Fresh Comics on the Superhero Chart, New Shojo Title Breaks the Manga Top 20

NPD BookScan Top 20 'Superhero' Graphic Novels – May 2019 (5/5/19 - 6/1/19) Rank Title Author Publisher 1 INFINITY GAUNTLET JIM STARLIN MARVEL COMICS 2 STRANGER THINGS VOL. 1: THE OTHER SIDE JODY HOUSER DARK HORSE COMICS 3 GODZILLA AFTERSHOCK HC NELSON, ARVID LEGENDARY COMICS 4 THE LEGEND OF KORRA: RUINS OF THE EMPIRE PART ONE MICHAEL DANTE DIMARTINO DARK HORSE COMICS 5 WATCHMEN ALAN MOORE DC COMICS 6 LIFE IS STRANGE VOL. 1: DUST EMMA VIECELI TITAN COMICS 7 AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER: IMBALANCE PART TWO FAITH ERIN HICKS DARK HORSE COMICS 8 RICK AND MORTY VS. DUNGEONS & DRAGONS PATRICK ROTHFUSS IDW PUBLISHING 9 MARVEL'S AVENGERS: ENDGAME PRELUDE VARIOUS MARVEL COMICS 10 JUSTICE LEAGUE VOL. 2: GRAVEYARD OF GODS SCOTT SNYDER DC COMICS 11 SHURI: THE SEARCH FOR BLACK PANTHER NNEDI OKORAFOR MARVEL COMICS 12 INFINITY WAR JIM STARLIN MARVEL COMICS 13 STAR WARS: AGE OF THE REPUBLIC - VILLAINS JODY HOUSER MARVEL COMICS 14 BATMAN: THE KILLING JOKE DLX. ED. HC ALAN MOORE DC COMICS 15 MIGHTY MORPHIN POWER RANGERS VOL. 8 KYLE HIGGINS BOOM! STUDIOS 16 BATMAN: WHITE KNIGHT SEAN MURPHY DC BLACK LABEL 17 IMMORTAL HULK VOL. 3: HULK IN HELL AL EWING MARVEL COMICS 18 LEAGUE OF LEGENDS: ASHE - WARMOTHER ODIN AUSTIN SHAFER MARVEL COMICS 19 STAR WARS: AGE OF THE REPUBLIC - HEROES JODY HOUSER MARVEL COMICS 20 CIVIL WAR MARK MILLAR MARVEL COMICS Source: The NPD Group/BookScan

We’re digging a bit deeper into three categories of comics with the list of the Top 20 Author, Manga, and Superhero Graphic Novels in the book channel, based on NPD BookScan data for May (5/5/19-6/1/19) provided to ICv2.Let’s start with the superhero chart (our term for titles based on intellectual properties owned by companies), which is remarkable because 9 of the 20 graphic novels are based on media properties, not superheroes: Stranger Things, Life is Strange, Star Wars, League of Legends, Rick and Morty.As is frequently the case, the May chart is dominated by newer titles: 12 of the titles are May 2019 releases, and 2 more were released in the last two months and were on the April chart as well. Readers of superhero and media comics like their content fresh, it seems.On the other hand, the older properties on the chart certainly have staying power. Infinity Gauntlet tops the chart for the second consecutive month, and it was the number one property a year ago as well (see " May 2018 NPD BookScan – Top 20 Superhero, Manga, Author Graphic Novels "). In fact, for most of the past year, it has been in the top 3, and it has never moved lower than number 6. The other two older books that have charted every month for the past year are Watchmen and Batman: The Killing Joke.In terms of publishers, Marvel has nine slots on the chart, DC Comics has four, Dark Horse Comics has three, and Legendary, Titan Comics, IDW Comics, and BOOM! Studios have one each.

With no new volume of My Hero Academia this month, the other superhero manga, One-Punch Man, tops the chart, followed by the first volume of the deluxe edition of Berserk. Berserk isn’t a manga you hear a lot about, but it is one of Dark Horse’s best-selling properties of all time. The series has been running in Japan since 1989 and is still going, with 40 volumes completed so far.



The chart is dominated by shonen manga, including such perennials as My Hero Academia, Dragon Ball Super, and One Piece, but it’s worth noting the new shojo (girls) series that debuts on the May chart: Snow White with the Red Hair, which stars an herbalist who leaves the country rather than marry the prince. It plays with the elements of the traditional Snow White to come up with a very different type of story, although it’s no surprise to learn that the kingdom that Snow White travels to is home to another prince, this one more handsome and more chill than the one she was fleeing.



Junji Ito is having a bit of a moment, thanks in part to the Junji Ito Collection anime, and not only does his new book Smashed make the chart, but the older Uzumaki does as well.

