Marvel and DC, the Big Two comic publishers in the comic store market, were nearly shut out of the top 20 in the book channel in June, according to the June list of "Top 20 Graphic Novels" sold in the book channel, provided exclusively to ICv2 by Nielsen BookScan.  DC’s Superman:  Earth One, by J. Michael Straczynski (see "New 'Batman: Earth One' & 'Superman: Earth One' GNs"), was the only title from Marvel or DC in the top 20; it placed at #10.  At least DC had a Superman title in the Top 20 the month Man of Steel came out; that’s a feat Marvel was unable to match in May when Iron Man 3 had a huge opening.

Marvel and DC also had a rough June over on the comic store side, placing only two of the top seven and five of the top ten graphic novels in comic stores (see "Comic Market Growth Slowed in Q2").

There were two other titles based on Marvel and DC IP in the Bookscan Top 20:  DK placed its DC and Avengers books, as it did last month (see "May BookScan--Top 20 Graphic Novels").

There were four The Walking Dead volumes in the Top 20, including the newest volume at #1.  Saga Vol. 2 was the other Image title in the Top 20.

Perhaps the biggest positive move was the strength of manga, which took ten of the Top 20 slots.  That wouldn’t have been unusual a couple of years ago (except perhaps on the low side), but it’s a rare showing of strength for the category these days.  The new volumes of the two biggest manga titles, Naruto and Sailor Moon, repeated in the top five from last month, and the latest volume of the Naruto omnibus series also repeated.  They were joined by new volumes Yu-Gi-Oh Zexal Vol. 3, One Piece Vol. 67, Alice in the Country of Clover, Skip Beat Vol. 31, Attack on Titan Vol. 1 (Kodansha) and Mobile Suit Gundam:  The Origin HC (from Vertical); and a May Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix volume that didn’t place last month.

BookScan Top 20 Graphic Novels in June 2013

Rank

Title

Author

Publisher

1

THE WALKING DEAD VOL. 18

ROBERT KIRKMAN

IMAGE COMICS

2

NARUTO VOL. 61

MASASHI KISHIMOTO

VIZ MEDIA

3

SAGA VOL. 2

BRIAN K. VAUGHAN

IMAGE COMICS

4

SAILOR MOON VOL. 11

NAOKO TAKEUCHI

KODANSHA COMICS

5

THE WALKING DEAD COMPENDIUM VOL. 1

ROBERT KIRKMAN

IMAGE COMICS

6

DC COMICS: THE ULTIMATE CHARACTER GUIDE HC

BRANDON T. SNIDER

DK PUBLISHING

7

THE WALKING DEAD COMPENDIUM VOL. 2

ROBERT KIRKMAN

IMAGE COMICS

8

MARVEL AVENGERS: THE ULTIMATE CHARACTER GUIDE HC

ALAN COWSILL

DK PUBLISHING

9

A GAME OF THRONES: THE GRAPHIC NOVEL VOL. 2 HC

GEORGE R.R. MARTIN

BANTAM

10

SUPERMAN: EARTH ONE VOL. 1

MICHAEL J. STRACZYNSKI

DC COMICS

11

YU-GI-OH! ZEXAL VOL. 3

SHIN YOSHIDA

VIZ MEDIA

12

THE ZOMBIE SURVIVAL GUIDE: RECORDED ATTACKS

MAX BROOKS

BROADWAY BOOKS

13

ONE PIECE VOL. 67

EIICHIRO ODA

VIZ MEDIA

14

THE WALKING DEAD VOL. 1

ROBERT KIRKMAN

IMAGE COMICS

15

NARUTO (3-IN-1 EDITION) VOL. 5

MASASHI KISHIMOTO

VIZ MEDIA

16

ALICE IN THE COUNTRY OF COVER: ACE OF HEARTS

QUINROSE

SEVEN SEAS

17

SKIP BEAT! VOL. 31

YOSHIKI NAKAMURA

VIZ MEDIA

18

KINGDOM HEARTS: FINAL MIX VOL. 1

SHIRO AMANO

YEN PRESS

19

ATTACK ON TITAN VOL. 1

HAJIME ISAYAMA

KODANSHA COMICS

20

MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM: THE ORIGIN VOL. 2 HC

YOSHIYUKI TOMINO

VERTICAL


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