clipped from www.usatoday.com

Total sales remained "strong" and the graphic-novel category grew by 5%, says Steve Geppi, CEO of Diamond Comics Distributors, which services more than 4,000 comic-book stores nationwide.

"We remain optimistic about the comic-book industry heading into 2009," he says.

Top 10 comic books 1 Secret Invasion #1 (Marvel) 2 Secret Invasion #2 (Marvel) 3 Secret Invasion #3 (Marvel) 4 Secret Invasion #4 (Marvel) 5 Secret Invasion #5 (Marvel) 6 Secret Invasion #6 (Marvel) 7 Uncanny X-Men #500 (Marvel) 8 Secret Invasion #7 (Marvel) 9 Final Crisis #1 (DC) 10 Secret Invasion #8 (Marvel) Top 10 graphic novels 1 Watchmen (DC) 2 Batman: The Killing Joke (DC) 3 Joker (DC) 4 Y the Last Man Vol. 10 (DC) 5 Walking Dead Vol. 8 (Image) 6 Batman: Dark Knight Returns (DC) 7 Fables: The Good Prince (DC) 8 Wanted (Image) 9 Buffy the Vampire Slayer: No Future for You (Dark Horse) 10 Y the Last Man Vol. 1 (DC) Source: Diamond Comics Distributors