The sequel to a venerable manga series and the newest volume from the hottest new manga topped the Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels for January, according to the list provided exclusively to ICv2 by Nielsen BookScan.

The king is dead, long live the king!  The long-running series is over, but the mighty Naruto is still on top, with Naruto: The Seventh Hokage and the Scarlet Spring, a one-volume sequel story (see "VIZ Media Announced 'Naruto' Sequel Volume for 2016").

And right behind it is the latest volume of One-Punch Man, which held four of the top six slots.  One-Punch Man is turning into that rarest of beasts, a manga hit in both the book channel and in comic stores.  Four volumes of Tokyo Ghoul, VIZ's other big new hit, also placed in the Top 20, giving VIZ Media nearly half the slots, with nine.

Marvel comes off as somewhat bellicose in January, with three Star Wars titles and Civil War in the top 20.  Marvel also had three Star Wars titles in the Top 20 in December, the movie release month (see "December 2015 BookScan"), indicating that sales on the graphic novels are continuing post-release.  Star Wars also did well in comic stores in January (see "'Star Wars' Makes Its Presence Felt").

The rest of the list was typical for recent months:  two DC Comics classics and Sandman: Overture Deluxe Edition HC from DC (Vertigo); a volume of The Walking Dead and a volume of Saga from Image Comics; Fun Home (way up at #5!) from Mariner Books; and American Born Chinese from First Second.

BookScan Top 20 Graphic Novels in January 2016

Rank

Title

Author

Publisher

1

NARUTO: THE SEVENTH HOKAGE & THE SCARLET SPRING

MASASHI KISHIMOTO

VIZ MEDIA

2

ONE-PUNCH MAN VOL. 4

ONE

VIZ MEDIA

3

ONE-PUNCH MAN VOL. 1

ONE

VIZ MEDIA

4

ONE-PUNCH MAN VOL. 2

ONE

VIZ MEDIA

5

FUN HOME: A FAMILY TRAGICOMIC

ALISON BECHDEL

MARINER BOOKS

6

ONE-PUNCH MAN VOL. 3

ONE

VIZ MEDIA

7

STAR WARS: DARTH VADER  VOL. 2

KIERON GILLEN

MARVEL COMICS

8

TOKYO GHOUL VOL. 1

SUI ISHIDA

VIZ MEDIA

9

TOKYO GHOUL VOL. 4

SUI ISHIDA

VIZ MEDIA

10

BATMAN: THE KILLING JOKE DLX ED

ALAN MOORE

DC COMICS

11

THE WALKING DEAD COMPENDIUM VOL. 3

ROBERT KIRKMAN

IMAGE COMICS

12

TOKYO GHOUL VOL. 2

SUI ISHIDA

VIZ MEDIA

13

STAR WARS: DARTH VADER  VOL. 1

KIERON GILLEN

MARVEL COMICS

14

TOKYO GHOUL VOL. 3

SUI ISHIDA

VIZ MEDIA

15

STAR WARS: JOURNEY TO STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS--SHATTERED EMPIRE

GREG RUCKA

MARVEL COMICS

16

CIVIL WAR

MARK MILLAR

MARVEL COMICS

17

AMERICAN BORN CHINESE

GENE LUEN YANG

SQUARE FISH

18

THE SANDMAN: OVERTURE DLX ED HC

NEIL GAIMAN

VERTIGO

19

SAGA VOL. 5

BRIAN K. VAUGHAN

IMAGE COMICS

20

WATCHMEN

ALAN MOORE

DC COMICS


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