Earlier this week, The New York Times announced that it was making many of its bestseller book lists online-only, and outright eliminating several more, including those covering graphic novels and manga. According to a statement from The Times—given to Entertainment Weekly—the goal for the change is to move the resources spent compiling the lists into expanding more long-form coverage and reviews of the formats. Editor Pamela Paul reiterated those points on Twitter, which quickly lit up with readers and creators expressing their viewpoints on the change.
Despite the promise of expanded coverage, many online reactions to the change were negative—most notably, voices pointing out that the bestseller lists were a handy resource for librarians looking to organize and discover new material.
But one of graphic noveldom’s most prominent voices did come out in favor of the change, which will see manga and comics competing with more mainstream books in the main fiction lists. Neil Gaiman says, essentially, “Bring it on”: