Just getting into Graphic Novels, any recommendations?

Fhel · 1 year

If you like Hunter S. Thompson and Warren Ellis, please have a seat and read this:

toobias · 1 year

Blankets, by Craig Thompson. It's a masterpiece.

Allakhellboy · 1 year

Since this is books, I'm going to assume you're wanting some classier Graphic Novels, which is what I like to read and I will recommend.

-Maus

-Persepolis

-American Splendor (Anything by Harvery Pekar! Harvey Pekar is my absolute favorite. Check out SDS, Macedonia, etc, etc)

-The Sandman (Everybody recommends it)

-Anything by Daniel Clowes (Ghost World (Anything printed out of Eightball), Ice Haven, and David Boring))

a_curious_koala · 1 year

Y: The Last Man

Watchmen

Bone

Persepolis

Maus

Alan Moore's Swamp Thing

dskoziol · 1 year

The Sandman!

shitbird · 1 year

Black Hole by Charles burns is great, Ice haven by Dan Clowes, and Jason is a pretty amazing artist. Check out I Killed Adolf Hitler.

toastspork · 1 year

Bone. Appropriate for a younger audience, but not at all dumbed down.

Love and Rockets. Not appropriate for a younger audience.

zjpookie · 1 year

The Scott Pilgrim series is so great. The dialogue is just constantly spot-on.

pre777 · 1 year

I've only read Watchmen in the graphic novel department, and its was pretty awesome. If you haven't already. I would go for that one.

nallyo2 · 1 year

V for Vendetta

Batman: Year One

Batman: The Dark Night Returns (Don't read Strikes Back. It's not that great)

Batman: The Killing Joke

Batman: Arkham Asylum

Surrogates was pretty good

Watchmen

Ronin

If you want to get into long term comics, I recommend Ed Brubaker's work on Captain America.

Other than that, Frank Miller and Alan Moore are generally good bets.

hemlokk · 1 year

I'm not sure if it really qualifies as 'graphic novel' or 'comic book', but The Adventures of Tin Tin if you are one of the rare people who haven't had the pleasure of reading them are fantastic no matter what age you are.

Tristanphetamine · 1 year

"Y: The last man" is simply the best one I've read. Fantastic. Get it.

happinessbomb · 1 year

Heavy Liquid by Paul Pope
Fun Home by Alison Bechdel
It's a bird by Steven T Seagle
Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea by Guy Delisle
Epileptic by David B
Umbrella Academy by Gerald Way (I'm not sure if people would approve this as a graphic novel, but I think it is)
The League of Extraordinary Gentleman by Alan Moore (probably all of them)

Many other good graphic novels were recommended here so I won't repeat again.

Zman11588 · 1 year

The only one I've ever read was Watchmen and it was awesome.

whiteskwirl2 · 1 year

Lone Wolf and Cub

jamesneysmith · 1 year

Essex County Trilogy by Jeff Lemaire
That Salty Air by Tim Sievert
Blankets by Craig Thompson
Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea by Guy Delisle
Jimmy Corrigan: Smartest Kid on Earth by Chris Ware
Paul Has a Summer Job by Michael Rabagliati
Kingdom Come by Mark Waid
Local by Brian Wood
Shortcomings by Adrian Tomine
Laika by Nick Abadzis
The Walking Dead (ongoing series) by Robert Kirkman

and plenty more I can't remember.

craftyodysseus · 1 year

The Invisibles by Grant Morrison

Surprised not to see this here. It's trippy (Morrison did a lot of acid), but very, very cool. Kind of superhero comic meets 1984 meets the X Files.

taitcha · 1 year

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind by Hayao Miyazaki (fantasy-ish post-apocalyptic that gets into some very interesting environmentalism, marxism and existentialist philosophy particularly later on. Plus, wonderful art and a gripping, epic tale)

Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi (it's about her childhood in Iran during and after the Islamic revolution)

Short Program by Mitsuru Adachi (an amazing collection of short stories in graphic form. Reminds me a bit of an understated O. Henry)

Maus: A Survivor's Tale by Art Spiegelman (about his parent's experiences as Jews during WWII)

senri · 1 year

V for Vendetta is one. Also, the Flight series, they're surprisingly awesome.

jRoq66 · 1 year

Not yet recommended in the thread: Ghost World Single book, great story about teenage angst, growing up and leaving home/friends

Walking Dead 11 books out, 12th on the way, first 8 available in a compendium. ZOMBIES!

