Good graphic novels?

I think theres a thread on this already but let me suggest some of the best

The Watchmen
Maus & Maus 2
Tale of One Bad Rat
Stuck Rubber Baby

A few of these are collected issues vs. whole storys that are written as a novel. But are still worth a read.

Kingdom Come - Alex Ross-Realistic DC superheros in the future - Nuff Said
Bone (collection of all 55 isues) - One of the best indy titles of all time. The black and white art is more stunning then most color work in comics.
Batman-Dark Knight Returns - again - Nuff Said
Superman for all seasons- Time Sale, great art and story. pretty much anything by Tim is pretty good (batman: long halloween, dardevil yellow, etc.)
Castle Waiting (there is a new hard cover edition coming in may 06) - a unique and fun fairy tale. One of the titles that inspired me to self publish my own fantasy story.
The New Frontier- DC superheros done right. Retro. Great art. Cinematic
Scary Godmother - all ages, the art is very cool. The artist also does great watercolors.
Fables- Dark and mysterious series about Fairy Tale residents living in New York. Great art, well written.


Well, I am sure I can think up more. Let us know what you finally pick.

I liked Maus as well.

I'm not current in this area, but I'm a big fan of Dan Clowes: the "Velvet Glove in an Iron Fist" series was fantastic.

I also liked the Buddy Bradley series -- I'm drawing a blank on the writer's name, shamefully enough. I'll come back and edit the post when I remember the name.

[ETA: It's Peter Bagge.]

Happy browsing!

I really liked Persepolis, the memoir of a young Iranian woman coming of age during the Islamic Revolution of 1979. I'm also a huge fan of Roman Dirge's little dead girl Lenore (v. dark humor). Then there's the Fables series, and Courtney Crumrin and the Night Things, too.

AW_amy said:

I really liked Persepolis, the memoir of a young Iranian woman coming of age during the Islamic Revolution of 1979. I'm also a huge fan of Roman Dirge's little dead girl Lenore (v. dark humor). Then there's the Fables series, and Courtney Crumrin and the Night Things, too.

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Sounds like your a fan of the title from Slave Labor Graphics.

Have you read Little Gloomy. Very cute spooky title.

I second that watchmen reccomendation. It's generally considered the best comicbook ever written.

I'm also a fan of V for Vendetta, which is generally considered the one comic that every writer or english major has to own. It's recieved a revival lately due to the movie coming out so it's a lot easier to find these days. Also good are Maus and Blankets, but both are heavier reads... not something you can reread very often.

And, though the following are a bit more mainstream, they're worthy of the attention:

Akira--forget the silly movie. the book is epic, actiony, immense in scope, and downright beautiful. It's very rereadable.

death, high cost of living -- I think that most of gaimen's stuff is overated, but this one isn't. You don't have to know anything about Sandman to like the story this book tells.

After seeing the Manga years ago, Yukito Kishiro's Battle Angel Alita was the first graphic novel series I read. Brilliant!

Just finished reading Joss Wheddon's Fray for the second time. Big Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan (the series, not so much the comics), so loved that too.

Cannot believe no-one's mentioned Frank Miller's Sin City yet (also responsible for the aforementioned Batman: The Dark Knight Returns)! Doesn't really matter where you start with those (I'd go for The Hard Goodbye) as long as you read A Dame to Kill For before The Big Fat Kill.

-- "Church & State," Parts 1 and 2, Dave Sim (Cerebus)
-- "Black, White and Red," Matt Wagner (Grendel)

Well (assuming it's not to late already), I suggest you get MeruPuri. It's a manga published by Viz Media (under the Shoujo Beat section) that has such a wonderful story to it. Of course, anything with a cute guy involved in a romance is classified as wonderful by me.

Y the Last Man, still running, amazing concept, likeable characters, very addicting.

Fables, also still going strong. The concept is genuinely brilliant, the characters are all good and the many stories are just awesome.

Sandman, the best graphic novel series out there. Period. This series goes deeper than many literature, has stories from Shakespeare to... to God knows what. ****ing Amazing.

I didn't really like Akira. Only read the 2 first novels, and while the story and artwork is nothing short of amazing, the characters are all cardboard and do nothing but scream all the friggin time.

I've also started on Hellblazer, which has some good issues and supposedly the Garth Ennis volumes are great, but I couldn't really care. Also started on 100 Bullets, with again an awesome premise, and the Watchmen, and both look pretty good.

And of course how could I forget The Preacher? It's a bit of a guy thing, but hey, aren't all comics and graphic novels? The dialogue and story is awesome, and even though it does become slightly weaker near the ending, it's still feckin awesome.

