It is that time of the month where we get to check out the latest graphic novels sales numbers. As always, ICv2 is the best source for these sales numbers. ICv2 released several sales charts for December 2021 including the ComicHub Top 100 Graphic Novels, the NPD Top 20 Author Graphic Novels, NPD Top 20 Superheroes Graphic Novels, NPD Top 20 Manga Graphic Novels, and NPD Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels.
The ComicHub Top 100 Graphic Novels sales chart is based on point-of-sale numbers by the ComicHub system at stores selling American comics around the world. During the period for which these reports were generated, there were over 100 stores using the ComicHub system.
The Top 20 Author Graphic Novels, Top 20 Superheroes Graphic Novels, Top 20 Manga Graphic Novels, and Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels sales charts are all based on NPD BookScan numbers. 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.
ComicHub December 2021 Top 100 Graphic Novels Sales Chart
- Mighty Marvel Masterworks Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 2 (Marvel Comics)
- Something is Killing the Children Vol. 1 (BOOM! Studios)
- Deserter Junji Ito Story Collected HC (VIZ Media)
- Nightwing Vol. 1 Leaping Into The Light HC (DC Comics)
- Cat Kid Comic Club Vol. 2 Perspectives HC (Graphix)
- Batman & Scooby-Doo Mysteries Vol. 1 (DC Comics)
- Saga Vol. 1 (Image Comics)
- Chainsaw Man Vol. 8 (VIZ Media)
- Strange Adventures HC (DC Comics)
- Geiger Vol. 1 (Image Comics)
- Beta Ray Bill Argent Star (Marvel Comics)
- Rorschach HC (DC Comics)
- BRZRKR Vol. 1 (BOOM! Studios)
- Star Wars War Bounty Hunters (Marvel Comics)
- Lore Olympus Vol. 1 (Del Rey Manga)
- Something is Killing the Children Dlx. Ed. Book 1 HC (BOOM! Studios)
- Department of Truth Vol. 1 (Image Comics)
- Immortal Hulk Vol. 10 Hell And Death (Marvel Comics)
- Junji Ito Cat Diary Yon & Mu Collected Ed. HC (Kodansha Comics)
- Kaiju No 8 Vol. 1 (VIZ Media)
Top 10
The Top 10 was rather surprising. Keep in mind that the ComicHub numbers come from local comic book shops. These are historically the last bastion of American superhero comic books and not the province of manga. However, VIZ Media managed to place two volumes in the Top 10. Not bad at all.
DC Comics took first place with three titles in the Top 10. Two of the three titles were from the Batman franchise. Image Comics was tied with VIZ Media with two titles.
Boom, Graphix, and Marvel all placed just one title in the Top 10. What an embarrassing showing for Marvel.
Top 20
DC Comics and Marvel Comics were tied for first place with four titles apiece in the Top 20. VIZ Media, Image Comics, and Boom all placed three titles in the Top 20. Kodansha Comics, Del Ray Manga, and Graphix all placed one title each in the Top 20.
Again, this is a surprising showing for manga publishers in stores that are traditional safe spaces for American comics.
Top 50
Marvel Comics began to break away from the pack by placing twelve titles in the Top 50. Three of the twelve titles were Star Wars titles. Three of the twelve titles were from the Spider-Man franchise. That leaves just six titles from Marvel’s superhero line of comics outside of Spider-Man. That is a poor showing.
DC Comics came in second place with 11 titles in the Top 50. As usual, DC Comics relied heavily on the Batman franchise which accounted for five of their eleven titles.
Image Comics took third place with 10 titles in the Top 50. VIZ Media took fourth place with 5 volumes. Boom took fifth place with four titles.
Rounding out the rest of the Top 50 publishers included Kodansha Comics and Dark Horse Comics with three volumes apiece. Del Ray Manga and Graphix had one title each.
Top 100
Marvel takes first place by slotting twenty-six titles in the Top 100. Six were from the Star Wars franchise. Nine were from the Spider-Man franchise. This really highlights how much Marvel Comics has come to rely on Star Wars and Spider-Man as they account for a combined fifteen of Marvel’s twenty-six titles. It is worth noting that only two of Marvel’s titles were from the X-Men franchise. And one of those titles was an old Stan Lee/Jack Kirby volume.
Image Comics edged out DC Comics for second place by placing twenty-one titles in the Top 100. That is either an impressive showing for Image or a sad showing by DC Comics. It depends on how you want to look at it.
DC Comics came in at third place with twenty titles in the Top 100. Nine of the twenty titles were from the Batman franchise.
VIZ Media took fourth place with a strong thirteen volumes. It is fascinating to see how manga is beginning to make inroads into local comic book shops as American superhero comics continue to fade.
Boom nabbed fifth place with six titles in the Top 100.
The remained of the Top 100 was rounded out with Kodansha Comics, Dark Horse Comics, and Graphix placing three titles apiece. Del Ray Manga, Seven Seas Entertainment, Fantagraphics Books, Vault Comics, and IDW Publishing all slotted one title in the Top 100. It is worth noting how IDW continues to fall behind Boom and Dark Horse in the battle for the fourth-largest American comic book publisher.
NPD December 2021 Top 20 Author Graphic Novels
- LORE OLYMPUS: VOLUME ONE HC (DEL REY) 31,901 units
- LORE OLYMPUS: VOLUME ONE (DEL REY) 27,669 units
- SOLO LEVELING VOL. 1 (YEN PRESS) 11,644 units
- SOLO LEVELING VOL. 3 (YEN PRESS) 9,854 units
- CRITICAL ROLE: THE MIGHTY NEIN ORIGINS–JESTER LAVORRE (DARK HORSE COMICS) 9,649 units
- BRZRKR VOL. 1 (BOOM! STUDIOS) 8,650 units
- SOLO LEVELING VOL. 2 (YEN PRESS) 7,598 units
- INVINCIBLE COMPENDIUM VOL. 1 (IMAGE COMICS) 6,953 units
- SAPIENS: A GRAPHIC HISTORY VOL.: THE BIRTH OF HUMANKIND (HARPER PERENNIAL) 6,141 units
- STRANGE PLANET HC (MORROW GIFT) 6,063 units
- DUNE: THE GRAPHIC NOVEL BOOK 1 HC (ABRAMS) 5,838 units
- SAPIENS: A GRAPHIC HISTORY, VOL. 2: THE PILLARS OF CIVILIZATION (HARPER PERENNIAL) 4,774 units
- STRANGER PLANET HC (MORROW GIFT) 4,025 units
- 1984: THE GRAPHIC NOVEL (MARINER BOOKS) 3,966 units
- FINE PRINT VOL. 1 (IMAGE COMICS) 3,749 units
- INVINCIBLE COMPENDIUM VOL. 2 (IMAGE COMICS) 3,735 units
- THEY CALLED US ENEMY (TOP SHELF) 3,296 units
- IN LOVE & PAJAMAS: A COLLECTION OF COMICS ABOUT BEING YOURSELF TOGETHER (ANDREWS & MCMEEL) 3,257 units
- DUNE: THE GRAPHIC NOVEL BOOK 1: DLX. COLLECTOR’S ED. HC (ABRAMS) 3,142 units
- THE ADVENTURE ZONE: THE CRYSTAL KINGDOM (FIRST SECOND BOOKS) 3,107 units
The December 2021 Author Graphic Novels sales chart is top-heavy. The top two titles break away from the rest of the pack and sales slide quickly past the Top 2. Having said that, the December 2021 Author Graphic Novels sales chart is stronger than the November 2021 Author Graphic Novels sales chart.
In November 2021, sales dropped into the 7,000 unit range by the number 4 spot. In December 2021, sales do not slide into the 7,000 unit range until the number 7 spot. Sales at the bottom of the chart were also stronger in December 2021. In November 2021, the sales were in the sub-3,000 unit range by the number 11 spot. In December 2021, no titles in the Top 20 sold below the 3,000 unit range.
