Newcomers led by Viz Media’s Naruto Vol. 50, Grant Morrison’s The Return of Bruce Wayne from DC, and Kanoko Sakurakoji’s Black Bird Vol. 7 also from Viz Media took the top three spots on the list of the bestsellers in the adult fiction graphic novel category in bookstores in February according to data compiled by Nielsen BookScan. 
 
The other two newcomers on the February list were manga series written by Tsugumi Ohba and published by Viz Media, Bakuman Vol. 3, which came in at #6, and Death Note Black Edition Vol. 1, which ended up at #20.  Bakuman is Ohba’s new series, a slice-of-life drama about two talented ninth graders who want to become manga creators.  The Death Note Black Edition is an omnibus edition that includes the first two volumes of the extremely popular 12-volume Death Note manga, the last volume of which was published in the U.S. in July of 2007.  Omnibus editions are an increasingly popular option for manga backlist titles.

BookScan Top 20 Graphic Novels in February 2011

Rank

Title

Author

Publisher

1

NARUTO VOL. 50

MASASHI KISHIMOTO

VIZ MEDIA

2

BATMAN: THE RETURN OF BRUCE WAYNE HC

GRANT MORRISON

DC COMICS

3

BLACK BIRD VOL. 7

KANOKO SAKURAKOJI

VIZ MEDIA

4

BLACK BUTLER VOL. 4

YANA TOBOSO

YEN PRESS

5

SCOTT PILGRIM VOL. 1

BRYAN LEE O'MALLEY

ONI PRESS

6

BAKUMAN VOL. 3

RTSUGUMI OHBA

VIZ MEDIA

7

SCOTT PILGRIM VOL. 2

BRYAN LEE O'MALLEY

ONI PRESS

8

FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST VOL. 24

HIROMU ARAKAWA

VIZ MEDIA

9

HETALIA AXIS POWERS VOL. 2

HIDEKAZ HIMARUYA

TOKYOPOP

10

THE WALKING DEAD VOL. 13

ROBERT KIRKMAN

IMAGE COMICS

11

SCOTT PILGRIM VOL. 3

BRYAN LEE O'MALLEY

ONI PRESS

12

SUPERMAN: EARTH ONE HC

J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI

DC COMICS

13

SCOTT PILGRIM VOL. 4

BRYAN LEE O'MALLEY

ONI PRESS

14

SCOTT PILGRIM VOL. 6

BRYAN LEE O'MALLEY

ONI PRESS

15

SCOTT PILGRIM VOL. 5

BRYAN LEE O'MALLEY

ONI PRESS

16

THE WALKING DEAD VOL. 1

ROBERT KIRKMAN

IMAGE COMICS

17

NARUTO VOL. 49

MASASHI KISHIMOTO

VIZ MEDIA

18

VAMPIRE KNIGHT VOL. 11

MATSURI HINO

VIZ MEDIA

19

HETALIA AXIS POWERS VOL. 1

HIDEKAZ HIMARUYA

TOKYOPOP

20

DEATH NOTE BLACK EDITION VOL. 1

TSUGUMI OHBA

VIZ MEDIA
 
The holdovers include all six of the incredibly long-lived Scott Pilgrim graphic novels by Bryan Lee O’Malley, all of which landed in the top 15.  Two volumes of Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead, the first book (Days Gone By) and the most recent (Vol. 13, Too Far Gone) made the list. Look for these volumes to stay on the list in March since the first season of The Walking Dead is due out on DVD next week.  The only other American comics holdover on the list is JMS’ Superman: Earth One HC, which has remained on the list for four straight months.
 
The number of manga titles in the Top 20 has grown from just 4 in December to 8 in January to 9 in February.
 
For past BookScan Top 20 Graphic Novel lists, see the "BookScan Top 20 GNs Index."