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What graphic novels should others be reading, and why?

I just finished V for Vendetta by Alan Moore, and I highly recommend it. I admit to being biased, I loved the movie first, but this book is more than the sum of it's parts.
This was dystopian before dystopian was cool.

The Sculptor by Scott McCloud is a beautiful and heartbreaking graphic novel. The story is about a young sculptor named David Smith. By making a deal with Death, he gets to sculpt anything imaginable with his bare hands. The catch is that he only has 200 days to live. It took my breath away when I finished the last page. This story is more than just plots and twists. It is a very moving story and I strongly recommend this graphic novel.

When it comes to graphic novels I think you can't go wrong with Alan Moore. Watchmen in particular is a very entertaining and influential read. Superhero comics have never been the same since he wrote this, and it's mature approach to a genre that had been used with kid gloves for generations was revolutionary. And of course society is portrayed with Moore's trademark anarchist view of the world...sadly, that fictional future is starting to look fairly familiar in contemporary society.

If you are a fan of the X-Men, one of my favorites is X-Men: Magneto Testament. It give the backstory of Magneto, and tells about his life as a young boy in a concentration camp. Magneto has always been one of my favorite villains, and even though he did not originally have this story, I like that they went back and gave it to him. I feel like it gives his character so much more depth- he is protecting himself and those like him because he has seen and experienced what people do to those who are different. I thought it was a great series.

I also like Bryan K. Vaughn's Pride of Baghdad, if you are looking for something not superhero related. This is a beautiful piece of work.

I second recommending Watchmen if you liked V for Vendetta. I also think Neil Gaiman's Sandman series is more than your standard superhero book. It has some dark themes. As for super hero stories, I'm partial to Thor . I like how some of the volumes of Thor focus on sibling rivalry and old Norse stories among other themes. More depth than other super hero comics about beating up random bad guys from outer space or wherever.

I've only read the first book of it but I really like Tank Girl. It's drawn in an interesting style with a female protagonist. It has a bunch of small stories that build into a larger story. Highly recommend.

kb33 wrote:I've only read the first book of it but I really like Tank Girl. It's drawn in an interesting style with a female protagonist. It has a bunch of small stories that build into a larger story. Highly recommend.

I've heard other high recommendations for Tank Girl. Is there an accompanying movie as well, or am I crossing it with something else?

I agree with the people that said to read Watchmen. I think everyone should read Watchmen, even people that have never picked up a graphic novel before. It is one of my all time favorite novels and has really stayed with me ever since I read it.

I read Watchman for a book challenge. It was my first graphic novel and I absolutely loved it! I recommend it!

Graphic novels are fast becoming a genre that has a huge following particularly if included manga. That another topic by itself. I love horror and my spouse gave me graphic novel titled Dead High Yearbook. This was collection of stories that told in vein old horror classic Tales from Darksides as stories been told two main narrators and spoilers alert are connected. The stories are woven by different authors which you can tell yet they make a nice supernatural blanket of horror and Gore.

weiwei wrote:The Sculptor by Scott McCloud is a beautiful and heartbreaking graphic novel. The story is about a young sculptor named David Smith. By making a deal with Death, he gets to sculpt anything imaginable with his bare hands. The catch is that he only has 200 days to live. It took my breath away when I finished the last page. This story is more than just plots and twists. It is a very moving story and I strongly recommend this graphic novel.

I have passed on this one several times.next time I will brring it home.

I picked up this little gem called Bird in a Cage.


Sad but thought provoking.

Other than Watchmen, I recommend "The Umbrella Academy" by Gerard Way since it has a similar anti-hero theme. It is pretty interesting if you like that kind of topic.

If you like Watchmen, you may enjoy The Long Halloween, The Dark Knight Returns, and especially The Killing Joke (which is written by Alan Moore and is freaken phenomanal-!).

NolaLady03 wrote:Graphic novels are fast becoming a genre that has a huge following particularly if included manga. That another topic by itself. I love horror and my spouse gave me graphic novel titled Dead High Yearbook. This was collection of stories that told in vein old horror classic Tales from Darksides as stories been told two main narrators and spoilers alert are connected. The stories are woven by different authors which you can tell yet they make a nice supernatural blanket of horror and Gore.

Dead High Yearbook sounds really interesting! I think that I will need to check it out- I love Tales from the Darkside...

One of my favorite graphic novel series is the Amulet series by Kazu Kibuishi. Book 7, Firelight, came out recently. While the plot takes it's sweet time you will be amazed by the art. If you highly appreciate the art aspect of graphic novels, the Amulet series is right for you.