Four volumes of The Walking Dead, including the latest at #1, tied with four March SKUs (a Slipcase Set joined the three volumes in the Top 20 this month) for the most products in the Top 20 Adult Fiction Graphic Novel chart provided exclusively to ICv2 by Nielsen BookScan.

It is The Walking Dead season, after all, with the controversial premiere episode of the new season in October drawing over 20 million viewers (see "’Walking Dead’ Ratings").  Image Comics had two other volumes in the Top 20, the first volume of Monstress, which is showing impressive staying power, and the most recent Saga volume, bringing its total to six volumes in the Top 20.

March, from IDW Publishing's Top Shelf imprint, has been on a tear, taking three of the top four slots last month (see "September BookScan – Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels").

VIZ Media manga titles took five of the Top 20 slots in October, with two Tokyo Ghoul volumes (including the new volume at #3), two One Punch Man, and the new Super Mario Adventures volume all making the list.

Two DC Suicide Squad-related titles (Batman: The Killing Joke Dlx. Ed. and Harley Quinn Vol. 1) stubbornly remain in the Top 20, although they're slipping a little every month now.

Marvel's Black Panther Vol. 1, by Ta-Nehisi Coates impressively moved up a couple of slots from its launch month debut to #4 in October.  And it seems like every month American Born Chinese, released in 2008 by Macmillan, is in the Top 20.

It's another month with an eclectic mix of titles in the top bookstore graphic novels, showing the range of audiences that enjoy the medium.

BookScan Top 20 Graphic Novels in October 2016

Rank

Title

Author

Publisher

1

THE WALKING DEAD VOL. 26

ROBERT KIRKMAN

IMAGE COMICS

2

MARCH: BOOK ONE

JOHN LEWIS

TOP SHELF PRODUCTIONS

3

TOKYO GHOUL VOL. 9

SUI ISHIDA

VIZ MEDIA

4

BLACK PANTHER BOOK 1

TA-NEHISI

MARVEL COMICS

5

THE WALKING DEAD BOOK 13 HC

ROBERT KIRKMAN

IMAGE COMICS

6

SUPER MARIO ADVENTURES

KENTARO TAKEMURA

VIZ MEDIA

7

BATMAN: THE KILLING JOKE DLX ED

ALAN MOORE

DC COMICS

8

MARCH TRILOGY SLIPCASE SET

JOHN LEWIS

TOP SHELF PRODUCTIONS

9

MARCH: BOOK THREE

JOHN LEWIS

TOP SHELF PRODUCTIONS

10

THE WALKING DEAD COMPENDIUM VOL. 3

ROBERT KIRKMAN

IMAGE COMICS

11

THE WALKING DEAD COMPENDIUM VOL. 1

ROBERT KIRKMAN

IMAGE COMICS

12

MONSTRESS VOL. 1

MARJORIE LIU

IMAGE COMICS

13

ONE-PUNCH MAN VOL. 8

YUSUKE MURATA

VIZ MEDIA

14

AMERICAN BORN CHINESE

GENE LUEN YANG

MACMILLAN

15

SAGA VOL. 6

BRIAN K. VAUGHAN

IMAGE COMICS

16

MARCH: BOOK TWO

JOHN LEWIS

TOP SHELF PRODUCTIONS

17

HARLEY QUINN VOL. 1 (N52)

CONNER & PALMIOTTI

DC COMICS

18

TOKYO GHOUL VOL. 1

SUI ISHIDA

VIZ MEDIA

19

SUPERMAN: AMERICAN ALIEN

MAX LANDIS

DC COMICS

20

ONE-PUNCH MAN VOL. 1

YUSUKE MURATA

VIZ MEDIA

For past BookScan Top 20 Graphic Novel lists, see the "BookScan Top 20 GN Index."