If you are interested in non-fiction, you can try Cartoon history of the universe. You get volumes 1 to 7 for $15 on Amazon.

emjen said:

Sandman, the best graphic novel series out there. Period. This series goes deeper than many literature, has stories from Shakespeare to... to God knows what. ****ing Amazing.

I didn't really like Akira. Only read the 2 first novels, and while the story and artwork is nothing short of amazing, the characters are all cardboard and do nothing but scream all the friggin time.

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emjem,
See, I feel the exact opposite... Sandman I felt was one of the most overrated comics out there(no offense)...it felt gothy only to be 'gothy' and all the ties to literature felt like they were only there to make the readers feel like the comic was more literate-elite than it was.

Obviously there are a few exceptions, The first Death trade was amazing, and there were a few veeerrry cool arcs within the Sandman series, but on a whole it wasn't for me.

And with akira...yeah there is a lot of shouting characters... but keep in mind the first two books are still the 'opening action scene'. The book is some 37 volumes long..and otomo takes his time building the characters very slowly. They never get to be as deep as they could be, but a few of them (the colonel and tetsuo mostly) do become fairly complex. that book is more about the world they're in than the people themselves...it's comic-booky fun, not high literature.

Anyway, regardless of all that blaaaahh, I'll agree with you totally on preacher and 100 bullets. Judging from what you posted as things you did, you might REALLY like stray bullets. That's one of the best written 'realistic/gritty' book out there!

Just bought "The Making of a Graphic Novel" by Prentis Rollins. It's coupled with the graphic novel he made, called "The Resonator." Excellent stuff.

good choice! ...though I like how you combine the word comic and volume.... you just made a new word!

Two of my favorite manga series are Magic Knight Rayearth and Fruits Basket. Both are really funny.
Magic Knight Rayearth is a 'girls from another world, gain magic, save world' type. But, I like Fruits Basket because it's a romantic comedy, with a twinge of magic, or I guess a curse.

I haven't read any of the others everyone has listed, except for Maus. I guess that means I have some reading to do!

I have all the books in the Invisibles series by Grant Morrison. I've never really been into comic books, but that series is a favourite of mine.


I also liked The Crow - I found it more emotionally engaging than the film, although I still love the film.

I also loved Johnny the Homicidal Maniac for the dark humour.

I tutor two Japanese students who have the most awesome collection of Manga books. They're all in Japanese, so I can't give you any names - until I learn some Japanese, which I am planning to do ASAP

Transmetropolitan by Warren Ellis and Darick Robertson.

The collected "Welcome Back, Frank" story arc of Punisher by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon (which highlights the dangers of polar bears)

janetbellinger said:

I tutor two Japanese students who have the most awesome collection of Manga books. They're all in Japanese, so I can't give you any names - until I learn some Japanese, which I am planning to do ASAP

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If you can't read them, how do you say they're awswome?

SomelBalance said:

And with akira...yeah there is a lot of shouting characters... but keep in mind the first two books are still the 'opening action scene'. The book is some 37 volumes long..and otomo takes his time building the characters very slowly. They never get to be as deep as they could be, but a few of them (the colonel and tetsuo mostly) do become fairly complex. that book is more about the world they're in than the people themselves...it's comic-booky fun, not high literature.

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I disagree. Akira is very much in the vien of high literature. The thematics alone are fantastic and very complex.

Jaoman said:

I disagree. Akira is very much in the vien of high literature. The thematics alone are fantastic and very complex.

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Ehm. Thematics alone don't make something high literature. It is the way it is told, perhaps innovative, it is the way characters are developed, it is the way things are written (and in this case how the artist has drawn), and a dozen things more combined. Akira certainly isn't bad, but I read the first 2 books and even though I really liked the story, the characters seemed cardboard to me. I heard this changes during the end, but I think characters should already show a different range of emotions in just one book.

Of western stuff, I recommend Gloom Cookie and Cages. Of Japanese stuff, hmm, there are a lot of things that I like, I have a whole bookshelf full of manga, most of it romance. I prefer anime to manga when I can get it though, so half the stuff I would recomend I've seen the anime version of, and I'm not sure whether the manga version is as good; sometimes the two versions are almost identical, but sometimes they're quite different.

But anyway, if anyone wants mange recommendations I'm happy to make some if you describe more specifically what you like.

Manga stuff:

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind
Mai, the Psychic Girl
Gunsmith Cats
Appleseed
Dominion

I'm

probaly too late, but I would recommend getting your hands on Beserk. It's a manga that has been going since 1988 and is EXTREMELY popular. It also has an anime that span 25 eps. If you want more info just let me know.