No, they're similar but you really ought to read them in order. The first volume is the same price as the rest, $8.
I know you said your B&N doesn't stock graphic novels, but if it's been a while, check there anyway. The one I used to go to went from three small shelves of Spiderman/Batman/X-Men comics to a whole wall of manga, manwha, and American comics. The manga phenomenon really took off in the last six months.
Cool, glad it's not too pricey. Is it in a big volume with many issues collected together? I think those tend not to go up in price as much as individual issues, fortunately.
I'll check the B&N, but I'm not too hopeful. The Green Bay B&N isn't a regular-sized B&N with its own building. It's squeezed into one small store in a mall, about the floor space of a 7/11 convenience store, say. Their fantasy/sf collection is smaller than what I have in my house.