Solo Leveling, Dandadan Are The Fastest Growing Graphic Novels In North America

Solo Leveling and Dandadan have been identified as the fastest-growing graphic novel series in North America.

Kristen McLean, Senior Executive Director at Circana, revealed these findings at the ComicsPRO’s Pre-Conference Sneak Peek virtual session on Feb 13, 2025. The analysis was based on unit sales tracked by Circana BookScan.

According to McLean, among manga series, Dandadan, Delicious in Dungeon, One Piece, The Apothecary Diaries, Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, and One Piece: Ace’s Story—The Manga are experiencing rapid growth.

While One Piece is recognized as an established series, the others are newer, having launched in 2020 or later. These newer series also have corresponding anime adaptations that are even more recent.

McLean noted this trend indicates an active readership seeking new content. On the other hand, box sets also continue to maintain popularity within the graphic novel market.

McLean highlighted the increasing globalization of the U.S. market, with readers showing interest in manga, light novels, manhwa, manhua, and donghua.

Solo Leveling was cited as the top-growing series in BookScan for 2024 and continues to perform strongly across both print and anime formats. In Jan 2025 manga sales rankings, the series occupied 5 out of the top 20 spots.

The Apothecary Diaries is currently the best-selling light novel series, while Heaven’s Official Blessing is leading in the manhua category, although McLean noted that the manhua sector is still relatively small.

Horror graphic novels are also experiencing significant growth. Sales in this genre increased by 20% in 2024 compared to 2023, and by 50% compared to 2019.

The fastest-growing horror series include a mix of titles with manga like Jujutsu Kaisen, Choujin X, Dark Gathering and the Killing Stalking manwha among others graphic novels.

McLean suggested that the popularity of horror aligns with broader trends of escapism and nostalgia, referencing Universal’s horror theme park plans and the resurgence of interest in psychological horror video games.

Source: ICv2 via Manga Alerts