I wanna talk about graphic novels. Yeah, all of them.

Let's keep the introductions short and sweet and get down with the get down. Post a title and author of a Graphic Novel you've read (or would like to know more about), and discuss. Likes and dislikes. Questions and comments. Concerns and misgivings.

Noteworthy Items:
It will probably be in our best interests to keep the definition of "graphic novel" as loose as possible. OGN's, Trade Paperbacks, Serials, you name it. I'm talking about extended sequential art narratives here. Hell, I suppose the very definition of 'graphic novel' is up for debate, too.

Now, personally I'm gonna try to steer clear of the superhero stuff for the most part, but that in no way means that the superhero stuff is invalid. I just feel like giving the 'other' stuff some shine for a minute. Yes, I'm getting my comic snob on.

So with a Frapallottamochachino in one hand, and a tattered copy of "Uncle Spanky's Barnyard Fun Comix #4" (1932, Top Notch Comics, Inc., 'Very Fine' Condition), I wish you all a pleasant posting experience.

Let's do this.

.

Why not start with the work that is (mistakingly?) cited as the first Graphic Novel ever. I have mixed feelings on this one.

Things I love: Eisner's artwork (naturally)... Out of all the legacies he left behind (and there were many) I think my personal favorites are the contributions he made to typography in comics. He really blurred the lines between words and images, and birthed a more "complete" approach to the artform. And, you gotta respect 'A Contract with God' for its historical significance, if nothing else. Actually, I do like a couple of the stories here. They're kind of neat in a Looney Tunes meets Sin City sort of way.

Things I don't love so much: All right, as forward thinking as this book may have been *for comics*... it wasn't like Citizen Kane or Metropolis or something. This shit came out in 1978. I can only overlook so many faults. I admire the 'blue collar hero' approach Eisner took with his Spirit work. But his reach kinda exceeds his grasp on this one, and although I wasn't alive in '78, I find it hard to believe that this was ever biting or relevant social commentary. Then again, maybe that wasn't his intent. After all, the stories are kind of set in the 1930s. I think his main goal with this book was to approach comics as an *art*, and he did just that. So I can't really knock his hustle.

That leads me to my main beef with this book, and it really has nothing to do with the book itself- It really kicked off this "Graphic Novel" thing, along with the idea that comics could be art (GOOD!), but only when they tackle subjects such as wife beating, child molesting, dog poisoning, etc. (BAD!) This book raised the bar for comics as well as comic snobbery.

But overall it's a small price to pay for all the good it did for the medium.

(Forgive me in advance, I'm probably gonna mess up on dates here and there)

The Holocaust. A true skidmark on the underpants of human history. Also, one of the quickest ways to a book critic's heart!

Am I saying that critically acclaimed, Top 10 List Making, Pulitzer Award Winning Graphic Novel 'Maus' is overrated? Not really. The art isn't particularly strong, and as someone who is easily riveted by Holocaust stories, I wasn't super-riveted with the Father's holocaust story... But that's not Maus's fault. By the time graphic novels came around, all the good Holocaust stories were pretty much taken.

What did resonate with me on a personal level was the Father-Son relationship, and just the honesty of it all. The art is kind of rough around the edges, but then so are the characters. Just because you've been through Hell and back doesn't make you a Saint. And it doesn't necessarily make the rest of your life peaches and cream, either. It was a very mature, somewhat alarming approach to what could have been a flat, dare I say it, "cartoony" characterization.

I give Maus its props.

I love this book and would have to agree with you that the father-son relationship is the strongest hook that this film has!

I think that the drawings are rough around the edges and quite sketchy looking which could put off a lot of people, but i feel that helps draw more attention to the emotional side of the story, which in my opinion is very strong!

http://twitter.com/haroonharry

I think the Father-Son dynamic adds more to the book, but overall it was a good work. For its time it was groundbreaking, but it doesn't stand up to graphic novels nowadays.

