It’s time to take a closer look at the top 20 Author, Manga, and Superhero graphic novels in the book channel, based on NPD BookScan data for March 2021 (2/28/21-4/3/21) provided to ICv2.

The first thing to note is that manga sales were so dominant that we don’t have a list of the top 20 Superhero graphic novels this month – just a top 18.

For the second month in a row, the Superhero chart includes four debut titles: Volume 4 of The Uncanny X-Men Omnibus, Volume 3 of Wonder Woman: Earth One, and two non-Big Two titles, the Carl Barks classic Uncle Scrooge: Island in the Sky, which is part of Fantagraphics’ Carl Barks Disney Library, and Cyberpunk 2077 Volume 1: Trauma Team, a tie-in to the video game, by Cullen Bunn.  In addition, two February books are back on the chart: Batman Volume. 2: The Joker War and The Joker War Saga, both written by James Tynion IV.

Batman: Three Jokers, which topped the chart from November through January, is in second place, behind Watchmen.

NPD BookScan Top 20 'Superheroes' Graphic Novels – March 2021 (2/28/21 - 4/3/21)

Rank

Title

Author

Publisher

1

WATCHMEN (2019 EDITION)

ALAN MOORE

DC COMICS

2

BATMAN: THREE JOKERS HC

GEOFF JOHNS

DC COMICS

3

BATMAN VOL. 2: THE JOKER WAR HC

JAMES TYNION IV

DC COMICS

4

THE BATMAN WHO LAUGHS HC

SCOTT SNYDER

DC COMICS

5

BATMAN: LAST KNIGHT ON EARTH HC

SCOTT SNYDER

DC COMICS

6

THE JOKER WAR SAGA HC

JAMES TYNION IV

DC COMICS

7

HARLEEN HC

STJEPAN SEJIC

DC COMICS

8

THE UNCANNY X-MEN OMNIBUS VOL. 4 HC

CHRIS CLAREMONT

MARVEL COMICS

9

INFINITY GAUNTLET

JIM STARLIN

MARVEL COMICS

10

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

ALAN MOORE

DC COMICS

11

BATMAN: YEAR ONE

FRANK MILLER

DC COMICS

12

WONDER WOMAN: EARTH ONE VOL. 3 HC

GRANT MORRISON

DC COMICS

13

BATMAN: THE LONG HALLOWEEN

JEPH LOEB

DC COMICS

14

WALT DISNEY'S UNCLE SCROOGE ISLAND IN THE SKY: THE COMPLETE CARL BARKS DISNEY LIBRARY VOL. 24 HC

CARL BARKS

FANTAGRAPHICS

15

CYBERPUNK 2077 VOL. 1: TRAUMA TEAM

CULLEN BUNN

RANDOM HOUSE

16

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

NEIL GAIMAN

DC COMICS

17

WATCHMEN: THE DELUXE EDITION HC

ALAN MOORE

DC COMICS

18

DOOMSDAY CLOCK: THE COMPLETE COLLECTION

GEOFF JOHNS

DC COMICS

19

xxx

xxx

xxx

20

xxx

xxx

xxx

Source: The NPD Group/BookScan

Unlike the Superhero chart, the Manga chart is short on new titles.  Only one book, Volume 4 of Spy x Family, is a March 2021 release, and only two others are 2021 releases: Volume 26 of My Hero Academia and Volume 3 of Chainsaw Man.

What’s intriguing about this chart is the number of early volumes: Eight first volumes, four second volumes, and three third volumes, which means readers are sampling older series and staying with them.  The top title is Volume 1 of Chainsaw Man, which came out last October and doesn’t have an anime yet.  Others, such as Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Attack on Titan, and The Promised Neverland, do have anime, which is probably generating interest in the manga.

 Only six volumes of My Hero Academia show up on the chart, and that’s actually up from four in February.  VIZ Media released a new volume in early April, so it will be worth watching the chart next month to see if it gives the other books in the series a boost.

Sometimes what’s not on the chart is as interesting as what is.  The first volume of the spinoff My Hero Academia: Team-Up Missions came out in early March but did not make the chart; as we have seen with My Hero Academia: Vigilantes, the spinoffs don’t seem to be as popular as the main series.

