For the second month in a row, 19 of the top 20 adult graphic novels are manga. What’s different this month is the distribution of titles. While 16 of the manga are from VIZ Media, both Kodansha Comics and Yen Press make the chart as well, and Kodansha takes two slots, one of which is a box set.
Furthermore, My Hero Academia isn’t dominating the chart like it used to. In January, there were 7 volumes on the chart (see "January 2021 NPD BookScan – Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels"). In February there were only four, including the first volume and the most recent.
The other manga include three volumes of Jujutsu Kaisen, which seems to be a bit of a sleeper, two volumes each of The Promised Neverland and Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, plus both volume 1 and the first box set of Attack on Titan. And while shonen manga dominates, as usual, there is a volume of yaoi on the chart: Volume 5 of Given. Earlier volumes of this series have made the top 20 in the past, and it’s the only yaoi series we have seen on these charts.
The chart falls pretty much into line with what VIZ Media VP Kevin Hamric had to say in the ICv2 Manga Week interview last week, that the backlist is driving sales (see "ICv2 Interview: Viz Media Vice President Publishing Sales Kevin Hamric"). Hamric specifically mentioned Haikyu!! and Jujutsu Kaisen, both of which have benefited from recent anime.
As for that one non-manga title? It’s In Love & Pajamas, by Catana Chetwynd, and it’s in the number one spot. Chetwynd posts her comics on Instagram, where she has 3.1 million followers, as well as Facebook and Twitter, and she has 610 supporters on Patreon. She also has a YouTube channel where she does drawing tutorials. Chetwynd’s first book, Snug: A Collection of Comics About Dating Your Best Friend, was one of the top 20 graphic novels of 2020, according to NPD BookScan data reported by ICv2 (see "Full Year 2020 NPD BookScan – Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels").
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NPD BookScan Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels – February 2021 (1/31/21 - 2/27/21) |
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Rank |
Title |
Author |
Publisher |
|
1 |
IN LOVE & PAJAMAS: A COLLECTION OF COMICS ABOUT BEING YOURSELF TOGETHER HC |
CATANA CHETWYND |
ANDREWS MCMEEL |
|
2 |
MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 1 |
KOHEI HORIKOSHI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
3 |
THE PROMISED NEVERLAND VOL. 1 |
KAIU SHIRAI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
4 |
DEMON SLAYER: KIMETSU NO YAIBA VOL. 20 |
KOYOHARU GOTOUGE |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
5 |
MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 26 |
KOHEI HORIKOSHI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
6 |
CHAINSAW MAN VOL. 3 |
TATSUKI FUJIMOTO |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
7 |
JUJUTSU KAISEN VOL. 8 |
GEGE AKUTAMI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
8 |
ATTACK ON TITAN VOL. 1 |
HAJIME ISAYAMA |
KODANSHA COMICS |
|
9 |
JUJUTSU KAISEN, VOL. 1 |
GEGE AKUTAMI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
10 |
MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 2 |
KOHEI HORIKOSHI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
11 |
HAIKYU!! VOL. 1 |
HARUICHI FURUDATE |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
12 |
THE PROMISED NEVERLAND VOL. 2 |
KAIU SHIRAI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
13 |
JUJUTSU KAISEN VOL. 4 |
GEGE AKUTAMI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
14 |
MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 3 |
KOHEI HORIKOSHI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
15 |
GIVEN VOL. 5 |
NATSUKI KIZU |
SUBLIME |
|
16 |
DEMON SLAYER: KIMETSU NO YAIBA VOL. 1 |
KOYOHARU GOTOUGE |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
17 |
UZUMAKI HC |
JUNJI ITO |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
18 |
TOKYO GHOUL VOL. 1 |
SUI ISHIDA |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
19 |
TOILET-BOUND HANAKO-KUN VOL. 1 |
AIDAIRO |
YEN PRESS |
|
20 |
ATTACK ON TITAN SEASON 1 PART 1 MANGA BOX SET |
HAJIME ISAYAMA |
KODANSHA COMICS |
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Source: The NPD Group/BookScan |
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For charts of February 2021 graphic novel sales from NPD BookScan:
February 2021 NPD BookScan - Top 20 Author, Manga, and Superhero Graphic Novels
February 2021 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:
February 2021 NPD BookScan - Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels with Actual Sales
February 2021 NPD BookScan - Top 20 Author, Manga, and Superhero Graphic Novels with Actual Sales
February 2021 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."