I have long been intrigued by graphic novels. I have many times wandered to their section in the bookstore and run my finger along their spines, wondering which one I might like, pulling them out and flipping through the intense illustrations. But I have so little exposure to them, I really wouldn’t know where to begin.  And when I consider their price in light of how long it would take me to read them… I walk away. So far, I’ve only managed to read Smile, Sisters, and Drama, all YA by Raina Telgemeier.

Since I am reading through the best literature in the world, I thought it would make sense to include a genre I would like to get to know better.

I also have a suspicion I would like to write one of my own, one day.

Now, I am not exactly sure, but there are probably some titles here that I won’t end up reading because they are outside of my genres-for-review. In other words, if it is graphic novel erotica or graphic novel horror, I will be skipping along to the next title. Otherwise, I am really looking forward to threading these titles into my Best Books list.

• The Underwater Welder, Jeff Lemire
• 100 Bullets, Azzarello and Risso
• Batman, The Dark Knight Returns, Frank Miller
• Daytripper, Moon and Ba
• Asterios Polyp, David Mazzuccelini
• Tank Girl, One, Hewlett and Martin
• Scott Pilgrim, 1 Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life, Bryan Lee O’Halley
• Daredevil, Man Without Fear, Miller and Romita
• Astro City, 1, Life in the Big City, Kurt Busiek
• Saga of the Swamp Thing, 1, Alan Moore
• New Avengers, 1, Breakout, Brian Michael Bendis
• Batman, The Long Halloween, Loeb and Sale
• We3, Morrison and Quitely
• Astonishing X-Men, Omnibus, Wheedon and Cassaday
• Punisher Max, 1, In the Beginning, Garth Ennis
• Kingdom Come, Mark Waid
• All Star Superman, 1, Morrison and Quitely
• Authority, 1, Relentless, Bryan Hitch
• Wanted, Mark Millar
• Blankets, Craig Thompson
• The Walking Dead, 1, Days Gone Bye, Robert Kirkman
• DMZ, 1, On the Ground, Brian Wood
• Ex Machina, 1, The First Hundred Days, Vaughan and Harris
• Powers, 1, Who Killed Retro Girl?, Bendis and Oeming
• Batman, The Killing Joke, Moore and Bolland
• Palomar, The Heartbreak Soup Stories, Gilbert Hernandez
• Violent Cases, Gaiman and McKean
• Y the Last Man, 1, Unmanned, Brian K. Vaughan
• Fables, 1, Legends in Exile, Bill Willingham
• Invisibles, 1, Say You Want a Revolution, Grant Morrison
• The Tale of One Bad Rabbit, Bryan Talbot
• 100 Bullets, 1, First Shot Last Call, Brian Azzarello
• Criminal, Omnibus, Brubaker and Phillips
• 300, Frank Miller
• Transmetropolitan, 1, Back on the Street, Ellis and Robertson
• Ultimates, 1, Super-Human, Millar and Hitch
• Preacher, 1, Gone to Texas, Garth Ennis
• Batman, Year One, Frank Miller
• Hellblazer, 1, Original Sins
• Sandman, 1, Preludes and Nocturnes, Neil Gaiman
• The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, 1, Moore and O’Neill
• Hellboy, 1, Seed of Destruction/Wake the Devil, Mike Mignola
• Marvels, Busiek and Ross
• Batman, Arkham Asylum, Morrison and McKean
• Alice in Sunderland, Bryan Talbot
• 2000 AD,Judge Dredd, Complete Case Files, 1
• Maus, The Complete Maus, Art Spiegeman
• From Hell, Campbell and Moore
• V for Vendetta, Moore and Lloyd
• Watchmen, Moore and Gibbons
• Batman, The Dark Night Returns, Frank Miller
• Madman, 1, Michael Allred
• The Invisibles, Say You Want a Revolution
• All-Star Superman, 1, Morrison and Quitely
• The Nightly News, Jonathan Hickman
• Alias, Bendis and Gaydos
• Black Hole, Charles Burns
• The Girl from H.O.P.P.E.R.S., A Love and Rockets Book, Jaime Hernandez
• Summer Blonde, Adrian Tomaine
• The Last Man, Deluxe 1, Brian K. Vaughan
• Depths, Paul Chadwick
• Bad Night, Brubaker and Phillips
• Pyongyang, Guy Delisle
• Heavy Liquid, Paul Pope
• La Perdida, Jessica Abel
• Safe Area Gorazde, Joe Sacco
• Fell, 1, Feral City, Ellis and Templesmith
• It’s a Good Life If You Don’t Weaken, Seth
• Super Spy, Matt Kindt
• Bottomless Belly Button
• Tekonkinkreet, Black & White, Taiyo Matsumoto
• Puma Blues, Murphy and Zulli
• Multiple Warheads, Brandon Graham
• Berlin, Jason Lutes
• Onward Toward Our Noble Deaths, Shigeru Mizuki
• 100 Bullets, Azarello and Risso
• You’ll Never Know, C. Tyler
• Usagi Yojimbo, Stan Sakai
• Hark! A Vagrant, Kate Beaton
• Finder, Carla Speed McNeil
• Pluto, Naoki Uruasawa
• Sex Criminals, Fraction and Zdarsky
• Saga, Vaughan and Staples
• Stray Bullets, David Lapham
• Paying for It, Chester Brown
• Journey, WIlliam Messner-Loebs
• Unterzakhan, Leela Corman
• Dal Tokyo, Gary Panter
• Mister X, Dean Motter
• Diary of a Teenage Girl, Phoebe Gloekner
• The Incal, Jodorowsky and Moebius
• Preacher, Garth Ennis
• What It Is, Linda Barry
• Curses, Kevin Huizenga
• Freak Angels, Ellis and Duffield
• Our Cancer Year, Peaker, Brabner and Stack
• The Cowboy Wally Show, Kyle Baker
• Twisted Sisters, 1, Various
• Akira, Katshuiro Otomo
• King Cat, John Porcellino
• A Contract With God, Will Eisner
• Cerebus, Dave Sim
• Achewood, Chris Onstad
• The Adventures of Tintin, Herge
• Hicksville, Dylan Horrocks
• Alec, The Years Have Pants, Eddie Campbell
• Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi
• Ghost World, Daniel Clowes
• Epileptic, David B.
• The Invisibles, Grant Morrison
• From Hell, Moore and Campbell
• The Complete Robert Crumb, Robert Crumb
• Fun Home, Alison Bechdel
• Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Boy on Earth, Chris Ware
• American Born Chinese, Gene Luen Yang *
• March: Book One (and trilogy), Lewis, Aydin, and Powell *
• They Called Us Enemy, George Takei

To check out Wizard Magazine’s 100 Best Graphic Novels, including lots of superheros, click HERE.