There’s plenty to compare and contrast on the list of the top 20 Author, Manga, and Superhero graphic novels in the book channel, based on NPD BookScan data for June (5/31/20-7/4/20) provided to ICv2.

Topping the Superhero chart is that hoary favorite Watchmen, followed by the one June release in the top 20, Doomsday Clock Part 2.  Only two other books, Batman: Last Knight on Earth and Harleen, are 2020 releases; everything else is older.  It’s also very Batman-heavy, with Alan Moore properties and their derivatives coming in second.  DC Comics dominates the chart, with 16 titles; Marvel Comics has two and Oni Press and Dark Horse Comics have one each.

NPD BookScan Top 20 'Superhero' Graphic Novels – June 2020 (5/31/20 - 7/4/20)

Rank

Title

Author

Publisher

1

WATCHMEN (2019 EDITION)

ALAN MOORE

DC COMICS

2

DOOMSDAY CLOCK PART 2 HC

GEOFF JOHNS

DC COMICS

3

V FOR VENDETTA

ALAN MOORE

DC COMICS

4

BATMAN: LAST KNIGHT ON EARTH HC

SCOTT SNYDER

DC COMICS

5

HARLEEN HC

STJEPAN SEJIC

DC COMICS

6

THE BATMAN WHO LAUGHS HC

SCOTT SNYDER

DC COMICS

7

DCEASED HC

TOM TAYLOR

DC COMICS

8

BATMAN: THE KILLING JOKE DLX. ED. HC (NEW EDITION)

ALAN MOORE

DC COMICS

9

DOOMSDAY CLOCK PART 1 HC

GEOFF JOHNS

DC COMICS

10

BATMAN: WHITE KNIGHT

SEAN MURPHY

DC COMICS

11

BATMAN: YEAR ONE

FRANK MILLER

DC COMICS

12

BATMAN: DAMNED HC

BRIAN AZZARELLO

DC COMICS

13

THE SANDMAN VOL. 1: PRELUDES & NOCTURNES 30TH ANN. ED.

NEIL GAIMAN

DC COMICS

14

BATMAN: THE LONG HALLOWEEN

JEPH LOEB

DC COMICS

15

RICK AND MORTY VS. DUNGEONS & DRAGONS

PATRICK ROTHFUSS

ONI PRESS

16

THE WITCHER OMNIBUS

PAUL TOBIN

DARK HORSE COMICS

17

INFINITY GAUNTLET

JIM STARLIN

MARVEL COMICS

18

JOKER HC (DC BLACK LABEL EDITION)

BRIAN AZZARELLO

DC COMICS

19

DARK NIGHTS: METAL HC

SCOTT SNYDER

DC COMICS

20

MS. MARVEL VOL 1: NO NORMAL

G. WILLOW WILSON

MARVEL COMICS

Source: The NPD Group/BookScan

The Manga chart is usually a VIZ Media shop, but this month a Yen Press title makes the top 20 for the first time since November 2019.  That book is the first volume of Toilet-Bound Hanako-Kun, which is a shonen comedy series about a girl who bonds with a male ghost who lives in the girls bathroom of her school and joins him in fighting evil spirits.  The first volume came out in January and the anime has been running since the beginning of the year as well, so it’s not obvious why this series is suddenly picking up speed, but maybe it’s time to check it out.

Only half the chart was volumes of My Hero Academia in June, and one of those was the spinoff My Hero Academia: Vigilantes.  The next runner-up is Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, with four volumes.  Most of the others are new volumes of long-running series, but one new series pops up, the shonen comedy Spy x Family.

NPD BookScan Top 20 Manga Graphic Novels – June 2020 (5/31/20 - 7/4/20)