Must reads already suggested:

Transmetropolitan

Y: The Last Man

edit: number of Walking Dead books, formatting

Burlapin · 1 year

If you like zombie-appocalypse stories, The Walking Dead. Great art, and the characters are well developed and then you throw the book across the room and cry. Oh god when is the next one coming out I need to go find i

BMErdin · 1 year

faschwaa · 1 year

I just finished Palestine by Joe Sacco. Gives you a great down-to-Earth look at the Israeli occupation after the Al-Aqsa Intifada. It's a bit of a downer, though.

lipish · 1 year

My own taste tends toward supernatural horror titles. A couple I would recommend-

HellBlazer; Stations of the Cross, Original Sins, The Red Right Hand.
Hell Boy; Seed of Destruction, Conqueror Worm, Strange Places.

Also second the Y: the Last Man, Transmetropolitan and Preacher rec's. Those are all solid choices

stilesjp · 1 year

Elektra: Assassin

From Hell

Jar of Fools

Stray Toasters

Black Orchid (3 part series, Gaiman & Mckean)

Cages (Dave Mckean)

M (Jon Muth)

Enemy Ace (George Pratt)

The Fountain (Kent Williams)

StochasticOoze · 1 year

I'd second a lot of the ones already suggested, but also add:

Atomic Robo (sort of an action comedy, starring a robot built in the 20s by Nikola Tesla)
Crecy (Warren Ellis' take on a pivotal battle in English history)
DMZ (About life in Manhattan, which acts as a demilitarized zone between two sides in a Second American Civil War.)
Ministry of Space (alternate history about a British space agency.)
Pride of Baghdad (Follows a family of lions as they wander around Baghdad after the zoo is blown apart in the American invasion of Iraq.)
Sandman Mystery Theatre (A vigilante comic, but dark and very well written. The stories are based off the original Sandman comics from the 30s.)

Creepybusguy · 1 year

Lets see here:

Tank Girl: Nonsensical, over the top, ultraviolent, and the single best repository of late 80s brit-postpunk fashion ever. (nothing like the movie!)

Maus: Is good! Plus kitlers.

Stardust: If you like Gaiman's particular flair for modern fairy tales, is also much much more approachable than the sandman, since sandman is huge.

Black hole: Trippy and fun.

Akira: still pretty inimitable. Here it is remastered in full color by some nerds.

alphabetum · 1 year

Anything by Chris Ware (Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth), Joe Sacco (specifically Safe Area Goražde, Palestine, although they are more journalism than novels), and Dan Clowes.

quraid · 1 year

I'll supress the temptation to name mangas and give only western graphic novels/comics. I'll also shun most "popular" works as they have been named before by others and not to my taste anyway. In no particular order;

We3 - think Lassie + some war movie. One of the best. and short.

Bone - epic. think Hobbit with Disney characters.

Conan(Datrkhorse) - Entire Conan mythos. will make you manlier.

Keepers of the Maser - Mobius and Jaradowsky. nuff said. just read it.

The Incal - brutally depressing. More M&J

The Metabarons - M&J. generation spanning sci fi.

Revelations - noir flair. vatican murder mystery.

The Imaginaries- One of the best comics ever. discontinued midway.

Sam and Max - Not really Graphics novel but awesome fun comics.

Sandman - no intro needed.

Transmetropoliton - An asshole reporter's crusade in a future dystopia.

World without End - trippy art. trippier story.

