The first observation to be made about the Superhero Top 20 is how many of the titles are new releases: Seven of the 20 came out in September 2021. That’s a lot for this chart, which tends to be populated by evergreen titles. It also tends to be dominated by DC Comics and in particular by Batman, and September 2021 is no exception: Batman/Fortnite Zero Point did well enough to make the Adult Top 20, and a number of other new Batman titles appear on the list, including the international anthology Batman: The World (see "Brian Azzarello and Lee Bermejo Kick Off ‘Batman: The World’"), the deluxe edition of Batman: The Killing Joke, and Batman Vol. 4: The Cowardly Lot, the most recent collected edition; of course, Joker/Harley: Criminal Sanity should also be included on this list.
The number 2 title is an interesting one: It’s Star Wars: The High Republic: Edge of Balance, by American writers and a Japanese artist, marketed as manga by VIZ Media. This and the number 4 title, another Star Wars: The High Republic book, are two more September releases. And the final September debut is the first volume of The EC Archives: Vault of Horror from Dark Horse Comics.
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NPD BookScan Top 20 'Superheroes' Graphic Novels – September 2021 (8/29/21 - 10/2/21) |
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Rank |
Title |
Author |
Publisher |
|
1 |
BATMAN/FORTNITE: ZERO POINT HC |
CHRISTOS GAGE |
DC COMICS |
|
2 |
STAR WARS: THE HIGH REPUBLIC: EDGE OF BALANCE VOL. 1 |
SHIMA SHINYA |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
3 |
THE BATMAN WHO LAUGHS HC |
SCOTT SNYDER |
DC COMICS |
|
4 |
STAR WARS: THE HIGH REPUBLIC VOL. 1: THERE IS NO FEAR |
CAVAN SCOTT |
MARVEL COMICS |
|
5 |
WATCHMEN (2019 EDITION) |
ALAN MOORE |
DC COMICS |
|
6 |
BATMAN: THE WORLD HC |
BRIAN AZZARELLO |
DC COMICS |
|
7 |
BATMAN: THE KILLING JOKE DLX. ED. HC (NEW ED.) |
ALAN MOORE |
DC COMICS |
|
8 |
THE SANDMAN VOL. 1: PRELUDES & NOCTURNES 30TH ANN. ED. |
NEIL GAIMAN |
DC COMICS |
|
9 |
BATMAN: YEAR ONE |
FRANK MILLER |
DC COMICS |
|
10 |
BATMAN: THE LONG HALLOWEEN |
JEPH LOEB |
DC COMICS |
|
11 |
MS. MARVEL VOL. 1: NO NORMAL |
G. WILLOW WILSON |
MARVEL COMICS |
|
12 |
JOKER/HARLEY: CRIMINAL SANITYHC HC |
KAMI GARCIA |
DC COMICS |
|
13 |
HARLEEN HC |
STJEPAN SEJIC |
DC COMICS |
|
14 |
V FOR VENDETTA |
ALAN MOORE |
DC COMICS |
|
15 |
SHANG-CHI BY GENE LUEN YANG VOL. 1: BROTHERS & SISTERS |
YANG, GENE |
MARVEL COMICS |
|
16 |
THE EC ARCHIVES: VAULT OF HORROR VOL. 1 |
VARIOUS |
DARK HORSE COMICS |
|
17 |
BATMAN: WHITE KNIGHT |
SEAN MURPHY |
DC COMICS |
|
18 |
BATMAN VOL. 4: THE COWARDLY LOT |
JAMES TYNION IV |
DC COMICS |
|
19 |
THE SANDMAN VOL. 2: THE DOLL'S HOUSE 30TH ANN. ED. |
NEIL GAIMAN |
DC COMICS |
|
20 |
DCEASED |
TOM TAYLOR |
DC COMICS |
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Source: The NPD Group/BookScan |
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The Manga chart is basically the Adult Top 20 with one additional title, Volume 2 of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba. That makes three volumes of Demon Slayer on the chart, as well as five of My Hero Academia, two of Chainsaw Man, two of Jujutsu Kaisen, and two Junji Ito one-shots. There’s both variety and consistency on the Manga chart.
