The new year brings some changes to the top 20 Author, Manga, and Superhero graphic novels in the book channel, based on NPD BookScan data for January 2022 (1/2/22-1/29/22) provided to ICv2.

It’s a new year and a new lineup for the Superhero chart.

The holidays are over, so it’s not surprising that A Vader Family Sithmas, which has topped the chart for the past two months, is gone; the number two title in December, the collected edition of Matt Fraction and David Aja’s Hawkeye, has slipped off the chart as well.  Two returning titles, Nightwing, Vol. 1: Leaping Into the Light and Star Wars: The High Republic, Vol. 2: The Heart of Drengir, both of which debuted in December, stay on the chart but lower down than last month (see "December 2021 NPD BookScan").

With no new blockbuster to take the top spot, older titles fill the gap.  The 2019 edition of Watchmen tops the chart, followed by Batman/Fortnite: Zero Point, Batman: Year One, and V for Vendetta, all of which have been out for a while.  Then Spider-Man: Life Story appears in fifth place; this book was released at the end of December.

There were three January releases on the chart, although two of them, Ultimate Spider-Man, Vol. 1 and Bloodborne: 1-3 Boxed Set, are older material in new formats.  The brand-new book is Star Wars: Bounty Hunters, Vol. 3.

As always, the chart is heavy on Batman titles, but there are four Star Wars trades up there as well.  DC Comics has 11 titles on the chart, Marvel Comics has six, and Titan Comics, Dark Horse Comics, and IDW Publishing have one each.

NPD BookScan Top 20 'Superheroes' Graphic Novels – January 2022 (1/2/22 - 1/29/22)

Rank

Title

Author

Publisher

1

WATCHMEN (2019 EDITION)

ALAN MOORE

DC COMICS

2

BATMAN/FORTNITE: ZERO POINT HC

CHRISTOS GAGE

DC COMICS

3

BATMAN: YEAR ONE

FRANK MILLER

DC COMICS

4

V FOR VENDETTA

ALAN MOORE

DC COMICS

5

SPIDER-MAN: LIFE STORY HC

CHIP ZDARSKY

MARVEL COMICS

6

HARLEEN HC

STJEPAN SEJIC

DC COMICS

7

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

ALAN MOORE

DC COMICS

8

BATMAN: THREE JOKERS HC

GEOFF JOHNS

DC COMICS

9

ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN OMNIBUS VOL. 1 HC

BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS

MARVEL COMICS

10

BLOODBORNE: 1-3 BOXED SET

ALES KOT

TITAN COMICS

11

THE BATMAN WHO LAUGHS

SCOTT SNYDER

DC COMICS

12

THE WITCHER OMNIBUS

PAUL TOBIN

DARK HORSE COMICS

13

STAR WARS: WAR OF THE BOUNTY HUNTERS

CHARLES SOULE

MARVEL COMICS

14

STAR WARS: BOUNTY HUNTERS VOL. 3: WAR OF THE BOUNTY HUNTERS

ETHAN SACKS

MARVEL COMICS

15

NIGHTWING VOL.1: LEAPING INTO THE LIGHT HC

TOM TAYLOR

DC COMICS

16

STAR WARS: THE HIGH REPUBLIC VOL. 2: THE HEART OF DRENGIR

CAVAN SCOTT

MARVEL COMICS

17

TRANSFORMERS/BACK TO THE FUTURE

CAVAN SCOTT

IDW PUBLISHING

18

BATMAN: THE LONG HALLOWEEN

JEPH LOEB

DC COMICS

19

BATMAN: WHITE KNIGHT

SEAN MURPHY

DC COMICS

20

STAR WARS: DARTH VADER BY GREG PAK VOL. 3: WAR OF THE BOUNTY HUNTERS

GREG PAK

MARVEL COMICS

Source: The NPD Group/BookScan

The Author chart, on the other hand, has stayed pretty consistent.  Lore Olympus is still at the top, followed by Volumes 1 and 3 of Solo Leveling.  Both Maia Kobabe’s Gender Queer and Book One of March are back on the chart after a brief hiatus, as is Run, the sequel to March.  Books that charted in December but not January include Strange Planet and Stranger Planet, as well as the graphic adaptations of 1984 and Dune.

However, there’s an intriguing new title at number 15: Volume 1 of The Abandoned Empress, a new Korean series that has all the ingredients of an isekai manga except that it’s not Japanese: when the woman who was prophesied to be the next empress is elbowed aside by someone else who was prophesied to be the next empress, she died and is reincarnated as a ten-year-old, ready to fight for her crown.  So far, most of the manhwa (Korean comics) we have seen have been action titles like Solo Leveling, so this is something new.

NPD BookScan Top 20 Author Graphic Novels – January 2022 (1/2/22 - 1/29/22)

Rank

Title

Author

Publisher

1

LORE OLYMPUS: VOLUME ONE

RACHEL SMYTHE

DEL REY

2

LORE OLYMPUS: VOLUME ONE HC

RACHEL SMYTHE

DEL REY

3

SOLO LEVELING VOL. 1

CHUGONG

YEN PRESS

4

SOLO LEVELING VOL. 3

CHUGONG

YEN PRESS

5

THEY CALLED US ENEMY

GEORGE TAKEI

TOP SHELF PROD.

