Avatar: The Last Airbender titles from Dark Horse Comics surged in March, according to the "Top 20 Graphic Novels" sold in the book channel, provided exclusively to ICv2 by Nielsen BookScan. Avatar: The Last Airbender--The Search, Part 1 premiered at #4, and Avatar: The Last Airbender--The Promise HC ranked #18.
The Walking Dead renewed its dominance with the top two ranks at the top of the charts for the final month of its third season, and seven out of the top 20 graphic novels in bookstores over-all.
Seven of the top 20 titles were manga, up from five in February (see "Manga Tops in Bookstores").
Only two traditional superhero titles from the Big Two made the top 20. Batman Vol. 2: The City of Owls HC launched at #6, and the first collection of Matt Fraction and David Aja's Hawkeye Vol. 1: My Life As A Weapon TP (which got five Eisner nominations, see "2013 Eisner Nominations") premiered at #9.
The first Saga collection remained in the Top 20 for the sixth consecutive month, and Kick-Ass 2 Prelude: Hit-Girl HC filled out the top 20 in the 20th position.
BookScan Top 20 Graphic Novels in March 2013 | |||
Rank | Title | Author | Publisher |
1 | THE WALKING DEAD COMPENDIUM VOL. 1 | ROBERT KIRKMAN | IMAGE COMICS |
2 | THE WALKING DEAD COMPENDIUM VOL. 2 | ROBERT KIRKMAN | IMAGE COMICS |
3 | NARUTO VOL. 60 | MASASHI KISHIMOTO | VIZ MEDIA |
4 | AVATAR: LAST AIRBENDER--THE SEARCH PT. 1 | GENE LUEN YANG | DARK HORSE |
5 | SAILOR MOON VOL. 1O | NAOKO TAKEUCHI | KODANSHA COMICS |
6 | BATMAN VOL. 2: THE CITY OF OWLS HC | SCOTT SNYDER | DC COMICS |
7 | THE WALKING DEAD VOL. 1 | ROBERT KIRKMAN | IMAGE COMICS |
8 | THE WALKING DEAD VOL. 17 | ROBERT KIRKMAN | IMAGE COMICS |
9 | HAWKEYE VOL. 1 | MATT FRACTION | MARVEL COMICS |
10 | ROSARIO+VAMPIRE: SESAON II VOL. 11 | AKIHISA IKEDA | VIZ MEDIA |
11 | THE WALKING DEAD VOL. 2 | ROBERT KIRKMAN | IMAGE COMICS |
12 | SAILOR MOON VOL. 9 | NAOKO TAKEUCHI | KODANSHA COMICS |
13 | VAMPIRE KNIGHT VOL. 16 | MATSURI HINO | VIZ MEDIA |
14 | ALICE IN THE COUNTRY OF COVER: CHESHIRE CAT WALTZ VOL. 4 | QUINROSE | SEVEN SEAS |
15 | THE WALKING DEAD BOOK 1 HC | ROBERT KIRKMAN | IMAGE COMICS |
16 | SAGA VOL. 1 | BRIAN K. VAUGHAN | IMAGE COMICS |
17 | ONE PIECE VOL. 66 | EIICHIRO ODA | VIZ MEDIA |
18 | AVATAR: LAST AIRBENDER--THE PROMISE HC | GENE LUEN YANG | DARK HORSE |
19 | THE WALKING DEAD VOL. 3 | ROBERT KIRKMAN | IMAGE COMICS |
20 | KICK-ASS 2 PRELUDE: HIT-GIRL HC | MARK MILLAR | MARVEL COMICS |
For past BookScan Top 20 Graphic Novel lists, see the "BookScan Top 20 GNs Index."