More details on the Isotope Comics website.

The 22-year-old Watchmen continues its climb up the book charts, fueled by the trailer for Zack Snyder’s upcoming adaptation.

The collection of the Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons miniseries pushed another 14 places up USA Today’s Top 150 list to No. 15. Natsuki Takaya’s Fruits Basket reached the same spot in April 2007; that may be the highest position held by a graphic novel.

USA Today’s chart tracks all genres and formats of books sold in some 4,700 brick-and-mortar and online stores.

So, it probably comes as no surprise that Watchmen topped BookScan’s Top 20 graphic novels chart in July.

To meet increased demands for the trade paperback, DC Comics has ordered an additional 300,000 copies. (Previous reports placed the order between 200,000 and 250,000.) DC President and Publisher Paul Levitz told Publishers Weekly that BookScan recorded Watchmen selling 10,000 copies in just one week.

The Watchmen trailer was released July 17 with The Dark Knight, whose box-office success has given a boost to several Batman collections.

Batman: The Killing Joke, the 1988 graphic novel that served as inspiration for the movie’s version of The Joker, entered the USA Today list last week at No. 114. Although it fell off the list this week, it was No. 4 on BookScan’s July chart, followed by Batman: The Long Halloween at No. 8, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns at No. 11, and Batman: Year One at No. 13.

Danny Hellman dropped us a note about an event at Jim Hanley’s Universe in Manhattan tonight:

NYC area comics aficionados are invited to join us for a TYPHON book signing at Jim Hanley’s Universe on Wednesday, August 6th from 6-8PM!

Pick up a copy of the brand new, 192 page, full-color comics anthology TYPHON Volume One, and get it signed by these TYPHON contributors:

Gregory Benton
Victor “Bald Eagles” Cayro
Mike Edison
Glenn Head
Danny Hellman
Cliff Mott
Bruno “Hugo” Nadalin
Chris “Steak Mtn” Norris
R. Sikoryak
Doug Skinner
Matthew Thurber
Motohiko Tokuta

Wednesday, August 6, 2008
6:00pm – 8:00pm
Jim Hanley’s Universe (Manhattan)
4 West 33rd Street
New York, NY

This book has the most awesome cover ever.

August kind of creeps up on you, doesn’t it? It seems like only yesterday that we were counting down to crises, and being infiltrated by one alien or another.

And now, here we are, with the third issue of Final Crisis — plus a “Director’s Cut” of Issue 1! — and the second issue of the ancillary Secret Invasion series Front Line.

This week also sees the first Creepy Archives from Dark Horse, a trio of “Batman R.I.P” tie-ins, the (limited) return of NYX and Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane, a hardcover Bleach Collector’s Edition and, after some delay, the appearances of Special Forces #3 and Okko: The Cycle of Earth.

To see what other titles Chris Mautner and I think are worth mentioning, just keep reading. As always, let us know your choices in the comments below.

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– The Hero Initiative has another round of Hulk covers up for auction.

–ComicsPro has launched a site dedicated to 24-Hour Comics Day, with information on how to host an event, who is participating and other information. 24 Hour Comics Day is scheduled for Oct. 18.

– Steven Grant and Scott Beiser are working on a new webcomic over at Big Head Press called Odysseus the Rebel.

– Virgin is giving away some of their Comic-Con exclusives on their website.

– io9.com has an interview up with Middleman creator Javier Grillo-Marxuach.

– Bam! Pow! Ouch!

–Racked.com has posted the Jack Spade “Breaking and Entering” Comic Book, which details a weird break-in at the Jack Spade store in New York. (Via)

Brave New World, a comic shop located in Santa Clarita, Calif., was presented with the Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailer Award in San Diego last weekend. You can check out their entry video below:

The Watchmen “trailer effect” continues to be felt in the book market as the collection of the 22-year-old miniseries leaps 54 places up USA Today’s Top 150 list to No. 29.

USA Today’s chart tracks all genres and formats of books sold in some 4,700 brick-and-mortar and online stores.

Released July 17 with The Dark Knight, the teaser for Zack Snyder’s film adaptation quickly boosted sales of the Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons trade paperback. Within three days of the trailer’s debut, Watchmen had rocketed to No. 83 on the book chart and as high as No. 2 on the Amazon.com bestseller list (it now sits at No. 3).

Last week publisher DC Comics ordered a 200,000-copy new printing to meet increased demands.

But Watchmen isn’t the only comic to receive a movie bump this week: Batman: The Killing Joke, the 1988 graphic novel by Moore and Brian Bolland, enters the USA Today list at No. 114. The work served as the inspiration for the depiction of The Joker in The Dark Knight. (Dennis O’Neil’s novelization appears on the list, too, at No. 141.)

Other comics on the USA Today chart: Jeff Kinney’s hybrid Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules, at Nos. 49 and 54; and Masashi Kishimoto’s Naruto, Vol. 30, at No. 101.

