Marvel Comics returns to the Superhero chart, although not with superhero comics; both titles are Star Wars. This beats their showing for last month, when there were no Marvel titles at all on the list (see "July 2020 NPD BookScan – Top 20 Author, Manga, Superhero Graphic Novels"). Both the Star Wars titles on this month’s list are August releases.
Two non-DC releases debuting on the chart are a tie-in to the Cuphead game from Dark Horse Comics and a Star Trek graphic novel from IDW Publishing.
The rest is DC, heavy on the Batman and Alan Moore titles as usual, although the new Green Lantern original graphic novel, an August release, debuts at number 4. The other new title on the list is DCeased: Unkillables.
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NPD BookScan Top 20 'Superheroes' Graphic Novels – August 2020 (8/2/20 - 8/29/20) |
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|
Rank |
Title |
Author |
Publisher |
|
1 |
STAR WARS: THE RISE OF KYLO REN |
CHARLES SOULE |
MARVEL COMICS |
|
2 |
WATCHMEN (2019 EDITION) |
ALAN MOORE |
DC COMICS |
|
3 |
BATMAN: THE LONG HALLOWEEN |
JEPH LOEB |
DC COMICS |
|
4 |
GREEN LANTERN: EARTH ONE VOL. 2 HC |
GABRIEL HARDMAN |
DC COMICS |
|
5 |
THE SANDMAN VOL. 1: PRELUDES & NOCTURNES 30TH ANN. ED. |
NEIL GAIMAN |
DC COMICS |
|
6 |
V FOR VENDETTA |
ALAN MOORE |
DC COMICS |
|
7 |
BATMAN: YEAR ONE |
FRANK MILLER |
DC COMICS |
|
8 |
HARLEEN HC |
STJEPAN SEJIC |
DC COMICS |
|
9 |
CUPHEAD VOL. 1: COMIC CAPERS & CURIOS |
ZACK KELLER |
DARK HORSE COMICS |
|
10 |
DCEASED: UNKILLABLES HC |
TOM TAYLOR |
DC COMICS |
|
11 |
BATMAN: THE KILLING JOKE DLX. ED. HC (NEW ED.) |
ALAN MOORE |
DC COMICS |
|
12 |
THE BATMAN WHO LAUGHS |
SCOTT SNYDER |
DC COMICS |
|
13 |
WATCHMEN: THE DELUXE EDITION |
ALAN MOORE |
DC COMICS |
|
14 |
BATMAN: LAST KNIGHT ON EARTH HC |
SCOTT SNYDER |
DC COMICS |
|
15 |
BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS |
FRANK MILLER |
DC COMICS |
|
16 |
DCEASED HC |
TOM TAYLOR |
DC COMICS |
|
17 |
DOOMSDAY CLOCK PART 2 |
GEOFF JOHNS |
DC COMICS |
|
18 |
STAR TREK: PICARD - COUNTDOWN |
KIRSTEN BEYER |
IDW PUBLISHING |
|
19 |
BATMAN: WHITE KNIGHT |
SEAN MURPHY |
DC COMICS |
|
20 |
STAR WARS: DARTH VADER - DARK LORD OF THE SITH VOL. 2 |
CHARLES SOULE |
MARVEL COMICS |
|
Source: The NPD Group/BookScan |
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The Manga chart is all VIZ Media, although with no new volume of My Hero Academia, there’s a good variety of titles. Of course, the first two volumes of MHA top the list; after that, the new volume of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba takes the number 3 spot. This is an August release, as VIZ has pushed this series to a monthly schedule; it’s interesting to note that while volumes 1 and 2 are also in the top 20, volume 14 is not.
The new volume of Legend of Zelda takes the number 5 spot, but after a few months of selling well enough to get into the top 20, the older Legend of Zelda volumes have dropped off again.
Venus in the Blind Spot is Junji Ito’s newest manga, and that’s in the number 8 position, with his Uzumaki at number 13. The rest of the list is either early volumes of older series, as readers check them out for the first time, or new volumes of long-running series, including Given, a boys-love manga, which is a rarity on this chart.
