Graphic novels collecting webtoons dominated the BookScan chart of the top 20 Author graphic novels in the book channel, based on NPD BookScan data for May 2022 (5/1/22 – 5/28/22) provided to ICv2.

Six of the top eight Author titles (the category we use for titles driven by their creators rather than corporate-owned properties) in May are from webtoon apps with Korean roots: Solo Leveling, which originated on the Tapas family of apps and is published in print by Yen Press, and Lore Olympus, which originated on Webtoon and is published in print by Del Rey. The fourth volume of Solo Leveling, which was released in May, topped the Author chart, and placed #3 on the chart of all Adult Graphic Novels for May (see "May 2022 NPD BookScan").

Three other volumes with web roots appear in the top 20 in May. Gender Queer was originally published serially by creator Maia Kobabe on Instagram and collected in graphic novel form.  It’s currently getting a sales boost from publicity surrounding its frequent school and library bans (see "‘Gender Queer’ Was Most Frequently Challenged"). Fangs also originated on Instagram, and After: The Graphic Novel, was an adaptation of a webnovel originally released by Webtoon sister company Wattpad and published by Wattpad Books imprint Frayed Pages.

Andrews McMeel, has clearly found parallels between its core business of newspaper comic strip collections and collections of comics that originate on digital platforms. Last April, for example, three titles on the Top 20 Author Graphic Novels were Andrews McMeel collections of Instagram comics (see "April 2021 BookScan"), and the publisher also recently inked a deal to publish collections of Studio Tapas webtoons (see "Tapas Media Teams Up with Andrews McMeel").

NPD BookScan Top 20 Author Graphic Novels – May 2022 (5/1/22 – 5/28/22)

Rank

Title

Author

Publisher

1

SOLO LEVELING VOL. 4

CHUGONG

YEN PRESS

2

SOLO LEVELING VOL. 1

CHUGONG

YEN PRESS

3

LORE OLYMPUS: VOLUME ONE HC

RACHEL SMYTHE

DEL REY

4

SOLO LEVELING VOL. 2

CHUGONG

YEN PRESS

5

GENDER QUEER: A MEMOIR

MAIA KOBABE

ONI PRESS

6

SOLO LEVELING VOL. 3

CHUGONG

YEN PRESS

7

AFTER: THE GRAPHIC NOVEL VOL. 1

ANNA TODD

FRAYED PAGES

8

LORE OLYMPUS: VOLUME ONE TP

RACHEL SMYTHE

DEL REY

9

THEY CALLED US ENEMY

GEORGE TAKEI

TOP SHELF PROD.

10

MISS BUTTERWORTH AND THE MAD BARON: A GRAPHIC NOVEL

JULIA QUINN

AVON

11

MARCH: BOOK ONE

JOHN LEWIS

TOP SHELF PROD.

12

INVINCIBLE COMPENDIUM VOL. 1

ROBERT KIRKMAN

IMAGE COMICS

13

FANGS HC

SARAH ANDERSEN

ANDREWS MCMEEL

14

RUN: BOOK ONE

JOHN LEWIS

ABRAMS

15

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD: A GRAPHIC NOVEL HC

HARPER LEE

HARPER

16

DEPARTMENT OF TRUTH VOL. 3: FREE COUNTRY

JAMES TYNION IV

IMAGE COMICS

17

INVINCIBLE COMPENDIUM VOL. 2

ROBERT KIRKMAN

IMAGE COMICS

18

1984: THE GRAPHIC NOVEL HC

GEORGE ORWELL

MARINER BOOKS

19

FUN HOME: A FAMILY TRAGICOMIC

ALISON BECHDEL

MARINER BOOKS

20

INVINCIBLE COMPENDIUM VOL. 3

ROBERT KIRKMAN

IMAGE COMICS

Source: The NPD Group/BookScan

The number of Batman titles on the Superhero chart is down to eight, from 11 in April and 15 in March. That’s closer to the normal number of Batman books on this chart, before the mini-surge caused by the movie The Batman (see "‘The Batman’ Approaches $500M"). Meanwhile, the number of Moon Knight titles is back down to three. Since the usual number is zero, this indicates that the Netflix series is still spurring sales.

With the Netflix adaptation in the works, and hefty new omnibi on the shelves, readers were flocking to Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman as well. DC Comics released a new compilation of the series in four volumes, each over 500 pages, in April and May. The first volume charted in April (see "April 2022 NPD BookScan"), and two more made it into the top 20 this month. Volumes 2 and 3 are more expensive than Volume 1, but 500+ pages for $34.99 is still a pretty good deal. Volume 1 of the 30th Anniversary Edition, which is half the size of the new volumes, has a lower pages-to-dollars ratio, but enough people bought it anyway that it shows up at number 19.

