Webtoons, Chainsaw Man, and crossovers are the hot topics on this month’s chart of the Top 20 Author, Manga, and Superhero graphic novels in the book channel, based on NPD BookScan data for November 2022 (10/30/22-11/26/22) provided to ICv2.

The vertical scrolling revolution has arrived on the Author chart, with not only six volumes of Lore Olympus (hardcover and paperback editions of the first three volumes), but nine volumes of Korean webtoons published by Yen Press: Five volumes of Solo Leveling, plus the first volumes of three manhwa series and the second volume of Why Raeliana Ended Up at the Duke’s Mansion.  The last four are all November releases and part of the launch of Yen’s Ize Korean-comics imprint.

As for the other five, Catana Chetwynd’s You Are Home and Volume 10 of Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples’ Saga are back for a second month, Kate Beaton’s Ducks returns for a third, and the other two titles, They Called Us Enemy and Gender Queer, are Author-list perennials.

NPD BookScan Top 20 Author Graphic Novels – November 2022 (10/30/22 - 11/26/22)

Rank

Title

Author

Publisher

1

LORE OLYMPUS: VOLUME THREE HC

RACHEL SMYTHE

DEL REY

2

LORE OLYMPUS: VOLUME TWO HC

RACHEL SMYTHE

DEL REY

3

LORE OLYMPUS: VOLUME THREE

RACHEL SMYTHE

DEL REY

4

LORE OLYMPUS: VOLUME ONE HC

RACHEL SMYTHE

DEL REY

5

SOLO LEVELING VOL. 1

CHUGONG

YEN PRESS

6

SOLO LEVELING VOL. 5

CHUGONG

YEN PRESS

7

VILLAINS ARE DESTINED TO DIE VOL. 1

GWON GYEOEUL

YEN PRESS

8

LORE OLYMPUS: VOLUME ONE

RACHEL SMYTHE

DEL REY

9

THE WORLD AFTER THE FALL VOL. 1

GAMJA U

YEN PRESS

10

SOLO LEVELING VOL. 2

CHUGONG

YEN PRESS

11

LORE OLYMPUS: VOLUME TWO

RACHEL SMYTHE

DEL REY

12

SOLO LEVELING VOL. 4

CHUGONG

YEN PRESS

13

YOU ARE HOME

CATANA CHETWYND

ANDREWS MCMEEL

14

THE REMARRIED EMPRESS VOL. 1

ALPHATART

YEN PRESS

15

SAGA VOL. 10

BRIAN K. VAUGHAN

IMAGE COMICS

16

SOLO LEVELING VOL. 3

CHUGONG

YEN PRESS

17

THEY CALLED US ENEMY

GEORGE TAKEI

TOP SHELF PROD.

18

DUCKS: TWO YEARS IN THE OIL SANDS HC

KATE BEATON

DRAWN & QUARTERLY

19

GENDER QUEER: A MEMOIR

MAIA KOBABE

ONI PRESS

20

WHY RAELIANA ENDED UP AT THE DUKE'S MANSION VOL. 2

WHALE

YEN PRESS

Source: The NPD Group/BookScan

On the Manga chart, meanwhile, we have nine volumes of Chainsaw Man, three of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, and two apiece of Jujutsu Kaisen and My Hero Academia.  Meanwhile Spy x Family, which filled up a lot of slots on the BookScan top 20 when the anime came out last spring, is back to just one volume on the November chart.  It’s instructive to compare this month’s chart to the top sellers in Japan for 2022 (see "Oricon Reports Top-Selling Manga in Japan for 2022").  Chainsaw Man, which is probably the hottest manga in the English-language market right now, didn’t make the top five in Japan, while Tokyo Revengers, the number two seller in Japan, only charts in North America when a new volume comes out.

The outlier on the BookScan chart is Shuna’s Journey, a story by the famed director Hayao Miyazaki that has never been published in English before.  Published by First Second Books as a full-color hardcover, it couldn’t be more different from the other manga in the Top 20, but it’s definitely reaching its audience.

NPD BookScan Top 20 Manga Graphic Novels – November 2022 (10/30/22 - 11/26/22)

