Batman rules the September Superhero chart, taking up six of the top seven spots, including the top four, and two more further down. The seven unique titles are by seven different writers, so apparently readers like Batman in many different guises. The top two titles are September releases, as is the new deluxe edition of The Killing Joke. Of course, Joker is also set in Gotham City, and Batman is one of the characters in Heroes in Crisis, so there’s a lot of Bat-ness in this month’s chart.
There’s also an interesting phenomenon going on with those classic titles: It’s not surprising that the new deluxe edition of The Killing Joke made the chart, but it is surprising that the 2008 edition outsold it. The situation is reversed with regard to Watchmen: Both editions made the chart, but the new one ranked higher.
All those Bat-books, plus the perennial sellers V for Vendetta, Sandman, The Dark Knight Returns, and the dual editions of Watchmen and The Killing Joke, made September a very DC Comics month, with that publisher taking 14 of the 20 slots. Marvel Comics had five titles, and Bungie Inc. had one.
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NPD BookScan Top 20 'Superhero' Graphic Novels – September 2019 (9/1/19 - 10/5/19) |
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|
Rank |
Title |
Author |
Publisher |
|
1 |
BATMAN: DAMNED HC |
BRIAN AZZARELLO |
DC BLACK LABEL |
|
2 |
THE BATMAN WHO LAUGHS HC |
SCOTT SNYDER |
DC COMICS |
|
3 |
BATMAN: THE KILLING JOKE DLX. ED. HC |
ALAN MOORE |
DC COMICS |
|
4 |
BATMAN: THE KILLING JOKE DLX. ED. HC (NEW ED.) |
ALAN MOORE |
DC COMICS |
|
5 |
WATCHMEN (2019 EDITION) |
ALAN MOORE |
DC COMICS |
|
6 |
BATMAN: WHITE KNIGHT |
SEAN MURPHY |
DC BLACK LABEL |
|
7 |
BATMAN: THE LONG HALLOWEEN |
JEPH LOEB |
DC COMICS |
|
8 |
AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER--IMBALANCE PART THREE |
FAITH ERIN HICKS |
DARK HORSE COMICS |
|
9 |
MS. MARVEL VOL. 1 |
G. WILLOW WILSON |
MARVEL COMICS |
|
10 |
HEROES IN CRISIS HC |
TOM KING |
DC COMICS |
|
11 |
WATCHMEN |
ALAN MOORE |
DC COMICS |
|
12 |
JOKER (DC BLACK LABEL EDITION) |
BRIAN AZZARELLO |
DC BLACK LABEL |
|
13 |
BATMAN VOL. 10: KNIGHTMARES |
TOM KING |
DC COMICS |
|
14 |
WAR OF THE REALMS: JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY |
JUSTIN MCELROY |
MARVEL COMICS |
|
15 |
DESTINY COMIC COLLECTION VOL. 1 HC |
BUNGIE INC |
BUNGIE INC |
|
16 |
STAR WARS: AGE OF THE REBELLION - VILLAINS |
GREG PAK |
MARVEL COMICS |
|
17 |
V FOR VENDETTA |
ALAN MOORE |
VERTIGO |
|
18 |
INFINITY GAUNTLET |
JIM STARLIN |
MARVEL COMICS |
|
19 |
IMMORTAL HULK VOL. 4: ABOMINATION |
AL EWING |
MARVEL COMICS |
|
20 |
THE SANDMAN VOL. 1: PRELUDES & NOCTURNES 30TH ANN. ED. |
NEIL GAIMAN |
VERTIGO |
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Source: The NPD Group/BookScan |
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Turning to Manga, we have a very consistent chart this month: VIZ Media takes all 20 slots. Usually something from another publisher makes it onto the chart, but not this month. Maybe that’s because of all the Shonen Jump titles: 10 volumes of My Hero Academia, one of My Hero Academia: Vigilantes, plus Dragon Ball Super, Demon Slayer, Black Clover, and One-Punch Man. Splatoon isn’t a Shonen Jump title, but it reads like one that just happens to be set in a video game. Komi Can’t Communicate is a shonen romance. (It’s from Shonen Sunday, another Japanese magazine, which publishes Rumiko Takahashi’s work.) It’s tempting to say that this is a male-dominated medium, except that a lot of girls like Shonen Jump titles as well.
Junji Ito’s Uzumaki makes the number 4 slot. Ito’s manga always do well, and there may be renewed interest in this one because of the news that broke in mid-September that an adaptation will be coming to Adult Swim next year (see "Junji Ito’s ‘Uzumaki’ on Adult Swim, Junko Mizuno Art Book, Psychedelic Manga, Hot Firemen, ‘Transformers’ Art Book, ‘Pokemon’ Omnibi").
