Comic Book Resources has the direct market sales charts for September. Scroll down to the bottom for the top 50 manga, or just look right here for the top ten (rankings on the top 100 GN chart are in parentheses):
1. Berserk, vol. 13 (Dark Horse/Digital) (17)
2. Negima, vol. 11 (Del Rey) (25)
3. Bleach, vol. 15 (Viz) (28)
4. Fullmetal Alchemist, vol. 9 (Viz) (32)
5. Vampire Hunter D, vol. 5, Stuff of Dreams (Dark Horse)
6. Satsuma Gishiden, vol. 1 (Dark Horse) (44)
7. Little Butterfly, vol. 2 (Digital/June) (47)
8. Hybrid Child (Digital/June) (50)
9. Close the Last Door, vol. 1 (Digital/June) (54)
10. Crying Freeman, vol. 3 (Dark Horse) (56)
(For some reason, Vampire Hunter D is not listed on the graphic novels chart.)
Given that number 11 is Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service, which I still can’t find in my local bookstores, it was a pretty good month for Dark Horse. On the other hand, there are three yaoi titles in the top ten. So we have the manly adventures and the tales of romance. I wonder if the same, very well rounded, people are buying both types of titles, or whether it’s two different groups entirely.
On the other hand, it wasn’t a good month for manga versus graphic novels, as the highest ranked manga on the GN list was at number 17, and the ninth-ranked manga was below number 50.
It strikes me that with the Seinen titles from Dark Horse, they’re the ones a lot of people who frequent comic shops [superhero readers and older comic fans] are most likely to pick up. A lot of this stuff isn’t as easy to find in bookstores as well. Seinen titles appeal to older male readers [late teens to thirties and up], which is what a lot of Marvel/DC stuff is aimed at.
I know a lot of Marvel/DC fans were quick to jump into Lone Wolf and Cub for example, due to it’s classic status, and it’s longtime association with Frank Miller for example. Dark Horse is also convienently at the front of the Previews catalogue, which might play a small part in that.
The numerous Yaoi titles is again, the direct market serving older readers better than bookstores. You won’t find hentai/adult titles often at your local Chapters. Comic shops are a hassle free place to pick up these kinds of things. Again, I see it as GOOD comic shops serving older fans better- older female fans are getting served here in a way that they aren’t by the teen aimed bookstores. Smart comic shops catch on to this. I kind of hope this leads to more changes to comic shops, and more shops moving towards being female friendly [I’ve never really encountered a bad comic shop, though one I’ve been to is waaaayyyy too crowded, but I’ve heard many a horror story.]…… it’s still a small gradual change, but I hope it means good things for Josei and Seinen manga, which often get pushed aside in bookstores, and for independent comics which also appeal to these crowds, exposing more readers to stuff like http://www.lightspeedpress.com/ Finder or http://www.studiolio.com/ or Oni Press’s work [Queen and Country is a big seller for them in comic shops ,and something I could see appealing to older manga readers]
I agree that the seinen titles fit well with the standard comics-store demographic. Also, Dark Horse has a lot of non=manga titles, so I’d expect them to be a publisher that comics stores carry and are familiar with. The yaoi is more of a surprise. It certainly doesn’t fit my stereotype, nor does it match my limited experience with comics stores. And the Borders near me carries a lot of June titles. But maybe other parts of the country are different.
The better comic shops I’ve been too seems to stock a lot of manga/anime, as well as mature readers manga and such. Also, I suspect many online stores might a have Diamond account, and a quick google search shows Diamond’s Digital Manga’s bookstore distributor as well http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/article.php?id=5960 Though I’m not sure it counts towards the Direct Market sales lists.
I know that at the last 2 comic shops I’ve had accounts at, probably 1/2 the people in are female customers…… I guess it does depend on your area. Manga selection was pretty poor at bookstores until the past few years around here, so I suspect that played a part in it. God knows there’s a lot of dungeons out there :)