Volume 4 of the Black Bird manga from VIZ Media hit the top of the adult graphic novel list in bookstores in May, the first time the title has risen to these heights.  Mark Millar's Kick-Ass Hardcover held strong at #2, a continued strong performance for a film that underwhelmed.

 

Geoff Johns’ Flash: Rebirth Hardcover hit the list at #5, the top DC on the list. 

 

Dan Clowes’ Wilson Hardcover, published by Drawn & Quarterly, made the list at #15, the first month it has appeared on the list.

 

Manga took 14 of the top 20 slots, a fairly typical performance.  As usual, VIZ Media was the strongest publisher at the top of the charts, with nine of the top 20 titles.  Yen Press had four, DC Comics (and a licensee) had three, and Marvel Comics, Del Rey Books, Drawn & Quarterly, and Image Comics each had one.

BookScan Top 20 Graphic Novels in May 2010

Rank

Title

Author

Publisher

1

BLACK BIRD VOL. 4

KANOKO SAKURAKOJI

VIZ MEDIA

2

KICK-ASS HC

MARK MILLAR

MARVEL COMICS

3

BLACK BUTLER VOL. 1

YANA TOBOSO

YEN PRESS

4

NARUTO VOL. 47

MASASHI KISHIMOTO

VIZ MEDIA

5

FLASH: REBIRTH HC

GEOFF JOHNS

DC COMICS

6

D.GRAY-MAN COL. 17

KATSURA HOSHINO

VIZ MEDIA

7

NEGIMA! VOL. 26

KEN AKAMATSU

DEL REY BOOKS

8

THE WALKING DEAD BOOK 5 HC

ROBERT KIRKMAN

IMAGE COMICS

9

DC COMICS SUPER HEROES AND VILLAINS: FANDEX DLX

RANDALL LOTOWYCZ

WORKMAN PUBLISHING

10

PANDORA HEARTS VOL. 2

JUN MOCHIZUKI

YEN PRESS

11

ROSARIO+VAMPIRE SEASON II VOL. 1

AKIHISA IKEDA

VIZ MEDIA

12

WATCHMEN TP

ALAN MOORE

DC COMICS

13

YOTSUBASA&! VOL. 8

KIYOHIKO AZUMA

YEN PRESS

14

ONE PIECE VOL. 46

EIICHIRO ODA

VIZ MEDIA

15

WILSON HC

DANIEL CLOWES

DRAWN & QUARTERLY

16

ONE PIECE VOL. 44

EIICHIRO ODA

VIZ MEDIA

17

ONE PIECE VOL. 45

EIICHIRO ODA

VIZ MEDIA

18

OTOMEN VOL. 6

AYA KANNO

VIZ MEDIA

19

BLACK BUTLER VOL. 1

YANA TOBOSO

YEN PRESS

20

NARUTO VOL. 48

MASASHI KISHIMOTO

VIZ MEDIA

 

The rankings, provided by Nielsen BookScan, track the bestselling U.S. adult graphic novels in major book chains, mass merchants, online retailers, and some independent retailers using POS data from May 3rd to May 30th.  Titles racked in the Kids or YA sections do not appear in this list.

 

 For charts from other months, see the "BookScan Top 20 GNs Index."