The Superhero category is bookmarked by two different editions of Watchmen, one in first place and one in 19th, with plenty of Batman in between. Nothing new there. Two of the Batman books are September 2020 releases: Sean Murphy’s Batman: Curse of the White Knight and the deluxe edition of Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns: The Golden Child. Tom Taylor’s DCeased: Unkillables should count as well, as it came out at the end of August.
Three other September debuts make the chart: Michael Dougherty’s Trick ‘r Treat Omnibus, which collects the graphic adaptation of the film plus some spinoffs, is at number 5; Dragon Age: Blue Wraith, the seventh volume of comics based on the video game, is at number 14; and a Power Rangers/Ninja Turtles crossover is at number 18, so there’s a bit of variety this month.
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NPD BookScan Top 20 'Superheroes' Graphic Novels – September 2020 (8/30/20 - 10/3/20) |
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|
Rank |
Title |
Author |
Publisher |
|
|
1 |
WATCHMEN (2019 EDITION) |
ALAN MOORE |
DC COMICS |
|
|
2 |
STAR WARS: GALAXY'S EDGE |
ETHAN SACKS |
MARVEL COMICS |
|
|
3 |
BATMAN: CURSE OF THE WHITE KNIGHT HC |
SEAN MURPHY |
DC COMICS |
|
|
4 |
BATMAN: THE LONG HALLOWEEN |
JEPH LOEB |
DC COMICS |
|
|
5 |
TRICK 'R TREAT OMNIBUS HC |
MICHAEL DOUGHERTY |
LEGENDARY |
|
|
6 |
HARLEEN HC |
STJEPAN SEJIC |
DC COMICS |
|
|
7 |
THE BATMAN WHO LAUGHS HC |
SCOTT SNYDER |
DC COMICS |
|
|
8 |
THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS: THE GOLDEN CHILD DLX. ED. HC |
FRANK MILLER |
DC COMICS |
|
|
9 |
BATMAN: THE KILLING JOKE DLX. ED. HC (NEW EDITION) |
ALAN MOORE |
DC COMICS |
|
|
10 |
BATMAN: YEAR ONE |
MILLER, FRANK |
DC COMICS |
|
|
11 |
BATMAN: WHITE KNIGHT |
SEAN MURPHY |
DC COMICS |
|
|
12 |
THE SANDMAN VOL. 1: PRELUDES & NOCTURNES 30TH ANN. ED. |
NEIL GAIMAN |
DC COMICS |
|
|
13 |
DCEASED: UNKILLABLES HC |
TOM TAYLOR |
DC COMICS |
|
|
14 |
DRAGON AGE: BLUE WRAITH |
NUNZIO DEFILIPPIS |
DARK HORSE COMICS |
|
|
15 |
DCEASED HC |
TOM TAYLOR |
DC COMICS |
|
|
16 |
V FOR VENDETTA |
ALAN MOORE |
DC COMICS |
|
|
17 |
BATMAN: LAST KNIGHT ON EARTH HC |
SCOTT SNYDER |
DC COMICS |
|
|
18 |
MIGHTY MORPHIN POWER RANGERS/TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES |
RYAN PARROTT |
BOOM! STUDIOS |
|
|
19 |
WATCHMEN: THE DLX. ED. HC |
MOORE, ALAN |
DC COMICS |
|
|
20 |
BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS |
MILLER, FRANK |
DC COMICS |
|
|
Source: The NPD Group/BookScan |
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What about manga? This chart has more variety than usual as well, with recent volumes of Dragon Ball Super, Spy x Family, and Beastars breaking up the usual lineup of My Hero Academia (nine volumes this month) and Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba (three volumes). As in previous months, though, first volumes of older series are popping up as well, indicating a continued demand for backlist titles: The Promised Neverland, Tokyo Ghoul, Toilet Bound Hanako-Kun, and Assassination Classroom. Junji Ito’s Venus in the Blind Spot makes the chart for the second month in a row.