In the sense that nothing in the story really dates it, or that there's some sort of idea or approach in Maus that no longer holds up. I read it several years after it came out, and it was just fine. A lot of people might have gone ga-ga over Maus simply because it was a comic book tackling a 'serious' issue... pretty much still a novelty in 1986. But even now, when 'serious comics' are old hat, Maus still has a pretty good story to tell, I think.

Now it's true that at one time it may have been the benchmark for graphic novels, and it has since been surpassed... but I dunno if that's exactly the same thing as it "not aging well". That's just natural evolution in the medium.

And as young as graphic novels are, who knows what we'll think of stuff like 'Blankets' and 'Jimmy Corrigan' in the next 20-30 years?

Let's get emo

probably the book that's had the greatest emotional effect on me (aside from Education of Little Tree.)

I almost hate to say it, but the artwork is charming in the same way Calvin & Hobbes was... it's unassuming but packs it in where it counts. And the way the story is told - charmingly - ah screw it, I think 'charming' is the perfect way to describe this book.

It's so charming, you'll puke.

I do think that Blankets goes beyond charming, but I hear what you are saying. The playful fluidity of Thompson's brushwork is pretty reminiscent of Watterson's stuff. Can't say I really noticed that before. Good catch.

I loved Blankets, though. Definitely one of the better GN reads I've had in a while. I dunno if it's a guy thing, or an age thing, but I just found a whole lot in this story I could relate to, even though I was never very much like Craig's character in the book. But he's really good at capturing those basic emotions we've all felt at one time or another. But where "Goodbye Chunky Rice" excels at just capturing one basic idea or emotion, "Blankets" just as a lot more breadth to it.

And all that 'coming of age', 'first love' stuff aside, much to my surprise I really dug the religious aspects of the book as well. My only apprehensions were towards the earlier chapters, with the 'cubby hole' and the hints of child molestation. I understand that these are real-life situations and all, but I guess I'm overly sensitive to certain subjects as they come off as "book critic bait" a lot of the time. But as "Blankets" progressed, I realized that all of that was necessary to explain why young Craig felt so detached from himself, why he felt like his was just sort of 'passing through' life, and why he was unable to see the earthly divinity that surrounded him. Which is exactly what made all the Raina/Goddess imagery work so well. She sort of connected him back to himself.

And unlike, say, "Jimmy Corrigan", I felt like all the groovy experimental stuff worked only to enhance the story or communicate some underlying theme, rather than for the sake of being quirky.

I dunno, I thought it was really ambitious. And better yet, I think he pulled it off, too.

it's hands down my favourite graphic novel that i've read. Emotionally it has such a strong effect on me. and i love the simplicity with which Craig Thompson sketches. Can't wait for his new book Habibi!

http://twitter.com/haroonharry

but the pace is a little too slow, otherwise it's kind of brilliant.
I love the little awkward moments.

_
http://youtube.com/watch?v=4TztqYaemt0
http://preptimeposse.blogspot.com/

And this book seems to be kind of hilarious and heartbreaking all at once.

And yeah, Chris Ware is pretty much a goddamn genius, and I love his approach to comic design. He makes beautiful books. His ACME Novelty Library stuff is certainly no exception.

BUT--

Given his design background, I'm a little surprised the way he puts form before function a lot of the time. I found Jimmy Corrigan to be a superb read, despite the fact that at times the narrative is weighed down by the art's little quirks. Not to sound like an old stick in the mud, but I kind of prefer an approach that places the story first. Sometimes I felt like the story was taking a backseat to Ware just showing us how much ass he kicks.

And yeah, the pace is a bit slow. But in this weird, frenetic way. They story isn't really *going* anywhere, so far as you can tell, but the art is going apeshit all over the place. It's all the panels I think. It's quite maddening at times. This book is like the comic equivalent to Coltrane's 'Ascension'.

