1. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Last Straw.
Jeff Kinney.
Abrams/Amulet, $12.95 ISBN 978-0-810-97068-7
2. Naruto, Volume 45.
Mashashi Kishimoto.
Viz Media, $7.95 ISBN 978-1-421-53135-9
3. Fruits Basket, Volume 23.
Natsuki Takaya.
Tokyopop, $10.99 ISBN 978-1-427-80827-1
4. Dork Diaries: Tales From a Not So Fabulous Life.
Rachel Renee Russell.
S&S/Aladdin, $12.99 ISBN 978-1-416-98006-3
PW profiled S&S’s Dork Diaries and called it a “Wimpy Kid copycat.” Like Jeff Kinney’s bestselling series, it’s a hybrid graphic work heavily illustrated with drawings and comics—although it’s not really a comic book. No matter, the book has found its audience—middle grade girls—said S&S publicity director Paul Crichton and has 130,000 copies in print. The writer/artist Rachel Renee Russell is a lawyer by day and a self-taught artist influenced by Japanese manga artists like Wataru Yoshizumi and American manga-style artists like Amy Ganter and Svetlana Chamakova.
5. Final Crisis.
Grant Morrison, J.G. Jones, Carlos Pacheco and Doug Mahnke.
DC Comics, $29.99 ISBN 978-1-401-22281-9
Superstar comics writer Grant Morrison’s Final Crisis hardcover collects the DC Comics seven issue cross-over periodical series as well as a number of Morrison Final Crisis tie-ins. The book features such acclaimed comics artists as J.G. Jones and Doug Mahnke and also includes new cover art by Jones that captures the now-classic “death” of Batman.
6. Negima: Magister Negi Magi, Volume 23.
Ken Ahkamatsu.
Del Rey, $10.99 ISBN 978-0-345-51426-4
7. Naruto, Volume 43.
Mashashi Kishimoto.
Viz Media, $7.95 ISBN 978-1-421-52929-5
8. Green Lantern: The Sinestro Corps War, Volume 2.
Geoff Johns, Dave Gibbons and Ivan Reis.
DC Comics, $14.99 ISBN 978-1-401-22036-5
9. All Star Batman and Robin.
Frank Miller and Jim Lee.
DC Comics, $19.99 ISBN 978-1-401-22008-2
10. The Dark Hunters, Volume 1.
Sherrilyn Kenyon and Claudia Campos.
St. Martin’s Griffin, $9.99 ISBN 978-0-312-37687-1
Bestselling urban fantasy author Sherrilynn Kenyon, author of The Dark Hunters vol. 1, teamed up with comics packager, Dabel Bros. Publishing and comics writer Joshua fialkov to adapt her Dark Hunters prose novels into a manga-style graphic novel with art by Claudia Campos. The series follows two immortal vampire killers who have sworn to protect humanity from their evil stalkers. St. Martin's has 50,000 copies of the book in print.
Take Note: Halo: Uprising (at #11) is the latest comics interpretation of game developer Bungie’s mega-hit videogame and follows the Marvel/Bungie 2006 The Halo Graphic Novel. Unlike the previous volume, which was a collection of short stories, Halo: Uprising is a single story that bridges the narrative gap between the Halo 2 and Halo 3 videogames. A hotel clerk—modeled after Marvel editor Ruwan Jayatilleke—and a pop singer are thrown together during a brutal alien invasion of Cleveland in a story with hip, lively dialog by writer Brian Michael Bendis and gritty, iconic drawings by Alex Maleev.