Tin Tin - imba good, as someone else pointed out. bloody spent childhood trying to collect all.

refuch · 1 year

TRANSMETROPOLITAN

poringo · 1 year

A friend got me hooked on FreakAngels. There's a new episode every friday and you can also buy the volumes.

zeromap · 1 year

If you aren't turned off by superheroes / fantasy:

Planetary by Ellis and Cassaday. Probably my favorite comic ever. Archaeologists exploring the secret history of the 20th century!
Miracleman (Marvelman in the UK). One of Alan Moore's earlier works, and I think Gaiman's first. Maybe the best comic ever.
Iron Fist - Fraction and Aja's run, anyway. Just really incredible work.
Conan the Barbarian - Busiek and Nord. Couple volumes here, all great fun to read.

cardbross · 1 year

Check out /r/comicbooks, they usually have a couple of general recommendation threads, and you might get a larger variety of titles than in /r/books

ugenesis · 1 year

Asterios Polyp is a good one. All-Star Superman for possibly the best take on the character. Transmetropolitan is another one that is highly recommended.

PhilR8 · 1 year

I don't read many graphic novels, but here are some great ones I have read:

Watchmen

Batman: Dark Knight Returns

Batman: Year One

League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (They get worse as they go along, but still all good)

Give Me Liberty

Go back and watch the two new Batman movies and see just how many scenes from the movies were inspired by the two Batman graphic novels I listed above. It's great.

poringo · 1 year

Crecy. It's a one shot, from Warren Ellis. History has never been so fun to learn.

chekulk · 1 year

Do the Akira books count as graphic novels, or are they comic books? Either way, worth a look.

xyroclast · 1 year

V for Vendetta, Watchmen

SgtMelbaToast · 1 year

The Crow was really good, way better than the movie and with more interesting themes.

Also, Hellblazer! Read it now!

o0dano0o · 1 year

Here are a few that I didn't see listed yet:

Understanding Comics

Bottomless Belly Button

It's a good life, if you don't weaken

Queen & Country

Get a Life

pahool · 1 year

This is a little like saying "I'm just getting into reading, any recommendations?" The scope of what's available in graphic novels is vast. I'll list some of my favorites, but they may not necessarily be to your liking. Can you give more of an idea of what you're into?

The Essex County Trilogy by Jeff Lemire is among the best graphic novels I've ever read. They're sort of a minimalist production. The story is beautiful and touching and it's perfectly suited for the medium. Lemire is great at letting a picture convey more than words can.

Anything by Kim Deitch is excellent. The artwork is detailed and unique. The sort of paranoid schizophrenic interweaving of the author's life and the storyline in genius. I liked The Boulevard of Broken Dreams particularly because it looks at the early 20th century animation industry. Alias the Cat does a similar take on the early film industry.

Blankets by Craig Thompson is a good one in the autobiographical line.

Also autobiographical and great is Harvey Pekar's American Splendor work.

Black Hole by Charles Burns is excellent and a bit creepy.

Like a Velvet Glove Wrapped in Iron is my favorite Dan Clowes, though I know several folks who have found it too surreal for their tastes.

Jar of Fools by Jason Lutes would make an excellent film.

Hicksville by Dylan Horrocks is well worth the read.

If you're at all interested in Manga, Osamu Tezuka's stuff is great. I'm partial to his Buddha series myself.

Sandman is pretty much required reading. The Sandman spin-off, Lucifer is quite good as well.

readwrite_blue · 1 year

Dark Knight Returns - indictment of Reagan and basically the whole of 80s runaway capitalism and PCness. Way more than just a Batman Story (which would be worth reading on its own)

captian2 · 1 year

100 bullets (for the first few books. Starts to fade towards the end)
Sandman
The Unknown Soldier (original, don't know about the newer sequels)
Superman: Red Son (what is superman was raised in soviet russia)

Here is a great list best graphic novels according to 24 people (a site I used to build, mostly just up for some old interesting data now)

vinigrette · 1 year

Agree with the recommendations for Y: The Last Man and Sandman. I also really enjoyed Lucifer and Fables.

guPPer · 1 year

Preacher should be No. 1.

