Manga readers are still doing deep dives into older series, but new Superhero and Author titles popped up on the list of the top 20 Author, Manga, and Superhero graphic novels in the book channel, based on NPD BookScan data for July 2021 (7/4/21-7/31/21) provided to ICv2.

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.

NPD BookScan Top 20 'Superheroes' Graphic Novels – July 2021 (7/4/21 – 7/31/21)

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

Source: The NPD Group/BookScan

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.

NPD BookScan Top 20 Author Graphic Novels – July 2021 (7/4/21 – 7/31/21)

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

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.

NPD BookScan Top 20 Manga Graphic Novels – July 2021 (7/4/21 – 7/31/21)

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

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."