Walking into a comicshop or mainstream bookstore to look for a good graphic novel can be a difficult thing for new readers. Gene Kanneberg Jr.’s book, as I mentioned, is certainly more helpful than the average bookstore employee or comicbook fan. I thought I’d include a list here of a ten novels I consider to be right at the top of the form. Keep in mind these are in no particular order and I had to work pretty hard to keep it limited to just ten.
But it’s a good start;
I’m a tremendous fan of Seth’s pure cartooning style and this book will probably be of particular interest to Joyce fans with it’s unique blend of the mundane and the dramatic.
JIMMY CORIGAN: THE SMARTEST KID ON EARTH
In terms of the pure poetry of comics as a language there’s probably no greater example for new readers than this book. An absolute must read in graphic novels.
One of the great accomplishment of the autobiographical possibilities offered in comics. Bechdel memoir of her young home life and unique identity as an artist and a person are made that much more personal by clear and familiar drawing style. It feels almost like Lynn Johnston’s “For Better Or For Worse” comicstrip, but with…issues. Joyce fans will want to pick this one up in particular for the way uses ULYSSES to bring various themes home.
It would be impossible to talk of auto-biographical comics without suggesting Satrapi’s wonderful novel. There’s world and religious politics at play here of course, but they form a background to a very personal story and Satrapi’s clean and open style of delivery is extremely poignant.
It’d also be hard to mention politics in graphic novels and leave this book of the list. Another “must read” for understanding the numerous possibilities for story-telling in comics.
Another great personal favorite, BLACK HOLE is one of the most intelligently made beautifully drawn comics on my shelf. I seldom lend it out as often as the others because I’ve lost too many copies that way!
Another favorite, this book, and the rest of Clowes’ work, demonstrates the great relationship between comics and film while high-lighting some of their differences.
BERLIN: CITY OF STONES by Jason Lutes
This is another fine graphic novel with a cinematic sense of story-telling that’s enhanced by some of the unique qualities of the medium of comics. Unlike the others mentioned so far, this is the first novel in a continuing story line. The second book, BERLIN: CITY OF SMOKE, is equally excellent and this promises to be a long-form project that will reward readers for many years to come.
AGE OF BRONZE by Eric Shanhower
Well, this one is an obvious choice for ULYSSES fans and probably the one piece of work in comics to which I’m most indebted in considering my own work. Shanhower’s project is an on-going comic illustrating, in great depth and detail, the events of the Trojan War. The work is incredible dense and Shanhower manages to make the whole story amazingly clear and accessible for modern readers. Three graphic novels of this continuing story are currently available and I highly recommend them to be read in succession to get the full scope and nuance of the story.
LOST GIRLS by Alan Moore and Melinda Gebbie
While this is not a continuing story as the past two picks were, this book is actually a trilogy of books that took the artists 15 years to make. Over three hundred pages, this is, to my mind, one of the most ambitious and artistically successful attempt ever made to alter the popular opinion of comics as “kid’s stuff” and to re-examine what the art form could do in other literary genres.
LOST GIRLS is pure and uncompromising erotic fiction with all of the rich historical and literary subtext that makes Moore’s popular super-hero fiction so powerful and challenging. Gebbie’s artwork is beautiful here in it’s ability to jump from one stylistic influence to the other without ever losing it personal charm. If there was ever a envelope of what people believed comics are supposed to be, and there is, then this book definitely broke it open.
(most of you will no doubt notice that two other great works know for pushing the envelope of graphic novels, Neil Gamain’s SANDMAN and Art Spiegelman’s MAUS, are missing from my list. That’s because these two books have already done wonders for getting people to re-think why they might want to read a comicbook.)
So, there’s a good start for your summertime reading list. Assuming, of course, you already made it through ULYSSES and are just waiting for the “comicbook version”.
-Rob
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good list Rob, thanks, I love suggestions for new reading material! and any list that includes Persepolis & Palestine is worth a look for me… BUT! you’re missing Shaun Tan and his ‘The Arrival’ was probably my favourite book last year, amazing images and very moving story: http://www.shauntan.net/books.html
Helen,
Thanks for turning me onto Shaun Tan’s work and this picture book in particular! I’ve got to say that, just judging the few pages I’ve seen here, I’m really interested in more.
For those of you who might not have followed the link yet (shame!), this is great comics in what I’m coming to think of as a very informed international style. Detailed and still, intent on holding your gaze rather than your glance, wordless comics are being produced by small, independent publishers that can find unique and multinational markets without the concern of translation. Translation, which causes numerous obvious problems in any kind of literature, is particularly difficult in comics as its a medium in which language and the shape of letters effect the design. Think about it. How is the page changed by having word balloons and their shapes altered by a foreign-language translation?
I’d love to see more of this “picture book” Tan is doing, but if anyone is interested in reviewing it, or any other relevant comics, for this blog please drop me a note. Conversations like this only works if we all start talking, you know…
-Rob