While there are plenty of hardy perennials on the Superhero list (Watchmen, Sandman, Batman: The Long Halloween), shoppers also picked up some new titles. In fact, four of the top 20 are July releases: King in Black, the final volume of Donny Cates’ Venom saga; Batman/The Maxx: Arkham Dreams, collecting Sam Keith’s 2018 crossover between his creator owned character and Batman; Stranger Things and Dungeons & Dragons, another crossover; and Future State Batman: Dark Detective, which takes place in a future Gotham City with overtones of 1984. Despite being half Batman, that’s a pretty diverse quartet, with four very different stories from four different publishers.
Overall, fully half the top 20 are 2021 releases, from The Batman Who Laughs to GvK: Godzilla Dominion.
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NPD BookScan Top 20 'Superheroes' Graphic Novels – July 2021 (7/4/21 – 7/31/21) |
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|
Rank |
Title |
Author |
Publisher |
|
1 |
WATCHMEN (2019 EDITION) |
ALAN MOORE |
DC COMICS |
|
2 |
THE BATMAN WHO LAUGHS |
SCOTT SNYDER |
DC COMICS |
|
3 |
KING IN BLACK |
DONNY CATES |
MARVEL COMICS |
|
4 |
LOKI: AGENT OF ASGARD - THE COMPLETE COLLECTION |
AL EWING |
MARVEL COMICS |
|
5 |
BATMAN: THE LONG HALLOWEEN |
JEPH LOEB |
DC COMICS |
|
6 |
BATMAN/THE MAXX: ARKHAM DREAMS HC |
SAM KIETH |
IDW PUBLISHING |
|
7 |
STRANGER THINGS AND DUNGEONS & DRAGONS |
JODY HOUSER |
DARK HORSE COMICS |
|
8 |
BATMAN: THE KILLING JOKE DLX. ED. HC (NEW ED.) |
ALAN MOORE |
DC COMICS |
|
9 |
THE SANDMAN VOL. 1: PRELUDES & NOCTURNES 30TH ANN. ED. |
NEIL GAIMAN |
DC COMICS |
|
10 |
BATMAN: YEAR ONE |
FRANK MILLER |
DC COMICS |
|
11 |
DARK NIGHTS: DEATH METAL: DLX. ED. HC |
SCOTT SNYDER |
DC COMICS |
|
12 |
STAR WARS: DARTH VADER BY GREG PAK VOL. 2: INTO THE FIRE |
GREG PAK |
MARVEL COMICS |
|
13 |
FUTURE STATE BATMAN: DARK DETECTIVE |
MARIKO TAMAKI |
DC COMICS |
|
14 |
INFINITY GAUNTLET |
JIM STARLIN |
MARVEL COMICS |
|
15 |
HARLEEN HC |
STJEPAN SEJIC |
DC COMICS |
|
16 |
MS. MARVEL VOL. 1 NO NORMAL |
WILLOW WILSON |
MARVEL COMICS |
|
17 |
V FOR VENDETTA |
ALAN MOORE |
DC COMICS |
|
18 |
BATMAN: THREE JOKERS HC |
GEOFF JOHNS |
DC COMICS |
|
19 |
DCEASED: HOPE AT WORLD'S END HC |
TOM TAYLOR |
DC COMICS |
|
20 |
GVK GODZILLA DOMINION |
GREG KEYES |
LEGENDARY COMICS |
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Source: The NPD Group/BookScan |
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The Author chart has an even bigger proportion of July 2021 titles, including the two editions (hardcover and paperback) of The Adventure Zone: The Crystal Kingdom, Volume 2 of Solo Leveling, and three standalone stories: Devil’s Candy, one of VIZ Media’s original graphic novels; Bubble, from First Second Books, and Seek You by Kristen Radtke, published by Pantheon, as was her previous book, Imagine Wanting Only This.
The first volume of the Adventure Zone series also makes it back onto the chart, and the Invincible animated series continues to draw readers, as four volumes of that are in the top 20.
