The Walking Dead placed only three volumes in the Top 20, down from eight last month, as the show’s impact faded with more than a month since the last episode of last season aired.
The five additional slots cleared by The Walking Dead did not go to Marvel and DC, which together dominate the comic store market. As was the case last month, DC placed only three titles in the Top 20 (this month none above #15), and Marvel one (Matt Fraction's Hawkeye at #16, down one from #15). DK Publishing did place two older licensed titles, its Marvel Avengers: The Ultimate Character Guide and DC Comics: The Ultimate Character Guide, we suspect behind promotional activity (given their age).
Still, with Iron Man 3 in theaters, Man of Steel on the way, weaker competition, and roughly a 2/3 share in comic stores, it's surprising how few books the Big Two manage to place among the bestsellers in the book market.
The biggest move goes to Max Brooks' The Zombie Survival Guide, which moved up to #8 from #13 in April. As we noted last month, this title is climbing the chart in anticipation of World War Z, which has had some negative press in the run-up to release but appears to have some ability to move the sales dial.
Saga moved up again, to #11 from #12, in its eighth month on the chart and the second month since the content controversy surrounding #12 (see "Sexual Content Poses Challenges for Comic Retailers").
Yen Press's latest graphic novel adaptation of a Twilight novel (New Moon: The Manga Volume 1 HC) premiered strong, at #5.
Manga had a good month with eight of the Top 20, up from only four last month. The latest volume of Naruto took the #1 slot, as it usually does, and placed three titles over-all, including the previous volume, #60, and the latest 3-in-1 Edition. Beyond the three Naruto titles, two Sailor Moon volumes from Kodansha (including a new one, which shipped late in the month and only placed #4 as a result), and the latest volumes of Viz's Black Bird, Yen's Black Butler, Seven Seas' Dance in the Vampire Bund make up the eight manga titles in the Top 20 in May.
BookScan Top 20 Graphic Novels in May 2013 |
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Rank |
Title |
Author |
Publisher |
1 |
NARUTO VOL. 61 |
MASASHI KISHIMOTO |
VIZ MEDIA |
2 |
THE WALKING DEAD COMPENDIUM VOL. 1 |
ROBERT KIRKMAN |
IMAGE COMICS |
3 |
THE WALKING DEAD COMPENDIUM VOL. 2 |
ROBERT KIRKMAN |
IMAGE COMICS |
4 |
SAILOR MOON VOL. 11 |
NAOKO TAKEUCHI |
KODANSHA COMICS |
5 |
NEW MOON: THE GRAPHIC NOVEL VOL. 1 HC |
STEPHENIE MEYERS |
YEN PRESS |
6 |
MARVEL AVENGERS: THE ULTIMATE CHARACTER GUIDE HC |
ALAN COWSILL |
DK PUBLISHING |
7 |
DC COMICS: THE ULTIMATE CHARACTER GUIDE HC |
BRANDON T. SNIDER |
DK PUBLISHING |
8 |
THE ZOMBIE SURVIVAL GUIDE: RECORDED ATTACKS |
MAX BROOKS |
BROADWAY BOOKS |
9 |
BLACK BIRD VOL. 16 |
KANOKO SAKURAKOUJI |
VIZ MEDIA |
10 |
SAILOR MOON VOL. 10 |
NAOKO TAKEUCHI |
KODANSHA COMICS |
11 |
SAGA VOL. 1 |
BRIAN K. VAUGHAN |
IMAGE COMICS |
12 |
BLACK BUTLER VOL. 13 |
YANA TOBOSO |
YEN PRESS |
13 |
THE WALKING DEAD VOL. 1 |
ROBERT KIRKMAN |
IMAGE COMICS |
14 |
DANCE IN THE VAMPIRE BUND VOL. 14 |
NOZOMU TAMAKI |
SEVEN SEAS |
15 |
BATMAN VOL. 2: THE CITY OF OWLS HC |
SCOTT SNYDER |
DC COMICS |
16 |
HAWKEYE VOL. 1 |
MATT FRACTION |
MARVEL COMICS |
17 |
NARUTO VOL. 60 |
MASASHI KISHIMOTO |
VIZ MEDIA |
18 |
NARUTO (3-IN-1 EDITION) VOL. 5 |
MASASHI KISHIMOTO |
VIZ MEDIA |
19 |
WATCHMEN |
ALAN MOORE |
DC COMICS |
20 |
BATMAN VOL. 1: THE COURT OF OWLS |
SCOTT SNYDER |
DC COMICS |
BookScan Top 20 Graphic Novel lists, see the "BookScan Top 20 GNs Index."