Adult Graphic Novel Sales Jumped Nearly 30% in 2020 (Largely Thanks to Manga)

In 2020, sales of adult graphic novels jumped nearly 30% in comparison to 2019 -- and Japanese manga is a huge reason as to why.

Per Newsarama, a new report from NPD Group explains that 16.2 million adult graphic novels were sold in print in 2020 -- 29.1% more than in 2019. The top-selling adult graphic novel of 2020 was The Boy, The Mole, The Fox, and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy. However, the NPD Group's top 10 list is dominated by manga, particularly Kohei Horikoshi's My Hero Academia.

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In fact, five of the 10 best-selling adult graphic novels of 2020 were volumes of My Hero Academia. Vol. 1 came in at second place, followed by Vol. 2 in fourth place, Vol. 24 in sixth place, Vol. 3 in seventh place and Vol. 23 in ninth place. A couple of other manga titles made the top 10 as well. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Vol. 1 by Koyoharu Gotouge came in fifth place, followed by Uzumaki by Junji Ito in 10th place.

The two other adult graphic novels to make the top 10 list of 2020 were Nathan W. Pyle's Strange Planet and its sequel, Stranger Planet -- which came in at third place and eighth place, respectively. Interestingly, of the 10 best-selling adult graphic novels of 2020, only three -- My Hero Academia Vol. 23, My Hero Academia Vol. 24 and Stranger Planet -- actually released that year.

1. The Boy, The Mole, The Fox, and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy
2. My Hero Academia Volume 1 by Kohei Horikoshi
3. Strange Planet by Nathan W. Pyle
4. My Hero Academia Volume 2 by Kohei Horikoshi
5. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Volume 1 by Koyoharu Gotouge
6. My Hero Academia Volume 24 by Kohei Horikoshi
7. My Hero Academia Volume 3 by Kohei Horikoshi
8. Stranger Planet by Nathan W. Pyle
9. My Hero Academia Volume 23 by Kohei Horikoshi
10. Uzumaki by Junji Ito

Unsurprisingly, in the adult graphic novel sphere, manga was the subcategory with the highest growth last year. Manga sales in 2020 rose 43.7% in comparison to 2019. This means that a whopping 80% of the adult graphic novel category's 29.1% growth can be attributed to manga sales.

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Source: GamesRadar+ (Newsarama)