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NPD BookScan Top 20 Manga Graphic Novels – September 2019 (9/1/19 - 10/5/19) |
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|
Rank |
Title |
Author |
Publisher |
|
1 |
MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 21 |
KOHEI HORIKOSHI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
2 |
MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 1 |
KOHEI HORIKOSHI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
3 |
DRAGON BALL SUPER VOL. 6 |
AKIRA TORIYAMA |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
4 |
UZUMAKI HC |
JUNJI ITO |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
5 |
MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 20 |
KOHEI HORIKOSHI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
6 |
MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 2 |
KOHEI HORIKOSHI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
7 |
DEMON SLAYER: KIMETSU NO YAIBA VOL. 8 |
KOYOHARU GOTOUGE |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
8 |
SPLATOON VOL. 7 |
SANKICHI HINODEYA |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
9 |
MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 3 |
KOHEI HORIKOSHI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
10 |
THE WAY OF THE HOUSEHUSBAND VOL. 1 |
KOUSUKE OONO |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
11 |
MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 4 |
KOHEI HORIKOSHI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
12 |
MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 19 |
KOHEI HORIKOSHI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
13 |
BLACK CLOVER VOL. 17 |
YUKI TABATA |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
14 |
ONE-PUNCH MAN VOL. 17 |
ONE |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
15 |
KOMI CAN'T COMMUNICATE VOL. 2 |
TOMOHITO ODA |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
16 |
MY HERO ACADEMIA: VIGILANTES VOL. 6 |
HIDEYUKI FURUHASHI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
17 |
MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 5 |
KOHEI HORIKOSHI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
18 |
MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 17 |
KOHEI HORIKOSHI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
19 |
MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 18 |
KOHEI HORIKOSHI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
20 |
KOMI CAN'T COMMUNICATE VOL. 1 |
TOMOHITO ODA |
VIZ MEDIA |
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Source: The NPD Group/BookScan |
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The Author chart is usually the most varied, but we are seeing a lot of the same books popping up there as in previous months. Volume 3 of The Umbrella Academy tops the chart, and both previous volumes are there as well; similarly, there are two volumes of The Adventure Zone and two of The Boys. They Called Us Enemy, The Handmaid’s Tale, Fun Home, and March seem to be on the chart every month.
September releases that debuted on the chart include volume 3 of The Umbrella Academy, volume 16 of The Walking Dead, Chris Ware’s Rusty Brown, and volume 3 of Brandon Sanderson’s White Sand. The fourth volume of Monstress is actually an October release but made the chart on the strength of a few days’ sales.
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NPD BookScan Top 20 Author Graphic Novels – September 2019 (9/1/19 - 10/5/19) |
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Rank |
Title |
Author |
Publisher |
|
1 |
THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY VOL. 3: HOTEL OBLIVION |
GERARD WAY |
DARK HORSE COMICS |
|
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 |
THE HANDMAID'S TALE: THE GRAPHIC NOVEL HC |
MARGARET ATWOOD |
NAN A. TALESE |
|
5 |
THE WALKING DEAD BOOK 16 HC |
ROBERT KIRKMAN |
IMAGE COMICS |
|
6 |
RUSTY BROWN HC |
CHRIS WARE |
PANTHEON BOOKS |
|
7 |
MONSTRESS VOL. 4 |
MARJORIE LIU |
IMAGE COMICS |
|
8 |
BRANDON SANDERSON'S WHITE SAND VOL. 3 HC |
BRANDON SANDERSON |
DYNAMITE ENT. |
|
9 |
THE ADVENTURE ZONE: HERE THERE BE GERBLINS |
CLINT MCELROY |
FIRST SECOND BOOKS |
|
10 |
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD: A GRAPHIC NOVEL HC |
HARPER LEE |
HARPER |
|
11 |
THE WALKING DEAD VOL. 32 |
ROBERT KIRKMAN |
IMAGE COMICS |
|
12 |
FUN HOME: A FAMILY TRAGICOMIC |
ALISON BECHDEL |
MARINER BOOKS |
|
13 |
MARCH: BOOK ONE |
JOHN LEWIS |
TOP SHELF PROD. |
|
14 |
THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY VOL. 1: APOCALYPSE SUITE |
GERARD WAY |
DARK HORSE COMICS |
|
15 |
PAPER GIRLS VOL. 6 |
BRIAN K. VAUGHAN |
IMAGE COMICS |
|
16 |
THE BOYS OMNIBUS VOL. 1 |
GARTH ENNIS |
DYNAMITE ENT. |
|
17 |
THE BOYS OMNIBUS VOL. 4 |
GARTH ENNIS |
DYNAMITE ENT. |
|
18 |
NEIL GAIMAN'S SNOW, GLASS, APPLES HC |
NEIL GAIMAN |
DARK HORSE COMICS |
|
19 |
THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY VOL. 2: DALLAS |
GERARD WAY |
DARK HORSE COMICS |
|
20 |
ANNE FRANK'S DIARY: THE GRAPHIC ADAPTATION HC |
ANNE FRANK |
PANTHEON BOOKS |
|
Source: The NPD Group/BookScan |
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For charts of September graphic novel sales from NPD BookScan:
September 2019 NPD BookScan – Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels
September 2019 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:
September 2019 NPD BookScan - Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels with Actual Sales
September 2019 NPD BookScan - Top 20 Author, Manga, and Superhero Graphic Novels with Actual Sales
September 2019 NPD BookScan - Top 20 Kids 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."
