There are only two new releases on the Superhero chart, and both are Star Wars comics. And even though Star Wars: Guardians of The Whills: The Manga has "manga" in the title, we’re calling it a Superhero comic because it’s based on a novel by Greg Rucka and it reads left to right. The other new title is Volume 2 of Star Wars: Doctor Aphra.
In addition, two July books appear on the chart: Stranger Things and Dungeons & Dragons is back for another month, and Suicide Squad: Their Greatest Shots, a tie-in to the movie (see "Get Ready for ‘The Suicide Squad’ with New DC Collections"). The film was released on August 6, and this is the only one of the tie-ins to show up on the BookScan or ComicHub graphic novel charts.
An interesting historical note: Infinity Gauntlet, at number 17 here, was the top title on the chart in August 2018, four months after the movie Avengers: Infinity War came out (see "August 2018 NPD BookScan – Top 20 Superhero, Manga, Author Graphic Novels").
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NPD BookScan Top 20 'Superheroes' Graphic Novels – August 2021 (8/1/21 - 8/28/21) |
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Rank |
Title |
Author |
Publisher |
|
1 |
THE BATMAN WHO LAUGHS |
SCOTT SNYDER |
DC COMICS |
|
2 |
WATCHMEN (2019 EDITION) |
ALAN MOORE |
DC COMICS |
|
3 |
BATMAN: YEAR ONE |
FRANK MILLER |
DC COMICS |
|
4 |
BATMAN: THE LONG HALLOWEEN |
JEPH LOEB |
DC COMICS |
|
5 |
BATMAN: THE KILLING JOKE DLX. ED. HC (NEW EDITION) |
ALAN MOORE |
DC COMICS |
|
6 |
HARLEEN HC |
STJEPAN SEJIC |
DC COMICS |
|
7 |
THE SANDMAN VOL. 1: PRELUDES & NOCTURNES 30TH ANN. ED. |
NEIL GAIMAN |
DC COMICS |
|
8 |
MS MARVEL VOL. 1: NO NORMAL |
MARVEL COMICS |
MARVEL COMICS |
|
9 |
BATMAN: THREE JOKERS HC |
GEOFF JOHNS |
DC COMICS |
|
10 |
BATMAN: WHITE KNIGHT |
SEAN MURPHY |
DC COMICS |
|
11 |
STRANGER THINGS AND DUNGEONS & DRAGONS |
JODY HOUSER |
DARK HORSE COMICS |
|
12 |
V FOR VENDETTA |
ALAN MOORE |
DC COMICS |
|
13 |
DARK NIGHTS: DEATH METAL: DLX. ED. HC |
SCOTT SNYDER |
DC COMICS |
|
14 |
BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS |
FRANK MILLER |
DC COMICS |
|
15 |
SUICIDE SQUAD: THEIR GREATEST SHOTS |
VARIOUS |
DC COMICS |
|
16 |
STAR WARS: GUARDIANS OF THE WHILLS: THE MANGA |
SUBARU |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
17 |
INFINITY GAUNTLET |
JIM STARLIN |
MARVEL COMICS |
|
18 |
STAR WARS: DOCTOR APHRA VOL. 2: THE ENGINE JOB |
ALYSSA WONG |
MARVEL COMICS |
|
19 |
LOKI: AGENT OF ASGARD - THE COMPLETE COLLECTION |
AL EWING |
MARVEL COMICS |
|
20 |
INJUSTICE: GODS AMONG US YEAR ONE: THE COMPLETE COLL. |
TOM TAYLOR |
DC COMICS |
|
Source: The NPD Group/BookScan |
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The Author chart, on the other hand, has five August releases and is incredibly diverse: The top title is Run: Book One, the sequel to Rep. John Lewis’s memoir March. At number 8 is Volume 3 of Invincible: The Ultimate Collection, by Robert Kirkman (this appears to be a new printing, with a new, higher price); three volumes of the Invincible Compendium also appear on the list. Did You Hear What Eddie Gein Done? is at number 10; this appears to be the first time an Albatross Funnybooks title has made the BookScan charts. What’s Up Beanie? is a cute, funny comic that runs on Webtoon, where it gets 1.5 million views per week. And The Breaker Omnibus, Volume 1, is a manhwa (Korean comic) from Ablaze. That is an incredibly diverse quintet of comics that shows the breadth of the Author chart.
Then there are some July releases that are on the chart for a second month: Volume 2 of Solo Leveling (another manhwa), both editions of The Adventure Zone: The Crystal Kingdom; Devil’s Candy, an original comic published by VIZ; and Seek You: A Journey Through American Loneliness. Again, pretty diverse!
There are plenty of perennials on the chart as well, including They Called Us Enemy, March, and Fun Home.
