Fantagraphics’ My Favorite Things Is Monsters, by Emil Ferris, made an impressive debut in the February Top 20 Adult Fiction Graphic Novel chart provided exclusively to ICv2 by NPD BookScan, appearing for the first time at #8.  This first published work by Ferris is getting rapturous reviews, with ICv2 columnist Rob Salkowitz, writing for Forbes, describing the work as "one of the most profound, ambitious and accomplished creative works to appear in any medium this decade."  Word is apparently getting out, because this $39.99 386-page tome by an unknown creator had to move some copies to beat graphic novels by DC Comics and Marvel and manga by VIZ Media at launch.  It will be interesting to see what kind of staying power this title has.  The second half of this massive work will be out in Volume 2 in October.

March was still sitting on the top of the chart, given new life by the Trump tweetstorm that put Congressman John Lewis into the headlines.  Book 3 is still absent from the chart, as it was last month (see "January BookScan--Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels"), although as of this writing it’s finally back in stock.

On the manga front, My Hero Academia, now at Volume 7, showed surprising strength by topping the latest new volumes of three other VIZ series, including Tokyo Ghoul, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventures, and One Piece, and taking the #3 slot over-all.

Superhero publishers Marvel and DC Comics each had three titles in the Top 20 with Marvel’s Civil War II, barely on the chart at #20, the only new title.

BookScan Top 20 Graphic Novels in February 2017

Rank

Title

Author

Publisher

1

MARCH: BOOK ONE

JOHN LEWIS

TOP SHELF PRODUCTIONS

2

MARCH (TRILOGY SLIPCASE SET)

JOHN LEWIS

TOP SHELF PRODUCTIONS

3

MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 7

KOHEI HORIKOSHI

VIZ MEDIA

4

TOKYO GHOUL VOL. 11

SUI ISHIDA

VIZ MEDIA

5

THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: LEGENDARY EDITION VOL. 2

AKIRA HIMEKAWA

VIZ MEDIA

6

MARCH: BOOK TWO

JOHN LEWIS

TOP SHELF PRODUCTIONS

7

THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: LEGENDARY EDITION VOL.1

AKIRA HIMEKAWA

VIZ MEDIA

8

MY FAVORITE THING IS MONSTERS

EMIL FERRIS

FANTAGRAPHICS BOOKS

9

BATMAN: THE KILLING JOKE DLX ED

ALAN MOORE

DC COMICS

10

STAR WARS VOL. 4

JASON AARON

MARVEL COMICS

11

ONE-PUNCH MAN VOL. 10

YUSUKE MURATA

VIZ MEDIA

12

MONSTRESS VOL. 1

MARJORIE LIU

IMAGE COMICS

13

NIGHTWING VOL. 1 (REBIRTH)

TIM SEELEY

DC COMICS

14

JOJO'S BIZARRE ADVENTURE VOL. 2 HC

HIROHIKO ARAKI

VIZ MEDIA

15

FUN HOME: A FAMILY TRAGICOMIC

ALISON BECHDEL

MARINER BOOKS

16

BATMAN VOL. 1 (REBIRTH)

TOM KING

DC COMICS

17

LOVE IS LOVE

PHIL JIMENEZ

IDW PUBLISHING

18

ONE PIECE VOL. 81

EIICHIRO ODA

VIZ MEDIA

19

BLACK PANTHER BOOK 1

TA-NEHISI COATES

MARVEL COMICS

20

CIVIL WAR II HC

BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS

MARVEL COMICS

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