From Watchmen to Fun Home to Dragon Ball, there are plenty of old standards on the charts of the top 20 adult graphic novels by category based on NPD BookScan data for November (10/28/18-12/1/18) provided to ICv2.  But some newer titles make their mark as well, including a new manga series by the creator of One-Punch Man and a graphic biography of the band Babymetal.  VIZ Media continues its domination of the manga chart, with 18 out of the 20 titles, spread among My Hero Academia (eight volumes), RWBY: Official Manga Anthology (three volumes) and a scattering of other titles.  The sole Dark Horse Comics title, volume 1 of Mob Psycho 100, is by ONE, the creator of One-Punch Man, and probably benefits from his fandom.

Dragon Ball: That Time I Got Reincarnated as Yamcha, is almost fanfic, although it’s by Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama: It’s a story about a Dragon Ball fan who dies on his way to a Dragon Ball event and comes back as Yamcha, a Dragon Ball character who has a somewhat checkered reputation.  The appetite of Dragon Ball fans seems to be boundless.

If there’s a head-scratcher on this chart, it’s volume 4 of Goblin Slayer.  This is the first time this Yen Press series, which is an adaptation of a light novel, has shown up on the BookScan top 20.  The anime, which started streaming on Crunchyroll in October, may be bringing more attention to the series.

NPD BookScan Top 20 Manga Graphic Novels – November 2018 (10/28/18 - 12/1/18)

Rank

Title

Author

Publisher

1

MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 1

KOHEI HORIKOSHI

VIZ MEDIA

2

MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 15

KOHEI HORIKOSHI

VIZ MEDIA

3

MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 2

KOHEI HORIKOSHI

VIZ MEDIA

4

RWBY: OFFICIAL MANGA ANTHOLOGY VOL. 3

VARIOUS

VIZ MEDIA

5

MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 3

KOHEI HORIKOSHI

VIZ MEDIA

6

MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 14

KOHEI HORIKOSHI

VIZ MEDIA

7

THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: TWILIGHT PRINCESS VOL. 4

AKIRA HIMEKAWA

VIZ MEDIA

8

DRAGON BALL: THAT TIME I GOT REINCARNATED AS YAMCHA!

AKIRA TORIYAMA

VIZ MEDIA

9

ONE PIECE VOL. 88

EIICHIRO ODA

VIZ MEDIA

10

MOB PSYCHO 100 VOL. 1

ONE

DARK HORSE

11

MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 4

KOHEI HORIKOSHI

VIZ MEDIA

12

MY HERO ACADEMIA: VIGILANTES VOL. 2

HIDEYUKI FURUHASHI

VIZ MEDIA

13

FRANKENSTEIN: JUNJI ITO STORY COLLECTION HC

JUNJI ITO

VIZ MEDIA

14

MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 5

KOHEI HORIKOSHI

VIZ MEDIA

15

RWBY: OFFICIAL MANGA ANTHOLOGY VOL. 1

VARIOUS

VIZ MEDIA

16

GOBLIN SLAYER VOL. 4

KUMO KAGYU

YEN PRESS

17

RWBY: OFFICIAL MANGA ANTHOLOGY VOL 2

VARIOUS

VIZ MEDIA

18

TOKYO GHOUL VOL. 1

SUI ISHIDA

VIZ MEDIA

19

TOKYO GHOUL: RE VOL. 7

SUI ISHIDA

VIZ MEDIA

20

MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 6

KOHEI HORIKOSHI

VIZ MEDIA

Source: The NPD Group/BookScan

Batman: White Knight leads the superhero chart; this trade is one of the first titles to be released under DC’s new Black Label imprint, which will feature stories that are outside the regular DC continuity (see "DC Begins Rebranding Old Material as Black Label").  The imprint will pop up more often, as DC plans to add perennial best-sellers Watchmen and Batman: The Killing Joke to the imprint as well (see "DC Expands Black Label Line for 2019").

DC Comics has nine titles on the chart, Marvel has six, and Dark Horse Comics has two.  The Overwatch anthology is the sole game-based title, but there are several TV tie-ins as well as the Star Wars book.

NPD BookScan Top 20 'Superhero' Graphic Novels – November 2018 (10/28/18 - 12/1/18)

Rank

Title

Author

Publisher

1

BATMAN: WHITE KNIGHT

SEAN MURPHY

DC BLACK LABEL

2

CHILLING ADVENTURES OF SABRINA

ROBERTO AGUIRRE-SACASA

ARCHIE COMIC PUB.

3

BATMAN VOL. 7 (REBIRTH)

