Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman was the big book on the Superhero chart, with seven volumes in the Top 20, an ongoing effect from the Netflix series. Some of the other books are sideways takes on superheroes, including the top title, Fantastic Four: Full Circle, Alex Ross’s homage to Jack Kirby. That’s the first title in the Abrams MarvelArts imprint (see "Abrams ComicArts Launching Marvel Graphic Novel Line"). Then there’s Batman ’89, Harley Quinn: The Animated Series, the Penguin Classics edition of The Amazing Spider-Man, and Tom Taylor and Yasmine Putri’s Dark Knights of Steel, a high-fantasy tale starring legacy DC characters (see "Tom Taylor Goes Medieval in ‘Dark Knights of Steel’").
The Top 20 looked very different a year ago, with two volumes of The Sandman and lots of Batman (see "September 2021 NPD BookScan"). This year’s chart has more variety, and the book that dominates is anything but a typical superhero title.
NPD BookScan Top 20 'Superheroes' Graphic Novels – September 2022 (8/28/22 – 10/1/22) |
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Rank |
Title |
Author |
Publisher |
1 |
FANTASTIC FOUR: FULL CIRCLE HC |
ALEX ROSS |
ABRAMS |
2 |
THE SANDMAN BOOK ONE |
NEIL GAIMAN |
DC COMICS |
3 |
BATMAN '89 HC |
SAM HAMM |
DC COMICS |
4 |
THE SANDMAN BOOK TWO |
NEIL GAIMAN |
DC COMICS |
5 |
HARLEY QUINN: THE ANIMATED SERIES VOL. 1: THE EAT. BANG! KILL TOUR HC |
TEE FRANKLIN |
DC COMICS |
6 |
THE SANDMAN VOL. 1: PRELUDES & NOCTURNES 30TH ANN. ED. |
NEIL GAIMAN |
DC COMICS |
7 |
WATCHMEN (2019 EDITION) |
ALAN MOORE |
DC COMICS |
8 |
THE SANDMAN BOOK THREE |
NEIL GAIMAN |
DC COMICS |
9 |
TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: THE LAST RONIN HC |
KEVIN EASTMAN |
IDW PUBLISHING |
10 |
THE SANDMAN BOOK FOUR |
NEIL GAIMAN |
DC COMICS |
11 |
THE SANDMAN VOL. 2: THE DOLL'S HOUSE 30TH ANN. ED. |
NEIL GAIMAN |
DC COMICS |
12 |
THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN |
STAN LEE |
PENGUIN CLASSICS |
13 |
STRANGER THINGS: THE TOMB OF YBWEN (GRAPHIC NOVEL) |
GREG PAK |
DARK HORSE COMICS |
14 |
STAR WARS: CRIMSON REIGN |
CHARLES SOULE |
MARVEL COMICS |
15 |
BATMAN: YEAR ONE |
FRANK MILLER |
DC COMICS |
16 |
BATMAN: ONE DARK KNIGHT HC |
JOCK |
DC COMICS |
17 |
BATMAN: THE KILLING JOKE DLX. ED. HC (NEW EDITION) |
ALAN MOORE |
DC COMICS |
18 |
THE SANDMAN VOL. 3: DREAM COUNTRY 30TH ANN. ED. |
NEIL GAIMAN |
DC COMICS |
19 |
DC DARK KNIGHTS OF STEEL VOL. 1 HC |
TOM TAYLOR |
DC COMICS |
20 |
THE SIMPSONS TREEHOUSE OF HORROR OMINOUS OMNIBUS VOL. 1: SCARY TALES & SCARIER TENTACLES |
MATT GROENING |
ABRAMS |
Source: The NPD Group/BookScan |
The fifth and final volume of Solo Leveling debuts at the top of the Author chart, and in fact, the top eight slots are all webtoon adaptations (plus one lone volume of Solo Leveling at number 11). Once you get past that, there are a couple of new and notable titles that may have some staying power: Kate Beaton’s graphic memoir Ducks: Two Years in the Oilsands, Sarah Andersen’s lighthearted Cryptid Club, and Pornsak Pichetshote and Alexandre Tefengki’s The Good Asian, which just won the Harvey Award for Book of the Year. They fit right in with the usual eclectic mix.