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NPD BookScan Top 20 Manga Graphic Novels – September 2020 (8/30/20 - 10/3/20) |
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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 |
DRAGON BALL SUPER VOL. 10 |
AKIRA TORIYAMA |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
4 |
DEMON SLAYER: KIMETSU NO YAIBA VOL. 16 |
KOYOHARU GOTOUGE |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
5 |
MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 24 |
KOHEI HORIKOSHI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
6 |
DEMON SLAYER: KIMETSU NO YAIBA VOL. 1 |
KOYOHARU GOTOUGE |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
7 |
VENUS IN THE BLIND SPOT HC |
JUNJI ITO |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
8 |
SPY X FAMILY VOL. 2 |
TATSUYA ENDO |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
9 |
MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 3 |
KOHEI HORIKOSHI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
10 |
THE PROMISED NEVERLAND VOL. 1 |
KAIU SHIRAI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
11 |
TOKYO GHOUL VOL. 1 |
SUI ISHIDA |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
12 |
TOILET-BOUND HANAKO-KUN VOL. 1 |
AIDAIRO |
YEN PRESS |
|
13 |
MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 4 |
KOHEI HORIKOSHI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
14 |
DEMON SLAYER: KIMETSU NO YAIBA VOL. 2 |
KOYOHARU GOTOUGE |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
15 |
MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 23 |
KOHEI HORIKOSHI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
16 |
ASSASSINATION CLASSROOM VOL. 1 |
YUSEI MATSUI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
17 |
MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 5 |
KOHEI HORIKOSHI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
18 |
BEASTARS VOL. 8 |
PARU ITAGAKI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
19 |
MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 22 |
KOHEI HORIKOSHI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
20 |
MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 21 |
KOHEI HORIKOSHI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
Source: The NPD Group/BookScan |
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The Author chart is really interesting, with five very different September debuts mixed in with the perennials. Sarah Andersen’s Fangs tops the list, and then we have Tenacious D’s Post-Apocalypto (see "Tenacious D Graphic Novel from Fantagraphics"), Derf Backderf’s Kent State: Four Dead in Ohio (see "Abrams Comicarts 2020 Spring List"), Ryan North’s graphic adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five (see "Archaia to Publish ‘Slaughterhouse-Five’ Graphic Novel, and Here’s a Preview!"), and Book Two of Greg Rucka’s The Old Guard. That lineup shows the breadth of this category and the wide variety of graphic novels that people will buy in bookstores.
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NPD BookScan Top 20 Author Graphic Novels – September 2020 (8/30/20 - 10/3/20) |
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|
Rank |
Title |
Author |
Publisher |
|
1 |
FANGS HC |
SARAH ANDERSEN |
ANDREWS & MCMEEL |
|
2 |
MARCH: BOOK ONE |
JOHN LEWIS |
TOP SHELF PROD. |
|
3 |
THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY VOL. 1: APOCALYPSE SUITE |
GERARD WAY |
DARK HORSE COMICS |
|
4 |
STRANGE PLANET HC |
NATHAN W. PYLE |
HARPERCOLLINS |
|
5 |
STRANGER PLANET HC |
NATHAN W. PYLE. |
HARPERCOLLINS |
|
6 |
THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY VOL. 2: DALLAS |
GERARD WAY |
DARK HORSE COMICS |
|
7 |
THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY VOL. 3: HOTEL OBLIVION |
GERARD WAY |
DARK HORSE COMICS |
|
8 |
CRITICAL ROLE: VOX MACHINA ORIGINS VOL. II |
CRITICAL ROLE |
DARK HORSE COMICS |
|
9 |
MARCH: BOOK TWO |
JOHN LEWIS |
TOP SHELF PROD. |
|
10 |
MARCH: BOOK THREE |
JOHN LEWIS |
TOP SHELF PROD. |
|
11 |
THEY CALLED US ENEMY |
GEORGE TAKEI |
TOP SHELF PROD. |
|
12 |
THE ADVENTURE ZONE: PETALS TO THE METAL |
CLINT MCELROY |
FIRST SECOND BOOKS |
|
13 |
POST-APOCALYPTO HC |
TENACIOUS D |
FANTAGRAPHICS BOOKS |
|
14 |
KENT STATE: FOUR DEAD IN OHIO HC |
DERF BACKDERF |
ABRAMS COMICARTS |
|
15 |
THE BOYS OMNIBUS VOL. 1 |
GARTH ENNIS |
DYNAMITE ENT. |
|
16 |
SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE: THE GRAPHIC NOVEL HC |
RYAN NORTH |
BOOM! STUDIOS |
|
17 |
THE OLD GUARD BOOK TWO: FORCE MULTIPLIED |
GREG RUCKA |
IMAGE COMICS |
|
18 |
THE ADVENTURE ZONE: PETALS TO THE METAL |
CLINT MCELROY |
FIRST SECOND BOOKS |
|
19 |
CRITICAL ROLE VOX MACHINA: ORIGINS VOL. 1 |
CRITICAL ROLE |
DARK HORSE COMICS |
|
20 |
FUN HOME: A FAMILY TRAGICOMIC |
ALISON BECHDEL |
MARINER BOOKS |
|
Source: The NPD Group/BookScan |
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For charts of September graphic novel sales from NPD BookScan:
September 2020 NPD BookScan - Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels
September 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:
September 2020 NPD BookScan - Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels with Actual Sales
September 2020 NPD BookScan - Top 20 Author, Manga, and Superhero Graphic Novels with Actual Sales
September 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."