 300 | 288 | 0.50 | JUN090038 | POP WONDERLAND HC VOL 02 LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD | $16.95 | DAR | 9781595822673 |
How does Diamond calculate the charts?
It all starts at the comic book shop. Data for Diamond’s sales charts—which include the monthly market shares and all top product charts—are compiled by Diamond Comic Distributors from a universe of over 4,000+ accounts, comprised of comic book specialty shops and other merchant stores and buyers. The shops are primarily located in North America, with a percentage of sales also to international stores and buyers located throughout the world. The account base includes brick-and-mortar comic book specialty shops, Internet merchants, and other specialty stores.
Unit and dollars sales are calculated based upon orders invoiced and shipped to Diamond accounts during any given month, which comprises initial pre-orders, advance reorders, and reorders, minus any copies that are received back from a title marked as returnable.
ABOUT DIAMOND COMIC DISTRIBUTORS
The world’s largest distributor of English-language comic books and pop-culture related merchandise, Diamond is based in Baltimore, MD, and services more than 4,000 specialty retailers worldwide. For more information, visit Diamond on the web at www.diamondcomics.com.
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