It was hard for One Piece, the best-selling manga in history, to break even more records, and yet the grand tale of adventure created by Eiichiro Oda 25 years ago just did that: One Piece has sold over half a billion copies worldwide, becoming one of only two literary works by a single creator in history to achieve that (the other being Harry Potter). In the process, One Piece outsold the second-best-selling American comic book character, Batman. Making a fair comparison with American superhero comics, however, brings One Piece even further, making the series sur even the Man of Steel, Superman.
One Piece tells the story of Luffy, a young boy who dreams of becoming the Pirate King in a world covered by seas with small islands scattered throughout. To become the Pirate King Luffy has to retrieve the mysterious treasure known as One Piece, left there by the previous King, Gol D. Roger. Author Eiichiro Oda created a vast world that is incredibly deep in lore, history, and characters, resonating with fans and creating a huge following worldwide. The manga started being serialized weekly in July of 1997, and reliable research from content creator Artur - Library of Ohara reveals One Piece's sales have sured DC's two monstrously popular powerhouse series: Batman & Superman.
Including Shonen Jump Sales, One Piece Has Outsold Batman & Superman
In August of 2022, sales reports for One Piece volumes worldwide reached over 516 million, making One Piece the best-selling manga series and the best-selling comic series printed in book volumes in history. The updated sales numbers show that One Piece can compete not just with manga or comics printed in book volumes, but also with the most popular American comic books, including the two best-sellers Superman and Batman. The comparison is a bit tricky, however. The so-called "American comic book format" consists of thinner periodicals stapled together published monthly, not volumes.
Superman and Batman (like most Western superheroes) sales figures mainly encom periodicals, not volumes. However, Batman was clearly sured, as the reported sales for all its comic books (starting from his first appearance in 1939) "only" get to 484 million. While Superman is still ahead, with more than 600 million approximate sales, if one were to for the sales of Weekly Shonen Jump for each year that One Piece has been featured on it, the numbers would be much closer. Still, beating the Dark Knight in of sales is no small feat, considering that the character has been around for 83 years and is one of the world's most recognized popular culture icons.
One Piece's Manga Sales Will Benefit From the Netflix Series' Success
Leaving the comparison with other comic books aside, the fact that One Piece has become one of the two literary works in history to achieve half a billion copies of circulation is an incredible landmark. This would put One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda in the top ten best-selling authors of recorded human history. With the unprecedented success of Netflix's One Piece Live-Action series, the franchise's popularity may continue to grow to even further heights. What is certain is that One Piece's status as the most successful manga of all time (outselling even Batman and possibly Superman too) is a tribute to the ion of its author and to the dedication of its millions of fans worldwide.
The One Piece manga is available on the Shonen Jump App and from Viz Media.
Source: Artur - Library of Ohara
