Last month, we noted an unusually high number of new graphic novels on the Superhero list (see "April 2020 NPD BookScan – Top 20 Author, Manga, Superhero Graphic Novels"). This month’s list only has three 2020 releases: Batman: Last Knight on Earth, which debuted in the number 1 spot last month; Harleen, which debuted in the number 1 spot in February and has stayed on the chart since then; and Firefly: The Unification War, a Whedonverse trade that just came out in May. And the top seller in May 2020? Watchmen. So it’s back to the Golden Oldies for this chart.
As usual, DC Comics dominates the BookScan chart, with 13 titles compared to Marvel Comics’ five titles.
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NPD BookScan Top 20 'Superhero' Graphic Novels – May 2020 (5/3/20 - 5/30/20) |
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Rank |
Title |
Author |
Publisher |
|
1 |
WATCHMEN (2019 EDITION) |
ALAN MOORE |
DC COMICS |
|
2 |
BATMAN: LAST KNIGHT ON EARTH HC |
SCOTT SNYDER |
DC COMICS |
|
3 |
HARLEEN HC |
STJEPAN SEJIC |
DC COMICS |
|
4 |
V FOR VENDETTA |
ALAN MOORE |
DC COMICS |
|
5 |
BATMAN: YEAR ONE |
FRANK MILLER |
DC COMICS |
|
6 |
THE SANDMAN VOL. 1: PRELUDES & NOCTURNES 30TH ANN. ED. |
NEIL GAIMAN |
DC COMICS |
|
7 |
BATMAN: WHITE KNIGHT |
SEAN MURPHY |
DC COMICS |
|
8 |
BATMAN: THE KILLING JOKE DLX. ED. HC (NEW EDITION) |
ALAN MOORE |
DC COMICS |
|
9 |
STAR WARS: DARTH MAUL - SON OF DATHOMIR |
JEREMY BARLOW |
MARVEL COMICS |
|
10 |
THE BATMAN WHO LAUGHS HC |
SCOTT SNYDER |
DC COMICS |
|
11 |
BATMAN: THE LONG HALLOWEEN |
JEPH LOEB |
DC COMICS |
|
12 |
DCEASED HC |
TOM TAYLOR |
DC COMICS |
|
13 |
JOKER HC (DC BLACK LABEL ED.) |
BRIAN AZZARELLO |
DC COMICS |
|
14 |
RICK AND MORTY VS. DUNGEONS & DRAGONS |
ROTHFUSS & ZUB |
IDW PUBLISHING |
|
15 |
INFINITY GAUNTLET |
JIM STARLIN |
MARVEL COMICS |
|
16 |
BATMAN: DAMNED HC |
BRIAN AZZARELLO |
DC COMICS |
|
17 |
FIREFLY: THE UNIFICATION WAR VOL. 3 |
JOSS WHEDON |
BOOM! STUDIOS |
|
18 |
STAR WARS: DARTH VADER: DARK LORD OF THE SITH VOL. 1: IMPERIAL MACHINE |
CHARLES SOULE |
MARVEL COMICS |
|
19 |
HOUSE OF X/POWERS OF X HC |
JONATHAN HICKMAN |
MARVEL COMICS |
|
20 |
STAR WARS: DARTH VADER - DARK LORD OF THE SITH VOL. 2: LEGACY'S END |
CHARLES SOULE |
MARVEL COMICS |
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Source: The NPD Group/BookScan |
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There’s no contest for the top publisher on the Manga chart: VIZ Media takes all 20 slots with a mix of title that slants heavily toward shonen action stories. But not entirely! Shout-out to The Way of the Househusband, a quirky comedy about a former yakuza (organized crime) boss who goes all melty and domestic when he marries a career woman. The joke in this series is that he still looks like a gangster and he acts like one too, sometimes when he’s shopping for groceries, sometimes when he’s facing a squad of his former rivals. Volume 3 makes the chart, and volume 1 charted when it came out last September, so it has a readership. The first two volumes made a decent showing on the Diamond charts as well, and it was just nominated for an Eisner Award in the Best Humor category, so it’s likely more people will discover the series now. There are currently four volumes out in Japan, and it’s still ongoing, so there are more to come.
Wacky romcoms aside, the rest of the chart is familiar territory: 10 volumes of My Hero Academia, three of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, two of Beastars, two Junji Ito stories, and the latest volumes of Splatoon and Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure.
