Graphic Novels: Essential
Annotation:A mysterious man suddenly arrives to help people get away with murder. Who will take him up on the offer? Find out in this thrilling, hard-boiled crime story.
Place a Hold
Annotation:The true story of the author's childhood, growing up with his older brother who has epilepsy.
Annotation:An emotionally complex memoir about a woman's heartbreaking childhood and her distant father who worked at a funeral home.
Annotation:A disease called, "Bug" is sweeping through the teenage population of 1970's Seattle. If someone catches the disease, he or she is sent to a strange, isolated camp in the woods, never to return. So falling in love at the local high school is literally a life or death decision.
Annotation:Two childhood friends struggle to keep their relationship together as they hang out in the months following their high school graduation.
Annotation:Set in the South during the turbulent 1960's, a young man faces small-town bigotry when he and his friends don't fit in with the culture.
Annotation:Not only did Will Eisner coin the term, "Graphic Novel," but the annual award for best graphic novel is named after him. So it would be an understatement to say that this book, which tells the story of his life, or any of his other works are essential reading for fans of this genre.
Annotation:Spider Jerusalem is a journalist in a futuristic, dystopian society. While conducting research for his column, he stumbles upon a story that might bring down the whole establishment.
Annotation:New York Times bestselling author Neil Gaiman wrote this dark fantasy that is considered by many to be the best comic book series of the 1990's.
Annotation:Since they were first published in the 1930's, these comics, which mix mystery, science fiction, and historical fiction, inspired countless other writers and artists.
Annotation:After Blanche witnesses a murder, a mysterious 'someone' tries to snuff her out but mistakenly kills her sister instead. Now Blanche must journey through the seedy underbelly of Post-World War I Paris to avenge her sister and stop a serial killer.
Annotation:When a professor’s university burns down, he decides to leave town and become an auto mechanic. Throughout the graphic novel he struggles to understand the gods' plan for humankind as well as the duality of man.
Annotation:With simple, black and white artwork, creating a noir feel, Frank Miller’s pulp-inspired, multi-award winning series follows several desolate characters as their lives interconnect in a city that’s rotten to the core.
Annotation:After suffering through a nuclear war, and its environmental consequences, England has become a totalitarian police state. Only one mysterious man, calling himself “V,” fights to bring down the government and inspire the people to rise up and rule themselves.
Annotation:Critically acclaimed, including being the only graphic novel listed on Time's 2005 "All-TIME 100 Greatest Novels" list, as well as in Entertainment Weekly’s 2008 list of the best 50 novels printed in the last 25 years, Watchmen is the story of a world in which superheroes are among us, but not wanted.
Annotation:Beginning in the late 1970’s, Harvey Pekar wrote these stories about himself and his everyday encounters. While some stories can be as commonplace as Harvey having car trouble, the series was groundbreaking in its time and includes artwork from many of the industry’s top artists.
Annotation:Although the Eisner Awards series features characters that include ghosts, zombies, giant rats, and nightclub singers, there is also wit, emotion, and depth to the stories.
Annotation:A complex, philosophical story about a forty-something year old man is hypnotized in an effort to quit smoking, but is instead transformed into his teenage self and must once again live through the ups and downs of adolescence.
Annotation:This unforgettable memoir illustrates a young girl’s experiences while growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution.
Annotation:Writer David Small describes his often heartbreaking experiences growing up in a disturbing family environment.
Annotation:Using cats for Nazis and mice for the Jewish people, this Pulitzer Prize winning graphic novel is a chilling reminder of the horrors of World War II.
Annotation:At the turn of the century, a soon to be father tries to earn money for his family after his craft becomes obsolete.
Annotation:Craig Thompson’s sentimental memoir describes his confusion, social struggles, and discovery that occur as he and his brother grown from young boys into maturity.
Annotation:Intelligently written and emotionally captivating, Adrian Tomine tells the story of a slacker in his mid-twenties as he struggles with love, race relations, and identity in San Francisco.
Annotation:After being driven from their homes in Fabletown, legendary fairytale characters seek refuge in New York in Bill Willingham’s grown-up, but immensely fun saga.
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