TOM KING

DC COMICS

4

INFINITY GAUNTLET

JIM STARLIN

MARVEL COMICS

5

WATCHMEN

ALAN MOORE

DC COMICS

6

OVERWATCH: ANTHOLOGY VOL. 1 HC

BLIZZARD ENTERTAINMENT

DARK HORSE

7

V FOR VENDETTA

ALAN MOORE

DC COMICS

8

DARK NIGHTS: METAL: DLX. ED. HC

SCOTT SNYDER

DC COMICS

9

BLACK PANTHER BOOK 1: A NATION UNDER OUR FEET

TA-NEHISI COATES

MARVEL COMICS

10

STAR WARS: DARTH VADER - DARK LORD OF THE SITH VOL. 3

CHARLES SOULE

MARVEL COMICS

11

BATMAN: THE KILLING JOKE DLX. ED. HC

ALAN MOORE

DC COMICS

12

X-MEN: GRAND DESIGN - SECOND GENESIS

ED PISKOR

MARVEL

13

FIREFLY: LEGACY EDITION BOOK ONE

ZACK WHEDON

BOOM! STUDIOS

14

JUSTICE LEAGUE VOL. 1

SCOTT SNYDER

DC COMICS

15

THE LEGEND OF KORRA: TURF WARS PART 3

MICHAEL DANTE DIMARTINO

DARK HORSE BOOKS

16

THE MAN OF STEEL HC

BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS

DC COMICS

17

DARK NIGHTS: METAL: DARK KNIGHTS RISING HC

PETER TOMASI

DC COMICS

18

RUNAWAYS BY RAINBOW ROWELL & KRIS ANKA VOL. 2

RAINBOW ROWELL

MARVEL COMICS

19

DEADPOOL KILLS THE MARVEL UNIVERSE

CULLEN BUNN

MARVEL COMICS

20

INFINITY WAR

JIM STARLIN

MARVEL COMICS

Source: The NPD Group/BookScan

The top title on the Author chart is The Adventure Zone: Here There Be Gerblins, which is not surprising as this book has been extraordinarily popular. Next up is the adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird, perhaps helped by the press tour for the new Broadway adaptation, followed by the latest volumes of Saga and The Walking Dead, and then an adaptation of The Diary of Anne Frank.

The first book of March makes its monthly appearance, as does Fun Home; these two are perennials.  There are plenty of newer titles as well, though, including two late-October releases, To Kill a Mockingbird and Apocrypha: The Legend of Babymetal (see “Kawaii Metal Comes to Comics”).

Image Comics is the top publisher, with eight books in the top 20, but only three titles: Saga, The Walking Dead, and Monstress.

NPD BookScan Top 20 Author Graphic Novels – November 2018 (10/28/18 - 12/1/18)

Rank

Title

Author

Publisher

1

THE ADVENTURE ZONE: HERE THERE BE GERBLINS

CLINT MCELROY

FIRST SECOND BOOKS

2

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD: A GRAPHIC NOVEL HC

HARPER LEE

HARPER

3

SAGA VOL. 9

BRIAN K. VAUGHAN

IMAGE COMICS

4

THE WALKING DEAD VOL. 30

ROBERT KIRKMAN

IMAGE COMICS

5

ANNE FRANK'S DIARY THE GRAPHIC ADAPTATION HC

ANNE FRANK

PANTHEON BOOKS

6

SHEETS

BRENNA THUMMLER

LION FORGE

7

WALKING DEAD BOOK 15 HC

ROBERT KIRKMAN

IMAGE COMICS

8

MARCH: BOOK ONE

JOHN LEWIS

TOP SHELF PROD.

9

EVERYONE'S A ALIEBN WHEN UR A ALIEBN TOO: A BOOK HC

JOMNY SUN

HARPER PERENNIAL

10

ANTHONY BOURDAIN'S HUNGRY GHOST HC

ANTHONY BOURDAIN

BERGER BOOKS

11

AM I THERE YET?: THE LOOP-DE-LOOP, ZIGZAGGING JOURNEY TO ADULTHOOD HC

MARI ANDREW

CLARKSON POTTER PUB.

12

THE WALKING DEAD VOL. 29

ROBERT KIRKMAN

IMAGE COMICS

13

FUN HOME: A FAMILY TRAGICOMIC

ALISON BECHDEL

MARINER BOOKS

14

APOCRYPHA: THE LEGEND OF BABYMETAL

THE PROPHET OF THE FOX GOD

Z2 COMICS

15

SABRINA HC

NICK DRNASO

DRAWN & QUARTERLY

16

SAGA VOL. 8

BRIAN K. VAUGHAN

IMAGE COMICS

17

MONSTRESS VOL. 3

MARJORIE LIU

IMAGE COMICS

18

THE WALKING DEAD COMPENDIUM VOL. 1

ROBERT KIRKMAN

IMAGE COMICS

19

SAGA VOL. 1

BRIAN K. VAUGHAN

IMAGE COMICS

20

SCOTT PILGRIM PRECIOUS LITTLE BOX SET [W/ POSTER]

BRYAN LEE O'MALLEY

ONI PRESS

Source: The NPD Group/BookScan

For charts of November graphic novel sales from NPD BookScan:
November 2018 NPD BookScan – Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels
November 2018 NPD BookScan – Top 20 Kids Graphic Novels

For the charts with the actual sales numbers from NPD BookScan, see these articles on the ICv2 Pro site:
November 2018 NPD BookScan - Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels with Actual Sales
November 2018 NPD BookScan - Top 20 Kids Graphic Novels with Actual Sales
November 2018 NPD BookScan – Top 20 Superhero, Manga, Author Graphic Novels with Actual Sales

NPD BookScan collects weekly point-of-sale data on print books from over 16,000 locations including e-tailers, chains, mass merchandisers, independent bookstores, and more.  NPD BookScan covers approximately 85% of the U.S. trade print book market.  The ranks on this chart are based on piece sales. Some publishers classify titles that are primarily text, or art books, as graphic novels; we've removed those titles from the ranking above.

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