1. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Last Straw.
Jeff Kinney.
Abrams/Amulet, $12.95 ISBN 978-0-810-97068-7
2. Naruto, Volume 43.
Mashashi Kishimoto.
Viz Media, $7.95 ISBN 978-1-421-52929-5
3. Naruto, Volume 42.
Mashashi Kishimoto.
Viz Media, $7.95 ISBN 978-1-421-52843-4
4. Naruto, Volume 44.
Mashashi Kishimoto.
Viz Media, $7.95 ISBN 978-1-421-53134-2
5. Fruits Basket, Volume 22.
Natsuki Takaya.
Tokyopop, $10.99 ISBN 978-1-427-80683-3
The story of an orphan girl taken in by a magical family—turns out if you hug them, they turn into animals from the Chinese Zodiac!—Fruits Basket is an enormously popular series that mixes humor, fantasy and romance. A perennial manga bestseller, the series is an equally popular anime series. The Tokyopop manga series will finally come to an end with volume 23.
6. Naruto, Volume 41.
Mashashi Kishimoto.
Viz Media, $7.95 ISBN 978-1-421-528427
7. Naruto, Volume 40.
Mashashi Kishimoto.
Viz Media, $7.95 ISBN 978-1-421-528410
8. Negima!: Magister Negi Magi, Volume 21.
Ken Akamatsu.
Del Rey, $10.99 ISBN 978-0-345-50528-6
9. Naruto, Volume 39.
Mashashi Kishimoto.
Viz Media, $7.95 ISBN 978-1-421-521756
10.Naruto, Volume 38.
Mashashi Kishimoto.
Viz Media, $7.95 ISBN 978-1-421-521749
Take Note: Dire contemporary events have given Marvel’s hardcover graphic novel adaptation of Stephen King’s The Stand—the hair-raising tale of an apocalyptic pandemic—a new and even creepier sense of dread. The Stand: Captain Trips made the list even though the book is being sold only through the comics shop market.
Riding a way of fan interest generated by the new Star Trek film, Star Trek: Countdown (#14) by J.J. Abrams, Robert Orci and David Messina (IDW), is the official prequel graphic novel tie-in to the new blockbuster movie and outlines a new slate of heroes and villains in the latest revision of Gene Rodenberry’s classic science fiction saga.
Cartoonist Jeff Smith’s Bone: Crown of Horns (#13), the final volume in Smith’s acclaimed epic fantasy adventure series, was published in January and continues to sell well and appears on this list for the third month in a row. Originally self-published in black and white by Smith, the series has been published in full-color by Scholastic/Graphix since 2005 and has gone on to sell more 2 1/2 million copies. On May 22 the Wexner Center at Ohio State University will screen a new documentary on Smith, The Cartoonist: Jeff Smith, Bone, and the Changing Face of Comics.
Also selling well: Grant Morrison’s Batman R.I.P. (DC), Bill Willingham’s Jack of Fables: Turning Pages (Vertigo), Alan Moore’s Light of Thy Countenance (Avatar), Wolverine: Origin (Marvel) and James Patterson’s Maximum Ride: The Manga, vol. 1 (Yen Press).
