'Bowie,' 'Persona 5,' and a Lot of Familiar Titles

Here's a revised list of the top 20 adult graphic novels in the book channel, based on NPD BookScan data for January (1/5/20-2/1/20) provided to ICv2.



NPD BookScan Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels – January 2020 (1/5/20 - 2/1/20) Rank Title Author Publisher 1 STRANGE PLANET HC NATHAN W. PYLE MORROW GIFT 2 MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 1 KOHEI HORIKOSHI VIZ MEDIA 3 THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: TWILIGHT PRINCESS VOL. 6 AKIRA HIMEKAWA VIZ MEDIA 4 DEMON SLAYER: KIMETSU NO YAIBA VOL. 10 KOYOHARU GOTOUGE VIZ MEDIA 5 WATCHMEN (2019 EDITION) ALAN MOORE DC COMICS 6 MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 2 KOHEI HORIKOSHI VIZ MEDIA 7 MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 22 KOHEI HORIKOSHI VIZ MEDIA 8 THEY CALLED US ENEMY GEORGE TAKEI TOP SHELF PROD. 9 MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 3 KOHEI HORIKOSHI VIZ MEDIA 10 PERSONA 5 VOL. 1 HISATO MURASAKI VIZ MEDIA 11 UZUMAKI HC JUNJI ITO VIZ MEDIA 12 THE PROMISED NEVERLAND VOL. 13 KAIU SHIRAI VIZ MEDIA 13 MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 4 KOHEI HORIKOSHI VIZ MEDIA 14 SPLATOON VOL. 8 SANKICHI HINODEYA VIZ MEDIA 15 MY HERO ACADEMIA, VOL. 20 KOHEI HORIKOSHI VIZ MEDIA 16 BOWIE: STARDUST, RAYGUNS, & MOONAGE DAYDREAMS HC MICHAEL ALLRED INSIGHT COMICS 17 DEMON SLAYER: KIMETSU NO YAIBA VOL. 1 KOYOHARU GOTOUGE VIZ MEDIA 18 MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 5 KOHEI HORIKOSHI VIZ MEDIA 19 MARCH: BOOK ONE JOHN LEWIS TOP SHELF PROD. 20 FUN HOME: A FAMILY TRAGICOMIC ALISON BECHDEL MARINER BOOKS Source: The NPD Group/BookScan

Strange Planet tops the list for the third month in a row, and volume 1 of My Hero Academia, which was the number three book in November and December, moves up to number two as the 2019 edition of Watchmen drops to sixth place.That strong showing for the first volume of My Hero Academia shows continued interest in the series, as does the presence of six more volumes in the top 20. There are seven more volumes of manga on the chart, all from VIZ Media. We noted last year that Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba seemed to be on the ascendant (see " ‘Demon Slayer’ Picking Up Steam "), and indeed, both volume 1 and volume 10 made this month’s chart. The game-based manga Persona 5 hits the chart with its first volume as well.In fact, all but one of the January 2020 releases on the chart are VIZ manga. The outlier is Bowie: Stardust, Rayguns & Moonage Daydreams, a fanciful retelling of the famed musician’s life (see " Insight Comics to Publish ‘Bowie’ by Horton and Allred, with Gaiman Intro; ‘Buyan’ ").The other Author titles are pretty much classics at this point: They Called Us Enemy, Book One of March, and Fun Home. And there's only one superhero title, another perennial: Watchmen, albeit in a new edition.

For charts of January graphic novel sales from NPD BookScan:

January 2020 NPD BookScan – Top 20 Kids Graphic Novels

January 2020 NPD BookScan - Top 20 Author, Manga, and Superhero Graphic Novels



For the charts with the actual sales numbers from NPD BookScan, see these articles on the ICv2 Pro site:

January 2020 NPD BookScan - Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels with Actual Sales

January 2020 NPD BookScan - Top 20 Kids Graphic Novels with Actual Sales

January 2020 NPD BookScan - Top 20 Author, Manga, and Superhero 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."