Graphic Novels

[skelneth]

I am putting together a Graphic Novel collection for the college library and while I already have a few and some on order, I need to order some more.

Does anyone have any suggestions or recommendations and reasons why?

Comments

[nyarbaggytep]

The Tale of One Bad Rat - it's a fantastic abuse-recovery story in graphic form.

[ajon]

I can't remember them all massively well, but the ones we studied at uni were:
Maus
Sandman
Watchmen
Dark Knight Returns

They're all classics.

[nyarbaggytep]

Ooh, yes those are all classics. V is for Vendetta is awesome too.

[nyarbaggytep]

I saw Maus, but hadn't come across it before, I shall add that and One bad rat.

The rest were already on my list

[overload74]

World War Hulk!

Hulk gets angry - and beats everyone up! What's not to like?

[ed_fortune]

Mouse Guard
Anything by Joe Sacco, though Palestine is very good
Runaways
Scot Pilgrim
Warren Ellis's Crecy
Alan Moore's Promethea
Grant Morrison's We3 (Warning, if you've not read, it is likely to make you cry. It's Watership Down with Power Suits).

[ed_fortune]

Oh, reasons why:
Mouse Guard is very, very pretty, and well done. Also it's a cracking story.

Joe Sacco is a comic strip journalist. Food for thought.

Runaway's, both Vaughan and Joss Whedon's run, are fun teen drama storys, and come in cheap, £5 format. Addictive and funny.

Crecy is the battle of Crecy. It's fun to read, and informative. It's Ellis showing the world that comics don't have to have Spandex. (Global Frequency is also worth a gander for the similar reasons.)

Promethea is an occult handbook, and an amusing story. Again, another example of what the genre can do.

We3 is simply awesome.

[skelneth]

An collection that look interesting. I've not seen or read any of these.

[skelneth]

Everything but Lucifer was already on my to get or maybe list.

[spiraltower]

'Maus' gets my recommendation too.

It's hard to get hold of, but 'Cages' by Dave McKean. Mysterious and strange and beautiful.

'Black Orchid' by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean. Beautifully painted and completely subverts the usual resolution of a superhuman conflict.

'Give Me Liberty' by Frank Miller and Dave Gibbons. Having a young, black, female lead is rare enough in comics, but it's also a cracking story of morality vs politics out of control.

'Powers' by Bendis and Oeming. Police officers who investigate superhuman crime. ('Alias' and 'Gotham Central' have similar superhuman/detective/police procedural themes set in the Marvel and DC universes respectively).

'The Books of Magic' by Neil Gaiman and various artists. This was subsequntly developed into an ongoing series (that eventually foundered due to Harry Potter comparisons, I believe, despite predating Potter by several years), but the original series is clever, scary, funny and wise by turns.