In fact, 16 of the 20 titles are manga, and for once they are not all from VIZ Media—the chart includes one title each from Yen Press and Kodansha Comics. The four non-manga titles all fall in the Author category. In November 2020 a single superhero comic, DC Comics’ Three Jokers, made the list (see "November 2020 NPD BookScan – Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels") but the December list is Big Two-free.
It’s also mostly older books, with just one December release, Junji Ito’s Remina, in the top 20. Manga readers continue to sample older series; in addition to the multiple volumes of My Hero Academia (with Volume 1 topping the list), the first volumes of a number of older series made the top 20. Interestingly, the first two volumes of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba made the chart but Volume 19, a December release, did not. Maybe the monthly release schedule is getting ahead of readers. The first volume of Attack on Titan appears on the chart for the first time in a while; the publisher announced just a few days ago that the series will end this year (see "‘Attack on Titan’ Manga to End").
Outside of manga, Nathan Pyle’s Strange Planet and Stranger Planet are in the top 20; Strange Planet was the top selling book in December 2019 (see "December 2019 NPD BookScan – Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels"). The other two Author titles are both adaptations of prose titles, Sapiens: A Graphic History: The Birth of Humankind, Vol. 1, and the first volume of the graphic adaptation of Frank Herbert’s Dune. This is the second month in the top 20 for both titles.
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NPD BookScan Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels – December 2020 (11/29/20 - 1/2/21) |
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|
Rank |
Title |
Author |
Publisher |
|
1 |
MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 1 |
KOHEI HORIKOSHI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
2 |
DEMON SLAYER: KIMETSU NO YAIBA VOL. 1 |
KOYOHARU GOTOUGE |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
3 |
MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 2 |
KOHEI HORIKOSHI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
4 |
MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 3 |
KOHEI HORIKOSHI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
5 |
STRANGE PLANET HC |
NATHAN W. PYLE |
MORROW GIFT |
|
6 |
MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 4 |
KOHEI HORIKOSHI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
7 |
UZUMAKI HC |
JUNJI ITO |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
8 |
TOILET-BOUND HANAKO-KUN VOL. 1 |
AIDAIRO |
YEN PRESS |
|
9 |
MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 24 |
KOHEI HORIKOSHI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
10 |
REMINA HC |
JUNJI ITO |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
11 |
DEMON SLAYER: KIMETSU NO YAIBA VOL. 2 |
KOYOHARU GOTOUGE |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
12 |
HAIKYU!! VOL. 1 |
HARUICHI FURUDATE |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
13 |
ATTACK ON TITAN VOL. 1 |
ISAYAMA, HAJIME |
KODANSHA COMICS |
|
14 |
MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 25 |
KOHEI HORIKOSHI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
15 |
MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 5 |
KOHEI HORIKOSHI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
16 |
DUNE: THE GRAPHIC NOVEL BOOK 1: DUNE VOL. 1 HC |
FRANK HERBERT |
ABRAMS COMICARTS |
|
17 |
STRANGER PLANET HC |
NATHAN W. PYLE |
MORROW GIFT |
|
18 |
TOKYO GHOUL VOL. 1 |
SUI ISHIDA |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
19 |
SAPIENS: A GRAPHIC HISTORY: THE BIRTH OF HUMANKIND VOL. 1 |
YUVAL NOAH HARARI |
HARPERCOLLINS |
|
20 |
DEATH NOTE BLACK EDITION VOL. 1 |
TSUGUMI OHBA |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
Source: The NPD Group/BookScan |
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For charts of December graphic novel sales from NPD BookScan:
December 2020 NPD BookScan - Top 20 Author, Manga, and Superhero Graphic Novels
December 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:
December 2020 NPD BookScan - Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels with Actual Sales
December 2020 NPD BookScan - Top 20 Author, Manga, and Superhero Graphic Novels with Actual Sales
December 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."