Manga is more prominent than ever on the list of the Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels in the book channel, based on NPD BookScan data for March (3/1/20-4/4/20) provided to ICv2.  But there was room for two heart-warming books as well in a period that included multiple weeks of social distancing and retail closures due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Nathan Pyle’s Strange Planet, a compilation of his Instagram comic, was the number one seller.  The book debuted in November at the top of the chart, not surprisingly as Strange Planet has over 2 million followers on Instagram.  The comic features gentle aliens describing ordinary things in non-standard language.

Also on the chart for the second month in a row is Catana Chetwynd’s Snug: A Collection of Comics About Dating Your Best Friend, which debuted at number 1 last month.  This book is also a collected edition of an Instagram comic.

Two other non-manga titles are perennials: The 2019 edition of Watchmen and George Takei’s They Called Us Enemy.  And Locke & Key is still on the chart, although it has slipped down to number 20; the title, first released in 2009, popped up at number 13 last month, with renewed attention thanks to the Netflix series (see "Netflix Renews One of Three IDW Comic-Based Series").

As for the manga, it’s a wide array of popular series. Seven volumes of My Hero Academia are on the chart, fewer than last month, with volumes 1 and 2 at the fourth and fifth places.  The number two volume on the chart is the latest volume of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, with volume 1 checking in at number 12 (see "‘Demon Slayer’ Picking Up Steam").  The remaining volumes are a smattering of new and classic series, all in the shonen and seinen demographics.

NPD BookScan Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels – March 2020 (3/1/20 - 4/4/20)

Rank

Title

Author

Publisher

1

STRANGE PLANET HC

NATHAN W. PYLE

MORROW GIFT

2

DEMON SLAYER: KIMETSU NO YAIBA VOL. 11

KOYOHARU GOTOUGE

VIZ MEDIA

3

ONE-PUNCH MAN VOL. 19

ONE

VIZ MEDIA

4

MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 1

KOHEI HORIKOSHI

VIZ MEDIA

5

MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 2

KOHEI HORIKOSHI

VIZ MEDIA

6

BERSERK DELUXE VOL. 4 HC

KENTARO MIURA

DARK HORSE COMICS

7

DRAGON BALL SUPER VOL. 8

AKIRA TORIYAMA

VIZ MEDIA

8

MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 23

KOHEI HORIKOSHI

VIZ MEDIA

9

SNUG: A COLLECTION OF COMICS ABOUT DATING YOUR BEST FRIEND HC

CATANA CHETWYND

ANDREWS MCMEEL

10

MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 22

KOHEI HORIKOSHI

VIZ MEDIA

11

MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 3

KOHEI HORIKOSHI

VIZ MEDIA

12

DEMON SLAYER: KIMETSU NO YAIBA VOL. 1

KOYOHARU GOTOUGE

VIZ MEDIA

13

WATCHMEN (2019 EDITION)

ALAN MOORE

DC COMICS

14

UZUMAKI HC

JUNJI ITO

VIZ MEDIA

15

THE PROMISED NEVERLAND VOL. 14

KAIU SHIRAI

VIZ MEDIA

16

MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 4

KOHEI HORIKOSHI

VIZ MEDIA

17

BEASTARS VOL. 5

PARU ITAGAKI

VIZ MEDIA

18

THEY CALLED US ENEMY

GEORGE TAKEI

TOP SHELF PROD.

19

MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 5

KOHEI HORIKOSHI

VIZ MEDIA

20

LOCKE & KEY VOL. 1: WELCOME TO LOVECRAFT

JOE HILL

IDW PUBLISHING

Source: The NPD Group/BookScan

For charts of March graphic novel sales from NPD BookScan:
March 2020 NPD BookScan - Top 20 Author, Manga, and Superhero Graphic Novels
March 2020 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:
March 2020 NPD BookScan - Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels with Actual Sales
March 2020 NPD BookScan - Top 20 Author, Manga, and Superhero Graphic Novels with Actual Sales
March 2020 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."