_Kick-Ass_ Tops Adult GN Sales Charts

The graphic novel version of Kick-Ass is riding high on the sales charts following the release of the movie, selling well over 100,000 copies now. I finally bought a copy of the GN and have to admit to liking the movie treatment better.

This sales ranking is good news because it offers some evidence that graphic novels sales might experience a mini "Watchmen bump" that might help the industry have a productive quarter again.

I'm also very frustrated that folks keep comparing Kick-Ass's box office take and sales-driving abilities with that of Watchmen. As a film, Kick-Ass is probably a better piece than Watchmen, which I think has aged well and may eventually be considered a better film than critics originally labeled it, but as comics, Kick-Ass is nowhere near as important or as good a text as Watchmen. So, the comparisons -- just because both take on the "What if supers were real" aspect and have an indy feel to them -- are bogus and unfair.

Watchmen: one of the most important books of the 20th century. Kick-Ass? Fun fanboy candy with an introduction by Rob Leifeld.

Comics White Paper Reveals Stats

Milton Griepp has released his "status of the industry" white paper. According to his figures, graphic novels sales no longer account for the sole area of publishing seeing gains. In fact, sales have declined 6% for 2009.

Now, with past years' showing growth of 12 and 15% , that's not necessarily a sign that graphic novels are a "fading trend." After all, we are in a national recession. Though, GN sales did decline more than general book sales, which fell 3%. Again, though, no need to sound any alarms. Watchmen sales have dropped off since they hit a high point (even becoming Amazon's #1 seller for a while) along with the release of the movie, so the declining numbers are a bit skewed.

Further, there are signs that point to good numbers in future quarters/years, such as the Twilight graphic novel and possibilities that Kick-Ass movie-goers might spur sales of the graphic novel version of that title.

One very interesting tidbit to come from the report: "sales of of Kids and YA-related graphic novels were up over 50%....." Looks like publishers' efforts to hit that k-12 market hard now that so many of us are talking about comics and education are paying off.

Kick-Ass Movie, Well....

..kicks ass!!!!

I am less than thirty minutes removed from seeing the last credit roll, and I am pretty impressed. There are many critics out there calling this movie a satire of the super-hero genre. The joke's on them, and on anyone who buys into their misunderstandings. The awesome thing about Kick-Ass the movie is that it might appear to be satirical because it overtly tropes so many conventions of the capes and cowl films, but the references are so clear -- heroes are mentioned by name and their mythoi explained or critiqued in script -- that it really is more of an homage to the genre than a satire.

Anyone who looks at teen super-heroes, cracked-out villains, predictable origin stories that set up a sequel, and bloody violence in this film and suggests it all pokes fun of the genre is missing the point that the movie is still a stellar exemplar of the genre.

Sure, the film takes on the question of "what if people tried to be super-heroes in real life?" but don't be fooled: you're still entering a fantasy world. That's the big trick of Kick-Ass: it tricks the tricksters, pulls the wool over the eyes of the folks who want to make us all feel they're the smart ones keeping our eyes sheep-hair free. It's a straight up bad-ass super-hero movie, make no broken bones about, and it lives up to its name.


** This commentary relates to the film only, as I've still not read the GN. :(

**** I still think the guy who plays Kick-Ass looks like senior-year-of-high-school-Bucky-Carter. ;)

Kick-Ass Reaches 100K Mark, EP Bookstores Still Suck

The Beat has this article on how the Kick-Ass graphic novel has sold over 100,000 copies. The argument: those that say comics aren't anything but story boards for films might be right. That's a little silly and over-stating things, of course.

Me? I've been scouring my local Barnes and Noble for the last few months waiting for this title to be available. Either they're selling out faster than I can get to them, or this is another piece of evidence that my local chain ain't all that great. Of course, with no Borders or Books-A-Million around for competition, why strive for excellence? Sigh......