Rank

Title

Author

Publisher

1

MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 24

KOHEI HORIKOSHI

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. 13

KOYOHARU GOTOUGE

VIZ MEDIA

5

DRAGON BALL SUPER VOL. 9

AKIRA TORIYAMA

VIZ MEDIA

6

DEMON SLAYER: KIMETSU NO YAIBA VOL. 1

KOYOHARU GOTOUGE

VIZ MEDIA

7

UZUMAKI HC

JUNJI ITO

VIZ MEDIA

8

MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 23

KOHEI HORIKOSHI

VIZ MEDIA

9

MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 3

KOHEI HORIKOSHI

VIZ MEDIA

10

SPY X FAMILY VOL. 1

ENDO, TATSUYA

VIZ MEDIA

11

DEMON SLAYER: KIMETSU NO YAIBA VOL. 2

KOYOHARU GOTOUGE

VIZ MEDIA

12

MY HERO ACADEMIA: VIGILANTES VOL. 7

HIDEYUKI FURUHASHI

VIZ MEDIA

13

KOMI CAN'T COMMUNICATE VOL. 7

TOMOHITO ODA

VIZ MEDIA

14

MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 4

KOHEI HORIKOSHI

VIZ MEDIA

15

MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 22

KOHEI HORIKOSHI

VIZ MEDIA

16

MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 5

KOHEI HORIKOSHI

VIZ MEDIA

17

THE PROMISED NEVERLAND VOL. 15

KAIU SHIRAI

VIZ MEDIA

18

MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 21

KOHEI HORIKOSHI

VIZ MEDIA

19

DEMON SLAYER: KIMETSU NO YAIBA VOL. 12

KOYOHARU GOTOUGE

VIZ MEDIA

20

TOILET-BOUND HANAKO-KUN VOL. 1

AIDAIRO

YEN PRESS

Source: The NPD Group/BookScan

Everything’s coming up threes in the Author category.  Book One of March is always on the list, but in June, all three volumes were in the top 20 as was the slipcased trilogy.  It may be that the Black Lives Matter protests have renewed interest in the series, which is Rep. John Lewis’s unvarnished memoir of the Civil Rights movement.

Three sets of triplets also make the list: All three volumes of The Umbrella Academy; three collections of cute slice-of-life comics that debuted on Instagram: Stranger Planet, Strange Planet, and Snug: A Collection of Comics About Dating Your Best Friend; and three graphic novels based on game podcasts, Critical Role: Vox Machina and both volumes of The Adventure Zone.

And finally, the third volume of Bryan Lee O’Malley’s Snotgirl makes the chart for the second month in a row, and the third volume of Neil Gaiman’s American Gods debuts at number 20.

NPD BookScan Top 20 Author Graphic Novels – June 2020 (5/31/20 - 7/4/20)

Rank

Title

Author

Publisher

1

STRANGER PLANET HC

NATHAN W. PYLE

MORROW GIFT

2

STRANGE PLANET HC

NATHAN W. PYLE

MORROW GIFT

3

MARCH: BOOK ONE

JOHN LEWIS

TOP SHELF PROD

4

THEY CALLED US ENEMY

GEORGE TAKEI

TOP SHELF PROD

5

MARCH (TRILOGY SLIPCASE SET)

JOHN LEWIS

TOP SHELF PROD

6

THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY VOL. 1: APOCALYPSE SUITE

GERARD WAY

DARK HORSE COMICS

7

SNUG: A COLLECTION OF COMICS ABOUT DATING YOUR BEST FRIEND

CATANA CHETWYND

ANDREWS & MCMEEL

8

THE ADVENTURE ZONE: MURDER ON THE ROCKPORT LIMITED!

CLINT MCELROY

FIRST SECOND

9

THE ADVENTURE ZONE: HERE THERE BE GERBLINS

CLINT MCELROY

FIRST SECOND

10

THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY VOL. 3: HOTEL OBLIVION

GERARD WAY

DARK HORSE COMICS

11

CRITICAL ROLE VOX MACHINA: ORIGINS VOL. 1

CRITICAL ROLE

DARK HORSE COMICS

12

MARCH: BOOK THREE

JOHN LEWIS

TOP SHELF PROD

13

SNOTGIRL VOL. 3: IS THIS REAL LIFE?

BRYAN LEE O'MALLEY

IMAGE COMICS

14

MARCH: BOOK TWO

JOHN LEWIS

TOP SHELF PROD

15

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD: A GRAPHIC NOVEL

HARPER LEE

HARPER

16

THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY VOL. 2: DALLAS

GERARD WAY

DARK HORSE COMICS

17

THE WALKING DEAD COMPENDIUM VOL. 4

ROBERT KIRKMAN

IMAGE COMICS

18

FUN HOME: A FAMILY TRAGICOMIC

ALISON BECHDEL

MARINER BOOKS

19

NOISE: A GRAPHIC NOVEL BASED ON A TRUE STORY

KATHLEEN RAYMUNDO

LIGHTNING SOURCE

20

AMERICAN GODS VOL. 3: THE MOMENT OF THE STORM HC

NEIL GAIMAN

DARK HORSE COMICS

Source: The NPD Group/BookScan

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