Recommended Comics / Graphic Novels

questbird: This Holocaust biography is the graphic novel which started graphic novels. It's not surprising to find it at the top of the list.

donutage: Yes, it's a superhero book, but it's also a political satire, a meditation on morality, a deconstruction of both the superhero genre and comics in general, and a narrative tour de force.

questbird: Supernatural but not super-heroic. A series which draws on myths and dreams.

questbird: wordless, beautiful

donutage: Best examination of theory and mechanics of not just comics but art in general I've ever read. The followups (Making Comics and Reinventing Comics) are also very good, but this one is essential.

misericordia: You gotten know what a graphic novel is, after all.

questbird: A very non-alpha man finds himself the only one left in a world of strong women.

donutage: The "grim and gritty" take on Batman has been overworked to exhaustion, but this is the original and best version of that. There's also a thread of pointed political satire and less violence-for-it's-own-sake than in Miller's later work.

questbird: Marvel superheroes transplanted to a different place and time; their essential natures shine through.

questbird: The whole series is superb. I've heard it described as the Japanese Lord of the Rings.

donutage: The whole series is outstanding. Vol. 6 is probably my favorite, but you have to make the whole journey to appreciate the destination.

questbird: Evocation of vanished Japan

donutage: The entire series is great: hilarious and wacky, yet also grounded and emotionally, if not literally, real.

questbird: shocking, groundbreaking factual graphic novel. Comics as journalism.