Top 10
Just like in November, the December 2021 Author Graphic Novels sales chart is powered by webtoons from the East. Lore Olympus dominated the sales chart for the second straight month betaking the top two slots on this chart. Korean webtoon Solo Leveling dominated the Top 10 by taking two of the Top 5 spots and three of the Top 10 spots.
The remaining five spots of the Top 10 are filled out by various Western titles.
Yen Press leads all publishers with three titles. Del Rey had two titles. Dark Horse, Image, Boom, Harper Perennial, and Morrow Gift all placed one title apiece in the Top 10.
Top 20
Dune makes an appearance when expanding the lens to the Top 20 with two titles. Yen Press and Image Comics lead all publishers by each placing three titles in the Top 20.
NPD December 2021 Top 20 Superheroes Graphic Novels
- STAR WARS: A VADER FAMILY SITHMAS HC (CHRONICLE BOOKS) 7,085 units
- HAWKEYE BY FRACTION & AJA: THE SAGA OF BARTON AND BISHOP (MARVEL COMICS) 4,939 units
- BATMAN/FORTNITE: ZERO POINT HC (DC COMICS) 4,284 units
- BATMAN: YEAR ONE (DC COMICS) 3,587 units
- NIGHTWING VOL.1: LEAPING INTO THE LIGHT (DC COMICS) 3,265 units
- HARLEEN HC (DC COMICS) 3,089 units
- WATCHMEN (2019 EDITION) (DC COMICS) 2,979 units
- BATMAN: THE KILLING JOKE DLX. ED. HC (NEW EDITION) (DC COMICS) 2,916 units
- BATMAN: THREE JOKERS HC (DC COMICS) 2,697 units
- THE WITCHER OMNIBUS (DARK HORSE) 2,670 units
- STRANGE ADVENTURES (DC COMICS) 2,552 units
- RORSCHACH (DC COMICS) 2,340 units
- WATCHMEN: THE DELUXE EDITION (DC COMICS) 2,335 units
- STAR WARS: THE HIGH REPUBLIC VOL. 2: THE HEART OF DRENGIR (MARVEL COMICS) 2,262 units
- HAWKEYE: MY LIFE AS A WEAPON (MARVEL COMICS) 2,259 units
- FAR SECTOR (DC COMICS) 2,239 units
- THE BATMAN WHO LAUGHS (DC COMICS) 2,075
- STAR WARS: WAR OF THE BOUNTY HUNTERS (MARVEL COMICS) 1,980 units
- THE SANDMAN OMNIBUS VOL. 1 (DC COMICS) 1,948 units
- INJUSTICE: GODS AMONG US YEAR ONE: THE COMPLETE COLLECTION (DC COMICS) 1,779 units
The Superhero Graphic Novels market continues to be a raging dumpster fire thanks to the continued mismanagement by both Marvel Comics and DC Comics. In December 2019, the number one superhero title sold 29,840 units. In December 2020, the number one superhero title sold 10,411 units. And now, here we are with the December 2021 Superhero Graphic Novels sales chart where the number one title only sold a pathetic 7,085 units. That is a massive sales drop in just a two-year span. Marvel and DC continue to self-implode with their strange editorial decisions.
In the November 2021 Superhero Graphic Novels sales chart had Star Wars: A Vader Family Sithmas took the number one spot with 4,046 units. December 2021 had the same title in the number one spot but with a slightly better sales number of 7,085 units. The bottom of the Superhero Graphic Novels sales chart was slightly better at the bottom in December 2021. In November 2021, sales slid into the 1,000 range by the number 5 spot and sales dropped in the sub-1,000 unit range by the number 16 spot. In December 2021, sales dropped into the 1,000 unit range by the number 18 spot.
Top 10
Chronicle Books took their gift from Mama Disney and used it to beat Marvel over the head and take the number one spot on the sales chart. This was the only non-Marvel or DC title in the Top 10.
