The monthly release of Kodansha’s Attack on Titan (see "'Attack on Titan' Goes Monthly") is continuing to wreak havoc on the bookstore Top 20; this month another milestone was passed, as there were more volumes of Attack on Titan in the Top 20 than of The Walking Dead.  Five volumes of Attack on Titan (of the seven available) made the September list of the "Top 20 Graphic Novels" sold in bookstore channel provided exclusively to ICv2.com by Nielsen BookScan, vs. two volumes of The Walking Dead.  The Walking Dead is in its between-season slowdown, of course, but it’s still a remarkable accomplishment for a new property that only launched in the U.S. 15 months.

We noted the growth of Attack on Titan last month (see "August BookScan--Top 20 Graphic Novels"), but it’s now entering a new phase, ranking favorably with the major manga and graphic novel hits of the past.

There were nine manga titles in the Top 20, a solid performance, but the balance of power is shifting, at least in this part of the chart, with Kodansha Comics holding six of the Top 20 slots, while Viz Media has two and Vertical one.

DC had the same three titles in the Top 20 as last month, all decades-old classics.  Marvel had no titles in the Top 20, although there was one Marvel-based titles, from DK Publishing.

Two classic literary titles (what we call "Fiction and Reality" here), American Born Chinese and Fun Home, were in the Top 20 this month.
 

BookScan Top 20 Graphic Novels in September 2013
Rank	Title	Author	Publisher
1	SAILOR MOON SHORT STORIES VOL. 1	NAOKO TAKEUCHI	KODANSHA COMICS
2	THE WALKING DEAD BOOK VOL. 9 HC	ROBERT KIRKMAN	IMAGE COMICS
3	NARUTO VOL. 62	MASASHI KISHIMOTO	VIZ MEDIA
4	ATTACK ON TITAN VOL. 1	HAJIME ISAYAMA	KODANSHA COMICS
5	MARVEL AVENGERS: THE ULTIMATE CHARACTER GUIDE HC	ALAN COWSILL	DK PUBLISHING
6	ONE PIECE VOL. 68	EIICHIRO ODA	VIZ MEDIA
7	ATTACK ON TITAN VOL. 2	HAJIME ISAYAMA	KODANSHA COMICS
8	SAGA VOL. 2	BRIAN K. VAUGHAN	IMAGE COMICS
9	ATTACK ON TITAN VOL. 6	HAJIME ISAYAMA	KODANSHA COMICS
10	SAGA VOL. 1	BRIAN K. VAUGHAN	IMAGE COMICS
11	WATCHMEN	ALAN MOORE	DC COMICS
12	THE WALKING DEAD VOL. 18	ROBERT KIRKMAN	IMAGE COMICS
13	MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM: THE ORIGIN VOL. 3 HC	YOSHIKAZU YASUHIKO	VERTICAL
14	AMERICAN BORN CHINESE	GENE LUEN YANG	SQUARE FISH
15	BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS	FRANK MILLER	DC COMICS
16	ATTACK ON TITAN VOL. 3	HAJIME ISAYAMA	KODANSHA COMICS
17	GARFIELD CAUSTION: WIDE LOAD: HIS 56TH BOOK	JIM DAVIS	BALLANTINE BOOKS
18	ATTACK ON TITAN VOL. 7	HAJIME ISAYAMA	KODANSHA COMICS
19	FUN HOME: A FAMILY TRAGICOMIC	ALISON BECHDEL	MARINER BOOKS
20	BATMAN: THE KILLING JOKE DLX ED HC	ALAN MOORE	DC COMICS

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