Just be aware that anything you read after that might feel a little bland.

ophanim · 1 year

Fables! No one's suggested Fables? Fables!

lovelysyrinx · 1 year

Watchmen, Sandman

MonkeyPilot · 1 year

Pretty much anything by Frank Miller:
Ronin
The Dark Knight Returns
300

xyroclast · 1 year

Black Hole

lorancew · 1 year

I'm seeing a lot of Sandman suggestions, which I'd definitely agree with. I'd also highly recommend Top 10 (Alan Moore) and The Doom Patrol (Grant Morrison).

Also, feel free to ask a local comic book shop owner. From my experience, they're more than willing to help customer's find interesting stuff.

bigstevec · 1 year

Blankets. It's a very touching story of young love.

phasejump · 1 year

Look into Stephen King's The Dark Tower series from Marvel, the first collected story arc "The Gunslinger Born" is pretty much a remake of the flashback scene in Wizard & Glass, but after that, starting with "The Long Road Home" it's all new prequel content that covers what backstory was hinted at in the books.

If you read The Dark Tower novels, you should definitely check it out.

Creepybusguy · 1 year

The Stand

The Dark Tower Series

Transmetropolitan

Preacher

Sandman

Walking Dead

Y: The last man.

StoopiBird · 1 year

Maus and Watchmen are a solid introduction to graphic novels. Maus covers the biographical/historical indie style seen in Drawn and Quarterly and Fantagraphics authors, while Watchmen is an example of the superhero/action genre. Both of these graphic novels were required reading in a Comtemporary Culture class that I took in college, they were the only graphic works in with 15 other novels that were selected to show us the range of styles and genres in modern printed works.

My personal favorite is Percy Gloom by Cathy Malkasian. It's a touching cautionary tale, whimsically drawn.

Also, the Greatest American Comics series from McSweeney's and the Anthologies of Graphic Fiction (edited by Ivan Brunetti) have excerpts from varied graphic works and are a great way to find artists and styles that you will like. Anthologies are fantastic for beginners; I keep the post-it tabs handy to mark off which artists I want to check out.

kinematografi · 1 year

I'm really surprised no one has mentioned Concrete. It is, without a doubt, one of the greatest comics of all time. And there is a lot of it! It's a supernatural character's story told with philosophical and human sensibilities. There are no "super villains" other than Big Oil, Republicans and fame for Concrete. He is a normal person thrust into an abnormal situation and his struggles with his new life and new body are some of the most fascinating tales you will ever read. Highest recommendation.

Also, check out:

Clumsy and Unlikely by Jeffrey Brown. -An uncomfortably honest, autobiographical account of two relationships from their sweet beginnings to their inevitable end.

The Aviary by Jamie Tanner. -Some of the strangest, most surreal story telling I've ever read. If Lynch was a bit more whimsical and drew comics, they would read like The Aviary. Top recommendation if you're into that kind of thing. :)

Jenny Finn by Mike Mignola and Troy Nixon. -I just read this a few nights ago, but if you like macabre and fantastic stories, look no further. Mignola (creator of Hellboy) out does himself here, creating a legend and world that is so visceral and defined, it is almost jarring when it's over.

Torso by Brian Michael Bendis -(His whole True Crime series is pretty good.)

Heavy Liquid by Paul Pope. -I hesitated to put this here. only because I saw it listed on this page already. Heavy Liquid is one of the most self-assured and lucid science fiction tales I've come across. Pope is so inventive in every aspect of the story that, despite its somewhat brief duration, it stays with you for days after reading it. This is one of my very favorite books and I would recommend it to anyone, comic fan or not.

