There’s a mix of old favorites and new releases on the chart of the top 20 Author, Manga, and Superhero graphic novels in the book channel, based on NPD BookScan data for February 2022 (1/30/22-2/26/22) provided to ICv2.
There are four February 2022 releases on the Superhero chart: Moon Knight: The Complete Collection at number 2, Moon Knight: The Midnight Mission at number 4, Batman: The Imposter at number 7, and the Milestone Compendium at number 20. Two from DC Comics, two from Marvel Comics. Two are new (Moon Knight: The Midnight Mission and Batman: The Impostor) while the other two are collections of older material.
Volume 1 of Amazing Spider-Man: Beyond, a mid-January release, also makes the Top 20, although it wasn’t on the January chart.
Looking at the chart as a whole, there’s a pretty even mix of older titles and newer ones that were published in the last two years. DC has 14 books on the chart, Marvel has five, and Dark Horse Comics has one.
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NPD BookScan Top 20 ‘Superheroes’ Graphic Novels – February 2022 (1/30/22 – 2/26/22) |
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Rank |
Title |
Author |
Publisher |
|
1 |
WATCHMEN (2019 EDITION) |
ALAN MOORE |
DC COMICS |
|
2 |
MOON KNIGHT BY BENDIS & MALEEV: THE COMPLETE COLLECTION |
BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS |
MARVEL COMICS |
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3 |
BATMAN: YEAR ONE |
FRANK MILLER |
DC COMICS |
|
4 |
MOON KNIGHT VOL. 1: THE MIDNIGHT MISSION |
JED MACKAY |
MARVEL COMICS |
|
5 |
BATMAN/FORTNITE: ZERO POINT HC |
CHRISTOS GAGE |
DC COMICS |
|
6 |
THE SANDMAN VOL. 1: PRELUDES & NOCTURNES 30TH ANN. ED. |
NEIL GAIMAN |
DC COMICS |
|
7 |
BATMAN: THE IMPOSTER HC |
MATTSON TOMLIN |
DC COMICS |
|
8 |
BATMAN: THE LONG HALLOWEEN |
JEPH LOEB |
DC COMICS |
|
9 |
V FOR VENDETTA |
ALAN MOORE |
DC COMICS |
|
10 |
BATMAN: THE KILLING JOKE DLX. ED. HC (NEW EDITION) |
ALAN MOORE |
DC COMICS |
|
11 |
THE BATMAN WHO LAUGHS |
SCOTT SNYDER |
DC COMICS |
|
12 |
WATCHMEN: THE DLX. ED. |
ALAN MOORE |
DC COMICS |
|
13 |
BATMAN: THREE JOKERS HC |
GEOFF JOHNS |
DC COMICS |
|
14 |
STAR WARS: WAR OF THE BOUNTY HUNTERS |
CHARLES SOULE |
MARVEL COMICS |
|
15 |
HARLEEN HC |
STJEPAN SEJIC |
DC COMICS |
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16 |
BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS |
FRANK MILLER |
DC COMICS |
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17 |
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN: BEYOND VOL. 1 |
KELLY THOMPSON |
MARVEL COMICS |
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18 |
BATMAN: HUSH (NEW EDITION) |
JEPH LOEB |
DC COMICS |
|
19 |
THE WITCHER OMNIBUS |
PAUL TOBIN |
DARK HORSE COMICS |
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20 |
MILESTONE COMPENDIUM ONE |
DWAYNE MCDUFFIE |
DC COMICS |
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Source: The NPD Group/BookScan |
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The Author chart has a lot of older titles as well, but something interesting is happening here: Five of the books on the chart are Korean (the three volumes of Solo Leveling, plus Volume 1 of The Abandoned Empress and Volume 1 of The Hellbound). It’s actually quite an interesting mix this month, with three volumes of Critical Role, two of Invincible, both the hardcover and paperback versions of Lore Olympus, and a couple of the perennials: They Called US Enemy, 1984, Sapiens.
It’s not surprising to see Fun Home on this chart, but Gender Queer occurs less frequently. Its presence in February thus gives some credence to the notion that attempts to ban a book lead to an increase in sales; Gender Queer is probably the most challenged book in the country right now. It should be noted that Maus does not appear on the graphic novel charts because it’s technically classified as a memoir; if it were counted as a graphic novel, it might very well show up here as well.
