Spy x Family #9 from @VIZMedia was the bestselling book in America last week according to numbers from BookScan (@npdgroup @WeAreCircana) and released by @PublishersWkly, and books from @DarkHorseComics @01FirstSecond @izepress and @Scholastic also made the charts. Spy x Family Volume 9 was the #1 bestselling book OVERALL last week, according to figures from Circana BookScan published by Publisher’s Weekly.
The ninth volume of the manga, published by Viz, sold 31,486 copies in its debut week, beating out even recent sales phenomena Colleen Hoover, former Prince Harry, Ron DeSantis and everyone else. For those new to its charms, the story involves a family created as cover for an espionage mission that ends up sticking together….and then all hell breaks loose.
As if that wasn’t enough, Jujutsu Kaisen, Vol. 19 by Gege Akutami, also published by Viz, was the #5 book on the list, selling 22,955 copies for the week of April 3.
While this is a pretty spectacular confirmation that manga is still going strong, it was far from the only graphic novel appearance on the week’s best seller lists.
On the HARDCOVER FRONTLIST FICTION list for the same week, Berserk Deluxe Volume 13 by the late Kentaro Miura (translated by Duane Johnson) was the #5 book, with 11,526 copies sold. This is a deluxe hardcover re-release of Miura’s classic, and at a list price of $49.99, even discounted it’s a nice earner for Dark Horse.
BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE! Debuting at #8 was a brand new, non series related graphic novel Bea Wolf by Zach Weinersmith and Boulet with 8,748 copies sold. I’m not quite certain this is an adult book, but it is absolutely gorgeous work by two comics masters, a hilarious and magical retelling of the Beowolf legend as “featuring a gang of troublemaking kids who must defend their tree house from a fun-hating adult who can instantly turn children into grown-ups.” Perhaps the mythical all ages story again.
The TRADE PAPER FRONTLIST, in addition to Spy x Family at #1 and Jujitku Kaisen at #4 has Solo Leveling, Vol. 6 from Ize Press, an imprint of Yen Press that publisher Korean webtoons, at #8 with 14,391 copies sold. The comic had a rather comlicated publishing history, debuting as a Korean webnovel by Chugong, but later adapted as a webtoon for Kakao by Redice Studio head Jang Sung-rak (aka Dubu), who died of a cerebral hemorrhage last year. The series is now coming out in print from Ize and its a big seller, another example of the power of webtoons in print.
The children’s fiction frontlist is off course hugely graphic novels with 11 of the 25 titles in that category – I’ve copies the weekly sales with year to date totals in parentheses.
1 Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Book 17, Jeff Kinney, Amulet Books, 9,033 (145,324 YTD)
2 Cat Kid Comic Club #4: Collaborations, Dav Pilkey, Scholastic Grafix, 8,710 (146,966
3 Mary Anne’s Bad Luck Mystery: A Graphic Novel (the Baby-Sitters Club #13), Ann M Martin and Cynthia Yuan Cheng, Scholastic Grafix, 5,978 (96,485 YTD)
4 Moon Rising: A Graphic Novel (Wings of Fire Graphic Novel #6), Tui T Sutherland and Mike Holmes. Scholastic Grafix, 5,680 (126,763 YTD)
7 The Adventures of Captain Underpants (Now with a Dog Man Comic!) (Color Edition): 25th and a Half Anniversary Edition (Color), Dav Pilkey, Scholastic Grafix, 4,508 (16,274 YTD)
10 Five Nights at Freddy’s: Fazbear Frights Graphic Novel Collection #2, Scott Cawthon, Andrea Waggener, Carly Anne West, Christopher Hastings, Didi Esmeralda, Coryn MacPherson, and Anthony Morris, Scholastic Grafix, 3,812 (11,679 YTD)
11 Five Nights at Freddy’s: Fazbear Frights Graphic Novel Collection #1, Scott Cawthon, Elley Cooper, Carly Anne West, Christopher Hastings, Didi Esmeralda, Anthony Morrism, and Andi Santagata, Scholastic Grafix, 3,503 (34,349 YTD)
12 Karen’s Birthday: A Graphic Novel (Baby-Sitters Little Sister #6), Ann M Martin and Katy Farina, Scholastic Grafix 3,445 (63,963 YTD)
14 Cat Kid Comic Club #3: On Purpose, Dav Pilkey, Scholastic Grafix, 3,172 (33,976 YTD)
17 Jessi’s Secret Language (the Baby-Sitters Club Graphic Novel #12): A Graphix Book (Adapted Edition), Ann M Martin and Chan Chau, Scholastic Grafix, 2,829 (38,039 YTD)
19 Investigators: Agents of S.U.I.T. 1, John Patrick Green, Christopher Hastings, and Pat Lewis, First Second, 2,675 (25,442 YTD)
23 Sweet Valley Twins: Best Friends: (A Graphic Novel), Francine Pascal, Claudia Aguirre, and Nicole Andelfinger, Random House Graphic, 2,281 (26,411 YTD)
And finally the COMICS bestseller list for March (sales dates not notes, but I’d guess the previous one). Just total sales for the month listed here.
1, The Boy the Mole the Fox and the Horse, Charlie Mackesy, HarperOne, 44,645
2, My Hero Academia, Vol. 33, Kohei Horikoshi, Viz Media, 36,709
3, The Adventure Zone: The Eleventh Hour, Clint McElroy, Carey Pietsch, Griffin McElroy, Travis McElroy, Justin McElroy First Second, 22,832
4, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba, Vol. 1, Koyoharu Gotouge, Viz Media, 20,309
5, Chainsaw Man, Vol. 1, Tatsuki Fujimoto, Viz Media, 18,353
6, Spy X Family, Vol. 1, Tatsuya Endo, Viz Media, 14,868
7, My Dress-Up Darling 07, Shinichi Fukuda, Square Enix Manga, 14,777
8, My Hero Academia, Vol. 1, Kouhei Horikoshi Kaouhei Horikoshi, Viz Media, 13,841
9, Chainsaw Man, Vol. 2, Tatsuki Fujimoto, Viz Media, 13,105
10, Chainsaw Man, Vol. 3, Tatsuki Fujimoto, Viz Media, 11,192
Consider this a follow-up to yesterday’s epic yearly BookScan analysis.
The bottom line? Manga and kids comics continue to sell VERY well. No danger of them suddenly going away here!
https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/nielsen/index.html
My neighborhood Barns and Noble ran a big sale on manga in March. If that sale was going on at all the stores in the chain, I bet that helped get these manga to bestseller list status.
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