It blows my mind that so many non-comic readers have warmed to this novel, because I've been reading comics damn near my whole life and I wasn't sure how to read this thing at first!

It's in my Personal Top 10, I think.

for at least the first half of the book. 'No, I have to be missing something.'

And being primarily a story guy rather than an art/design guy, once I did catch onto it and realized like you said it wasn't really going anywhere... i dunno. I mean, I enjoyed reading the book, but thought it was as frustrating as it was rewarding.

the series is amazing. it single-handedly sparked my love affair with ancient history. i can't even begin to count the number of historical books i've read because of larry gonick

the only complaint i have is the shocking drop in the quality of the drawings at the end of the first CHOTU (vol. 8?) and its continuation into the subsequent books. but i guess it's a little unreasonable to expect the artwork to sustain that level of drawing excellence over 1000+ pages

My Grandma bought the first one for me as a Christmas gift long, long ago. I believe it was the first time I had ever seen a comic book with naughty bits. Primordial salamander creatures getting it on, barebreasted cavewomen running amock... it was all quite scandalous to my tiny little mind.

But yeah, these are great books. I can enjoy them now just as I did back then. Humorous, well drawn, efficient little primers on world history. A great tool for getting youngsters interested in the subject. Although these days, they probably have X-Box games and crap for all that.

...controversial and little-heard angles on the history he was documenting. I'm old with reasonably smart-ish associates, and I can still come off every once in a while as a conversational bad-ass thanks to those books.

Also, perhaps my GOAT bathroom book.

And the artwork drop-off was disappointing, but understandable. Except for the United States book. The art quality for that one was borderline unacceptable.

----
I check for: Serengeti, Zeroh, Open Mike Eagle, Jeremiah Jae, Moka Only.

i'll chip in a bit later

_____________________

http://fc03.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2010/287/6/c/the_wire_lineup__huge_download_by_dennisculver-d30s7vl.jpg
The man who thinks at 50 the same way he did at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life - Muhammed Ali

I read this for the first time earlier last year, and it pretty much made me a Clowes fan for life and re-ignited my interest in graphic novels altogether. Not sure where to start. Clowes' artwork is clean and polished, almost to the point of being clinical. That along with the monochromatic color scheme really give this book a sense of emptiness and melancholy right off the bat. You know that this book isn't gonna end on a happy note, but the characters are all so fun and fascinating that you just sort of decide that any time spent with them is worth a little heartache.

I guess you'd call it a 'character piece,' which is generally just a nice, artsy fartsy way of saying 'nothing happens.' How a middle aged man was so able to write 2 high school girls in such a three dimensional, complex manner is beyond me. Come to think of it, I don't *want* to know how he did it.

Highlights for me include Bob Skeetes, the Satan Worshipping couple, and of course, the 'Weird Al' scene in the horrible 50's diner. Also, when they answer that 'Bearded Windbreaker' guy's personal ad, I felt sick to my stomach. That shit crossed the line. These characters had become so real to me that I was actually disappointed in them.

A nice little coming of age story and analysis of suburbia & the art of people watching. One of my personal faves.

Cute as shit, first and foremost.

I mean, it goes deeper than that. But come on... a mouse and a turtle riding a trike together? That's fucking cute and you know it.

I guess this is more of a 'graphic novella'. It's kind of a graphic poem, really. I thought it did some pretty amazing things with panel and page layouts.

I really liked Good-Bye Chunky Rice. Although I liked Blankets better but they're two totally different stories. Craig Thompson is the man.

yeah, i agree, the story and graphic novel and it's art work are cute as shit, and i love it.

cute is good!

http://twitter.com/haroonharry

though I loved the fact that during what appeared to be the filming of a snuff flick, there was a guy strolling around with a guitar singing Barb'ry Allen.

The slug chick with the eggs grossed me out.