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NPD BookScan Top 20 Manga Graphic Novels – August 2020 (8/2/20 - 8/29/20) |
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|
Rank |
Title |
Author |
Publisher |
|
1 |
MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 1 |
KOHEI HORIKOSHI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
2 |
MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 2 |
KOHEI HORIKOSHI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
3 |
DEMON SLAYER: KIMETSU NO YAIBA VOL. 15 |
KOYOHARU GOTOUGE |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
4 |
MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 24 |
KOHEI HORIKOSHI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
5 |
THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: TWILIGHT PRINCESS VOL. 7 |
AKIRA HIMEKAWA |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
6 |
DEMON SLAYER: KIMETSU NO YAIBA VOL. 1 |
KOYOHARU GOTOUGE |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
7 |
HAIKYU!! VOL. 1 |
HARUICHI FURUDATE |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
8 |
VENUS IN THE BLIND SPOT |
JUNJI ITO |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
9 |
MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 3 |
KOHEI HORIKOSHI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
10 |
ONE PIECE VOL. 94 |
EIICHIRO ODA |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
11 |
DEMON SLAYER: KIMETSU NO YAIBA VOL. 2 |
KOYOHARU GOTOUGE |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
12 |
TOKYO GHOUL VOL. 1 |
SUI ISHIDA |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
13 |
UZUMAKI HC |
JUNJI ITO |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
14 |
KOMI CAN'T COMMUNICATE VOL. 8 |
TOMOHITO ODA |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
15 |
MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 4 |
KOHEI HORIKOSHI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
16 |
MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 23 |
KOHEI HORIKOSHI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
17 |
MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 5 |
KOHEI HORIKOSHI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
18 |
THE PROMISED NEVERLAND VOL. 16 |
KAIU SHIRAI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
19 |
GIVEN VOL. 3 |
NATSUKI KIZU |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
20 |
MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 21 |
KOHEI HORIKOSHI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
Source: The NPD Group/BookScan |
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Ed Brubaker’s Pulp, an August release, tops the ComicHub list of graphic novels sold in comic shops (see "Top 20 Graphic Novels – August 2020") but it’s only at number 17 on the bookstore list. In fact, the ComicHub list (which shows comic-shop sales, rather than orders as on the Diamond list) is heavy on Image Comics, which hasn’t been doing as well in bookstores of late; the only other Image title on the August list is Book One of The Old Guard, a 2017 release, and there were no Image titles on the BookScan top 20 in July.
The other August release on the Author chart is the second volume of Critical Role: Vox Machina Origins, which has done well enough that publisher Dark Horse has announced it will publish the two volumes as a hardcover omnibus (see "‘Critical Role: Vox Machina Origins’ Receives Hardcover Treatment’").
Those books aside, the Author category is pretty consistent, with all three volumes of The Umbrella Academy, plus the library edition; all three volumes of The Adventure Zone, including hardcover and paperback of the most recent one; and all three volumes of March, plus the boxed set.
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NPD BookScan Top 20 Author Graphic Novels – August 2020 (8/2/20 - 8/29/20) |
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|
Rank |
Title |
Author |
Publisher |
|
1 |
THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY VOL. 1: APOCALYPSE SUITE |
GERARD WAY |
DARK HORSE COMICS |
|
2 |
MARCH: BOOK ONE |
JOHN LEWIS |
TOP SHELF PROD. |
|
3 |
THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY VOL. 2: DALLAS |
GERARD WAY |
DARK HORSE COMICS |
|
4 |
THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY VOL. 3: HOTEL OBLIVION |
GERARD WAY |
DARK HORSE COMICS |
|
5 |
CRITICAL ROLE: VOX MACHINA ORIGINS VOL. II HC |
CRITICAL ROLE |
DARK HORSE COMICS |
|
6 |
STRANGER PLANET HC |
NATHAN W. PYLE |
MORROW GIFT |
|
7 |
THE ADVENTURE ZONE: PETALS TO THE METAL |
CLINT MCELROY |
FIRST SECOND BOOKS |
|
8 |
STRANGE PLANET HC |
NATHAN W. PYLE |
MORROW GIFT |
|
9 |
MARCH: BOOK TWO |
JOHN LEWIS |
TOP SHELF PROD. |
|
10 |
THEY CALLED US ENEMY |
GEORGE TAKEI |
TOP SHELF PROD. |
|
11 |
THE ADVENTURE ZONE: PETALS TO THE METAL |
CLINT MCELROY |
FIRST SECOND BOOKS |
|
12 |
THE OLD GUARD BOOK ONE: OPENING FIRE |
GREG RUCKA |
IMAGE COMICS |
|
13 |
MARCH: BOOK THREE |
JOHN LEWIS |
TOP SHELF PROD. |
|
14 |
MARCH (TRILOGY SLIPCASE SET) |
JOHN LEWIS |
TOP SHELF PROD. |
|
15 |
THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY LIBRARY ED. VOL. 1: APOCALYPSE SUITE HC |
GERARD WAY |
DARK HORSE COMICS |
|
16 |
FUN HOME: A FAMILY TRAGICOMIC |
ALISON BECHDEL |
MARINER BOOKS |
|
17 |
PULP HC |
ED BRUBAKER |
IMAGE COMICS |
|
18 |
THE ADVENTURE ZONE: HERE THERE BE GERBLINS |
CLINT MCELROY |
FIRST SECOND BOOKS |
|
19 |
THE ADVENTURE ZONE: MURDER ON THE ROCKPORT LIMITED! |
CLINT MCELROY |
FIRST SECOND BOOKS |
|
20 |
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD: A GRAPHIC NOVEL |
HARPER LEE |
HARPERCOLLINS |
|
Source: The NPD Group/BookScan |
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For charts of July graphic novel sales from NPD BookScan:
August 2020 NPD BookScan – Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels
August 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:
August 2020 NPD BookScan - Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels with Actual Sales
August 2020 NPD BookScan - Top 20 Author, Manga, and Superhero Graphic Novels with Actual Sales
August 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."