Indie Comics

When lists of the most successful and lasting independent comics companies are made up, few people ever include Bongo, known for titles in the...

You would think that writing the script to BEVERLY HILLS CHIHUAHUA would be enough to get a person banned for life, but no. Jeff Bushell will be at the Viper Comics booth, roaming fee and unharmed, with his new book, STU BEAR IN THE 25th CENTURY. It turns out he's an okay guy with lots of other writing credits. Let's bury the hatchet and try to live in peace, okay?

Arcana is one of the 700 companies featuring Stan Lee at their booth. Clockwork Girl creator Sean O'Reilly will also be around along with Chris Claremont, assorted WWE divas and movie stars and so on. They also have a tote bag!

Breaking news! THERE WILL BE COMICS AT COMIC-CON! Sparkplug Books, publisher of some of the best comics of Comic-Con -- hopefully their booth will be MOBBED as they supply hundreds of quality comics by people like Benjamin Marra, Katie Skelly, Matthew Thurber and Noah Van Sciver to a comics-starved audience. Sparkplug's entire summer schedule is in the jump.

Batton Lash and Exhibit A Press are back again with a new book. Details below:

FREAKSHOW #1 by David Server, Jackson Lanzing and Joe Suitor highlights the offerings at Ape Entertainment.

By Matthew Murray Buffy returned to its usual position of top selling "indie" book this month, but its the last issue before it goes on...

It would have pleased Harvey Pekar, I think, that his passing yesterday was noted in every media outlet from the New Yorker to EW, and not just because they made a movie about him, but as a literary figure of worth and stature. Harvey's life's work was in showing that the ordinary was important, and a working class existence was not a prison but a journey through the profound and beautiful that anyone could experience if they took the time. He found that beauty in simple, quotidian things and experiences that others might have found trivial or mundane, but in the end his message was that what else is there? Life as it is lived is the most precious gift of all.

Season Three/Episode Three: It Hurts Me Too It hurts me to tell you what you already know - this recap is late.  Let’s just say...

The top “indie” book on the charts this month is a $1 issue of The Walking Dead #1. However, none of the other Image $1 books have charted either this month or last, so I’m not sure how accurate this numbers is. Invincible Returns was the best selling non-reprint #1 of the month, and led to a substantial increase for the regular issue of Invincible as well. While Turf #1, also from Image, was the highest launch of the month. Image had a 4.26% unit share, and a 3.96% dollar share, Dark Horse had a 3.82% unit share and a 4.88% dollar share, IDW had a 3.41% unit share and a 3.92% dollar share. Dynamite fell to a 2.38% unit share and a 2.33% dollar share.

This weekend sees the Maine Comics Arts Festival in Portland, ME. In its second year the show has expanded to two days -- a day of FREE panels at the Portland Public Library this Saturday and then a exhibit on Sunday at the Ocean Gateway. There's also a comics art show on display at the Lewis Gallery at the Portland Public Library. Guest list is here, headlines by Brian Wood, Skottie Young and Jeff Lemire. The Portland Press HErald previews the show here and the organizer, Rick Lowell of Casablanca Comics.

By Matthew Murray

Dynamite grabs the top indie comic spot this month with the first issue of their adaptation of Kevin Smith’s Green Hornet script. However, issue 2 sees a fairly large drop, and people seem unsure if the market can support the five Green Hornet titles Dynamite plans on launching.

Elsewhere on the chart Green Hornet Year One written by Matt Wagner is the second biggest indie launch of the month, The Guild and Terminator are Dark Horse’s newest launches, and Zenescope shipped a lot of books.

IDW had a 3.61% market share, and 4.02% dollar share, Dark Horse had 3.33% market share and 4.76% dollar share (gotta love those trade paperback sales), Dynamite had 3.08% market share and 3.40% dollar share, and Image had 3.01% market share and 3.22% dollar share.

I’ve listed every indie title in the top 225, every Dark Horse, Image, and IDW title in the top 300, and a selection of other titles.

Thanks to icv2.com and Milton Griepp for permission to use these numbers, which can be found here.