_____________________

http://fc03.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2010/287/6/c/the_wire_lineup__huge_download_by_dennisculver-d30s7vl.jpg
The man who thinks at 50 the same way he did at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life - Muhammed Ali

I like it, probably just because I like Clowes. He's just got a voice that resonates with me, I guess. I think of this book as a pretty interesting stream of consciousness type comic experiment, but beyond that it doesn't do a whole lot for me.

_____________________

http://fc03.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2010/287/6/c/the_wire_lineup__huge_download_by_dennisculver-d30s7vl.jpg
The man who thinks at 50 the same way he did at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life - Muhammed Ali

meh

(and it wasn't worth remembering the author)

My library has every volume EXCEPT THE LAST ONE.

Aaaarrrrrggggggghhhhhh.

i wish i still had the first issues

but i decided that it was just too much effort to keep up with it every month and i'd just pick it up in trade.

eight years later, it finally came out and i read all 1000+ pages in one sitting.

i never saw the story developing into a war story from the beginning.


i always got a Bill Watterson/ calvin and hobbes vibe from the artwork. While the Bones looked so cartoonish, the rest of the drawings wereso realistic, but it all fit together flawlessly.


I'm just waiting for them to make it into a movie (animated of course).

completely impossible and pointless to even try.

It should actually be a prime-time animated miniseries, or even a two-or-three year series in general.

This was the first time I saw a super-hero die of a normal, everyday, non-violent cause.

Like a shaken Spider-Man said (paraphrasing), he's supposed to die from guns or bombs or some villains master-plan.

Peace,

*** MARBLES ***

Right, like we weren't gonna talk about Watchmen.

It's insane to me how well structured this book is.

why at the end did Dan and Laurie have to assume fake identities?

Both "Infinite Crisis" and "Civil War" both borrow HEAVILY from the themes that Moore explored in this book. And he managed to outdo both of them. Yeah, I know "Civil War" has just begun, but does anyone actually think when it's all said and done, and it will be written or have nearly the impact as "Watchmen"? I didn't think so.

-----------------

www.albumism.com

Checkin' Our Style, Return To Zero:

https://www.mixcloud.com/returntozero/

and it will never get stale

--------

Backstories were beautifully insterted in the news clips, samples of biographies, confidential files, etc. between the live action.

Then you have the whole subtext and parallel commentary with the Pirate story the kid was reading

Great use of the cold war as a backdrop for everything

There's so much to be said about this story, it's ridiculous

I wonder if the rumors of a movie will do this justice?

that's how i feel about it

_
http://youtube.com/watch?v=4TztqYaemt0
http://preptimeposse.blogspot.com/

Actually I live in the south so I'm not even allowed to make jokes like that. I did get Ice Haven for cheap though. I highly recommend Amazon's "Buy Used" feature.

I really liked this one. In fact I'd say that it's right behind Ghost World in terms of favorite Clowes GNs. I thought it was pretty damn inventive the way he used a Sunday-style newspaper strip format to string together this larger narrative. I guess 'Jimmy Corrigan' employs a similar method, but Ice Haven sort of took this device to the next level.

I love the characters that Clowes constructs, and this book is packed with characters, each one kookier than the last. It ends with one of those bizarre Clowes non-endings, as do pretty much all his books as far as I can tell.

I can't really think of much bad to say about it.

First time I read this thing, I was a little let down. I guess I was kind of expecting Clowes to lampoon the superhero genre... which looking back was a really silly expectation to have. It's pretty clear that the guy has little to no interest in writing about superheroes, even if it is to skewer them.

Read it again several months later and I really dug it. It's very dark. Quite depressing actually. Not my favorite Clowes book, but probably his best looking.

I love Gibbons's art, and I find the mod movement pretty interesting, so it wasn't hard for me to find stuff to like about The Originals. It's gotta be one of the coolest looking graphic novels I've read. It's almost a piece of fashion moreso than a work of literature.