With all of the hustle, bustle and hype of Comic-Con, we could all use a little break. So it’s probably good that it’s a light week for big releases.

Well, mostly. Del Rey Manga has seven noteworthy releases this Wednesday, from the first volume of Me and the Devil Blues to the second volume of Toto! to the fourth volume of Parasyte. Image uncorks a second installment of the Popgun anthology, and Winsor McCay’s groundbreaking Little Nemo in Slumberland gets two hardcovers.

To see what other titles Chris Mautner and I think are worth mentioning, just keep reading. As always, let us know your choices in the comments below.

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ICv2.com reports that, in response to increased interest in Watchmen spawned by the movie trailer, DC Comics has ordered a 200,000-copy new printing of the trade paperback.

The trailer, which accompanies The Dark Knight, sent the collection of the 1986 Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons series rocketing up the Amazon.com and USA Today bestseller lists.

Retailer Brian Hibbs notes that Watchmen has flown off the shelves of Comix Experience in San Francisco:

Last Tuesday I had what would normally be a month’s worth of WATCHMEN in stock (and if you remember back to last week’s post, WATCHMEN was my #2 best selling TP in the last 12 months, so we’re talking about a real number of copies). Every single copy sold out by mid-Saturday morning. The calls have been coming in by the dozen or more a day “Do you have WATCHMEN?!?!”, so I’m going to go on a limb and suggest that no one in San Francisco has them. I put in a direct order for a “3 month supply” that I should have tomorrow, but even then I’m going to order another big stack on my next reorder cycle (unless I pay a LOT for shipping them faster, reorders take about 10 days to show) just to cover my bets (it’s not like, worst case, we won’t sell them *eventually*)

Update: The Los Angeles Times puts the print run at 250,000. And director Zack Snyder, passing along figures from Warner Bros., says 75,000 copies of Watchmen were sold just last week.

Although most eyes will be on San Diego this week, at least a few bodies will end up at the comic shop.

If one of those bodies is yours, what will you likely find? Three significant anthologies — Comic Book Tattoo, Flight, Vol. 5, and Meathaus S.O.S. – the landmark 500th issue of Uncanny X-Men, and a mammoth Scud hardcover, for starters.

Plus, the just-optioned-by-Showtime Exterminators ends at Vertigo, while at Avatar, Warren Ellis’ Black Summer wraps up.

To see what other titles Chris Mautner and I think are worth mentioning, just keep reading. As always, let us know your choices in the comments below.

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Retailer/blogger Chris Butcher dropped us a note saying that The Beguiling Books & Art is bringing original art to the San Diego Comic-Con by folks like Seth, Jason, Paul Pope, Kevin Huizenga, Jason Lutes and many, many others. You can find The Beguiling at booth #1529, which they’ll share with Drawn + Quarterly. Who, incidentally, will have folks like James Sturm, Lynda Barry, Rutu Modan and Adrian Tomine signing at their booth, so stop by, check out some art and meet a few creators.

The complete release from The Beguiling is after the jump. Drawn + Quarterly’s booth schedule can be found here.

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Blogger Cory Doctorow visits the cool L.A. comic shop Secret Headquarters:

• A resolution will be introduced next week in Columbus (Ohio) City Council recognizing the career of Bone creator Jeff Smith.

• James Jean points out that the Watchmen trailer provides a glimpse of the Vargas-esque portrait of Sally Jupiter (above) that he created for the movie.

• Genre-book publisher Tor has relaunched its website, which now features a blog — with contributions by the likes of Bruce Baugh, Irene Gallo and Jim Henley.

• The New York Times looks at efforts to adapt Neil Young’s Greendale concept album into a theater piece and a graphic novel — the latter set for release next fall from Vertigo. There’s also a glimpse at Cliff Chiang’s character sketches.

• Colleen Coover and Takeshi Miyazawa show off photos of their artwork now gracing the windows of Challengers Comics + Conversation in Chicago.

• I can’t resist a list: Mental Floss has “26 Important Comics,” from Action Comics #1 to Maus, and PETA runs down the “Top 10 Animal-Friendly Super-Heroes.”

Commentator Augie De Blieck Jr. peers into the near-future and sees $3.50 as the average cover price for a comic book. How near? Try December:

I think the next price jump will be to $3.50, and the muttering over the high price of comics will be heard again. I just don’t think we’ll see mass defections of readership until we hit $3.99, though. $3.50 is still too much, but the ratio isn’t outrageous. When comics went up from $1.00 to $1.25, it meant you could only buy four comics for $5, instead of five. When prices rise up from $3.00 to $3.50, it means you’ll only get six comics for $21, instead of seven. With a hike from $3.00 to $3.99, though, your $12 will only buy you three comics instead of four.

This is likely all mental and not based strictly on the math. The $3.50 price point is outrageous for a comic book these days, though not a complete deal breaker.