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NPD BookScan Top 20 Manga Graphic Novels – May 2020 (5/3/20 - 5/30/20) |
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Rank |
Title |
Author |
Publisher |
|
|
1 |
DEMON SLAYER: KIMETSU NO YAIBA VOL. 12 |
KOYOHARU GOTOUGE |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
|
2 |
MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 1 |
KOHEI HORIKOSHI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
|
3 |
MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 2 |
KOHEI HORIKOSHI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
|
4 |
DEMON SLAYER: KIMETSU NO YAIBA VOL. 1 |
KOYOHARU GOTOUGE |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
|
5 |
UZUMAKI HC |
JUNJI ITO |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
|
6 |
MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 23 |
KOHEI HORIKOSHI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
|
7 |
BEASTARS VOL. 6 |
PARU ITAGAKI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
|
8 |
MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 22 |
KOHEI HORIKOSHI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
|
9 |
MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 3 |
KOHEI HORIKOSHI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
|
10 |
SPLATOON VOL. 9 |
SANKICHI HINODEYA |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
|
11 |
DEMON SLAYER: KIMETSU NO YAIBA VOL. 2 |
KOYOHARU GOTOUGE |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
|
12 |
MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 4 |
KOHEI HORIKOSHI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
|
13 |
BEASTARS VOL. 1 |
PARU ITAGAKI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
|
14 |
MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 5 |
KOHEI HORIKOSHI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
|
15 |
MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 21 |
KOHEI HORIKOSHI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
|
16 |
JOJO'S BIZARRE ADVENTURE: PART 4--DIAMOND IS UNBREAKABLE VOL. 5 |
HIROHIKO ARAKI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
|
17 |
THE WAY OF THE HOUSEHUSBAND VOL. 3 |
KOUSUKE OONO |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
|
18 |
MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 6 |
KOHEI HORIKOSHI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
|
19 |
TOMIE HC |
JUNJI ITO |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
|
20 |
MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 7 |
KOHEI HORIKOSHI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
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Source: The NPD Group/BookScan |
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There are two May releases on the Author chart: the graphic adaptation of Bong Joon Ho’s award-winning movie Parasite and the third volume of Bryan Lee O’Malley’s Snotgirl. Tom Gauld’s Department of Mind-Blowing Theories, which debuted in April, is back for a second month, and the only other 2020 book on the chart is Catana Chetwynd’s Snug. Once again, Strange Planet tops the chart, but there’s more to the Author list than humor and horror: May’s top sellers also include all three volumes of The Umbrella Academy, the first two volumes of Locke and Key, and the graphic adaptations of Anne of Green Gables, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale.
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NPD BookScan Top 20 Author Graphic Novels – May 2020 (5/3/20 - 5/30/20) |
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Rank |
Title |
Author |
Publisher |
|
1 |
STRANGE PLANET HC |
NATHAN W. PYLE |
MORROW GIFT |
|
2 |
PARASITE: A GRAPHIC NOVEL IN STORYBOARDS HC |
BONG JOON HO |
HACHETTE BOOK GROUP |
|
3 |
THEY CALLED US ENEMY |
GEORGE TAKEI |
TOP SHELF PROD. |
|
4 |
SNUG: A COLLECTION OF COMICS ABOUT DATING YOUR BEST FRIEND |
CATANA CHETWYND |
ANDREWS MCMEEL |
|
5 |
THE WALKING DEAD COMPENDIUM VOL. 4 |
ROBERT KIRKMAN |
IMAGE COMICS |
|
6 |
NOISE: A GRAPHIC NOVEL BASED ON A TRUE STORY |
KATHLEEN RAYMUNDO |
LIGHTNING SOURCE |
|
7 |
ANNE OF GREEN GABLES: A GRAPHIC NOVEL |
MARIAH MARSDEN |
ANDREWS MCMEEL |
|
8 |
THE ADVENTURE ZONE: MURDER ON THE ROCKPORT LIMITED! |
CLINT MCELROY |
FIRST SECOND BOOKS |
|
9 |
MARCH: BOOK ONE |
JOHN LEWIS |
TOP SHELF PROD. |
|
10 |
THE ADVENTURE ZONE: HERE THERE BE GERBLINS |
CLINT MCELROY |
FIRST SECOND BOOKS |
|
11 |
CRITICAL ROLE VOX MACHINA: ORIGINS VOL. 1 |
CRITICAL ROLE |
DARK HORSE COMICS |
|
12 |
THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY VOL. 1: APOCALYPSE SUITE |
GERARD WAY |
DARK HORSE COMICS |
|
13 |
THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY VOL. 3: HOTEL OBLIVION |
GERARD WAY |
DARK HORSE COMICS |
|
14 |
LOCKE & KEY, VOL. 1: WELCOME TO LOVECRAFT |
JOE HILL |
IDW PUBLISHING |
|
15 |
FUN HOME: A FAMILY TRAGICOMIC |
ALISON BECHDEL |
MARINER BOOKS |
|
16 |
DEPARTMENT OF MIND-BLOWING THEORIES |
TOM GAULD |
DRAWN & QUARTERLY |
|
17 |
THE HANDMAID'S TALE (GRAPHIC NOVEL) |
MARGARET ATWOOD |
NAN A. TALESE |
|
18 |
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD: A GRAPHIC NOVEL |
HARPER LEE |
HARPER |
|
19 |
SNOTGIRL VOL. 3: IS THIS REAL LIFE? |
BRYAN LEE O'MALLEY |
IMAGE COMICS |
|
20 |
THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY VOL. 2: DALLAS |
GERARD WAY |
DARK HORSE COMICS |
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Source: The NPD Group/BookScan |
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For charts of May graphic novel sales from NPD BookScan:
May 2020 NPD BookScan – Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels
May 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:
May 2020 NPD BookScan - Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels with Actual Sales
May 2020 NPD BookScan - Top 20 Author, Manga, and Superhero Graphic Novels with Actual Sales
May 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."