6

SOLO LEVELING VOL. 2

CHUGONG

YEN PRESS

7

MARCH: BOOK ONE

JOHN LEWIS

TOP SHELF PROD.

8

FUN HOME: A FAMILY TRAGICOMIC

ALISON BECHDEL

MARINER BOOKS

9

RUN: BOOK ONE

JOHN LEWIS

ABRAMS

10

BRZRKR VOL. 1

MATT KINDT

BOOM! STUDIOS

11

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

CATANA CHETWYND

ANDREWS & MCMEEL

12

SOMETHING IS KILLING THE CHILDREN VOL. 4

JAMES TYNION IV

BOOM! STUDIOS

13

INVINCIBLE COMPENDIUM VOL. 1

ROBERT KIRKMAN

IMAGE COMICS

14

SAPIENS: A GRAPHIC HISTORY VOL. 1: THE BIRTH OF HUMANKIND

YUVAL NOAH HARARI

HARPER PERENNIAL

15

THE ABANDONED EMPRESS VOL. 1

INA

YEN PRESS

16

CRITICAL ROLE: THE MIGHTY NEIN ORIGINS--JESTER LAVORRE

SAM MAGGS

DARK HORSE COMICS

17

THE WALKING DEAD COMPENDIUM VOL. 4 (B&N EXCLUSIVE)

ROBERT KIRKMAN

IMAGE COMICS

18

INVINCIBLE COMPENDIUM VOL. 2

ROBERT KIRKMAN

IMAGE COMICS

19

SAPIENS: A GRAPHIC HISTORY VOL. 2: THE PILLARS OF CIVILIZATION

YUVAL NOAH HARARI

HARPER PERENNIAL

20

GENDER QUEER: A MEMOIR

MAIA KOBABE

ONI PRESS

Source: The NPD Group/BookScan

The January 2022 Manga Top 20 is identical to the Adult Top 20, so check out our earlier coverage for a discussion of January’s manga trends (see "January 2022 NPD BookScan – Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels").

NPD BookScan Top 20 Manga Graphic Novels – January 2022 (1/2/22 - 1/29/22)

Rank

Title

Author

Publisher

1

DEMON SLAYER: KIMETSU NO YAIBA--STORIES OF WATER AND FLAME

RYOJI HIRANO

VIZ MEDIA

2

CHAINSAW MAN VOL. 1

TATSUKI FUJIMOTO

VIZ MEDIA

3

JUJUTSU KAISEN VOL. 0

GEGE AKUTAMI

VIZ MEDIA

4

JUJUTSU KAISEN VOL. 1

GEGE AKUTAMI

VIZ MEDIA

5

DEMON SLAYER: KIMETSU NO YAIBA VOL. 1

KOYOHARU GOTOUGE

VIZ MEDIA

6

CHAINSAW MAN VOL. 2

TATSUKI FUJIMOTO

VIZ MEDIA

7

DEMON SLAYER: KIMETSU NO YAIBA VOL. 2

KOYOHARU GOTOUGE

VIZ MEDIA

8

DRAGON BALL SUPER VOL. 15

AKIRA TORIYAMA

VIZ MEDIA

9

CHAINSAW MAN VOL. 4

TATSUKI FUJIMOTO

VIZ MEDIA

10

DEMON SLAYER: KIMETSU NO YAIBA VOL. 3

KOYOHARU GOTOUGE

VIZ MEDIA

11

CHAINSAW MAN VOL. 3

TATSUKI FUJIMOTO

VIZ MEDIA

12

SPY X FAMILY VOL. 1

TATSUYA ENDO

VIZ MEDIA

13

CHAINSAW MAN VOL. 5

TATSUKI FUJIMOTO

VIZ MEDIA

14

MY HERO ACADEMIA: TEAM-UP MISSIONS VOL. 2

YOKO AKIYAMA

VIZ MEDIA

15

ATTACK ON TITAN VOL. 34

HAJIME ISAYAMA

KODANSHA COMICS

16

CHAINSAW MAN VOL. 8

TATSUKI FUJIMOTO

VIZ MEDIA

17

MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 1

KOHEI HORIKOSHI

VIZ MEDIA

18

CHAINSAW MAN VOL. 6

TATSUKI FUJIMOTO

VIZ MEDIA

19

JUJUTSU KAISEN VOL. 13

GEGE AKUTAMI

VIZ MEDIA

20

TOILET-BOUND HANAKO-KUN VOL. 12

AIDAIRO

YEN PRESS

Source: The NPD Group/BookScan

For charts of January 2022 graphic novel sales from NPD BookScan:
January 2022 NPD BookScan – Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels
January 2022 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:
January 2022 NPD BookScan - Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels with Actual Sales
January 2022 NPD BookScan - Top 20 Author, Manga, and Superhero Graphic Novels with Actual Sales
January 2022 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."