NPD BookScan Top 20 Manga Graphic Novels – May 2019 (5/5/19 - 6/1/19) Rank Title Author Publisher 1 ONE-PUNCH MAN VOL. 16 ONE VIZ MEDIA 2 BERSERK DELUXE VOL. 1 KENTARO MIURA DARK HORSE COMICS 3 DRAGON BALL SUPER VOL. 5 AKIRA TORIYAMA VIZ MEDIA 4 MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 1 KOHEI HORIKOSHI VIZ MEDIA 5 MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 2 KOHEI HORIKOSHI VIZ MEDIA 6 MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 18 KOHEI HORIKOSHI VIZ MEDIA 7 JOJO'S BIZARRE ADVENTURE: PART 4--DIAMOND IS UNBREAKABLE VOL. 1 HC ARAKI, HIROHIKO VIZ MEDIA 8 ONE PIECE VOL. 90 EIICHIRO ODA VIZ MEDIA 9 SMASHED: JUNJI ITO STORY COLLECTION HC JUNJI ITO VIZ MEDIA 10 MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 3 KOHEI HORIKOSHI VIZ MEDIA 11 BLACK CLOVER VOL. 15 YUKI TABATA VIZ MEDIA 12 MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 4 KOHEI HORIKOSHI VIZ MEDIA 13 MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 17 KOHEI HORIKOSHI VIZ MEDIA 14 MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 5 KOHEI HORIKOSHI VIZ MEDIA 15 MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 16 KOHEI HORIKOSHI VIZ MEDIA 16 SNOW WHITE WITH THE RED HAIR VOL. 1 SORATA AKIDUKI VIZ MEDIA 17 MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 15 KOHEI HORIKOSHI VIZ MEDIA 18 SAILOR MOON ETERNAL EDITION 4 NAOKO TAKEUCHI KODANSHA COMICS 19 UZUMAKI HC JUNJI ITO VIZ MEDIA 20 TOKYO GHOUL VOL. 1 SUI ISHIDA VIZ MEDIA Source: The NPD Group/BookScan

As always, the Author chart is a mixed bag, with old and new graphic novels in a variety of genres bumping up against one another. The Umbrella Academy still leads the list, followed by March: Book One, The Handmaid’s Tale, and The Adventure Zone: Here There Be Gerblins. Mari Andrew’s Am I There Yet? The Loop-De-Loop, Zigzagging Journey to Adulthood, missing from the Adult Top 20, is here at number 7.



Three Image Comics titles debut on the chart: Rat Queens, volume 9; East of West, volume 9; and Blackbird, volume 1. Also making the chart in its release month is The Ghost of Ohio, a horror story by Andy Biersack, frontman of Black Veil Brides, which ties into their album of the same name.

NPD BookScan Top 20 Author Graphic Novels – May 2019 (5/5/19 - 6/1/19) Rank Title Author Publisher 1 THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY VOL. 1: APOCALYPSE SUITE GERARD WAY DARK HORSE COMICS 2 THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY VOL. 2: DALLAS GERARD WAY DARK HORSE COMICS 3 MARCH: BOOK ONE JOHN LEWIS TOP SHELF PROD. 4 THE HANDMAID'S TALE: THE GRAPHIC NOVEL HC MARGARET ATWOOD NAN A. TALESE 5 THE ADVENTURE ZONE: HERE THERE BE GERBLINS CLINT MCELROY FIRST SECOND BOOKS 6 TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD: A GRAPHIC NOVEL HC HARPER LEE HARPER 7 AM I THERE YET?: THE LOOP-DE-LOOP, ZIGZAGGING JOURNEY TO ADULTHOOD HC MARI ANDREW CLARKSON N POTTER 8 RAT QUEENS VOL. 6 KURTIS J. WIEBE IMAGE COMICS 9 THE WALKING DEAD VOL. 31 ROBERT KIRKMAN IMAGE COMICS 10 EAST OF WEST VOL. 9 JONATHAN HICKMAN IMAGE COMICS 11 SHEETS BRENNA THUMMLER LION FORGE 12 THE ADVENTURES OF ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT HC ANDREA WULF PANTHEON BOOKS 13 ANNE FRANK'S DIARY: THE GRAPHIC ADAPTATION HC ANNE FRANK PANTHEON BOOKS 14 FUN HOME: A FAMILY TRAGICOMIC BECHDEL, ALISON MARINER BOOKS 15 SAGA VOL. 1 BRIAN K. VAUGHAN IMAGE COMICS 16 SAGA VOL. 9 BRIAN K. VAUGHAN IMAGE COMICS 17 THE GHOST OF OHIO ANDY BIERSACK Z2 COMICS 18 HELLBOY OMNIBUS VOL. 1 MIKE MIGNOLA DARK HORSE BOOKS 19 I WAS THEIR AMERICAN DREAM: A GRAPHIC MEMOIR MALAKA GHARIB CLARKSON N POTTER 20 BLACKBIRD VOL. 1 SAM HUMPHRIES IMAGE COMICS Source: The NPD Group/BookScan

For charts of May graphic novel sales from NPD BookScan:

May 2019 NPD BookScan – Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels

May 2019 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 2019 NPD BookScan - Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels with Actual Sales

May 2019 NPD BookScan - Top 20 Kids Graphic Novels with Actual Sales

May 2019 NPD BookScan – Top 20 Superhero, Manga, Author 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."