NYTGBBSL

The New York Times, the nation’s August arbiter of art and merit, has just pronounced comics a legitimate form of publication — not yet an art form, maybe, but grown up and adult enough that books of comics (comic strip reprints, comic book compilations, graphic novels, and manga) warrant their own list, namely the New York Times Graphic Books Best Seller List.

On the March 5 version I noticed that IDW’s Terry and the Pirates by Milton Caniff (Volume 6, the last, for which I supplied the Introduction) was tenth on the list. I thought that was funny: how does a book get to be a “best seller” before it’s even in bookstores? I asked IDW editor Dean Mullaney about it, and he said: “Strange, indeed. In reading the fine print, though, part of the data is taken from retailers who ‘specialize’ in comics, so they're apparently using a mix of comics shops (non-returnable, so therefore actual sales), Amazon, and mainstream bookstores. I had a feeling they were going to start such a list because a friend of Bruce Canwell’s (Canwell is associate editor of IDW’s Library of American Comics) who manages one of the largest independent bookstores in Maine has seen graphic novels and strip collections on the weekly inquiries from the NYT on book sales. All good news in the growing respect our little corner of the world is getting.”

Here's how the list is assembled, according to the Times itself:

Rankings reflect sales of graphic novels at many thousands of venues where a wide range of books are sold nationwide. These include hundreds of independent book retailers (statistically weighted to represent all suchoutlets); national, regional and local chains; online and multimedia entertainment retailers; university, gift, supermarket, discount department stores and newsstands. In addition, the rankings also include unit sales reported by retailers nationwide that specilize in graphic novels and comic books.

To see one of the most recent NYTGBBSL lists, click here.