Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead graphic novels, powered by the hot, hot Walking Dead AMC series, finally cracked the #1 slot in the adult fiction graphic novel category in bookstores in December, according to data compiled by Nielsen BookScan.  Three Walking Dead volumes appeared in the Top 10, and five in the Top 15. 
 
Behind it, Scott Pilgrim, the little graphic novel series that could, held on to #2 and placed all six volumes in the Top 10.  It appears that this series is well on its way to becoming a perennial, as Oni Publisher Joe Nozemack suggested when we talked to him in October (see “Scott Pilgrim: ‘We’re Hoping It’s a Perennial’”).

BookScan Top 20 Graphic Novels in December 2010

Rank

Title

Author

Publisher

1

THE WALKING DEAD COMPENDIUM ONE

ROBERT KIRKMAN

IMAGE COMICS

2

SCOTT PILGRIM VOL. 1

BRYAN LEE O'MALLEY

ONI PRESS

3

THE WALKING DEAD VOL. 1

ROBERT KIRKMAN

IMAGE COMICS

4

SCOTT PILGRIM VOL. 2

BRYAN LEE O'MALLEY

ONI PRESS

5

THE WALKING DEAD VOL. 13

ROBERT KIRKMAN

IMAGE COMICS

6

SCOTT PILGRIM VOL. 3

BRYAN LEE O'MALLEY

ONI PRESS

7

VAMPIRE KNIGHT VOL 11

MATSURI HINO

VIZ MEDIA

8

SCOTT PILGRIM VOL. 4

BRYAN LEE O'MALLEY

ONI PRESS

9

SCOTT PILGRIM VOL. 6

BRYAN LEE O'MALLEY

ONI PRESS

10

SCOTT PILGRIM VOL. 5

BRYAN LEE O'MALLEY

ONI PRESS

11

THE WALKING DEAD VOL. 2

ROBERT KIRKMAN

IMAGE COMICS

12

DC COMICS YEAR BY YEAR: A VISUAL CHRONICLE HC

ALAN COSWELL

DK PUBLISHING

13

THE WALKING DEAD BOOK 1 HC

ROBERT KIRKMAN

IMAGE COMICS

14

SERENITY: THE SHEPHERD'S TALE HC

JOSS WHEDON

DARK HORSE

15

SUPERMAN: EARTH ONE HC

J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI

DC COMICS

16

ROSARIO+VAMPIRE SEASON II VOL. 3

AKIHISA IKEDA

VIZ MEDIA

17

NARUTO VOL. 49

MASASHI KISHIMOTO

VIZ MEDIA

18

FABLES VOL. 14

BILL WILLINGHAM

VERTIGO

19

DC COMICS SUPER HEROES AND VILLAINS FANDEX DLX

RANDALL LOTOWYCZ

WORKMAN PUB

20

BLEACH VOL. 33

TITE KUBO

VIZ MEDIA

 
Superman: Earth One HC, the #1 title last month, slipped to #15 in December, with availability perhaps an issue as inventories in the book channel sold through without additional copies available to replenish.  Bill Willingham’s latest Fables volume placed at #18, the only other title from one of the Big Two comic publishers on December’s chart, although there were also two titles about DC Comics (from DK and Workman) that placed.
 
Viz had four titles in the Top 20, with the new volume of Vampire Knight placing the highest, at #7.  Those were the only manga titles on this month’s chart, a far cry from the times when manga titles dominated this list.
 
Dark Horse’s Serenity: The Shepherd’s TalE HC stayed on the chart in December, at #15.

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