For the first time ever an OEL (original English language) manga was the bestselling graphic novel in American bookstores.  Tokyopop's Warriors: The Lost Warrior ($6.99) is based on Erin Hunter's popular series of Warriors novels for young readers (9-12) about a band of warrior cats.  Dan Jolley and James Barry's Warriors manga presents the previously untold story of Graystripe, his life with humans and his ultimate quest to be reunited with his clan (see 'Warriors: The Lost Warrior').

Other OEL manga such as Fred Gallagher's Megatokyo (DC/CMX), the MMORPG-based Warcraft (Tokyopop), and Svetlana Chmakova's Dramacon have all done well, but this is the first time that a manga-style graphic novel title created in English has topped the graphic novel charts.

Warriors: The Lost Warrior was #74 on the USA Today's Top 150 for the week ending April 29th followed by Fruits Basket Vol. 16 at #98 and Naruto Vol. 14, which debuted at #115 (and will likely top the graphic novel list for the next week).  Although Warriors: The Lost Warriors' spot on the USA Today list, which covers all formats and genres of books, was the top position occupied by a graphic novel this week, it is far from the record top spot held by a graphic novel (Fruits Basket Vol. 16 reached #15 two weeks ago, see 'Fruits Basket Hits New High') and well below Erin Hunter's latest Warriors novel, Warriors: Powers of Three #1: The Sight, which debuted at #17.  Still, the success of Warriors: The Lost Warrior is a further demonstration of the growing acceptance of the manga/graphic novel format and vindication of Harper and Tokyopop's strategy of releasing the new Warriors novel and graphic novel at the same time.