There was considerable churn on the list, with seven new titles. It might appear at first glance that the sales-driving influence of movies and TV was a bit less apparent this month, with the comic book-only Saga dislodging The Killing Joke, which ICv2 had predicted would top the charts again this month due to the impending debut of the Suicide Squad movie (see “June 2016 BookScan”). But it should be noted that two new titles on the list, Harley Quinn Vol. 1 at #10 and Suicide Squad: Kicked in the Teeth at #15. are both directly related to the film, which opens August 5.
Saga Vol. 6 topped graphic novel sales in the direct market in June, though its first month comic shop sales were down a bit from Vol. 5 (see "Eleven Comic Titles Over 100,000 in June").
Another interesting new entry is Marjorie Liu and Sana Tekada’s Monstress Vol. 1 from Image, an epic fantasy that takes place in a matriarchal, alternate Asia, and which appears to be a natural for the bookstore GN market. The other new titles this month are shonen manga volumes: the sports manga Haikyu!! Vol. 1 at #8, and The Ancient Magus’ Bride Vol. 5 at # 19. Bookstore graphic novel sales often go to classic volumes, which is why Watchmen is almost always in the Top 20, but this month saw the return of another graphic novel classic, Gene Luen Yang’s American Born Chinese, which made its first appearance on the list since January (see "January 2016 BookScan").
Titles moving up this month include Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club #2 from Dark Horse, which moved up from #4 to #3 this month and Brandon Sanderson’s science fiction graphic novel White Sand from Dynamite that moved up from #17 in June to #8 in July (see "Dynamite to Publish a Trio of Graphic Novels By Brandon Sanderson"). Meanwhile Vertigo’s Preacher Book One faded from #3 in June to #10 in July (just as ratings for the AMC’s Preacher TV adaptation were sliding a bit during the shows inaugural season), and Paul Dini’s real life saga Dark Night: A True Batman Story fell from #11 in June to #18 in July.
Dropping off the list this month after an impressive 3-month run was The White Donkey: Terminal Lance, a soldier’s view of the Iraq War by former marine Maximilian Uriarte.
There were nine manga titles in the July Top 20, and Viz Media led all publishers with eight titles on the list including five volumes of Tokyo Ghoul and two volumes of One-Punch Man including Vol.7, which debuted on July 5 and ended up at #5. DC Comics was next with six titles, three of which were directly tied into Suicide Squad. Marvel was shut out and Image was the only publisher (other than VIZ Media and DC Comics) to have more than one title on the July list.
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BookScan Top 20 Graphic Novels in JuLY 2016 |
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|
Rank |
Title |
Author |
Publisher |
|
1 |
SAGA VOL. 6 |
BRIAN K. VAUGHAN |
IMAGE COMICS |
|
2 |
BATMAN: THE KILLING JOKE DLX ED |
ALAN MOORE |
DC COMICS |
|
3 |
FIGHT CLUB 2 HC |
CHUCK PALAHNIUK |
DARK HORSE COMICS |
|
4 |
ONE-PUNCH MAN VOL. 7 |
ONE |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
5 |
TOKYO GHOUL VOL. 7 |
SUI ISHIDA |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
6 |
TOKYO GHOUL VOL. 1 |
SUI ISHIDA |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
7 |
HAIKYU!! VOL. 1 |
HARUICHI FURUDATE |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
8 |
BRANDON SANDERSON'S WHITE SAND VOL. 1 HC |
RIK HOSKIN |
DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT |
|
9 |
MONSTRESS VOL. 1 |
MARJORIE LIU |
IMAGE COMICS |
|
10 |
PREACHER BOOK ONE |
GARTH ENNIS |
VERTIGO |
|
11 |
ONE-PUNCH MAN VOL. 1 |
ONE |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
12 |
HARLEY QUINN VOL. 1 |
AMANDA CONNER |
DC COMICS |
|
13 |
AMERICAN BORN CHINESE |
GENE LUEN YANG |
SQUARE FISH |
|
14 |
TOKYO GHOUL VOL. 2 |
SUI ISHIDA |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
15 |
SUICIDE SQUAD VOL. 1 (N52) |
ADAM GLASS |
DC COMICS |
|
16 |
WATCHMEN |
ALAN MOORE |
DC COMICS |
|
17 |
TOKYO GHOUL VOL. 6 |
SUI ISHIDA |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
18 |
DARK NIGHT: A TRUE BATMAN STORY HC |
PAUL DINI |
DC COMICS |
|
19 |
THE ANCIENT MAGNUS' BRIDE VOL. 5 |
KORE YAMAZAKI |
SEVEN SEAS |
|
20 |
TOKYO GHOUL VOL. 3 |
SUI ISHIDA |
VIZ MEDIA |
For past BookScan Top 20 Graphic Novel lists, see the "BookScan Top 20 GN Index."