Dash Shaw -Last but not least, I wanted to recommend one of the most talented young artists working today. I met Dash at a convention a few years ago, right before Mother's Mouth was published. I was so blown away by his stuff that I bought everything he had on display. I've followed his career closely and I can say without a doubt that he has only gotten better. His latest few books (Bottomless Bellybutton and BodyWorlds (which he is offering for free online for what I can only assume is a limited time offer) are so jawdroppingly good I can barely describe them without doing them some sort of injustice. Do yourself a favor and read his two newest and work backwards. (His earlier work is far more experimental and difficult to get into.) He is one to watch.

Many of the recommendations on this page are also wonderful suggestions, I just thought I'd throw out some of my lesser known favorites. I hope that helps! I'd love to know what you think of our recommendations! Happy reading!

HungLikeJesus · 1 year

My favorite, which I don't see mentioned here yet, is Promethea.

Brad3000 · 1 year

How is it that no one has mentioned LOCKE & KEY?

pahool · 1 year

a late addition to this discussion, but Body World by Dash Shaw is a great read.

123not-it · 1 year

I liked A History Of Violence. Muuuuch better than the movie. And its got a pretty disturbing mindfuck near the end.

Stray Bullets is an absolute favorite series of mine.

And if you like Dante's Divine Comedy, check out the modern interpretation bt Sandow Birk. The movie they released was ok. Watch it for the paper puppet style. Extremley original.

faaaace · 1 year

The best recommendation I can give you is to call them comic books.

liturgical_libertine · 1 year

I'm a huge fan of the Alan Moore Marvelman graphic novel

[deleted] · 1 year

transmetropolitan, the dark knight returns, and y: the last man.

id also recommend superman: red son. i dont normally like superman at all, but this graphic novel totally changed my perspective on him. it supposes superman landed in soviet russia instead of the US and what that might mean for humanity. oh, and the ending will blow you away. such a good read.

MsSarah · 1 year

I also am just getting into graphic novels and the first one I read that my friend recommended me was Asterios Polyp, and I loved it.

Taaniel · 1 year

Why not some manga :) ? One Piece or Bakuman for example.

jordanlund · 1 year

Starman Omninus Vol 1-5. Each book is about 400 pages.

mactoplac · 1 year

Definitely go to local Barnes and Noble, COMIC SHOP, or equivalent. Get some coffee and dig thru whatever archives you can find. Big fan of Logicomix, Sandman series, Transmetropolitan, Watchmen. Anything by Neil Gaiman ought to be good. Fables might appeal.

Look for Indie comics with weird publishers. Collected webcomics like Penny Arcade seem to be everywhere. A good comic shop may have lots of leftover stuff like this. "Atlas Comics" in Charlottesville, VA is awesome in this regard.

pantsbrigade · 1 year

For weird and not superheroes, pick up a few random issues of Heavy Metal. There's a lot of softcore porn but also a lot of excerpts from all kinds of new graphic stories coming out from various countries. I read an amazing adaptation of The Man Who Laughs.

Anyway, it might give you some ideas about where to go next.

[deleted] · 1 year

Hellblazer!

Whatever Happened to The Caped Crusader? (You will cry.)

Demo by Brian Wood and Becky Cloonan. I cannot recommend this enough.

The Yattering and Jack by Clive Barker. It's great.

Zalenka · 1 year

Go to your local comic book store and page through a few. Nowadays there are traditional graphic novels, compilation of new story arcs, and compilations of older comics.

Persepolis is great, and so is 'Understanding Comics'.

ratinox · 1 year

Alan Moore and Ian Gibson's The Ballad of Halo Jones. Sublime.

mmm_burrito · 1 year

I can't understand how no one has mentioned Preacher yet.