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NPD BookScan Top 20 Manga Graphic Novels – September 2021 (8/29/21 - 10/2/21) |
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|
Rank |
Title |
Author |
Publisher |
|
1 |
MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 29 |
KOHEI HORIKOSHI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
2 |
MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 1 |
KOHEI HORIKOSHI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
3 |
DEMON SLAYER: KIMETSU NO YAIBA VOL. 1 |
KOYOHARU GOTOUGE |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
4 |
MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 28 |
KOHEI HORIKOSHI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
5 |
BERSERK DELUXE VOL. 8 HC |
KENTARO MIURA |
DARK HORSE COMICS |
|
6 |
DEMON SLAYER: KIMETSU NO YAIBA VOL. 23 |
KOYOHARU GOTOUGE |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
7 |
TOILET-BOUND HANAKO-KUN VOL. 1 |
AIDAIRO |
YEN PRESS |
|
8 |
MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 2 |
KOHEI HORIKOSHI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
9 |
DRAGON BALL SUPER VOL. 14 |
AKIRA TORIYAMA |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
10 |
CHAINSAW MAN VOL. 2 |
TATSUKI FUJIMOTO |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
11 |
SENSOR HC |
JUNJI ITO |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
12 |
GIVEN VOL. 6 |
NATSUKI KIZU |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
13 |
JUJUTSU KAISEN VOL. 11 |
GEGE AKUTAMI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
14 |
ATTACK ON TITAN VOL. 1 |
HAJIME ISAYAMA |
KODANSHA COMICS |
|
15 |
JUJUTSU KAISEN VOL. 1 |
GEGE AKUTAMI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
16 |
MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 3 |
KOHEI HORIKOSHI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
17 |
CHAINSAW MAN VOL. 6 |
TATSUKI FUJIMOTO |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
18 |
TOMIE: COMPLETE DLX. ED. HC |
JUNJI ITO |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
19 |
THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: TWILIGHT PRINCESS VOL. 9 |
AKIRA TORIYAMA |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
20 |
DEMON SLAYER: KIMETSU NO YAIBA VOL. 2 |
KOYOHARU GOTOUGE |
VIZ MEDIA |
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Source: The NPD Group/BookScan |
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The Author chart only has two September releases, 1984: The Graphic Novel and Volume 6 of Monstress, although we might as well include Volume 1 of Punderworld, since it was released in late August. Punderworld is a fantasy-inflected retelling of the Greek myth of Hades and Persephone and started on the Webtoon platform.
As usual, the chart is strongly influenced by comics in other media, with three volumes of Invincible Compendium and one of Y: The Last Man, which just started running on Hulu (see "‘Y: The Last Man’ Gets Date").
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NPD BookScan Top 20 Author Graphic Novels – September 2021 (8/29/21 - 10/2/21) |
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Rank |
Title |
Author |
Publisher |
|
1 |
THEY CALLED US ENEMY |
GEORGE TAKEI |
TOP SHELF PROD. |
|
2 |
SOLO LEVELING VOL. 2 |
CHUGONG |
YEN PRESS |
|
3 |
SOLO LEVELING VOL. 1 |
CHUGONG |
YEN PRESS |
|
4 |
1984: THE GRAPHIC NOVEL |
GEORGE ORWELL |
MARINER BOOKS |
|
5 |
INVINCIBLE COMPENDIUM VOL. 1 |
ROBERT KIRKMAN |
IMAGE COMICS |
|
6 |
MARCH: BOOK ONE |
JOHN LEWIS |
TOP SHELF PROD. |
|
7 |
MONSTRESS VOL. 6: THE VOW |
MARJORIE LIU |
IMAGE COMICS |
|
8 |
RUN: BOOK ONE |
JOHN LEWIS |
ABRAMS |
|
9 |
THE ADVENTURE ZONE: THE CRYSTAL KINGDOM |
CLINT MCELROY |
FIRST SECOND BOOKS |
|
10 |
FUN HOME: A FAMILY TRAGICOMIC |
ALISON BECHDEL |
MARINER BOOKS |
|
11 |
INVINCIBLE COMPENDIUM VOL. 2 |
ROBERT KIRKMAN |
IMAGE COMICS |
|
12 |
PUNDERWORLD VOL. 1 |
LINDA SEJIC |
IMAGE COMICS |
|
13 |
DUNE: THE GRAPHIC NOVEL BOOK 1 HC |
BRIAN HERBERT |
ABRAMS |
|
14 |
THE ADVENTURE ZONE: THE CRYSTAL KINGDOM HC |
CLINT MCELROY |
FIRST SECOND BOOKS |
|
15 |
INVINCIBLE COMPENDIUM VOL. 3 |
ROBERT KIRKMAN |
IMAGE COMICS |
|
16 |
DID YOU HEAR WHAT EDDIE GEIN DONE? |
ERIC POWELL |
ALBATROSS FUNNYBOOKS |
|
17 |
DEVIL'S CANDY VOL. 1 |
REM |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
18 |
Y: THE LAST MAN BOOK ONE |
BRIAN K. VAUGHAN |
DC COMICS |
|
19 |
FANGS HC |
SARAH ANDERSEN |
ANDREWS & MCMEEL |
|
20 |
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD: A GRAPHIC NOVEL HC |
HARPER LEE |
HARPER |
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Source: The NPD Group/BookScan |
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For charts of September 2021 graphic novel sales from NPD BookScan:
September 2021 NPD BookScan – Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels
September 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:
September 2021 NPD BookScan – Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels with Actual Sales
September 2021 NPD BookScan - Top 20 Author, Manga, and Superhero Graphic Novels with Actual Sales
September 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."