In May 2020, ComicReaders was getting ready to come out of a lockdown that had us closed to the public for a month and a half. That bleak period feels like it was ages ago, but also feeling distant is a time when we could run in-store events, host Prairie Game Expo, and didn’t have to count the number of people in the store. The March of 2020 was very different than the March of 2021, but we made it through 2020 and plan on making it through 2021. Let’s have a look at our top-selling items for key categories for March 2021 and see what folks were reading and playing.
Bestselling Board Games for March 2021
Carcassonne: Princess and The Dragon
Carcassonne is still one of our bestselling games each year. It has a number of expansions but those expansions aren’t always available so we like to announce whenever one that has been absent makes a return to the store. Princess and The Dragon was available again in March 2021 and folks were quick to pick it up.
Here to Slay: Warriors and Druids
I wrote about this expansion in the February 2021 bestsellers. I was surprised to see it hit the list again in March. Congratulations to TeeTurtle for another successful board game series.
Betrayal at the House on the Hill
This isn’t a new game but we keep it in stock year round whenever it is available. We’ll sell one here and there but it’s interesting that folks were looking for this again in numbers sufficient to make it crack the bestsellers for March. It’s a fantastic cooperative game with a traitor mechanic that eventually kicks in thus changing the game already in progress.
Boss Monster: Vault of Villains
The third of five expansions to make the list in March. Boss Monster is a card-based game with a retro video game feel. Vault of Villains is its newest expansion and its no surprise to see it on this list.
The King’s Dilemma
This is one of those games we were asked about but could not get our hands on right away. When it eventually was available through distribution we took a gamble and ordered several copies. A few months later word got out that we had the game and interest set it onto the list for March. It’s a narrative-driven game with legacy elements.
Marvel Champions LCG: Scarlet Witch / Galaxy’s Most Wanted
These two expansions for the very popular Marvel Champions are two more expansions to crack the list. This game is definitely benefiting from being a game that can be played solo.
Bestselling Manga for March 2021
For this list we look at the combined sales for volumes in a series instead of sales for individual books. This then tends to favor long-running series, but I do make exceptions and sometimes highlight newer or shorter series that deserve a mention even though their collective sales for the month are below those of the bigger series. We’ve written about all of these in previous posts so this time they appear only in list form.
Attack on Titan
Demon Slayer
My Hero Academia
Haikyu
Dragon Ball Super
Remina (a newer release by Junji Ito)
Bestselling Graphic Novels and Trade Paperbacks for March 2021
In March we had a number of non-manga graphic novels and trade paperbacks that sold in number and deserve a mention.
Post York
You can thank staff member Martin for this one. He requested one for himself and based on that request I learned more about this graphic novel and thought there might be more people interested in it. The polar ice caps have melted and New York City is flooded. An independent loner and his cat move through this landscape and encounter a mysterious woman and a blue whale.
Department of Truth
I got into this series late because in the world’s current climate I didn’t want to read a comic about conspiracy theories, but Martin (again!) talked this one up and got me interested enough to try out the first few issues. I was quickly engaged. The series does reference conspiracy theories, but it isn’t about conspiracy theories. At its core it’s about the nature of reality and how it can be manipulated by ideas. The art perfectly presents the malleable nature of truth as discussed in the comic. Volume 1 collects the first five issues of the series.
Firefly: Watch How I Soar
The Firefly franchise in comic form moved to Boom Studios in 2018. The comics from Dark Horse are still in print in collections from Boom, but Boom has also been creating new stories. Watch How I Soar is a new self-contained graphic novel that has Wash reliving moments of his past in the final moments of his life.
Understanding Comics
I saw that Understanding Comics was still being offered and I thought it was time to ensure that this important piece of scholarly work was once again available at ComicReaders. Apparently the timing was right because it hit the bestsellers list. I don’t like using the word “must” but Understanding Comics is highly recommended for anyone that enjoys the comics medium. I’d argue it is a “must” have if you ever considered creating your own comics.
ComicReaders 