Variety is the name of the game for the top 20 Author, Manga, and Superhero Graphic Novels in the book channel, based on Circana (formerly NPD) BookScan data for October (10/1/23 – 10/28/23) provided to ICv2.

Topping the Superhero list for the second month in a row is Disney Manga: Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas – The Battle for the Pumpkin King, which is not actually a manga; a second, older volume is at number 16.  Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin is in second place for the second month in a row.

In third place is one of the few new titles on the chart, the second volume of Batman: Wayne Family Adventures, which was serialized first on the Webtoon platform; the first volume of Zatanna & The Ripper, another Webtoon DC title, is in 12th place.

Two different editions of Watchmen are in the October Top 20, with the deluxe hardcover released in 2013 placing higher, at number 7; the 2019 paperback is at number 10.

Blue Beetle: Graduation Day is on the chart for the third month in a row.

A couple of the October titles have fairly hefty price tags; the deluxe Watchmen has an MSRP of $39.99, Moon Knight by Lemire & Smallwood is priced at $34.99, the Bloodborne box set is $49.99, and the Penguin Classics edition of The Amazing Spider-Man is a cool $50.  These four older properties appear to be deeply discounted at Amazon, so shoppers may be snapping up bargains online.

Circana BookScan Top 20 "Superhero" Graphic Novels – October 2023 (10/1/23 - 10/28/23)

Rank

Title

Author

Publisher

1

DISNEY MANGA: TIM BURTON'S THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS - THE BATTLE FOR PUMPKIN KING

DAN CONNER

TOKYOPOP

2

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: THE LAST RONIN HC

KEVIN EASTMAN

IDW PUBLISHING

3

BATMAN: WAYNE FAMILY ADVENTURES VOL. TWO GN

CRC PAYNE

DC COMICS

4

BATMAN: YEAR ONE

FRANK MILLER

DC COMICS

5

HAWKEYE VOL. 1: MY LIFE AS A WEAPON

MATT FRACTION

MARVEL COMICS

6

THE SANDMAN BOOK ONE

NEIL GAIMAN

DC COMICS

7

WATCHMEN: THE DELUXE EDITION HC

ALAN MOORE

DC COMICS

8

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN

STAN LEE

PENGUIN CLASSICS

9

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

ALAN MOORE

DC COMICS

10

WATCHMEN (2019 EDITION)

ALAN MOORE

DC COMICS

11

BATMAN '89

SAM HAMM

DC COMICS

12

ZATANNA & THE RIPPER VOL. ONE GN

SARAH DEALY

DC COMICS

13

MOON KNIGHT BY LEMIRE & SMALLWOOD: THE COMPLETE COLLECTION

JEFF LEMIRE

MARVEL COMICS

14

BATMAN: THE LONG HALLOWEEN

JEPH LOEB

DC COMICS

15

BLUE BEETLE: GRADUATION DAY

JOSH TRUJILLO

DC COMICS

16

DISNEY MANGA: TIM BURTON'S THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS - ZERO'S JOURNEY (ULTIMATE MANGA ED.)

D. J. MILKY

TOKYOPOP

17

BLOODBORNE: 1-3 BOXED SET (GRAPHIC NOVEL)

ALES KOT

TITAN COMICS

18

STAR WARS: DARTH VADER BY GREG PAK VOL. 7 - UNBOUND FORCE

GREG PAK

MARVEL COMICS

19

STAR WARS: TALES FROM THE DEATH STAR

CAVAN SCOTT

DARK HORSE

20

DC HORROR PRESENTS: SGT. ROCK VS. THE ARMY OF THE DEAD

BRUCE CAMPBELL

DC COMICS

Source: Circana

The newest volume of Chainsaw Man tops the Manga chart, followed by new volumes of Spy x Family and Kaiju No. 8.  The future looks good for Chainsaw Man, as both the first volume of that series and the box set of the first 11 volumes are also on the chart.

Four volumes of Jujutsu Kaisen make the top 20, with Vols. 1 and 0 placing higher than the most recent release, Vol. 20.  Vol. 103 of One Piece is on the chart for the fourth month in a row; watch for it to be knocked off in November, when Vol. 104 comes out.

And there’s a new Junji Ito title in the Top 20, although the author is listed as Hirokatsu Kihara; Mimi’s Tales of Terror is Ito’s adaptation of a collection of urban legends by Kihara and co-author Ichiro Nakayama.  The cover is unmistakably Ito, though.

Circana BookScan Top 20 Manga Graphic Novels – October 2023 (10/1/23 - 10/28/23)

Rank

Title

Author

Publisher

1

CHAINSAW MAN VOL. 12

TATSUKI FUJIMOTO

VIZ MEDIA

2

SPY X FAMILY VOL. 10

TATSUYA ENDO

VIZ MEDIA

3

KAIJU NO. 8 VOL. 8

NAOYA MATSUMOTO

VIZ MEDIA

4

BERSERK DELUXE VOL. 1

KENTARO MIURA

DARK HORSE

5

JUJUTSU KAISEN VOL. 1

GEGE AKUTAMI

VIZ MEDIA

6

JUJUTSU KAISEN VOL. 0

GEGE AKUTAMI

VIZ MEDIA

7

JUJUTSU KAISEN VOL. 20

GEGE AKUTAMI

VIZ MEDIA

8

MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 35

KOHEI HORIKOSHI

VIZ MEDIA

9

KOMI CAN'T COMMUNICATE VOL. 27

TOMOHITO ODA

VIZ MEDIA

10

SPY X FAMILY VOL. 1

TATSUYA ENDO

VIZ MEDIA

11

CHAINSAW MAN VOL. 1

TATSUKI FUJIMOTO

VIZ MEDIA

12

CHAINSAW MAN BOX SET (INCLUDES VOLS. 1-11)

