The latest volume of Sailor Moon vaulted to the top of the Nielsen BookScan bestseller chart of adult graphic novels sold in bookstores in January, with volumes 1 and 2 also appearing in the Top 20.  Last month was the only one in the last five in which a Sailor Moon volume was not #1 (see "Zombies Win Christmas").  Sailor Moon was only part of the strong performance for manga in January; 13 of the top 20 titles were manga.

After placing five volumes in the Top 20 in December, only one The Walking Dead volume, Volume 15, placed in the Top 20 in January.

With a full month of sales, Blizzard game tie-in Diablo IIII: Book of Cain HC crept up to #5 in January, after breaking in at #10 last month.

BookScan Top 20 Graphic Novels in January 2012

Rank

Title

Author

Publisher

1

SAILOR MOON VOL. 3

NAOKE TAKEUCHI

KODANSHA COMICS

2

THE WALKING DEAD VOL. 15

ROBERT KIRKMAN

IMAGE COMICS

3

NARUTO VOL. 54

MASASHI KISHIMOTO

VIZ MEDIA

4

ROSARIO+VAMPIRE: SEASON II VOL. 7

JAMES PATTERSON

YEN PRESS

5

DIABLO III: BOOK OF CAIN HC

DECKARD CAIN

INSIGHT EDITIONS

6

BLACK BIRD VOL. 12

KANOKO SAKURAKOJI

VIZ MEDIA

7

BLACK BUTLER VOL. 8

YANA TOBOSO

YEN PRESS

8

NARUTO VOL. 53

MASASHI KISHIMOTO

VIZ MEDIA

9

MAXIMUM RIDE: THE MANGA VOL. 5

JAMES PATTERSON

YEN PRESS

10

SAILOR MOON VOL. 2

NAOKE TAKEUCHI

KODANSHA COMICS

11

HABIBI HC

CRAIG THOMPSON

PANTHEON BOOKS

12

FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST VOL. 27

HIROMU ARAKAWA

VIZ MEDIA

13

BATMAN: THE BLACK MIRROR HC

SCOTT SNYDER

DC COMICS

14

X-MEN: SCHISM HC

JASON AARON

MARVEL COMICS

15

ONE PIECE VOL. 60

EIICHIRO ODA

VIZ MEDIA

16

SAILOR MOON VOL. 1

NAOKE TAKEUCHI

KODANSHA COMICS

17

FEAR ITSELF HC

MATT FRACTION

MARVEL COMICS

18

FABLES VOL. 16

BILL WILLINGHAM

VERTIGO

19

NARUTO: THE OFFICIAL CHARACTER DATA BOOK

MASHASHI KISHIMOTO

VIZ MEDIA

20

HIGHSCHOOL OF THE DEAD VOL. 5

DAISUKE SATO

YEN PRESS

For past BookScan Top 20 Graphic Novel lists, see the "BookScan Top 20 GNs Index."