May 2022 NPD BookScan – Top 20 Author, Superhero and Manga Graphic Novels

Graphic novels collecting webtoons dominated the BookScan chart of the top 20 Author graphic novels in the book channel, based on NPD BookScan data for May 2022 (5/1/22 – 5/28/22) provided to ICv2.

Six of the top eight Author titles (the category we use for titles driven by their creators rather than corporate-owned properties) in May are from webtoon apps with Korean roots: Solo Leveling, which originated on the Tapas family of apps and is published in print by Yen Press, and Lore Olympus, which originated on Webtoon and is published in print by Del Rey. The fourth volume of Solo Leveling, which was released in May, topped the Author chart, and placed #3 on the chart of all Adult Graphic Novels for May (see “May 2022 NPD BookScan“).

Three other volumes with web roots appear in the top 20 in May. Gender Queer was originally published serially by creator Maia Kobabe on Instagram and collected in graphic novel form.  It’s currently getting a sales boost from publicity surrounding its frequent school and library bans (see “‘Gender Queer’ Was Most Frequently Challenged“). Fangs also originated on Instagram, and After: The Graphic Novel, was an adaptation of a webnovel originally released by Webtoon sister company Wattpad and published by Wattpad Books imprint Frayed Pages.

Andrews McMeel, has clearly found parallels between its core business of newspaper comic strip collections and collections of comics that originate on digital platforms. Last April, for example, three titles on the Top 20 Author Graphic Novels were Andrews McMeel collections of Instagram comics (see “April 2021 BookScan“), and the publisher also recently inked a deal to publish collections of Studio Tapas webtoons (see “Tapas Media Teams Up with Andrews McMeel“).

The number of Batman titles on the Superhero chart is down to eight, from 11 in April and 15 in March. That’s closer to the normal number of Batman books on this chart, before the mini-surge caused by the movie The Batman (see “‘The Batman’ Approaches $500M“). Meanwhile, the number of Moon Knight titles is back down to three. Since the usual number is zero, this indicates that the Netflix series is still spurring sales.

With the Netflix adaptation in the works, and hefty new omnibi on the shelves, readers were flocking to Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman as well. DC Comics released a new compilation of the series in four volumes, each over 500 pages, in April and May. The first volume charted in April (see “April 2022 NPD BookScan“), and two more made it into the top 20 this month. Volumes 2 and 3 are more expensive than Volume 1, but 500+ pages for $34.99 is still a pretty good deal. Volume 1 of the 30th Anniversary Edition, which is half the size of the new volumes, has a lower pages-to-dollars ratio, but enough people bought it anyway that it shows up at number 19.

For once, the Manga chart is not identical to the Adult Top 20, because one volume of Solo Leveling made it onto the Adult chart. That pulls up Volume 2 of Toilet-Bound Hanako-Kun onto the Manga chart at number 20. This is one of those series where the first volume makes the chart almost every month, but the others seldom do. It seems to have been picking up momentum, however, and there are three volumes in the May top 20.

For charts of May 2022 graphic novel sales from NPD BookScan:
May 2022 NPD BookScan – Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels
May 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:
May 2022 NPD BookScan – Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels with Actual Sales
May 2022 NPD BookScan – Top 20 Author, Manga, and Superhero Graphic Novels with Actual Sales
May 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