TATSUKI FUJIMOTO

VIZ MEDIA

13

DANDADAN VOL. 5

YUKINOBU TATSU

VIZ MEDIA

14

ONE PIECE VOL. 103

EIICHIRO ODA

VIZ MEDIA

15

HUNTER X HUNTER VOL. 37

 YOSHIHIRO TOGASHI

VIZ MEDIA

16

MIMI'S TALES OF TERROR

HIROKATSU KIHARA

VIZ MEDIA

17

JUJUTSU KAISEN VOL. 2

GEGE AKUTAMI

VIZ MEDIA

18

DEMON SLAYER: KIMETSU NO YAIBA VOL. 1

KOYOHARU GOTOUGE

VIZ MEDIA

19

DRAGON BALL SUPER VOL. 19

AKIRA TORIYAMA

VIZ MEDIA

20

WITCH HAT ATELIER VOL. 11

KAMOME SHIRAHAMA

KODANSHA COMICS

Source: Circana

The least surprising news about the Author chart is that the new volume of Lore Olympus is on it. The most surprising news is that it’s not at number one.  However, the three editions of Vol. 5 (hardcover, B&N exclusive, paperback) line up neatly at numbers 2, 3, and 4, and the fourth and first volumes show up lower down.  This franchise may not be the blockbuster it once was, but it’s still an Author stalwart.

The top title, of course, is Bill Watterson’s The Mysteries, and the first volume of The Calvin and Hobbes Portable Compendium shows up at number 18, so he places twice with two very different books, one new and one old (but perennially popular).

Three interesting October releases debut on the chart: Roz Chast’s I Must Be Dreaming, the graphic adaptation of Richard Adams’ Watership Down, and the first volume of 7Fates: Chakho, the webtoon about the K-pop band BTS.  Vol. 3 of the manhua (Chinese graphic novel) Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation: Mo Dao Zu Shi is at number 20, making the chart for the second month in a row.

Two frequently challenged graphic novels, Anne Frank’s Diary: The Graphic Adaptation and Maia Kobabe’s Gender Queer, also make the list.

Circana BookScan Top 20 Author Graphic Novels – October 2023 (10/1/23 - 10/28/23)

Rank

Title

Author

Publisher

1

THE MYSTERIES HC

BILL WATTERSON

ANDREWS MCMEEL

2

LORE OLYMPUS VOL. FIVE HC

RACHEL SMYTHE

INKLORE

3

LORE OLYMPUS VOL. FIVE (B&N EXCLUSIVE)

RACHEL SMYTHE

INKLORE

4

LORE OLYMPUS VOL. FIVE

RACHEL SMYTHE

INKLORE

5

MONICA HC

DANIEL CLOWES

FANTAGRAPHICS BOOKS

6

SOLO LEVELING VOL. 7

CHUGONG

YEN PRESS

7

THEY CALLED US ENEMY

GEORGE TAKEI

TOP SHELF PROD.

8

ODDBALLS: THE GRAPHIC NOVEL

JAMES RALLISON

TARCHERPERIGEE

9

I MUST BE DREAMING

ROZ CHAST

BLOOMSBURY

10

LORE OLYMPUS VOL. FOUR HC

RACHEL SMYTHE

INKLORE

11

ANNE FRANK'S DIARY: THE GRAPHIC ADAPTATION HC

ANNE FRANK

PANTHEON

12

SOLO LEVELING VOL. 1

CHUGONG

YEN PRESS

13

LOVE IS AN ILLUSION! VOL. 4

FARGO

SEVEN SEAS ENT.

14

WATERSHIP DOWN: THE GRAPHIC NOVEL HC

RICHARD ADAMS

TEN SPEED PRESS

15

GENDER QUEER: A MEMOIR

MAIA KOBABE

ONI PRESS

16

7FATES: CHAKHO VOL. 1

HYBE

IZE PRESS

17

LORE OLYMPUS VOL. ONE

RACHEL SMYTHE

INKLORE

18

THE CALVIN AND HOBBES PORTABLE COMPENDIUM SET 1: VOL. 1

BILL WATTERSON

ANDREWS MCMEEL

19

KILLING STALKING: DLX. ED. VOL. 4

KOOGI

SEVEN SEAS ENT.

20

GRANDMASTER OF DEMONIC CULTIVATION: MO DAO ZU SHI VOL. 3

MO XIANG TONG XIU

SEVEN SEAS ENT.

Source: Circana

For charts of October 2023 graphic novel sales from Circana:
October 2023 Circana – Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels
October 2023 Circana – Top 20 Kids Graphic Novels

For the charts with the actual sales numbers from Circana, see these articles on the ICv2 Pro site:
October 2023 Circana – Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels with Actual Sales
October 2023 Circana – Top 20 Author, Manga, and Superhero Graphic Novels with Actual Sales
October 2023 Circana – Top 20 Kids Graphic Novels with Actual Sales


Circana collects weekly point-of-sale data on print books from over 16,000 locations including e-tailers, chains, mass merchandisers, independent bookstores, and more.  Circana 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 Top 20 Graphic Novel lists, see the "Top 20 GN Index."