New ‘One Piece’ Sales Milestone Should Make ‘Batman’ Nervous

These days, it looks like One Piece can’t be stopped. With a successful manga and anime under its belt, the sea-faring franchise is as powerful as ever, and its reach is only growing. After all, its new sales record has got Batman looking over his shoulder right about now.

According to a new report by Asahi, One Piece has taken a step closer to clocking Batman in the mask. The Japanese outlet confirmed Eiichiro Oda’s popular series has sold more than 440 million copies at this point. The number is already 10 million units higher than it was late last year, and it puts One Piece in closer competition with Batman (via Manga Mag).

With 440 million sales to its name, One Piece is the highest-selling manga by far. It is also the top-selling comic period by a single author, and One Piece is looking to nab a pedestal Batman has held for years. The iconic DC Comics series has sold just over 460 million units since its 1939 debut thanks to its countless writers.

Still, One Piece has a long way to go before it could dream of overtaking the top seller at DC Comics. When it comes to sales, Superman reigns supreme as the series has more than 600 million sales under its utility belt.

Not only does this sales record bolster One Piece‘s reputation, but it has also helped Oda out. With this updated sales record on his resume, the writer can say he is the 12th highest-selling fiction author of all-time. As Japan’s top seller, Oda is only topped by literary heavyweights like Dr. Seuss, J.K. Rowling, Danielle Steel, William Shakespeare, and more.

Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece first began serialization in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump in 1997. It has been collected into 87 volumes, with a few chapters yet to be included. It has been a critical and commercial success worldwide with many of the volumes breaking printing records in Japan. The manga has even set a Guinness World Record for the most copies published for the same comic book by a single author, and is the best selling manga series worldwide with 430 million copies sold worldwide.

Are you surprised by this big One Piece record? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics, k-pop, and anime!