January 2022 NPD BookScan – Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels

Seven volumes of Chainsaw Man make that series the most prominent on the first 2022 chart of the top 20 Adult graphic novels in the book channel, based on NPD BookScan data for January 2022 (1/2/22-1/29/22) provided to ICv2.  That’s a lot of Chainsaw Man, and with the anime coming out sometime later this year, interest is likely to stay high.

The hardcover and paperback editions of Lore Olympus topped the chart in November 2021 and charted a little further down in December, but now they are gone from the Top 20.  So is Solo Leveling, the Korean title that also made the top 20 in November. In January, all 20 slots in the top 20 are manga.

Last month, we observed that almost half of the top 20 consisted of two series, Chainsaw Man and Jujutsu Kaisen (see “December 2021 NPD BookScan – Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels“).  The January chart includes seven volumes of Chainsaw Man, four of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, and three of Jujutsu Kaisen.

As for Demon Slayer, even though that manga series ended last year, VIZ Media released a one-shot sequel, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba—Stories of Water and Flame, which topped the January chart.  The first three volumes of the series also make the top 20, which suggests that new readers are still picking up the series.  A new story arc of the anime began in December and is still ongoing, which is another factor in keeping interest high.

My Hero Academia, which once dominated the chart, is less visible, although whether this is because sales of that book are down or other books are up will only be clear when we look at the numbers.  It was completely missing from the December chart, but sales may have gotten a boost from the release of Volume 2 of My Hero Academia: Team-Up Missions in January.  Volume 30 of My Hero Academia is scheduled for March 1, and we will be watching to see if that brings more volumes into the top 20.

Four January releases debuted on the chart: Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba—Stories of Water and Flame, Volume 15 of Dragon Ball Super, Volume 2 of My Hero Academia: Team-Up Missions, and Volume 12 of Toilet-Bound Hanako-Kun.

For charts of January 2022 graphic novel sales from NPD BookScan:
January 2022 NPD BookScan – Top 20 Author, Manga, and Superhero Graphic Novels [COMING]
January 2022 NPD BookScan – Top 20 Kids Graphic Novels [COMING]

For the charts with the actual sales numbers from NPD BookScan, see these articles on the ICv2 Pro site:
January 2022 NPD BookScan – Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels with Actual Sales
January 2022 NPD BookScan – Top 20 Author, Manga, and Superhero Graphic Novels with Actual Sales [COMING]
January 2022 NPD BookScan – Top 20 Kids Graphic Novels with Actual Sales [COMING]

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