The answer lies in digital distribution, of course, but the system on which this industry is based — the Direct Market — won’t make for an easy transition.

We’ll see $3.50 for Amazing Spider-Man by December. I’m sure of it. Check back here in three months to see if I’m right.

Retailer James Sime dropped us a note about an in-store event at Isotope Comics featuring seven-year-old comic creator Basie:

In celebration of this 7 year old creator’s fourth monthly issue of his mini-comic THE MASKED MUTANT the Isotope will be throwing a tremendous launch party event with a selection of root beers and Basie-approved tunes to get your backside in gear spun by San Francisco’s legendary DJ BEARZBUB.

Having gone to seven printings of issue #1, four printings of issue #2, along with a series of unique accordion-style folded minis… this kid has been blowing my mind with his one-man self publishing empire. During our event we will be hanging his art in our gallery, Basie will be selling selected pages of original art from his first four issues, and he’ll be drawing all your favorite superheroes for free. This is a Dr Strange he did for me:

The event runs from noon until 4 p.m. on July 19.

It’s a light week — for a change! — with a handful of notable releases.

Two stellar creations by the late Steve Gerber receive the spotlight this Wednesday as Jonathan Lethem and Farel Dalrymple’s Omega: The Unknown miniseries concludes and Howard The Duck gets the omnibus treatment.

Countdown to Final Crisis rises from the grave with a trade paperback, Scott McCloud’s Zot! returns with a black-and-white collection, and Viz Media rolls out Takehiko Inoue’s basketball manga Real.

To see what other titles Chris Mautner and I think are worth mentioning, just keep reading. As always, let us know your choices in the comments below.

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For those who lament an apparent lack of comics for kids, this Wednesday Thursday is for you.

Not only does this week see the eighth color volume of Jeff Smith’s Bone from Scholastic, but also Jill Thompson’s Magic Trixie and an adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s Coraline, both from HarperCollins.

Looking for something that skews a little older, and a little more superhero-ish? Then how about the Final Crisis: Requiem one-shot? Hey, nothing says summer fun like a wake for a crispy Martian!

Oh, okay, there’s the “Batman and Son” trade paperback, the fourth issue of Secret Invasion, and a teaser for Captain America: White, the latest in Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale’s line of “color” books.

To see what other titles Chris Mautner and I think are worth mentioning, just keep reading. As always, let us know your choices in the comments below.

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At Comixology, Tucker Stone considers what the estimated sales figures for Marvel and DC’s summer-event comics may actually tell us:

… the reaction seems to be that, since Marvel’s big event cross-over beat DC’s big event cross-over, there is somehow a connection between those pre-sale numbers and whether or not A) big corporate people should lose their jobs, B) Marvel speaks to the people in a way that DC doesn’t, or C) any of this really matters, at all. There’s something else that occasionally pops up, though — I’m assuming it isn’t as interesting to read or write about, but it’s what I’m more interested in this week. And that is that neither of those numbers — the estimated 200,344 copies of Secret Invasion # 2 versus the 159,036 of Final Crisis — are anything to be really impressed by. Sure, there’s a big discrepancy between those two books — but even at the top end of the scale, it’s only in comic books that 200,000 of anything is worth getting excited about.

It’s a question that comes up from time to time on message boards and blogs, and came up again yesterday when comics retailer James Sime asked folks on Twitter what comic got them “hooked for life.” Sime noted Daredevil #154 (above), and the responses he received created a list of comics that included everything from Star Wars and Spider-Man to Unknown Soldier and Kamandi. You can check all the responses out here.

For the record, mine was Uncanny X-Men #115, specifically the panel where Wolverine tore into Sauron, who had just proclaimed he was going to rule the Savage Land. Wolverine responds, “The only place you’re gonna rule is in hell!” the claws came out and I was done for.

In a week when Marvel unleashes some 34 titles on comic stores, IDW Publishing provides some unintentional relief by shipping … none (the books are tied up in U.S. Customs, so watch out for next week).

Marvel’s avalanche includes three Secret Invasion tie-ins, Joss Whedon’s final issue of Runaways and Matt Fraction and David Aja’s final issue of The Immortal Iron Fist, and the second installment of Marvel 1985. DC’s output — about half that of its competitor — features the second issue of Final Crisis, the long-awaited All-Star Batman hardcover and the collection of Brian Wood and Becky Cloonan’s critically acclaimed Demo.

Elsewhere, Dark Horse releases the first volumes of Gantz and Indiana Jones Adventures – opposite ends of the spectrum, certainly — Drawn and Quarterly gives us Yoshihiro Tatsumi’s Good-Bye, and NBM Publishing rolls out hardcovers of Bluesman and Ordinary Victories.

To see what other titles Chris Mautner and I think are worth mentioning, just keep reading. As always, let us know your choices in the comments below.

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