Marvel Comics placed just one measly title in the Top 10. That is embarrassing. The sole Marvel Comics title was Hawkeye by Fraction and Aja in the number two spot. The sole Marvel Comics title in the Top 10 is one from six years ago.
DC Comics dominated the Top 10 by placing seven titles in the Top 10. Of course, what should continue to disturb DC Comics is that six of their seven titles are all Batman franchise titles. The seventh title is Watchmen. A comic from almost 35 years ago.
Dark Horse squeezed one title into the Top 10 with the Witcher Omnibus.
Top 20
Marvel Comics continued to get an absolute beating by placing a pathetic four titles in the Top 20. And it gets uglier from there. Two of the four titles are Star Wars titles. That means Marvel only placed two titles from their superhero line of comics. And both of those were old Hawkeye titles. Marvel continues to struggle to find an audience for its current product.
DC Comics dominated the Top 20 with 14 titles. Seven of the 14 titles were from the Batman franchise. Three of the 14 titles were ancient old comics in the form of the Sandman Omnibus and two different editions of Watchmen. That means only four of DC’s 14 titles are from non-Batman franchise comics published within the past five years.
All in all, the superhero sales chart is atrocious. Marvel Comics and DC Comics seem hellbent on completely ceding the market to manga.
NPD December 2021 Top 20 Manga Graphic Novels
- CHAINSAW MAN VOL. 8 (VIZ MEDIA) 46,860 units
- JUJUTSU KAISEN VOL. 13 (VIZ MEDIA) 40,955 units
- DEMON SLAYER: KIMETSU NO YAIBA VOL. 2 (VIZ MEDIA) 37,609 units
- CHAINSAW MAN VOL. 1 (VIZ MEDIA) 36,777 units
- JUJUTSU KAISEN 0 (VIZ MEDIA) 32,663 units
- JUJUTSU KAISEN VOL. 1 (VIZ MEDIA) 26,838 units
- CHAINSAW MAN VOL. 2 (VIZ MEDIA) 25,610 units
- ATTACK ON TITAN VOL. 34 (KODANSHA COMICS) 24,290 units
- TOILET-BOUND HANAKO-KUN VOL. 1 (YEN PRESS) 24,245 units
- ATTACK ON TITAN VOL. 1 (KODANSHA COMICS) 23,810 units
- CHAINSAW MAN VOL. 3 (VIZ MEDIA) 23,187 units
- JUJUTSU KAISEN VOL. 2 (VIZ MEDIA) 21,728 units
- DEATH NOTE BLACK EDITION VOL. 1 (VIZ MEDIA) 20,948 units
- TOKYO GHOUL VOL. 1 (VIZ MEDIA) 20,534 units
- DESERTER: JUNJI ITO STORY COLLECTION (VIZ MEDIA) 19,801 units
- JUJUTSU KAISEN VOL. 3 (VIZ MEDIA) 19,651 units
- KAIJU NO. 8 VOL. 1 (VIZ MEDIA) 19,446 units
- TOILET-BOUND HANAKO-KUN VOL. 2 (YEN PRESS) 18,886 units
- HAIKYU!! VOL. 1 (VIZ MEDIA) 18,699 units
- DEMON SLAYER: KIMETSU NO YAIBA VOL. 4 (VIZ MEDIA) 18,564 units
Sales of the number one manga title and the number twenty manga title have increased from December 2018 to December 2021. Total units sales of the top 20 were 193,780 units in December 2018. That increased to 326,915 units in December 2019. That increased again to 521,101 in December 2021. That is phenomenal growth. It is also the direct opposite of the Superhero sales charts.
The December 2021 Top 20 Manga Graphic Novels sales chart posted higher numbers than the November 2021 sales chart from top to bottom. In December 2021, the title in the number one spot sold 46,860 units. In November 2021, the title in the number one spot sold 30,437 units. In December 2021, the title in the number 20 spot sold 18,564 units. In November 2021, the title in the number 20 spot sold 9,642 units.