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NPD BookScan Top 20 Author Graphic Novels – July 2021 (7/4/21 – 7/31/21) |
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|
Rank |
Title |
Author |
Publisher |
|
1 |
THE ADVENTURE ZONE VOL. 4: THE CRYSTAL KINGDOM |
CLINT MCELROY |
FIRST SECOND BOOKS |
|
2 |
THE ADVENTURE ZONE VOL. 4: THE CRYSTAL KINGDOM HC |
CLINT MCELROY |
FIRST SECOND BOOKS |
|
3 |
SOLO LEVELING VOL. 2 |
CHUGONG |
YEN PRESS |
|
4 |
THEY CALLED US ENEMY |
GEORGE TAKEI |
TOP SHELF PROD. |
|
5 |
INVINCIBLE COMPENDIUM VOL. 1 |
ROBERT KIRKMAN |
IMAGE COMICS |
|
6 |
MARCH: BOOK ONE |
JOHN LEWIS |
TOP SHELF PROD. |
|
7 |
DEVIL'S CANDY VOL. 1 |
REM |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
8 |
BUBBLE |
JORDAN MORRIS |
FIRST SECOND BOOKS |
|
9 |
SEEK YOU: A JOURNEY THROUGH AMERICAN LONELINESS HC |
KRISTEN RADTKE |
PANTHEON |
|
10 |
INVINCIBLE COMPENDIUM VOL. 2 |
ROBERT KIRKMAN |
IMAGE COMICS |
|
11 |
INVINCIBLE COMPENDIUM VOL. 3 |
ROBERT KIRKMAN |
IMAGE COMICS |
|
12 |
DUNE: THE GRAPHIC NOVEL BOOK 1 HC |
FRANK HERBERT |
ABRAMS |
|
13 |
FUN HOME: A FAMILY TRAGICOMIC |
ALISON BECHDEL |
MARINER BOOKS |
|
14 |
THE ADVENTURE ZONE VOL. 1: HERE THERE BE GERBLINS |
CLINT MCELROY |
FIRST SECOND |
|
15 |
INVINCIBLE: THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION VOL. 1 |
ROBERT KIRKMAN |
IMAGE COMICS |
|
16 |
STRANGE PLANET HC |
NATHAN W. PYLE |
MORROW GIFT |
|
17 |
IN LOVE & PAJAMAS: A COLLECTION OF COMICS ABOUT BEING YOURSELF TOGETHER HC |
CATANA CHETWYND |
ANDREWS MCMEEL |
|
18 |
FANGS HC |
SARAH ANDERSEN |
ANDREWS MCMEEL |
|
19 |
CRITICAL ROLE: VOX MACHINA ORIGINS LIB. ED. SER. I & II COLL. HC |
CRITICAL ROLE |
DARK HORSE COMICS |
|
20 |
SOMETHING IS KILLING THE CHILDREN VOL. 1 |
JAMES TYNION IV |
BOOM! STUDIOS |
|
Source: The NPD Group/BookScan |
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The Manga chart, by contrast, has only one July release, My Hero Academia: Vigilantes, Volume 10. Of the three other 2021 titles on the chart, two are volumes of My Hero Academia and the third is Volume 22 of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, the next-to-last volume of that series. After the excitement of the Demon Slayer: Mugen Train movie earlier this year (see "‘Demon Slayer’ Debuts Big in the U.S."), that franchise seems to have cooled off a bit.
What we’re seeing in the top 20 is a continuation of the pandemic trend of readers picking up the first volumes of older series, including Death Note, Hunter x Hunter, and Naruto. Volume 1 of Toilet-Bound Hanako-Kun is still on the chart as well, as it has been for over a year. At number 19 is Volume 1 of Blue Period, which stars a smart-but-unmotivated high school student whose whole world changes when he discovers painting (see "AnimeNYC: Viz Announces New Junji Ito, Splatoon Manga"). That volume came out in October 2020 but didn’t make its debut in the Top 20 until July 2021; unlike the other 19 books on the chart, it’s not a horror or action series, but perhaps it is finding its audience.
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NPD BookScan Top 20 Manga Graphic Novels – July 2021 (7/4/21 – 7/31/21) |
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Rank |
Title |
Author |
Publisher |
|
1 |
CHAINSAW MAN VOL. 1 |
TATSUKI FUJIMOTO |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
2 |
MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 28 |
KOHEI HORIKOSHI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
3 |
JUJUTSU KAISEN VOL. 1 |
GEGE AKUTAMI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
4 |
UZUMAKI HC (3-IN-1 DLX. ED.) |
JUNJI ITO |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
5 |
ATTACK ON TITAN VOL. 1 |
HAJIME ISAYAMA |
KODANSHA COMICS |
|
6 |
MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 27 |
KOHEI HORIKOSHI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
7 |
DEATH NOTE BLACK EDITION VOL. 1 |
TSUGUMI OHBA |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
8 |
TOILET-BOUND HANAKO-KUN VOL. 1 |
AIDAIRO |
YEN PRESS |
|
9 |
HUNTER X HUNTER VOL. 1 |
YOSHIHIRO TOGASHI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
10 |
TOMIE: COMPLETE DLX. ED. HC |
JUNJI ITO |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
11 |
MY HERO ACADEMIA: VIGILANTES VOL. 10 |
HIDEYUKI FURUHASHI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
12 |
ATTACK ON TITAN VOL. 2 |
HAJIME ISAYAMA |
KODANSHA COMICS |
|
13 |
DEMON SLAYER: KIMETSU NO YAIBA VOL. 22 |
KOYOHARU GOTOUGE |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
14 |
JUJUTSU KAISEN VOL. 6 |
GEGE AKUTAMI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
15 |
MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 2 |
KOHEI HORIKOSHI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
16 |
ONE-PUNCH MAN VOL. 1 |
ONE |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
17 |
NARUTO VOL. 1 |
MASASHI KISHIMOTO |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
18 |
DEMON SLAYER: KIMETSU NO YAIBA VOL. 14 |
KOYOHARU GOTOUGE |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
19 |
BLUE PERIOD VOL. 1 |
TSUBASA YAMAGUCHI |
KODANSHA COMICS |
|
20 |
DEMON SLAYER: KIMETSU NO YAIBA VOL. 13 |
KOYOHARU GOTOUGE |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
Source: The NPD Group/BookScan |
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For charts of July 2021 graphic novel sales from NPD BookScan:
July 2021 NPD BookScan – Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels
July 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:
July 2021 NPD BookScan - Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels with Actual Sales
July 2021 NPD BookScan - Top 20 Author, Manga, and Superhero Graphic Novels with Actual Sales
July 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."