Two 30-Year-Old Volumes Were the Best-Selling Superhero Titles of the Year

NPD BookScan Top 20 'Superhero' Graphic Novels - Full Year 2017 Rank Title Author Publisher 1 BATMAN: THE KILLING JOKE DLX ED HC ALAN MOORE DC COMICS 2 WATCHMEN ALAN MOORE DC COMICS 3 BLACK PANTHER BOOK 1: A NATION UNDER OUR FEET TA-NEHISI COATES MARVEL COMICS 4 BATMAN VOL. 1 (REBIRTH) TOM KING DC COMICS 5 THE FLASH VOL. 1 (REBIRTH) JOSHUA WILLIAMSON DC COMICS 6 V FOR VENDETTA ALAN MOORE VERTIGO 7 BLACK PANTHER BOOK 2: A NATION UNDER OUR FEET TA-NEHISI COATES MARVEL COMICS 8 OLD MAN LOGAN MARK MILLAR MARVEL COMICS 9 STAR WARS: DARTH VADER VOL. 1 KIERON GILLEN MARVEL COMICS 10 WONDER WOMAN VOL. 1 (REBIRTH) GREG RUCKA DC COMICS 11 INFINITY GAUNTLET JIM STARLIN MARVEL COMICS 12 INJUSTICE: GODS AMONG US YEAR ONE - COMPLETE COLL. TOM TAYLOR DC COMICS 13 BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT - MASTER RACE HC FRANK MILLER DC COMICS 14 BATMAN/THE FLASH: THE BUTTON DLX. ED. HC KING / WILLIAMSON DC COMICS 15 DEADPOOL KILLS THE MARVEL UNIVERSE CULLEN BUNN MARVEL COMICS 16 RICK AND MORTY VOL. 1 ZAC GORMAN ONI PRESS 17 HARLEY QUINN VOL. 1 (N52) PALMIOTTI / CONNER DC COMICS 18 MS. MARVEL VOL. 1 G. WILLOW WILSON MARVEL COMICS 19 FLASHPOINT GEOFF JOHNS DC COMICS 20 NIGHTWING VOL. 1 (REBIRTH) TIM SEELEY DC COMICS Source: The NPD Group/BookScan

In a sign either that the 80s were a uniquely creative period in American superhero comics, or that the new superhero graphic novels published in 2017 were not very popular, or both, two 30-year-old volumes were the best-selling superhero titles of the year on the chart of the Top 20 Superhero Graphic Novels in the book channel for the full year 2017, according to information provided to ICv2 by NPD BookScan. In fact, three 80s Alan Moore titles made up half of the top six for the year.Marvel’s top new title was Black Panther Book 1 (two Ta-Nehisi Coates volumes appeared in the top seven) and DC’s top new titles were the collections of the Rebirth launches of Batman and The Flash.Reflecting Marvel’s weak year, twelve of the Top 20 were DC Comics, seven were Marvels, and Oni Press had the only non-Big Two title in the Top 20 with its first volume collecting comics featuring the red-hot Rick and Morty property.We define our "superhero" graphic novel category as featuring corporate-owned or -controlled properties, usually operating in a universe in which multiple creators tell stories.This chart of the Top 20 Superhero Graphic Novels from NPD BookScan for the full year 2017 is one manifestation of a new deal between ICv2 and NPD (see " ICv2 to Publish NPD BookScan Graphic Novel Bestseller Charts ").Check out our other charts on the public site:And for the charts with actual sales numbers from NPD BookScan, see these articles on our ICv2 Pro site:

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."