A movie, a TV show, and national politics have left their mark on charts of the top 20 Author, Manga, and Superhero graphic novels in the book channel, based on NPD BookScan data for March 2022 (2/27/22-4/2/22) provided to ICv2.
The release of The Batman had the biggest impact (see “‘The Batman’ Approaches $500 M“); while there are always a lot of Batman books on the Superhero chart, this month there are 15, which seems like a record. And The Batman Box Set, which came out a few weeks after the premiere of the movie, made the March chart despite having been released on March 29, almost the end of the month.
Moon Knight was also doing well on the Superhero chart in the run-up to the Netflix series, which premiered on March 30 (see “‘Moon Knight’ Trailer, Date“). Moon Knight by Lemire & Smallwood: The Complete Collection charted at number 3; there were two Moon Knight books on the February chart as well (see “February 2022 NPD BookScan – Top 20 Superhero GNs“). The Lemire/Smallwood collection was also the number 2 title in comic stores in March (see “Top 20 Graphic Novels – March 2022“).
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NPD BookScan Top 20 ‘Superheroes’ Graphic Novels – March 2022 (2/27/22 – 4/2/22) |
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Rank |
Title |
Author |
Publisher |
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1 |
BATMAN: YEAR ONE |
MILLER, FRANK |
DC COMICS |
|
2 |
BATMAN: THE LONG HALLOWEEN |
JEPH LOEB |
DC COMICS |
|
3 |
MOON KNIGHT BY LEMIRE & SMALLWOOD: THE COMPLETE COLLECTION |
JEFF LEMIRE |
MARVEL COMICS |
|
4 |
BATMAN: THE COURT OF OWLS |
SCOTT SNYDER |
DC COMICS |
|
5 |
BATMAN: HUSH (NEW EDITION) |
JEPH LOEB |
DC COMICS |
|
6 |
BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS |
FRANK MILLER |
DC COMICS |
|
7 |
WATCHMEN (2019 EDITION) |
ALAN MOORE |
DC COMICS |
|
8 |
BATMAN: THE KILLING JOKE DLX. ED. HC (NEW EDITION) |
ALAN MOORE |
DC COMICS |
|
9 |
BATMAN: THE IMPOSTER |
MATTSON TOMLIN |
DC COMICS |
|
10 |
BATMAN: DARK VICTORY |
JEPH LOEB |
DC COMICS |
|
11 |
BATMAN VOL. 2: THE CITY OF OWLS (THE NEW 52) |
SCOTT SNYDER |
DC COMICS |
|
12 |
THE BATMAN WHO LAUGHS |
SCOTT SNYDER |
DC COMICS |
|
13 |
BATMAN/FORTNITE: ZERO POINT HC |
CHRISTOS GAGE |
DC COMICS |
|
14 |
THE BATMAN BOX SET |
JEPH LOEB |
DC COMICS |
|
15 |
BATMAN: THREE JOKERS HC |
GEOFF JOHNS |
DC COMICS |
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16 |
MOON KNIGHT BY BENDIS & MALEEV: THE COMPLETE COLLECTION |
BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS |
MARVEL COMICS |
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17 |
HORIZON ZERO DAWN VOL. 2: LIBERATION |
ANNE TOOLE |
TITAN COMICS |
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18 |
BATMAN: A DEATH IN THE FAMILY |
JIM STARLIN |
DC COMICS |
|
19 |
THE SANDMAN VOL. 1: PRELUDES & NOCTURNES 30TH ANN. ED. |
NEIL GAIMAN |
DC COMICS |
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20 |
BATMAN: WHITE KNIGHT |
SEAN MURPHY |
DC COMICS |
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Source: The NPD Group/BookScan |
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Maia Kobabe’s Gender Queer continues to benefit from news coverage, and the controversy over its presence in libraries (see “‘Gender Queer’ Was the Most Frequently Challenged Book in 2021“). This graphic novel was released in 2019 but didn’t appear on the Author Top 20 until November 2022; it dropped off in December but has been back for the past three months. This month it is at number 8, its highest position yet.
The only new title on the Author chart was Volume 1 of The Nice House on the Lake, James Tynion IV’s horror story that was published by DC under its Black Label imprint (see “DC to Publish Tynion IV Series“); it also topped the ComicHub chart for March.
This month’s chart does continue some familiar trends: three of the top four titles are volumes of Solo Leveling, and another Korean title, Volume 1 of The Abandoned Empress, is at number 14. Hellbound, which was on the February chart, did not make it into the March top 20. The fact that Volume 1 of Solo Leveling is the top title means new readers are still coming to the series; the fourth volume is due out in May.
