Comments on: Bookscan revisited http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2008/02/22/bookscan-revisited/ The News Blog of Comics Culture Fri, 04 Jul 2008 06:59:45 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.2 by: Christopher Allen http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2008/02/22/bookscan-revisited/#comment-1033915 Sun, 09 Mar 2008 22:57:45 +0000 http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2008/02/22/bookscan-revisited/#comment-1033915 I always knew Alan David Doane was a certain breed, hence the equation ADD=ACB. Whether POB=FOS is arguable. I always knew Alan David Doane was a certain breed, hence the equation ADD=ACB. Whether POB=FOS is arguable.

]]> by: Jamie Coville http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2008/02/22/bookscan-revisited/#comment-960013 Wed, 27 Feb 2008 16:27:19 +0000 http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2008/02/22/bookscan-revisited/#comment-960013 Then we need to have a debate because Tom going bugnuts would be worth the price admission alone. Then we need to have a debate because Tom going bugnuts would be worth the price admission alone.

]]> by: Tom Spurgeon http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2008/02/22/bookscan-revisited/#comment-958442 Wed, 27 Feb 2008 11:20:26 +0000 http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2008/02/22/bookscan-revisited/#comment-958442 I'll debate anyone on the original subject, but if there's anyone who wants to debate whether or not Bone is mainstream/indy/alt or the role of bedsheets in defining mainstream status or who's stronger, Chris Ware or Mark Millar, I probably couldn't do that without risk of going bugnuts insane right up there on the podium and smashing my head into the plastic water pitcher until I bled to death. Just sayin'. I’ll debate anyone on the original subject, but if there’s anyone who wants to debate whether or not Bone is mainstream/indy/alt or the role of bedsheets in defining mainstream status or who’s stronger, Chris Ware or Mark Millar, I probably couldn’t do that without risk of going bugnuts insane right up there on the podium and smashing my head into the plastic water pitcher until I bled to death.

Just sayin’.

]]> by: The Beat http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2008/02/22/bookscan-revisited/#comment-955900 Wed, 27 Feb 2008 02:53:10 +0000 http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2008/02/22/bookscan-revisited/#comment-955900 We really need a debate at San Diego, don't we? We really need a debate at San Diego, don’t we?

]]> by: Dirk Deppey http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2008/02/22/bookscan-revisited/#comment-955755 Wed, 27 Feb 2008 02:14:15 +0000 http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2008/02/22/bookscan-revisited/#comment-955755 So wait, Heidi: I say that the future of comics in bookstores belongs to Jeff Smith and Scholastic and you chastise me for thinking that it belongs to <i>Love and Rockets</i>? I'd love to know how you reached that conclusion. I bet it would've been a fascinating process to watch. So wait, Heidi: I say that the future of comics in bookstores belongs to Jeff Smith and Scholastic and you chastise me for thinking that it belongs to Love and Rockets? I’d love to know how you reached that conclusion. I bet it would’ve been a fascinating process to watch.

]]> by: caleb http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2008/02/22/bookscan-revisited/#comment-955131 Tue, 26 Feb 2008 23:26:07 +0000 http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2008/02/22/bookscan-revisited/#comment-955131 <i>. I would say that SPIDERMAN and BATMAN are mainstream characters given the fact you can buy sheets and towels with their pictures on them. </i> Spider-Man can't be considered a mainstream character until mainstream media learn to spell his name with the hyphen, let alone professional comics bloggers. . I would say that SPIDERMAN and BATMAN are mainstream characters given the fact you can buy sheets and towels with their pictures on them.

Spider-Man can’t be considered a mainstream character until mainstream media learn to spell his name with the hyphen, let alone professional comics bloggers.

]]> by: Tom Spurgeon http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2008/02/22/bookscan-revisited/#comment-954085 Tue, 26 Feb 2008 20:20:25 +0000 http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2008/02/22/bookscan-revisited/#comment-954085 I miss spinner racks. I miss spinner racks.