Edit: Ok, bioskope did 6 hours ago, never mind. Apparently my Ctrl+F has a screw loose.

nemof · 1 year

The Invisibles. Wow, just wow.
Transmet as many others have suggested.
Y: the Last Man
Fable
100 Bullets
Hellraiser (one of my favs, which was made in the awful Constantine movie)
Watchmen, V for Vendetta, League of extraordinary gentlemen
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (one of the most significant graphic novels I ever read as it was the first, and really sticks in my mind as still being stand out) *Tank girl.
My friend really rates Planetary, which I've not yet read.
30 days of night (hopefully you've not spoiled it by watching the film), gorgeous artwork.
Sandman, if not for the gorgeous artwork for the wonderful and in depth mythology.
Preacher

If I had to say just 3 of the above I'd go with Sandman, Transmet and Dark Knight. The others are fantastic but some of them demand more patience and I think you might appreciate them more when you know that you'll be happy sitting down and slogging through a whole series.

Vicktaru · 1 year

Maus, Y: The Last Man and DMZ are all good ones in my book. If you're into super hero stuff Planet Hulk and Marvel Civil War are phenomenal trades. Walking Dead is fantastic if you like zombie stories.

pixelatedcrap · 1 year

Chew by John Layman is really good.

batholith · 1 year

Alan's War.

What happened was this older guy told his stories to a younger comic artist, and the artist drew them out and collected them into this book. It is fantastic to see bits of WWII and after from the eyes of 'some kid'. Here is what NPR had to say about it:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=104436362

matsugae · 1 year

I just finished a topical literature class on them last term. Here are a few of my (non-superhero) favorites from the syllabus:

A Passionate Journey - Frans Masereel
Logicomix: An Epic Search for Truth - Apostolos Doxiadis, Christos Papadimitriou
Maus - Art Spiegelman
Asterios Polyp - David Mazzucchelli
Berlin - Jason Lutes (This one is just incredible.)
A Drifting Life - Yoshihiro Tatsumi

Cowjuicer · 1 year

Watchmen

Preacher

Transmetropolitan

V for Vendetta

The Sandman

100%

From Hell

A History of Violence

The Long Halloween

Sysiphuslove · 1 year

Pride of Baghdad: it's about a small pride of lions that escapes from the Baghdad Zoo during the Iraq War. Really good book.

straytuesday · 1 year

The Alcoholic by Jonathan Ames. It's an autobiography in graphic novel form. Both hilarious and heart-breaking. And awesome.

blunted · 1 year

The book of Genesis - Robert Crumb

The grandaddy of counter culture comics takes on the entire book of genesis.

sweetcuppincakes · 1 year

Everything else has been covered, so I will suggest Mouse Guard.

dawtcalm · 1 year

iFanBoy is a good podcast devoted to this subject.

alexwilder · 1 year

Fables

RuffBrute · 1 year

Ghost World. It's sufficiently different from the movie to warrant a read, even if you've seen it already.

Asterios Polyp. Very thought provoking and beautiful to look at.

Maus. World War II survivor story told through a cat and rat analogy. (Funny coincidence: the word "maus" can mean "bad guys" in Brazilian, but it's supposed to mean "mouse" in German).

I'd steer clear from Sandman, Watchmen, Y: The Last Man and all that "serious" superhero stuff, they're a joke. The ones I posted are more akin to literature than comic books.

EDIT: (What I imagine to be) Angry nerds downvoting me. It's funny to me.

Ghost World

Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth

Black Hole

Complete Bone

We3 - think Lassie + some war movie. One of the best. and short.

Bone - epic. think Hobbit with Disney characters.

Conan(Datrkhorse) - Entire Conan mythos. will make you manlier.

Keepers of the Maser - Mobius and Jaradowsky. nuff said. just read it.

The Incal - brutally depressing. More M&J

The Metabarons - M&J. generation spanning sci fi.

Revelations - noir flair. vatican murder mystery.

The Imaginaries- One of the best comics ever. discontinued midway.

Sam and Max - Not really Graphics novel but awesome fun comics.

Sandman - no intro needed.

Transmetropoliton - An asshole reporter's crusade in a future dystopia.

World without End - trippy art. trippier story.

Tin Tin - imba good, as someone else pointed out. bloody spent childhood trying to collect all.

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