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NPD BookScan Top 20 Author Graphic Novels – August 2021 (8/1/21 - 8/28/21) |
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|
Rank |
Title |
Author |
Publisher |
|
1 |
RUN: BOOK ONE |
JOHN LEWIS |
ABRAMS |
|
2 |
THEY CALLED US ENEMY |
GEORGE TAKEI |
TOP SHELF PROD. |
|
3 |
SOLO LEVELING VOL. 2 |
CHUGONG |
YEN PRESS |
|
4 |
THE ADVENTURE ZONE: THE CRYSTAL KINGDOM |
CLINT MCELROY |
FIRST SECOND BOOKS |
|
5 |
INVINCIBLE COMPENDIUM VOL. 1 |
ROBERT KIRKMAN |
IMAGE COMICS |
|
6 |
MARCH: BOOK ONE |
JOHN LEWIS |
TOP SHELF PROD. |
|
7 |
THE ADVENTURE ZONE: THE CRYSTAL KINGDOM |
CLINT MCELROY |
FIRST SECOND BOOKS |
|
8 |
INVINCIBLE: THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION VOL. 3 |
ROBERT KIRKMAN |
IMAGE COMICS |
|
9 |
INVINCIBLE COMPENDIUM VOL. 2 |
ROBERT KIRKMAN |
IMAGE COMICS |
|
10 |
DID YOU HEAR WHAT EDDIE GEIN DONE? HC |
ERIC POWELL |
ALBATROSS FUNNYBOOKS |
|
11 |
FUN HOME: A FAMILY TRAGICOMIC |
ALISON BECHDEL |
MARINER BOOKS |
|
12 |
DEVIL'S CANDY VOL. 1 |
REM |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
13 |
DUNE: THE GRAPHIC NOVEL BOOK 1 HC |
FRANK HERBERT |
ABRAMS |
|
14 |
INVINCIBLE COMPENDIUM VOL. 3 |
ROBERT KIRKMAN |
IMAGE COMICS |
|
15 |
MARCH (TRILOGY SLIPCASE SET) |
JOHN LEWIS |
TOP SHELF PROD. |
|
16 |
SEEK YOU: A JOURNEY THROUGH AMERICAN LONELINESS HC |
KRISTEN RADTKE |
PANTHEON |
|
17 |
WHAT'S UP, BEANIE?: ACUTELY RELATABLE COMICS HC |
ALINA TYSOE |
MARINER BOOKS |
|
18 |
I WAS THEIR AMERICAN DREAM: A GRAPHIC MEMOIR |
MALAKA GHARIB |
CLARKSON POTTER |
|
19 |
THE BREAKER OMNIBUS VOL. 1 |
JEON GEUK-JIN |
ABLAZE |
|
20 |
IN LOVE & PAJAMAS: A COLLECTION OF COMICS ABOUT BEING YOURSELF TOGETHER HC |
CATANA CHETWYND |
ANDREWS MCMEEL |
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Source: The NPD Group/BookScan |
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VIZ not only appears on the manga chart but dominates it, with 15 of the 20 titles, but even so, the manga chart is getting more diverse, with two titles each from Kodansha Comics and Dark Horse Comics and one from Yen Press. There was one non-manga title on the Adult Top 20 this month (see “August 2021 NPD BookScan – Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels”). Taking that one out adds the first omnibus volume of One Piece to the chart in the number 20 spot.
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NPD BookScan Top 20 Manga Graphic Novels – August 2021 (8/1/21 - 8/28/21) |
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Rank |
Title |
Author |
Publisher |
|
1 |
JUJUTSU KAISEN VOL. 11 |
GEGE AKUTAMI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
2 |
DEMON SLAYER: KIMETSU NO YAIBA VOL. 23 |
GOTOUGE, KOYOHARU |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
3 |
CHAINSAW MAN VOL. 6 |
FUJIMOTO, TATSUKI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
4 |
MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 28 |
KOHEI HORIKOSHI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
5 |
SENSOR HC |
JUNJI ITO |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
6 |
JOJO'S BIZARRE ADVENTURE: PART 5--GOLDEN WIND VOL. 1 |
HIROHIKO ARAKI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
7 |
TOILET-BOUND HANAKO-KUN VOL. 1 |
AIDAIRO |
YEN PRESS |
|
8 |
HAIKYU!! VOL. 45 |
HARUICHI FURUDATE |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
9 |
THE PROMISED NEVERLAND VOL. 20 |
KAIU SHIRAI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
10 |
MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 1 |
KOHEI HORIKOSHI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
11 |
ATTACK ON TITAN VOL. 1 |
HAJIME ISAYAMA |
KODANSHA COMICS |
|
12 |
MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 2 |
KOHEI HORIKOSHI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
13 |
TOMIE: COMPLETE DLX. ED. HC |
JUNJI ITO |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
14 |
UZUMAKI (3-IN-1 DLX. ED.) HC |
JUNJI ITO |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
15 |
BERSERK DELUXE VOL. 2 HC |
KENTARO MIURA |
DARK HORSE COMICS |
|
16 |
KOMI CAN'T COMMUNICATE, VOL. 14 |
TOMOHITO ODA |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
17 |
MY HERO ACADEMIA, VOL. 27 |
KOHEI HORIKOSHI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
18 |
WOTAKOI: LOVE IS HARD FOR OTAKU VOL. 1 |
FUJITA |
KODANSHA COMICS |
|
19 |
BERSERK DELUXE VOL. 1 HC |
KENTARO MIURA |
DARK HORSE COMICS |
|
20 |
ONE PIECE VOL. 1 (OMNIBUS ED.) |
EIICHIRO ODA |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
Source: The NPD Group/BookScan |
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For charts of August 2021 graphic novel sales from NPD BookScan:
August 2021 NPD BookScan – Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels
August 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:
August 2021 NPD BookScan - Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels with Actual Sales
August 2021 NPD BookScan - Top 20 Author, Manga, and Superhero Graphic Novels with Actual Sales
August 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."