That’s the paperback edition of The Adventure Zone: Petals to the Metal at the top of the chart and the hardcover in the number two spot. The situation was similar in July 2019, when the two editions of the second volume, The Adventure Zone: Murder on the Rockport Limited, debuted at number 1 and number 3 (see "July 2019 NPD BookScan – Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels"). One difference between now and then: The first volume returned to the top 20 in July 2019, but neither of the earlier volumes are on the chart in July 2020.
All three volumes of Rep. John Lewis’s graphic memoir March, along with the boxed set, made the top 20, no doubt getting renewed interest because of the civil rights pioneer’s death; his funeral drew considerable news coverage.
The only other non-manga titles on the list were Nathan Pyle’s Strange Planet and Stranger Planet, another matched set. There were no superhero comics in the top 20 (another parallel with the July 2019 chart). Another notable absence: George Takei’s memoir They Called Us Enemy, which is absent from the top 20 for only the second time since it was published in July 2019.
With eight Author titles and no superheroes, the rest of the chart is given over to manga. Only five of the 12 manga titles are volumes of My Hero Academia, which is losing a bit of steam as the releases shift from every two months to every four months; nonetheless, the fact that the first volume is in fourth place is a healthy sign for the franchise.
Volume 5 of Dark Horse Comics’ deluxe edition of Berserk debuts in sixth place; this is a hard-core manga favorite that will probably chart for the next few months, if history is any guide. New volumes of One-Punch Man and Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba make the chart, as well as the first volume of the latter, and Junji Ito’s Uzumaki makes its monthly appearance as well.
Two outliers: Volume 1 of the volleyball manga Haikyu!! and the first Legend of Zelda manga, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, both 2016 releases, hit the top 20. What’s up with that? There’s been some chatter about the upcoming Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 game, but a more likely explanation comes from Viz Media Vice President Publishing Sales Kevin Hamric, who told ICv2 that backlist sales have been especially strong during the pandemic (see "Manga in the COVID Era: Binge Reading, Box Sets, Volume 1’s, More"). When people run out of new stuff, it seems, they go looking for older series, and VIZ Media has plenty to choose from.
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NPD BookScan Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels – July 2020 (7/5/20 - 8/1/20) |
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|
Rank |
Title |
Author |
Publisher |
|
1 |
THE ADVENTURE ZONE: PETALS TO THE METAL |
CLINT MCELROY |
FIRST SECOND BOOKS |
|
2 |
THE ADVENTURE ZONE: PETALS TO THE METAL HC |
CLINT MCELROY |
FIRST SECOND BOOKS |
|
3 |
MARCH: BOOK ONE |
JOHN LEWIS |
TOP SHELF PROD. |
|
4 |
MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 1 |
KOHEI HORIKOSHI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
5 |
MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 24 |
KOHEI HORIKOSHI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
6 |
STRANGER PLANET HC |
NATHAN W. PYLE |
MORROW GIFT |
|
7 |
BERSERK DELUXE VOL. 5 HC |
KENTARO MIURA |
DARK HORSE COMICS |
|
8 |
MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 2 |
KOHEI HORIKOSHI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
9 |
DEMON SLAYER: KIMETSU NO YAIBA VOL. 14 |
KOYOHARU GOTOUGE |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
10 |
ONE-PUNCH MAN VOL. 20 |
ONE |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
11 |
MARCH: BOOK THREE |
JOHN LEWIS |
TOP SHELF PROD. |
|
12 |
MARCH (TRILOGY SLIPCASE SET) |
JOHN LEWIS |
TOP SHELF PROD. |
|
13 |
DEMON SLAYER: KIMETSU NO YAIBA VOL. 1 |
GOTOUGE, KOYOHARU |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
14 |
MARCH: BOOK TWO |
JOHN LEWIS |
TOP SHELF PROD. |
|
15 |
HAIKYU!! VOL. 1 |
HARUICHI FURUDATE |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
16 |
STRANGE PLANET HC |
NATHAN W. PYLE |
MORROW GIFT |
|
17 |
MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 3 |
KOHEI HORIKOSHI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
18 |
UZUMAKI HC |
JUNJI ITO |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
19 |
THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: OCARINA OF TIME - LEGENDARY ED. |
AKIRA HIMEKAWA |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
20 |
MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 4 |
KOHEI HORIKOSHI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
Source: The NPD Group/BookScan |
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For charts of July graphic novel sales from NPD BookScan:
July 2020 NPD BookScan – Top 20 Kids Graphic Novels
For the charts with the actual sales numbers from NPD BookScan, see these articles on the ICv2 Pro site:
July 2020 NPD BookScan - Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels with Actual Sales
July 2020 NPD BookScan - Top 20 Kids Graphic Novels with Actual Sales
NPD BookScan collects weekly point-of-sale data on print books from over 16,000 locations including e-tailers, chains, mass merchandisers, independent bookstores, and more. NPD BookScan covers approximately 85% of the U.S. trade print book market. The ranks on this chart are based on piece sales. Some publishers classify titles that are primarily text, or art books, as graphic novels; we've removed those titles from the ranking above.
For past BookScan Top 20 Graphic Novel lists, see the "BookScan Top 20 GN Index."