Because story-wise, there isn't a whole lot of substance here. I mean, I liked it. It's cool and all. Sort of a Quadrophenia/Clockwork Orange take on your typical boy meets girl coming of age yarn. All the characters seem pretty shallow, but I'm pretty sure that's because they're supposed to be. Typical teenage hedonists and what not.

I'd like to see more stuff like this from Gibbons in the future though.

but then, I'm an old Who head. In all actuality, this graphic novel was probably better than the Quadrophenia movie.

The sci-fi bits were pretty neat little asides that never got in the way of the story, and the story itself i felt was pretty tight. The artwork did a great job of conveying the importance of style to the factions as well as combining the retro and futuristic elements well.

I'd love to see him do more stuff in this setting.

would be excellent. THere's so much material to mine there...

I'm torn about this.

On one hand, it reads like pretty fluff. The story is not especially engaging or interesting, and one finishes the book feeling as though he wasted a potentially fascinating story.

On the other, it's books like these that reaffirm my love of comics: that it can tell an odd, futuristic tale from the stylistic standpoint of the 1970's without seeming absolutely ridiculous.

Synopsis: David B's autbiographical account of growing up in the 1960s and '70s with an epileptic older brother.

It dark, tightly drawn, with lots of details and lots of ink. Imagine a German expressionist film on paper. It was too uneven for my tastes. The book is mostly about the various quacks, counterculture and legitimate doctors, they see who try to cure his brother (whom I didn't care about). It's cynical and introspective. When David talks about people's reactions to his brother's seizures, his brother's teen years and rejection of medication (this is when I do start to care about him, the book livens up for me . He actually become a person not a concept), or David's inner life, which is populated by convos with characters from the occult books and magazines he reads.

It's too navel-gazingly introspective in a stereotypically French way.

so i didn't know much about him.

Overall, I _really_ wanted to like this. But overall, I didn't _really_ like it. I think the story was supposed to be very deep, and metaphorical, but in my lazy mind I was treating it as a mystery of sorts and on that level it ultimately didn't make too much sense.

McKean's artistic talent is pretty evident, though, and he excels at setting moods.

He's a gifted artist, no doubt, but it seems like he's picked up on the most pretentious and obnoxious tendencies of Gaiman's work without really retaining any of the subtlety or humor that made it great. He is very good at setting moods, no doubt, but he has a really hard time keeping a story together and cohesive....

Bringing you unpopular posts since 2003.

"Einstein has a formula, Wu Tang has a formula. A part equals a square and all that stuff, you know what I’m saying? We have a formula, too."

This book really looks great. Man, I love his attention to architecture. This guy can draw some damn buildings, I'm telling you.

And even though he is kind of doing the autobiographical thing here, he doesn't fall into the traps of a lot of other autobiographical comics. For one, it's not really in first person, so we get a sense of this Seth guy as a character, and not just an author talking directly to us. Ironically, this makes him a lot more real to me.

Can't say I completely relate to the guy, but I am pretty fascinated with him. You think you suffer from nostalgia? You ain't got shit on Seth.

The story is kind of mundane, but due to my personal love for the subject matter I can still get into it.

With a dash of Stray Bullets here and there.

I really dug this one. Nice cast of characters with cool little backstories... a couple of these cats are real bastards, but in the end everybody is at least restored, if not redeemed.

First issue came out in 1995 but I don't think it was collected as a whole til a few years later.

Great story and kicked off the whole Kabuki saga that is continuing to this day. This volume and Kabuki Metamorphosis (Vol. 5) are my favorites but they all kick ass. Great story and great art that evolves and changes with each volume to fit the tone of the story.

Mack is one of the true genuises working in the field today.

The first-person narrative and the somewhat grotesque character designs sorta turned me off... but I'm gonna try and revisit this one after I'm finished with BOP.

-----------------------------
http://talestosuffice.com/
@kennykeil

Maybe this is more of a Graphic Textbook. Either way it still kicks ass.