NPD BookScan Top 20 'Superheroes' Graphic Novels – May 2022 (5/1/22 – 5/28/22)

Rank

Title

Author

Publisher

1

THE SANDMAN BOOK ONE

NEIL GAIMAN

DC COMICS

2

MOON KNIGHT BY LEMIRE & SMALLWOOD: THE COMPLETE COLLECTION

JEFF LEMIRE

MARVEL COMICS

3

BATMAN: YEAR ONE

FRANK MILLER

DC COMICS

4

THE SANDMAN BOOK TWO

NEIL GAIMAN

DC COMICS

5

MOON KNIGHT VOL. 1: THE MIDNIGHT MISSION

JED MACKAY

MARVEL COMICS

6

WATCHMEN (2019 EDITION)

ALAN MOORE

DC COMICS

7

STAR WARS: THE HIGH REPUBLIC VOL. 3: JEDI'S END

CAVAN SCOTT

MARVEL COMICS

8

STAR WARS: THE HIGH REPUBLIC: EDGE OF BALANCE VOL. 2

SHIMA SHINYA

VIZ MEDIA

9

BATMAN: THE LONG HALLOWEEN

JEPH LOEB

DC COMICS

10

BATMAN: THE KILLING JOKE DLX. ED. HC (NEW EDITION)

ALAN MOORE

DC COMICS

11

BATMAN VOL. 1: THE COURT OF OWLS (THE NEW 52)

SCOTT SNYDER

DC COMICS

12

MOON KNIGHT: LEGACY - THE COMPLETE COLLECTION

MAX BEMIS

MARVEL COMICS

13

BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS

FRANK MILLER

DC COMICS

14

BATMAN: HUSH (NEW EDITION)

JEPH LOEB

DC COMICS

15

THE SANDMAN BOOK THREE

NEIL GAIMAN

DC COMICS

16

BATMAN/FORTNITE: ZERO POINT HC

CHRISTOS GAGE

DC COMICS

17

BATMAN VOL. 2: THE CITY OF OWLS (THE NEW 52)

SCOTT SNYDER

DC COMICS

18

MS. MARVEL VOL. 1: NO NORMAL

G. WILLOW WILSON

MARVEL COMICS

19

THE SANDMAN VOL. 1: PRELUDES & NOCTURNES 30TH ANN. ED.

NEIL GAIMAN

DC COMICS

20

HARLEEN HC

STJEPAN SEJIC

DC COMICS

Source: The NPD Group/BookScan

For once, the Manga chart is not identical to the Adult Top 20, because one volume of Solo Leveling made it onto the Adult chart. That pulls up Volume 2 of Toilet-Bound Hanako-Kun onto the Manga chart at number 20. This is one of those series where the first volume makes the chart almost every month, but the others seldom do. It seems to have been picking up momentum, however, and there are three volumes in the May top 20.

NPD BookScan Top 20 Manga Graphic Novels – May 2022 (5/1/22 – 5/28/22)

Rank

Title

Author

Publisher

1

SPY X FAMILY VOL. 1

TATSUYA ENDO

VIZ MEDIA

2

DEATH NOTE SHORT STORIES

TSUGUMI OHBA

VIZ MEDIA

3

SPY X FAMILY VOL. 7

TATSUYA ENDO

VIZ MEDIA

4

SPY X FAMILY VOL. 2

TATSUYA ENDO

VIZ MEDIA

5

BERSERK DELUXE VOL. 1

KENTARO MIURA

DARK HORSE COMICS

6

SPY X FAMILY VOL. 4

TATSUYA ENDO

VIZ MEDIA

7

SPY X FAMILY VOL. 6

TATSUYA ENDO

VIZ MEDIA

8

CHAINSAW MAN VOL. 10

TATSUKI FUJIMOTO

VIZ MEDIA

9

JUJUTSU KAISEN VOL. 0

GEGE AKUTAMI

VIZ MEDIA

10

TOILET-BOUND HANAKO-KUN VOL. 1

AIDAIRO

YEN PRESS

11

ONE PIECE VOL. 99

EIICHIRO ODA

VIZ MEDIA

12

SPY X FAMILY VOL. 5

TATSUYA ENDO

VIZ MEDIA

13

MY DRESS-UP DARLING VOL. 5

SHINICHI FUKUDA

SQUARE ENIX

14

MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 1

KOHEI HORIKOSHI

VIZ MEDIA

15

DEMON SLAYER: KIMETSU NO YAIBA--STORIES OF WATER AND FLAME

RYOJI HIRANO

VIZ MEDIA

16

MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 30

KOHEI HORIKOSHI

VIZ MEDIA

17

SAILOR MOON VOL. 1 (NAOKO TAKEUCHI COLLECTION)

NAOKO TAKEUCHI

KODANSHA COMICS

18

TOILET-BOUND HANAKO-KUN VOL. 13

AIDAIRO

YEN PRESS

19

DEMON SLAYER: KIMETSU NO YAIBA VOL. 1

KOYOHARU GOTOUGE

VIZ MEDIA

20

TOILET-BOUND HANAKO-KUN VOL. 2

AIDAIRO

YEN PRESS

Source: The NPD Group/BookScan

For charts of May 2022 graphic novel sales from NPD BookScan:
May 2022 NPD BookScan – Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels
May 2022 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:
May 2022 NPD BookScan – Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels with Actual Sales
May 2022 NPD BookScan – Top 20 Author, Manga, and Superhero Graphic Novels with Actual Sales
May 2022 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."