NPD BookScan Top 20 Manga Graphic Novels – March 2021 (2/28/21 - 4/3/21)

Rank

Title

Author

Publisher

1

CHAINSAW MAN VOL. 1

TATSUKI FUJIMOTO

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

ATTACK ON TITAN VOL. 1

HAJIME ISAYAMA

KODANSHA COMICS

6

TOILET-BOUND HANAKO-KUN VOL. 1

AIDAIRO

YEN PRESS

7

MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 26

KOHEI HORIKOSHI

VIZ MEDIA

8

MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 3

KOHEI HORIKOSHI

VIZ MEDIA

9

THE PROMISED NEVERLAND VOL. 1

KAIU SHIRAI

VIZ MEDIA

10

HAIKYU!! VOL. 1

HARUICHI FURUDATE

VIZ MEDIA

11

DEMON SLAYER: KIMETSU NO YAIBA VOL. 2

KOYOHARU GOTOUGE

VIZ MEDIA

12

SPY X FAMILY VOL. 4

TATSUYA ENDO

VIZ MEDIA

13

DEMON SLAYER: KIMETSU NO YAIBA VOL. 3

KOYOHARU GOTOUGE

VIZ MEDIA

14

JUJUTSU KAISEN VOL. 1

GEGE AKUTAMI

VIZ MEDIA

15

CHAINSAW MAN VOL. 3

TATSUKI FUJIMOTO

VIZ MEDIA

16

MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 24

KOHEI HORIKOSHI

VIZ MEDIA

17

THE PROMISED NEVERLAND VOL. 2

KAIU SHIRAI

VIZ MEDIA

18

TOILET-BOUND HANAKO-KUN VOL. 2

AIDAIRO

YEN PRESS

19

MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 4

KOHEI HORIKOSHI

VIZ MEDIA

20

UZUMAKI HC

UNJI ITO

VIZ MEDIA

Source: The NPD Group/BookScan

The top title on the Author chart is Solo Leveling, which is a webtoon from Korea.  The style is reminiscent of manga, although the comic is in full color.

There are three March 2021 releases on the Author chart: Volume 1 of Neil Gaiman and P. Craig Russell’s Norse Mythology; Volume 1 of James Tynion IV and Martin Simmonds’ Department of Truth; and The Umbrella Academy spin-off You Look Like Death.  As noted above, Tynion also is the author of two Superhero titles, so he had three graphic novels on the charts in March.

NPD BookScan Top 20 Author Graphic Novels – March 2021 (2/28/21 - 4/3/21)

Rank

Title

Author

Publisher

1

SOLO LEVELING VOL. 1

CHUGONG

YEN PRESS

2

THEY CALLED US ENEMY

GEORGE TAKEI

TOP SHELF PROD.

3

IN LOVE & PAJAMAS: A COLLECTION OF COMICS ABOUT BEING YOURSELF TOGETHER HC

CATANA CHETWYND

ANDREWS & MCMEEL

4

MARCH: BOOK ONE

JOHN LEWIS

TOP SHELF PROD.

5

DUNE: THE GRAPHIC NOVEL BOOK HC

FRANK HERBERT

ABRAMS

6

NORSE MYTHOLOGY VOL. 1 HC

NEIL GAIMAN

DARK HORSE

7

STRANGE PLANET HC

NATHAN W. PYLE

MORROW GIFT

8

THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY: A GRAPHIC NOVEL HISTORY

DAVID F. WALKER

TEN SPEED PRESS

9

SAPIENS: A GRAPHIC HISTORY: THE BIRTH OF HUMANKIND

YUVAL NOAH HARARI

HARPERCOLLINS

10

THE DEPARTMENT OF TRUTH VOL 1.: THE END OF THE WORLD

JAMES TYNION IV

IMAGE COMICS

11

THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY VOL. 1: APOCALYPSE SUITE

GERARD WAY

DARK HORSE COMICS

12

STRANGER PLANET HC

NATHAN W. PYLE

MORROW GIFT

13

CRITICAL ROLE: VOX MACHINA ORIGINS LIBRARY ED.: SER. I & II COLL. HC

CRITICAL ROLE

DARK HORSE COMICS

14

FANGS HC

SARAH ANDERSEN

ANDREWS & MCMEEL

15

FUN HOME: A FAMILY TRAGICOMIC

ALISON BECHDEL

VIKING

16

GORILLAZ ALAMANAC HC

GORILLAZ

Z2 COMICS

17

TALES FROM THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY: YOU LOOK LIKE DEATH VOLUME 1

GERARD WAY

DARK HORSE COMICS

18

INVINCIBLE COMPENDIUM VOL. 1

ROBERT KIRKMAN

IMAGE COMICS

19

THE WALKING DEAD COMPENDIUM VOL. 4

ROBERT KIRKMAN

IMAGE COMICS

20

MARCH (TRILOGY SLIPCASE SET)

JOHN LEWIS

TOP SHELF PROD.

Source: The NPD Group/BookScan

For charts of March 2021 graphic novel sales from NPD BookScan:
March 2021 NPD BookScan – Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels
March 2021 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 2021 NPD BookScan - Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels with Actual Sales
March 2021 NPD BookScan - Top 20 Author, Manga, and Superhero Graphic Novels with Actual Sales
March 2021 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."