Graphic Novels

Daniel Clowes (Fantagraphics Books, 1998)

Ghost World, which formed the basis of the movie of the same name, tells the story of a summer immediately following high school graduation. Best friends Enid and Becky drift apart, the rift caused in part by Enid’s restless desire to attend college. Clowes successfully depicts youthful angst and alienation, but that’s only one skill in his arsenal. He’s also a master storyteller whose work defies convention; Ghost World‘s conclusion is unexpected, shattering, and true to the story. The illustrations are compassionate and understated.

Will Eisner (DC Comics, 2000)

This graphic novel is unusual in many ways. Its protagonists are senior citizens, its setting is the Great Depression, and it asks the big questions: Does human life have a meaning? Is real change possible? What is our debt to others? Eisner’s illustration style is understated and effective.

Jason Lutes (Drawn & Quarterly Publications, 2001)

Drawn in the European style, this tale of magician Ernie (“Ernesto”), devastated by his brother’s apparent suicide, ultimately offers hope. Ernie loses his devoted girlfriend and falls in with a small time con man and his daughter, but gains strength from the most unlikely place: his retired magic teacher and nursing home escapee, Al Flosso. Also recommended: Lutes’ graphic novel Berlin: City of Stones (2000), the first in a projected trilogy about Germany between the first and second world wars.

Chris Ware (Pantheon, 2000)

Winner of the Guardian’s First Book Award, this multilayered book about Jimmy Corrigan’s search for his father, and ultimately himself, is difficult but rewarding. The artwork is deceptively simple; the reader enters Corrigan’s world only to find that the visual disorientation reflects his distorted view of the world.

Kosuke Fujishima (Dark Horse Comics, 2002)
For readers 12 and older. When college student Keiichi Morisato dials the Goddess Technical Help line, a goddess appears in his dorm room, eager to grant him one wish. Impulsively, Keiichi wishes that the goddess will stay with him always. Th is new arrangement, once granted, has some problems. The goddess has been stripped of much of her power, doesn’t understand Keiichi’s world, and causes as much trouble as she solves. By turns humorous, all 28 volumes for American readers.

Kazuka Kudo (Viz Communications, 1995)

For readers 12 and older. In this realistic and absurd story, Mai appears like most 14-year-olds, except for her psychic abilities. She uses her powers primarily for jokes, but when her father is endangered, Mai realizes that she must use her powers with purpose.

Mike Mignola (Dark Horse Comics, 1997)

For high school students and adults. Originally called from the depths of Hell by the Nazis, Hellboy turned against them and became Earth’s greatest paranormal investigator, determined to protect humankind from the forces of evil. A team composed of both mutants and humans aids him in his quest. Mignola’s style is minimalist and trend setting.

Yasuhiro Nightow (Dark Horse Manga, 2003)

For high school students and adults. This adventure book mixes comedy, science fiction, and the Old West. Protagonist Vash has a 60-billion double-dollar bounty on his head. Nightow’s style is cinematic and sincere in this fast paced thriller.

Brian Michael Bendis & Mark Bagley (Marvel Comics, 2001)

Appropriate for readers 8 and older. This reworking of Spider-man’s origin has been updated for contemporary readers by including modern references and splashy artwork. Invented in the 1960s, Spiderman was the first superhero whose personal problems were harder to resolve than his fights with super-villains. This version of Spiderman is the basis for the current hit movies.

Will Eisner (DC Comics, 2001)

Appropriate for readers 8 and older. Eisner’s The Spirit was a model for adventure comics when it appeared in the 1940s and early ’50s. This series reprints all The Spirit stories chronologically, in full color.

Frank Miller (DC Comics, 1997)

For readers 13 and older. Originally published in the late 1980s, Batman charted a new course for superheroes with this concept: Batman, age 50 and deeply cynical, emerges from retirement to once again save Gotham City. The book is also noteworthy for the way it re-vamped comic storytelling techniques.

Jack Jackson (Reed Press, 2003)

For high school students and adults. Originally published in 1979, this history of the Comanche Indians’ relationship with white Texan settlers is lively and well researched. It focuses on the last Comanche Chief, Quanah Parker, a child of an Indian father and a Caucasian mother, who leads the Comanche people during peacetime. The book includes photographs of Chief Quanah and a bibliography for further study.

Scott McCloud (HarperPerennial, 1994)

For readers 12 and older. McCloud’s book took the world by storm in its examination of the comics format, comics’ place in western culture, and the medium’s potential. Equally persuasive, McCloud’s cartooning style engages readers and cajoles them into wrestling concepts about artistic merit, expression, and form.

Osama Tezuka (Viz Communications, 1996)

For older teens and adults. Adolf, a historical novel told in five volumes, tells the story of three people named Adolf at the time of World War II: the infamous dictator, a half-Aryan/half-Japanese man, and a Jew living in Japan and befriended by the half-Aryan prior to the war. The interplay of the three Adolfs gives cartoonist Tezuka an opportunity to examine the problems of racism, fascism, and personal identity. The translation is a bit rocky, and the art may be too cartoonish for some readers, but this work may be the closest thing to an epic in comic format since Spiegelman’s Maus.

Joyce Brabner and Harvey Pekar, illustrated by Frank Stack (Four Walls, Eight Windows, 1994)

For older teens and adults. Pekar earned national recognition his autobiographical comic book, American Splendor, which inspired a movie of the same name. This stand alone graphic novel, at turns frightening and moving, chronicles his battle with cancer.

Jim Ottaviani and Leland Purvis (G.T. Labs, 2004)

For readers 12 and older. Ottaviani’s earlier books, Fallout and Two-Fisted Science, both earned high praise. Here he examines the life of Neils Bohr, the largely unknown physicist who greatly influenced Albert Einstein and founded quantum mechanics.

Marjane Satrapi (Pantheon, 2003)

For high school students and adults. In this affecting memoir, Satrapi, a successful children’s writer, recounts the story of growing up under a repressive Iranian regime. The childlike illustrations counter the pervasive oppression. The next installment in Satrapi’s life story, Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return, is released as well.

Art Spiegelman (Pantheon, 1986)

For high school students and adults. In this masterpiece of comic art narrative, which portrays Jews as mice and Germans as cats, Spiegelman tells three stories. He relates the trials that his parents, Vladek and Anna, survived while living in Nazi concentration camps and their life in the United States to his father’s constant reliving of the second World War. He also recounts the story of himself as another Holocaust survivor. The black and white illustrations perfectly define the book’s theme.