Rank

Title

Author

Publisher

1

CHAINSAW MAN VOL. 1

TATSUKI FUJIMOTO

VIZ MEDIA

2

CHAINSAW MAN VOL. 2

TATSUKI FUJIMOTO

VIZ MEDIA

3

SHUNA'S JOURNEY

HAYAO MIYAZAKI

FIRST SECOND BOOKS

4

CHAINSAW MAN VOL. 3

TATSUKI FUJIMOTO

VIZ MEDIA

5

DEMON SLAYER: KIMETSU NO YAIBA VOL. 1

KOYOHARU GOTOUGE

VIZ MEDIA

6

CHAINSAW MAN VOL. 4

TATSUKI FUJIMOTO

VIZ MEDIA

7

DEMON SLAYER: KIMETSU NO YAIBA VOL. 2

KOYOHARU GOTOUGE

VIZ MEDIA

8

MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 32

KOHEI HORIKOSHI

VIZ MEDIA

9

CHAINSAW MAN VOL. 5

TATSUKI FUJIMOTO

VIZ MEDIA

10

CHAINSAW MAN VOL. 9

TATSUKI FUJIMOTO

VIZ MEDIA

11

CHAINSAW MAN VOL. 7

TATSUKI FUJIMOTO

VIZ MEDIA

12

MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 1

KOHEI HORIKOSHI

VIZ MEDIA

13

JUJUTSU KAISEN VOL. 1

GEGE AKUTAMI

VIZ MEDIA

14

CHAINSAW MAN VOL. 10

TATSUKI FUJIMOTO

VIZ MEDIA

15

SPY X FAMILY VOL. 8

TATSUYA ENDO

VIZ MEDIA

16

JUJUTSU KAISEN VOL. 0

GEGE AKUTAMI

VIZ MEDIA

17

CHAINSAW MAN VOL. 11

TATSUKI FUJIMOTO

VIZ MEDIA

18

ONE-PUNCH MAN VOL. 24

ONE

VIZ MEDIA

19

KAIJU NO. 8 VOL. 4

NAOYA MATSUMOTO

VIZ MEDIA

20

DEMON SLAYER: KIMETSU NO YAIBA VOL. 3

KOYOHARU GOTOUGE

VIZ MEDIA

Source: The NPD Group/BookScan

Once again, the top seller on the Superhero chart is Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin, which has been doing well since it was released in July, and the number two title is Volume 1 of The Sandman, which got a push earlier in the year from the Netflix series.  We’re seeing its popularity slowly wane, though; in September there were seven different volumes of The Sandman on the chart (see "September 2022 NPD BookScan"), and in November there are only three.

What’s particularly interesting about this chart, though, is that it illustrates the evolution of the Superhero category from straightforward capes-and-tights comics toward nontraditional treatment of the material: The Fortnite x Marvel and Batman/Spawn crossovers, Alex Ross’s reimagined Fantastic Four: Full Circle, Jeffrey Brown’s cozy family tale Star Wars: A Vader Family Sithmas, and even the Penguin Classics treatment of The Amazing Spider-Man as a work of serious literature are all new takes on established properties.  The usual IPs are showing up in some unusual configurations these days.

NPD BookScan Top 20 'Superheroes' Graphic Novels – November 2022 (10/30/22 - 11/26/22)

Rank

Title

Author

Publisher

1

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: THE LAST RONIN HC

KEVIN EASTMAN

IDW PUBLISHING

2

THE SANDMAN BOOK ONE

NEIL GAIMAN

DC COMICS

3

STRANGER THINGS GRAPHIC NOVEL BOXED SET (ZOMBIE BOYS, THE BULLY, ERICA THE GREAT )

GREG PAK

DARK HORSE COMICS

4

FORTNITE X MARVEL: ZERO WAR HC

CHRISTOS GAGE

MARVEL COMICS

5

GODZILLA VS. THE MIGHTY MORPHIN POWER RANGERS

CULLEN BUNN

IDW PUBLISHING

6

BATMAN/SPAWN: THE CLASSIC COLLECTION

DOUG MOENCH

DC COMICS

7

WATCHMEN (2019 EDITION)

ALAN MOORE

DC COMICS

8

BATMAN: YEAR ONE

FRANK MILLER

DC COMICS

9

THE SANDMAN BOOK TWO

NEIL GAIMAN

DC COMICS

10

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

ALAN MOORE

DC COMICS

11

THE BATMAN WHO LAUGHS

SCOTT SNYDER

DC COMICS

12

THE SANDMAN BOOK THREE

NEIL GAIMAN

DC COMICS

13

FANTASTIC FOUR: FULL CIRCLE HC

ALEX ROSS

HARRY ABRAMS

14

STAR WARS: A VADER FAMILY SITHMAS

JEFFREY BROWN

CHRONICLE BOOKS

15

V FOR VENDETTA

ALAN MOORE

DC COMICS

16

BATMAN '89 HC

SAM HAMM

DC COMICS

17

BATMAN: HUSH (NEW EDITION)

JEPH LOEB

DC COMICS

18

BATMAN: THE LONG HALLOWEEN

JEPH LOEB

DC COMICS

19

STAR WARS: THE HALCYON LEGACY

ETHAN SACKS

MARVEL COMICS

20

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN

STAN LEE

PENGUIN CLASSICS

Source: The NPD Group/BookScan

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