posted
Andrew Arnold of the New York Times published a list of the all-time best graphic novels.
Of those on the list, I've only read The Watchmen and Dark Knight Returns. I thought V for Vendetta also deserves to make the list, but since I haven't read the others a comparison cannot be made.
Do you recommend any of these graphic novels? What would your top ten list look like?
quote:Berlin: City of Stones by Jason Lutes (Drawn & Quarterly; 2000)
Blankets by Craig Thompson (Top Shelf; 2003)
Bone by Jeff Smith (Cartoon Books; 2004)
The Boulevard of Broken Dreams by Kim Deitch (Pantheon; 2002
The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller (DC Comics; 1986)
David Boring by Daniel Clowes (Pantheon; 2000)
Ed the Happy Clown by Chester Brown (Vortex; 1989)
Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth by Chris Ware (Pantheon; 2000)
Palomar: The Heartbreak Soup Stories by Gilbert Hernandez (Fantagraphics Books; 2003)
Watchmen written by Alan Moore / drawn by Dave Gibbons (DC Comics; 1986)
posted
Of that list I have also only read Watchman and DKR. I'm kinda surprised Maus isn't on that list. I recommend Akira, which you can now get in english in a 6-book set. Also Sin City, which definitely qualifies as graphic.
posted
I'm surprised to see Maus not on the list. Or Understanding Comics. Or The Cartoon History of the Universe. Or Persepolis. Or A Contract With God. Or at least one of the Sin City serials.
But "The Sandman" wouldn't qualify, since it was a monthly -- and not even a miniseries, at that. The Dark Knight Returns only barely qualifies, IMO. And Bone shouldn't qualify at all.
That said, both Jimmy Corrigan and Blankets are excellent, and definitely worth the money.
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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posted
Also, Neil Gaiman did a graphic novel called Harlequin which was great. He also did something with a Japanese artist that I never got around to getting which probably didn't suck. Posts: 13123 | Registered: Feb 2002
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posted
Again, I'm not sure you can count Love and Rockets. Like Bone, it was an ongoing series; if we're going to open it up to the best ongoing series that have been collected in trade paperback, that'll really blow the roof off the list of possibilities.
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posted
I haven't read many graphic novels. I am currently reading The History of Violence (good story but the artwork leaves something to be desired) but I have to agree with Tom that Persepolis was a good read.
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posted
Thanks Stormy. I've probably asked you that question before when I first joined Hatrack. But it has been a while since I've had the time to sit down and read my old comics, um, I mean graphic novels again. Posts: 4116 | Registered: Apr 2002
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For a graphic novel that has been so hyped, I found myself completely disappointed in both the story and the art.
Posts: 1480 | Registered: Dec 2004
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quote:Originally posted by TheHumanTarget: "Where's Maus? "
For a graphic novel that has been so hyped, I found myself completely disappointed in both the story and the art.
I'm inclined to agree. It's certainly one of the most important graphic novels, in that it got a much wider audience to take the genre seriously, but I wouldn't call it one of the best.
Posts: 884 | Registered: Mar 2005
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posted
The reviewer's definition is a bit muddy -- he includes Berlin even though he notes that it's the first volume of a projected series... using the same definition, one could easily include a Sandman book. (Sandman did end at issue 75, and Gaiman says that he always meant for the series to end... so if it's OK to have all 55 issues of Bone get nominated, why not some of the 75 issues of Sandman?)
Anyway... I agree with Blankets, Watchmen, and the Dark Knight all being on the list... I like both Ed the Happy Clown and Bone, but not sure about them being in the top 10... the others... haven't seen Berlin or the Deitch book... and Clowes, Hernandez, and Ware are all artists that for whatever reason I just don't appreciate...
Agree that Maus, Persepolis, V for Vendetta, and Sandman should've been on there. And maybe Stuck Rubber Baby?
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posted
Bone, while as has been pointed out is not a graphic novel, is definitely worth reading (at least based on the first 3 collections I have read).
I would also recommend Cages by Dave McKean. Though it was also originally serialized as well.
Robota is not really a graphic novel. It is more an Illustrated novel. The text is all seperate from the visuals. I actually just finished reading it the other day. It was alright.
I also just read another (short) graphic novel that was one of (or maybe) the first project Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean worked on together. It was called Violent Cases. It was a good but quick read.
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posted
I wasn't knocked over by Maus when I first read it, myself. Maybe it's time I reread it and see if my opinion has changed.
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I really liked the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Book 1. The second book was despicable, but the first was excellent. Didn't much care for DKR.
Posts: 561 | Registered: Feb 2005
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Why has no one mentioned Jhonen Vasquez's work, which easily trumps everything listed so far? Especially Sin City, ugh, talk about clichetastic serials.
Posts: 4313 | Registered: Sep 2004
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posted
The Death of Captain Marvel deserves to be on that list. It's old, and it's not the Captain Marvel most people are familiar with (he's a guy named Mar-Vell, and he was a Marvel Comics character), but it was the first time I'd ever seen a major character dealing with something as prosaic as cancer.
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