This book was really kind of a revelation to me the first time I read it, and I can still pick it up today and have a 'Eureka!' moment here and there. McCloud sort of picks up where Eisner left off with 'Comics and Sequential Art,' and takes the case for comics as an artform to the next level.

A great read for anybody looking to understand the medium a little better. An essential for anyone looking to create comics of their own.

The talking headsiness of the first 40 pages or so has some pretty amusing stuff in it, but visually it's quite static and so things get off to a slow start. But once things started picking up, I really enjoyed the hell out of this book. Wimbledon is a real hoot. The Scrooge McDuck of comic book collectors. It was a side of Seth I hadn't seen before. Much looser and a lot funnier. I kind of prefer it, actually.

I just wish he didn't bill this thing as a 'sketchbook comic' It almost sounds like an apology. And the whole 'sketchbook' thing could scare off potential readers. The story is a lot of fun and the art is still more polished than most.

I just finished it. Lots of fun. Although the art isn't terribly appealing.
I dig that Wimbledon migh actually be hiding out in Winnipeg. Fun Fact: The owner of the shop i go to, his collection is known as "the winnipeg collection".

_
http://youtube.com/watch?v=4TztqYaemt0
http://preptimeposse.blogspot.com/

And I thought the artwork was pretty damn good... Unless you're referring to the countless panels of talking heads. That was kinda tough to get through at times.

-----------------------------
http://talestosuffice.com/
@kennykeil

and some more colour wouldn't have hurt.

_
http://youtube.com/watch?v=4TztqYaemt0
http://preptimeposse.blogspot.com/

Hell, get the kids drunk too.

I don't really know how to explain this one. It's just insane. Lots of fun, though. And I find Tony Millionaire's artwork to be beautiful in a somewhat grotesque way.

worth picking up, if you see it.

Without pain, without sacrifice, we would have nothing.-Tyler Durden

worth reading?

n/m

_____________________________

"my uncle's Colonel Sanders..."
-Kool Keith

** StL OKP's™ **

** OkayWood Hall of Fame™ **

Really, I'm undecided as to just how good this one is. The story is kick-ass, but the color is just plain bad in spots and some of the artwork is poorly drawn, too busy, or both (especially on the DPS's). Outside of that one mildly popular GN about some aging billionaire ninja crimefighter and the Sin Citys, this is probably my favorite work of his in this format. I need to check out 300 though, even though I'm not particularly excited about it. (all of it is in DPS, right?)

the actual story though is great.

An artist friend of mine hates most of Miller's stuff because he can't stand the art. I'm not that extreme, but I think it hurts him to a degree

http://www.last.fm/user/Olu/
http://ghanageek.wordpress.com/

The art is pretty awful, and the story was sort of interesting, but probably would have seemed a lot cooler to me if I was still in high school (when this book was first recommended to me, about 15 years ago). Most post-apocalyptic stuff doesn't stand the test of time.

-----------------

www.albumism.com

Checkin' Our Style, Return To Zero:

https://www.mixcloud.com/returntozero/

------------------------------
Best kept secret
www.runmc.com

Dark like the side of the moon u don't see
But a lot's going on beneath the surface if u look closely

Naija4lyf

I've said it before and I'll say it again: All my favorite Superman stories aren't really Superman stories. I'm all about these Elseworlds stuff, like Red Son, Secret Identity, Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow, or even works along the lines of "It's a Bird" that are able to distill the basic idea and mythos of Superman, because in theory, I find the character to be fascinating. In practice, however (meaning the "in continuity" stuff) I find him to be kind of boring.

Red Son is easily one of my favorite Superman stories.

So far, uh, it's, uh, not very good.

I read the second half or so of Red Son while I was getting my car worked on, and actually started to stand up and clap involuntarily when I finished. The whole thing was amazing, but the ending was just perfection.

I felt so weird. I hope nobody saw me. If they did though, I woulda just said "Mark Millar" and sat back down.