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.
So that I don’t lose the comments made on Facebook:
Matt Talamini: “I can speak to how good Sandman is. Also Scott Pilgrim & We3. Excellent.”
Lauren Ruffrage: “Hark! A Vagrant, Persepolis, I think you would like Hope Larson’s books, The Property, Hyperbole and a Half, Displacement, Super Spy (I love Matt Kindt)…there are so many!”