Barnes & Noble.com has added a graphic novel store to its Website. The graphic novel storefront includes titles that receive special promotions. Today the Daredevil Movie TPB was in the top slot (and discounted 20%). On the left hand side of the page Barnes & Noble lists 30 categories of graphic novels. One feature that might prove useful to other retailers is the way in which Barnes & Noble displays the contents of each category with the titles listed on the basis of unit sales. So, while it is a somewhat limited sample, these category listings can provide useful sales information for retailers who may be thinking about adding another category of graphic novels to their product mix. The rankings appear to be updated quite frequently. Here is a snapshot of what's selling in some of the key categories today.
Alternative Graphic Novels
Linda Barry's One! Hundred! Demons!, which was recently reviewed in the New York Times Book Review, heads the list. Dan Clowes has three books in the top ten, including Ghost World, Twentieth Century Eightball, and David Boring.
Biographical & Non-Fiction
Art Spiegelman's Maus books take the top three slots, while Joe Sacco's Palestine and Safe Area Gorazde and Ted Rall's To Afghanistan and Back also made the top 10.
Comics For All Ages (Younger Readers)
Goscinny and Uderzo's Asterix books totally dominate this category, with the lone exception of a Simpsons collection. Retailers who complain about the lack of comics for young readers, and yet don't carry at least some of the Asterix titles are missing an opportunity.
Film & Television Comic Books
Bongo Comics' Simpsons collections and Dark Horse's Star Wars and Buffy books top this category.
Gay and Lesbian Graphic Novels
Judd Winick's Pedro and Me takes the top spot,but Alison Bechdel's Dykes series dominates the top 10.
Horror
Slave Labor's Johnny The Homicidal Maniac just keeps on selling and holds down the number one spot, followed by Buffy collections and three Hellboy trades from Dark Horse.
International
Herge's Tintin series dominates this category -- another series that retailers who are interested in appealing to younger readers should certainly be carrying.
Manga
With 773 titles listed Manga is by far the largest of Barnes & Noble's categories -- and the continually surprising Love Hina places six volumes in the top 10.
Crime & Mystery
Max Allan Collins' Road to Perdition graphic novel still leads this category, followed by The League of Extraordinary Gentleman and From Hell, written by Alan Moore whoseV for Vendetta is also in the top 10.
Superhero Comics -- DC
Alan Moore's The Watchmen has been around forever, but it still sells better in this venue than any other (non-Batman or Superman) DC superhero title.
Batman
No surprise here with The Dark Knight Strikes Again in first place followed by The Dark Knight Returns, Batman: The Killing Joke, and Batman: Year One.
Image
J. Michael Straczynski's Rising Stars collections take the first two spots, while Witchblade trades dominate the rest of this top 10 list, which doesn't include Savage Dragon or Spawn trades.
Marvel
Like DC, Marvel's books are broken up with special sections for Daredevil, Hulk, Spider-Man, and X-Men. The Marvel Encyclopedia dominates the generic Marvel category, while the Frank Miller collections rule the Daredevil section, Brian Michael Bendis' Ultimate Spider-Man collections top the Spidey section, and Origin is still the cream of the X-Men category.