]]> by: Marc-Oliver Frisch http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2008/02/22/bookscan-revisited/#comment-953667 Tue, 26 Feb 2008 19:00:02 +0000 http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2008/02/22/bookscan-revisited/#comment-953667 Paul, to Alan: "You’re assuming that sales through bookstores must necessarily be to a mainstream audience." Nor, I think, is it safe to assume anymore that the direct market exclusively serves typical comics fans. Paul, to Alan: “You’re assuming that sales through bookstores must necessarily be to a mainstream audience.”

Nor, I think, is it safe to assume anymore that the direct market exclusively serves typical comics fans.

]]> by: Brian Hibbs http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2008/02/22/bookscan-revisited/#comment-953427 Tue, 26 Feb 2008 18:05:36 +0000 http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2008/02/22/bookscan-revisited/#comment-953427 Dick: DEATH NOTE took a HUGE jump once the anime starting being broadcast (like, from total memory, by more than a third), but that's definitely a piece of comics material still likely to be charting 10 years from now, because it is SUPER AWESOME. -B Dick: DEATH NOTE took a HUGE jump once the anime starting being broadcast (like, from total memory, by more than a third), but that’s definitely a piece of comics material still likely to be charting 10 years from now, because it is SUPER AWESOME.

-B

]]> by: Dick Hyacinth http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2008/02/22/bookscan-revisited/#comment-953381 Tue, 26 Feb 2008 17:55:49 +0000 http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2008/02/22/bookscan-revisited/#comment-953381 I also think it might be a little unfair to lump in Death Note with the anime tie-ins--it was doing pretty well even before that show appeared on Cartoon Network, wasn't it? And there's a Batman cartoon on TV right now, isn't there? I also think it might be a little unfair to lump in Death Note with the anime tie-ins–it was doing pretty well even before that show appeared on Cartoon Network, wasn’t it?

And there’s a Batman cartoon on TV right now, isn’t there?

]]> by: The Beat http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2008/02/22/bookscan-revisited/#comment-953361 Tue, 26 Feb 2008 17:51:20 +0000 http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2008/02/22/bookscan-revisited/#comment-953361 Oops! I stand corrected! I momentarily confused Vampire Knight with some other manga about vampires that has a video game tie-in. Oops! I stand corrected! I momentarily confused Vampire Knight with some other manga about vampires that has a video game tie-in.

]]> by: Brian Hibbs http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2008/02/22/bookscan-revisited/#comment-953334 Tue, 26 Feb 2008 17:36:41 +0000 http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2008/02/22/bookscan-revisited/#comment-953334 Heidi: VAMPIRE KNIGHT also doesn't seem to be broadcasting on TV yet (unless I missed something). -B Heidi: VAMPIRE KNIGHT also doesn’t seem to be broadcasting on TV yet (unless I missed something).

-B

]]> by: Tom Spurgeon http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2008/02/22/bookscan-revisited/#comment-953160 Tue, 26 Feb 2008 16:51:20 +0000 http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2008/02/22/bookscan-revisited/#comment-953160 We can avoid them. Well, maybe not Naruto so much. We can avoid them.

Well, maybe not Naruto so much.

]]> by: The Beat http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2008/02/22/bookscan-revisited/#comment-953121 Tue, 26 Feb 2008 16:36:36 +0000 http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2008/02/22/bookscan-revisited/#comment-953121 Alan, I already looked at all the non-manga books in the top 100 above. Out of the top books you list in your analysis, only FRUITS BASKET is not based on a show that's airing on TV, hence, effectively a TV tie-in. I have no doubt that Naruto would sell well if the anime wasn't being aired here, but the fact that 5 of the non-manga books are superhero shows they have the same level of mainstream penetration. To put it bluntly....Stephen King, Naruto and Heroes are all mainstream...<B>and there's not a thing we can do about it!</b> EDIT: I've just read all of your analysis in the post referenced above, and using my metaphor of a horse race, you have just uncovered the biggest pile of road apples I have yet seen in this derby. BONE is artcommix? Really? I guess E. Nesbit is Jean Rhys, too. I would like to see both you AND Dirk try to define what the terms of mainstream and literary/art are. People are using these numbers to bolster whatever they want to prove. And it's ludicrous. Alan, I already looked at all the non-manga books in the top 100 above. Out of the top books you list in your analysis, only FRUITS BASKET is not based on a show that’s airing on TV, hence, effectively a TV tie-in. I have no doubt that Naruto would sell well if the anime wasn’t being aired here, but the fact that 5 of the non-manga books are superhero shows they have the same level of mainstream penetration.