NPD BookScan Top 20 Author Graphic Novels – September 2022 (8/28/22 – 10/1/22) |
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Rank |
Title |
Author |
Publisher |
1 |
SOLO LEVELING VOL. 5 |
CHUGONG |
YEN PRESS |
2 |
LORE OLYMPUS: VOLUME TWO HC |
RACHEL SMYTHE |
DEL REY |
3 |
SOLO LEVELING VOL. 1 |
CHUGONG |
YEN PRESS |
4 |
LORE OLYMPUS: VOLUME TWO |
RACHEL SMYTHE |
DEL REY |
5 |
LORE OLYMPUS: VOLUME ONE |
RACHEL SMYTHE |
DEL REY |
6 |
LORE OLYMPUS: VOLUME ONE HC |
RACHEL SMYTHE |
DEL REY |
7 |
SOLO LEVELING VOL. 4 |
CHUGONG |
YEN PRESS |
8 |
SOLO LEVELING VOL. 2 |
CHUGONG |
YEN PRESS |
9 |
THEY CALLED US ENEMY |
GEORGE TAKEI |
TOP SHELF PROD. |
10 |
DUCKS: TWO YEARS IN THE OIL SANDS |
KATE BEATON |
DRAWN & QUARTERLY |
11 |
SOLO LEVELING VOL. 3 |
CHUGONG |
YEN PRESS |
12 |
CRYPTID CLUB HC |
SARAH ANDERSEN |
ANDREWS & MCMEEL |
13 |
THE GREAT GATSBY: A GRAPHIC NOVEL HC |
F. SCOTT FITZGERALD |
CANTERBURY |
14 |
MONSTRESS VOL. 7: DEVOURER |
MARJORIE LIU |
IMAGE COMICS |
15 |
MARCH: BOOK ONE |
JOHN LEWIS |
TOP SHELF PROD. |
16 |
GENDER QUEER: A MEMOIR |
MAIA KOBABE |
ONI PRESS |
17 |
THE ART OF WAR: A GRAPHIC NOVEL HC |
SUN TZU |
CANTERBURY |
18 |
FUN HOME: A FAMILY TRAGICOMIC |
ALISON BECHDEL |
MARINER BOOKS |
19 |
GENDER QUEER: A MEMOIR DLX. ED. |
MAIA KOBABE |
ONI PRESS |
20 |
THE GOOD ASIAN VOL. 1 |
PORNSAK PICHETSHOTE |
IMAGE COMICS |
Source: The NPD Group/BookScan |
The Manga chart is almost identical to the Adult chart (see "September 2022 NPD BookScan – Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels"), except that the number of volumes of Chainsaw Man increases to six and Volume 1 of the Deluxe Edition of Berserk shows up at number 19.
NPD BookScan Top 20 Manga Graphic Novels – September 2022 (8/28/22 – 10/1/22) |
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Rank |
Title |
Author |
Publisher |
1 |
SPY X FAMILY VOL. 8 |
TATSUYA ENDO |
VIZ MEDIA |
2 |
CHAINSAW MAN VOL. 1 |
TATSUKI FUJIMOTO |
VIZ MEDIA |
3 |
JUJUTSU KAISEN VOL. 17 |
GEGE AKUTAMI |
VIZ MEDIA |
4 |
SPY X FAMILY VOL. 2 |
TATSUYA ENDO |
VIZ MEDIA |
5 |
DEMON SLAYER: KIMETSU NO YAIBA VOL. 1 |
KOYOHARU GOTOUGE |
VIZ MEDIA |
6 |
SPY X FAMILY VOL. 1 |
TATSUYA ENDO |
VIZ MEDIA |
7 |
JUJUTSU KAISEN VOL. 0 |
GEGE AKUTAMI |
VIZ MEDIA |
8 |
CHAINSAW MAN VOL. 2 |
TATSUKI FUJIMOTO |
VIZ MEDIA |
9 |
SPY X FAMILY VOL. 3 |
TATSUYA ENDO |
VIZ MEDIA |
10 |
DRAGON BALL SUPER VOL. 16 |
AKIRA TORIYAMA |
VIZ MEDIA |
11 |
TOKYO REVENGERS (OMNIBUS) VOL. 3-4 |
KEN WAKUI |
SEVEN SEAS ENT. |
12 |
CHAINSAW MAN VOL. 11 |
TATSUKI FUJIMOTO |
VIZ MEDIA |
13 |
MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 1 |
KOHEI HORIKOSHI |
VIZ MEDIA |
14 |
DEMON SLAYER: KIMETSU NO YAIBA VOL. 2 |
KOYOHARU GOTOUGE |
VIZ MEDIA |
15 |
MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 31 |
KOHEI HORIKOSHI |
VIZ MEDIA |
16 |
JUJUTSU KAISEN VOL. 1 |
GEGE AKUTAMI |
VIZ MEDIA |
17 |
CHAINSAW MAN VOL. 3 |
TATSUKI FUJIMOTO |
VIZ MEDIA |
18 |
CHAINSAW MAN VOL. 4 |
TATSUKI FUJIMOTO |
VIZ MEDIA |
19 |
BERSERK DELUXE VOL. 1 HC |
KENTARO MIURA |
DARK HORSE |
20 |
CHAINSAW MAN VOL. 10 |
TATSUKI FUJIMOTO |
VIZ MEDIA |
Source: The NPD Group/BookScan |
For charts of September 2022 graphic novel sales from NPD BookScan:
September 2022 NPD BookScan – Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels
September 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:
September 2022 NPD BookScan – Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels with Actual Sales
September 2022 NPD BookScan – Top 20 Author, Manga, and Superhero Graphic Novels with Actual Sales
September 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."