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NPD BookScan Top 20 Author Graphic Novels – March 2022 (2/27/22 – 4/2/22) |
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Rank |
Title |
Author |
Publisher |
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1 |
SOLO LEVELING, VOL. 1 |
CHUGONG |
YEN PRESS |
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2 |
THEY CALLED US ENEMY |
GEORGE TAKEI |
TOP SHELF PROD. |
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3 |
SOLO LEVELING VOL. 2 |
CHUGONG |
YEN PRESS |
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4 |
SOLO LEVELING VOL. 3 |
CHUGONG |
YEN PRESS |
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5 |
LORE OLYMPUS: VOLUME ONE |
RACHEL SMYTHE |
DEL REY |
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6 |
MARCH: BOOK ONE |
JOHN LEWIS |
TOP SHELF PROD. |
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7 |
LORE OLYMPUS: VOLUME ONE HC |
RACHEL SMYTHE |
DEL REY |
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8 |
GENDER QUEER: A MEMOIR |
MAIA KOBABE |
ONI PRESS |
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9 |
THE NICE HOUSE ON THE LAKE VOL. 1 |
JAMES TYNION IV |
DC COMICS |
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10 |
SAPIENS: A GRAPHIC HISTORY: THE BIRTH OF HUMANKIND |
YUVAL NOAH HARARI |
HARPER PERENNIAL |
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11 |
1984: THE GRAPHIC NOVEL |
GEORGE ORWELL |
MARINER BOOKS |
|
12 |
INVINCIBLE COMPENDIUM VOL. 1 |
ROBERT KIRKMAN |
IMAGE COMICS |
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13 |
CRITICAL ROLE: THE MIGHTY NEIN ORIGINS–CALEB WIDOGAST |
JODY HOUSER |
DARK HORSE COMICS |
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14 |
THE ABANDONED EMPRESS VOL. 1 |
INA |
YEN PRESS |
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15 |
FUN HOME: A FAMILY TRAGICOMIC |
ALISON BECHDEL |
MARINER BOOKS |
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16 |
CRITICAL ROLE: THE MIGHTY NEIN ORIGINS–JESTER LAVORRE HC |
SAM MAGGS |
DARK HORSE COMICS |
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17 |
CRITICAL ROLE: VOX MACHINA ORIGINS LIBRARY ED. HC: SERIES I & II COLLECTION |
CRITICAL ROLE |
DARK HORSE COMICS |
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18 |
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD: A GRAPHIC NOVEL HC |
HARPER LEE |
HARPER |
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19 |
I WAS THEIR AMERICAN DREAM: A GRAPHIC MEMOIR |
MALAKA GHARIB |
CLARKSON POTTER |
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20 |
INVINCIBLE COMPENDIUM VOL. 2 |
ROBERT KIRKMAN |
IMAGE COMICS |
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Source: The NPD Group/BookScan |
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The Manga chart is identical to the March 2022 Adult Top 20, as all of those titles were manga, so check out our earlier coverage for a discussion of March’s manga trends (see “March 2022 NPD BookScan – Top 20 Adult GNs“).
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NPD BookScan Top 20 Manga Graphic Novels – March 2022 (2/27/22 – 4/2/22) |
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Rank |
Title |
Author |
Publisher |
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1 |
MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 30 |
KOHEI HORIKOSHI |
VIZ MEDIA |
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2 |
DEMON SLAYER: KIMETSU NO YAIBA VOL. 1 |
KOYOHARU GOTOUGE |
VIZ MEDIA |
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3 |
DEMON SLAYER: KIMETSU NO YAIBA–STORIES OF WATER AND FLAME |
RYOJI HIRANO |
VIZ MEDIA |
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4 |
CHAINSAW MAN VOL. 1 |
TATSUKI FUJIMOTO |
VIZ MEDIA |
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5 |
CHAINSAW MAN VOL. 2 |
TATSUKI FUJIMOTO |
VIZ MEDIA |
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6 |
MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 1 |
KOHEI HORIKOSHI |
VIZ MEDIA |
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7 |
TOILET-BOUND HANAKO-KUN VOL. 0 |
AIDAIRO |
YEN PRESS |
|
8 |
DEMON SLAYER: KIMETSU NO YAIBA VOL. 2 |
KOYOHARU GOTOUGE |
VIZ MEDIA |
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9 |
JUJUTSU KAISEN VOL. 14 |
GEGE AKUTAMI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
10 |
CHAINSAW MAN VOL. 3 |
TATSUKI FUJIMOTO |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
11 |
BERSERK DELUXE VOL. 1 HC |
KENTARO MIURA |
DARK HORSE COMICS |
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12 |
CHAINSAW MAN VOL. 4 |
TATSUKI FUJIMOTO |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
13 |
DEMON SLAYER: KIMETSU NO YAIBA VOL. 12 |
KOYOHARU GOTOUGE |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
14 |
JUJUTSU KAISEN VOL. 1 |
GEGE AKUTAMI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
15 |
DEMON SLAYER: KIMETSU NO YAIBA VOL. 3 |
KOYOHARU GOTOUGE |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
16 |
CHAINSAW MAN VOL. 9 |
TATSUKI FUJIMOTO |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
17 |
SPY X FAMILY VOL. 1 |
TATSUYA ENDO |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
18 |
JUJUTSU KAISEN VOL. 2 |
GEGE AKUTAMI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
19 |
KAIJU NO. 8 VOL. 1 |
NAOYA MATSUMOTO |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
20 |
BERSERK DELUXE VOL. 10 HC |
KENTARO MIURA |
DARK HORSE COMICS |
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Source: The NPD Group/BookScan |
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For charts of March 2022 graphic novel sales from NPD BookScan:
March 2022 NPD BookScan – Top 20 Adult Graphic Novel
March 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:
March 2022 NPD BookScan – Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels with Actual Sales
March 2022 NPD BookScan – Top 20 Author, Manga, and Superhero Graphic Novels with Actual Sales
March 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.”
Source: ICv2
