As usual, manga dominates the list of the Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels in the book channel, based on NPD BookScan data for August (8/4/19-8/31/19) provided to ICv2.  But this month’s manga mix is different from the lineup in recent months.

There are only six volumes of My Hero Academia (including the first volume of the gag spinoff My Hero Academia Smash!) on the chart, but it’s still dominated by manga, and most notably, by VIZ Media manga, with 12 of the top 20 titles coming from that publisher.  What’s more, it looks like they have another hot title, with volume 1 of Komi Can’t Communicate charting for the third month in a row (albeit in last place) while the second volume debuts at number 9.  Also on the chart are new volumes of some long-running VIZ series and one title, the latest volume of Attack on Titan, from Kodansha Comics.

Turning away from manga, George Takei’s memoir of life in a Japanese-American internment camp, They Called Us Enemy, takes the number 2 spot for the second month in a row.  Like the other Top Shelf title in the Top 20, March: Book One, it’s a compelling story about real historical events by someone who lived through them.

Next up is the Adventure Zone: Murder on the Rockport Limited!, the second volume of the series based on the gaming podcast.  The first volume charts at number 19.  This series is a breakout hit for publisher First Second Books, and the new book debuted at number 1 (paperback) and number 3 (hardcover) last month.

The Walking Dead shambles to a close with volume 32, in the number 5 spot, and the first omnibus volume of Garth Ennis’ The Boys, the new edition released in April, takes the number 8 spot, most likely getting a boost from the Amazon adaptation, which premiered in July (see "Preview: ‘The Boys Omnibus’ Vol. 1 TP").

Finally, Colleen Doran’s sumptuously illustrated adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s Snow, Glass, Apples, debuted at number 12 on the chart (see "Neil Gaiman’s ‘Snow, Glass, Apples’ Adapted").

NPD BookScan Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels – August 2019 (8/4/19 - 8/31/19)

Rank

Title

Author

Publisher

1

MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 20

KOHEI HORIKOSHI

VIZ MEDIA

2

THEY CALLED US ENEMY

GEORGE TAKEI

TOP SHELF PROD.

3

THE ADVENTURE ZONE: MURDER ON THE ROCKPORT LIMITED!

CLINT MCELROY

FIRST SECOND BOOKS

4

ONE-PUNCH MAN VOL. 17

ONE

VIZ MEDIA

5

THE WALKING DEAD VOL. 32

ROBERT KIRKMAN

IMAGE COMICS

6

MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 1

KOHEI HORIKOSHI

VIZ MEDIA

7

KOMI CAN'T COMMUNICATE VOL. 2

TOMOHITO ODA

VIZ MEDIA

8

THE BOYS OMNIBUS VOL. 1

GARTH ENNIS

DYNAMITE ENT.

9

MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 2

KOUHEI HORIKOSHI

VIZ MEDIA

10

JOJO'S BIZARRE ADVENTURE: PART 4--DIAMOND IS UNBREAKABLE VOL. 2 HC

HIROHIKO ARAKI

VIZ MEDIA

11

ONE PIECE VOL. 91

EIICHIRO ODA

VIZ MEDIA

12

NEIL GAIMAN'S SNOW, GLASS, APPLES HC

NEIL GAIMAN

DARK HORSE COMICS

13

ATTACK ON TITAN VOL. 28

HAJIME ISAYAMA

KODANSHA COMICS

14

THE PROMISED NEVERLAND VOL. 11

KAIU SHIRAI

VIZ MEDIA

15

MARCH: BOOK ONE

JOHN LEWIS

TOP SHELF PROD.

16

MY HERO ACADEMIA: SMASH!! VOL. 1

HIROFUMI NEDA

VIZ MEDIA

17

MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 19

KOHEI HORIKOSHI

VIZ MEDIA

18

MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 3

KOHEI HORIKOSHI

VIZ MEDIA

19

THE ADVENTURE ZONE: HERE THERE BE GERBLINS

CLINT MCELROY

FIRST SECOND BOOKS

20

KOMI CAN'T COMMUNICATE VOL. 1

TOMOHITO ODA

VIZ MEDIA

Source: The NPD Group/BookScan

For charts of August graphic For charts of August graphic novel sales from NPD BookScan:
August 2019 NPD BookScan - Top 20 Kids Graphic Novels
August 2019 NPD BookScan – Top 20 Superhero, Author, and Manga Graphic Novels

For the charts with the actual sales numbers from NPD BookScan, see these articles on the ICv2 Pro site:
August 2019 NPD BookScan – Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels with Actual Sales
August 2019 NPD BookScan - Top 20 Kids Graphic Novels with Actual Sales
August 2019 NPD BookScan – Top 20 Superhero, Author, and Manga 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."