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NPD BookScan Top 20 Author Graphic Novels – February 2022 (1/30/22 – 2/26/22) |
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Rank |
Title |
Author |
Publisher |
|
1 |
CRITICAL ROLE: THE MIGHTY NEIN ORIGINS–CALEB WIDOGAST HC |
JODY HOUSER |
DARK HORSE COMICS |
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2 |
THEY CALLED US ENEMY |
GEORGE TAKEI |
TOP SHELF PROD. |
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3 |
SOLO LEVELING VOL. 1 |
CHUGONG |
YEN PRESS |
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4 |
LORE OLYMPUS: VOLUME ONE |
RACHEL SMYTHE |
DEL REY |
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5 |
SOLO LEVELING VOL. 2 |
CHUGONG |
YEN PRESS |
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6 |
LORE OLYMPUS: VOLUME ONE HC |
RACHEL SMYTHE |
DEL REY |
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7 |
IN LOVE & PAJAMAS: A COLLECTION OF COMICS ABOUT BEING YOURSELF TOGETHER HC |
CATANA CHETWYND |
ANDREWS MCMEEL |
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8 |
SOLO LEVELING VOL. 3 |
CHUGONG |
YEN PRESS |
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9 |
MARCH: BOOK ONE |
JOHEN LEWIS |
TOP SHELF PROD. |
|
10 |
THE ABANDONED EMPRESS VOL. 1 |
INA |
YEN PRESS |
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11 |
GENDER QUEER: A MEMOIR |
MAIA KOBABE |
ONI PRESS |
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12 |
CRITICAL ROLE: THE MIGHTY NEIN ORIGINS–JESTER LAVORRE HC |
SAM MAGGS |
DARK HORSE COMICS |
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13 |
CRITICAL ROLE: VOX MACHINA ORIGINS LIBRARY ED. HC: SERIES I & II COLLECTION |
CRITICAL ROLE |
DARK HORSE COMICS |
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14 |
INVINCIBLE COMPENDIUM VOL. 1 |
ROBERT KIRKMAN |
IMAGE COMICS |
|
15 |
1984: THE GRAPHIC NOVEL |
GEORGE ORWELL |
MARINER BOOKS |
|
16 |
SAPIENS: A GRAPHIC HISTORY VOL. 1: THE BIRTH OF HUMANKIND |
YUVAL NOAH HARARI |
HARPER PERENNIAL |
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17 |
THE HELLBOUND VOL. 1 |
YEON SANG-HO |
DARK HORSE COMICS |
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18 |
FUN HOME: A FAMILY TRAGICOMIC |
ALISON BECHDEL |
MARINER BOOKS |
|
19 |
INVINCIBLE COMPENDIUM VOL. 2 |
ROBERT KIRKMAN |
IMAGE COMICS |
|
20 |
SAPIENS: A GRAPHIC HISTORY VOL. 2: THE PILLARS OF CIVILIZATION |
YUVAL NOAH HARARI |
HARPER PERENNIAL |
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Source: The NPD Group/BookScan |
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Once again, the February 2022 Top 20 Manga chart is identical to the Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels chart, so check out our earlier coverage for a discussion of February’s manga trends (see “February 2022 NPD BookScan – Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels”).
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NPD BookScan Top 20 Manga Graphic Novels – February 2022 (1/30/22 – 2/26/22) |
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Rank |
Title |
Author |
Publisher |
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1 |
CHAINSAW MAN VOL. 9 |
TATSUKI FUJIMOTO |
VIZ MEDIA |
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2 |
JUJUTSU KAISEN VOL. 14 |
GEGE AKUTAMI |
VIZ MEDIA |
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3 |
DEMON SLAYER: KIMETSU NO YAIBA VOL. 1 |
KOYOHARU GOTOUGE |
VIZ MEDIA |
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4 |
DEMON SLAYER: KIMETSU NO YAIBA–STORIES OF WATER AND FLAME |
RYOJI HIRANO |
VIZ MEDIA |
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5 |
CHAINSAW MAN VOL. 1 |
TATSUKI FUJIMOTO |
VIZ MEDIA |
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6 |
CHAINSAW MAN VOL. 2 |
TATSUKI FUJIMOTO |
VIZ MEDIA |
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7 |
DEMON SLAYER: KIMETSU NO YAIBA VOL. 2 |
KOYOHARU GOTOUGE |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
8 |
DEMON SLAYER: KIMETSU NO YAIBA VOL. 3 |
KOYOHARU GOTOUGE |
VIZ MEDIA |
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9 |
MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 1 |
KOHEI HORIKOSHI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
10 |
JUJUTSU KAISEN VOL. 1 |
GEGE AKUTAMI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
11 |
CHAINSAW MAN VOL. 4 |
TATSUKI FUJIMOTO |
VIZ MEDIA |
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12 |
CHAINSAW MAN VOL. 3 |
TATSUKI FUJIMOTO |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
13 |
CHAINSAW MAN VOL. 5 |
TATSUKI FUJIMOTO |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
14 |
KAIJU NO. 8 VOL. 1 |
NAOYA MATSUMOTO |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
15 |
MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 2 |
KOHEI HORIKOSHI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
16 |
KOMI CAN’T COMMUNICATE VOL. 17 |
TOMOHITO ODA |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
17 |
JUJUTSU KAISEN VOL. 0 |
GEGE AKUTAMI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
18 |
SPY X FAMILY VOL. 1 |
TATSUYA ENDO |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
19 |
ATTACK ON TITAN VOL. 34 |
HAJIME ISAYAMA |
KODANSHA COMICS |
|
20 |
CHAINSAW MAN VOL. 6 |
TATSUKI FUJIMOTO |
VIZ MEDIA |
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Source: The NPD Group/BookScan |
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For charts of February 2022 graphic novel sales from NPD BookScan:
February 2022 NPD BookScan – Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels
February 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:
February 2022 NPD BookScan – Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels with Actual Sales
February 2022 NPD BookScan – Top 20 Author, Manga, and Superhero Graphic Novels with Actual Sales
February 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