To put it bluntly….Stephen King, Naruto and Heroes are all mainstream…and there’s not a thing we can do about it!

EDIT: I’ve just read all of your analysis in the post referenced above, and using my metaphor of a horse race, you have just uncovered the biggest pile of road apples I have yet seen in this derby. BONE is artcommix? Really? I guess E. Nesbit is Jean Rhys, too. I would like to see both you AND Dirk try to define what the terms of mainstream and literary/art are.

People are using these numbers to bolster whatever they want to prove. And it’s ludicrous.

]]> by: Paul O'Brien http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2008/02/22/bookscan-revisited/#comment-953101 Tue, 26 Feb 2008 16:32:20 +0000 http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2008/02/22/bookscan-revisited/#comment-953101 Overly simplistic, Alan. You're assuming that sales through bookstores must necessarily be to a mainstream audience. Manga sells through bookstores, therefore it's selling to the mainstream. That doesn't follow at all. There are plenty of cult, niche and specialist publications in mainstream bookstores. You're ignoring the possibility that manga also has a niche audience, but happens to sell through a more conventional distribution route. Overly simplistic, Alan. You’re assuming that sales through bookstores must necessarily be to a mainstream audience. Manga sells through bookstores, therefore it’s selling to the mainstream.

That doesn’t follow at all. There are plenty of cult, niche and specialist publications in mainstream bookstores. You’re ignoring the possibility that manga also has a niche audience, but happens to sell through a more conventional distribution route.

]]> by: ADD http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2008/02/22/bookscan-revisited/#comment-952814 Tue, 26 Feb 2008 15:47:26 +0000 http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2008/02/22/bookscan-revisited/#comment-952814 Which of course anyone would, if comparing and contrasting mainstream vs. direct market trends. Which of course anyone would, if comparing and contrasting mainstream vs. direct market trends.

]]> by: Paul O'Brien http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2008/02/22/bookscan-revisited/#comment-952707 Tue, 26 Feb 2008 15:33:22 +0000 http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2008/02/22/bookscan-revisited/#comment-952707 Of course, Alan, that only works if you ignore the direct market entirely. Of course, Alan, that only works if you ignore the direct market entirely.

]]> by: ADD http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2008/02/22/bookscan-revisited/#comment-951928 Tue, 26 Feb 2008 13:42:06 +0000 http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2008/02/22/bookscan-revisited/#comment-951928 Here's <a href="http://www.comicbookgalaxy.com/blog/2008/02/far-more-distant-third-superheroes-as.html" rel="nofollow">more on the idea of what is and isn't mainstream</a>, backed up with numbers provided by Rich Johnston (thanks, Rich!). Here’s more on the idea of what is and isn’t mainstream, backed up with numbers provided by Rich Johnston (thanks, Rich!).

]]> by: Rich Johnston http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2008/02/22/bookscan-revisited/#comment-951680 Tue, 26 Feb 2008 13:12:10 +0000 http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2008/02/22/bookscan-revisited/#comment-951680 "Just as your average British drawing-room comedy broadcast on PBS is not going to pull down the same kind of ratings as Lost" It gets much better ratings than Lost. Here at least. 8-) “Just as your average British drawing-room comedy broadcast on PBS is not going to pull down the same kind of ratings as Lost”

It gets much better ratings than Lost.

Here at least. 8-)

]]> by: Tom Spurgeon http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2008/02/22/bookscan-revisited/#comment-950100 Tue, 26 Feb 2008 03:47:54 +0000 http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2008/02/22/bookscan-revisited/#comment-950100 I'm pretty sure Chris Ware's mainstream, but only because there seems to be a cartoon show on Sunday nights after The Simpsons starring Jimmy Corrigan. I’m pretty sure Chris Ware’s mainstream, but only because there seems to be a cartoon show on Sunday nights after The Simpsons starring Jimmy Corrigan.

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