Top 10
December 2021 was all about two franchises: Chainsaw Man and Jujutsu Kaisen. Chainsaw Man took the number one spot and three of the Top 10 spots. I love seeing Chainsaw Man having such massive success. This is a gem of a manga that I read from the beginning on the Shonen Jump app. I was curious to see how popular it would be once it got published in print volume format. It is so cool to see other people adoring this manga as much as I did.
Jujutsu Kaisen also nabbed three of the Top 10 spots. The Attack on Titan franchise took second place by slotting two volumes in the Top 10.
VIZ Media continues its domination by placing seven volumes in the top 10. Kodansha Comics placed two volumes in the Top 10. Yen Press rounded out the Top 10 with one volume.
Top 20
Jujutsu Kaisen dominated the Top 20 by placing five volumes in the Top 20. Chainsaw Man came in second place with four volumes in the Top 20. Attack on Titan, Demon Slayer, and Toilet-Bound Hanako-Kun tied for third place by placing two volumes apiece in the Top 20.
It is interesting to see that Kaiju No. 8 only placed one volume in the Top 20 at the number 17 spot. This manga has lost some focus and steam with the chapters we have gotten in the past few months on the Shonen Jump app. I wonder if this is starting to bleed into the sales numbers for the physical volumes.
NPD December 2021 Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels
- CHAINSAW MAN VOL. 8 (VIZ MEDIA) 46,860 units
- JUJUTSU KAISEN VOL. 13 (VIZ MEDIA) 40,955 units
- DEMON SLAYER: KIMETSU NO YAIBA VOL. 2 (VIZ MEDIA) 37,609 units
- CHAINSAW MAN VOL. 1 (VIZ MEDIA) 36,777 units
- JUJUTSU KAISEN 0 (VIZ MEDIA) 32,663 units
- LORE OLYMPUS: VOLUME ONE HC (DEL REY) 31,901 units
- LORE OLYMPUS: VOLUME ONE (DEL REY) 27,669 units
- JUJUTSU KAISEN VOL. 1 (VIZ MEDIA) 26,838 units
- CHAINSAW MAN VOL. 2 (VIZ MEDIA) 25,610 units
- ATTACK ON TITAN VOL. 34 (KODANSHA COMICS) 24,290 units
- TOILET-BOUND HANAKO-KUN VOL. 1 (YEN PRESS) 24,245 units
- ATTACK ON TITAN VOL. 1 (KODANSHA COMICS) 23,810
- CHAINSAW MAN VOL. 3 (VIZ MEDIA) 23,187 units
- JUJUTSU KAISEN VOL. 2 (VIZ MEDIA) 21,728 units
- DEATH NOTE BLACK EDITION VOL. 1 (VIZ MEDIA) 20,948 units
- TOKYO GHOUL VOL. 1 (VIZ MEDIA) 20,534 units
- DESERTER: JUNJI ITO STORY COLLECTION (VIZ MEDIA) 19,801 units
- JUJUTSU KAISEN VOL. 3 (VIZ MEDIA) 19,651 units
- KAIJU NO. 8 VOL. 1 (VIZ MEDIA) 19,446 units
- TOILET-BOUND HANAKO-KUN VOL. 2 (YEN PRESS) 18,886 units
The December 2021 Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels sales chart was stronger than November 2021. In November, the title in the number 20 spot sold 10,278 units. In December 2021, the title in the number 20 spot sold 18,886 units. Manga continues to power the growth of the graphic novel market.
Top 10
This is no longer a surprise and is now to be expected. The Top 20 Manga sales chart is nearly identical to the Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels sales chart. The only non-manga titles to be found on this chart would be Lore Olympus at the numbers 6 and 7 spots. That is it!
Top 20
The fact that American super hero titles are nowhere even near the Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels sales chart continues to highlight how Marvel and DC have successfully driven their companies off a cliff and chased away a large portion of their readers. The title in the number 20 spot of the Top 20 Manga Graphic Novels sales chart sold 11,479 units more than the highest selling title in the Top 20 Superheroes Graphic Novels sales chart. Let that sink in.
All right, that is it for December 2021. Will manga continue its utter dominance in 2022? We will find out!
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