Graphic Novels

cheeseandachallenge

cheeseandachallenge

I've been a fan of the visual style of graphic novels (less so superhero ones - though I'd give some of the more *important* and interesting ones a go) for a while. So, for someone who wants to start reading a few graphic novels (both for personal reasons, and for research for a script I'm writing) what are some good starting points?

I know that's as broad of a question as asking "I've never watched film, what film should I watch first."

I guess I want to get some grasp of the conventions and tone of the format, and the different ways that can be played with. I'm a fan of more experimental art, so some recommendations in line with that would be nice, but of course some classics and important texts in various movements/genres would be good (you can't understand experimental if you don't understand the conventional).

Thanks!
 
You called? Okay, here are some of my favorites and why:

- Watchmen (Moore, Gibbons)...it's required reading. Maybe doesn't have the same impact now that everyone is desconstructing the ideas of superheroes, but when it hit, man, it was mindblowing. Still holds up pretty well. Anything by Moore is worth reading. Dude is nuttier than a dumptruck full of fruitcake, but brilliant and an amazing writer. From Hell should be next on your list by him, and you'll see why he wants nothing to do with cinematic adaptations of his stuff.
- Moonshadow (DeMatteius, Muth, Williams, Pratt) Not what you'd expect. Brilliant coming of age story, funny, thought provoking, BEAUTIFUL art. One of the more literary comic works I can think of.
- Maus (Spiegelman) Holocaust survival story told with anthropomorphic mice. All the more gripping because of it. Read it, you'll see why. Speaking of mice...
- Mouse Guard (Peterson) Medieval fantasy tale with mice. Beautiful art, and wonderfully published editions. It's like Redwall for adults (by which I mean serious, mature story, not tons of sex and gore...in comics there's a lot of mature and "mature")
- Mr Punch (Gaiman, McKean) You'll love the art. Rough brush panels mixed with manipulated photos, sketchy and surreal. A look at a character's past, told through the framing story of a punch and judy show. Really anything with Gaiman or McKean's name (and ESPECIALLY both) should be read. Speaking of... (one from each)
- Sandman: The Dream Hunters (Gaiman, Russell) Sandman is a great series, start to finish, but it's definitely more a series (albeit finite) than a graphic novel. This stands alone, and you can read it without having read the entirety of Sandman. Though if you WERE to read Sandman, the issue "24 Hours" is easily my favorite single issue of a comic.
- Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth (Morrison, McKean) Okay, here's a straight up cape book. Batman in the Asylum, with McKean's beautiful surreal artwork. If you read one Batman book, this is the one to read.
- Book of Ballads (various, Vess) I'm biased towards this because I'm into traditional Celtic folk music. Various authors write stories based on trad ballads, and Vess illustrates them (song lyrics are provided, so it's okay if you aren't familiar with them). Charles de Lint's take on "Twa Corbies" is worth the price alone!
- Orbiter (Ellis, Doran) Warren Ellis is another name to pay attention to. Brilliant author. This is pretty hard sci-fi about first contact, something you don't see much of in comics. Inspiring book! Ellis' Transmetropolitan series is also worth a read.
- Invisible People (Eisner) There's a reason they give out "Eisner Awards"...I think his city stories are a big part of it. This is my favorite collection.

Now you want something REALLY out there, possibly my all time favorite book:
- Stray Toasters (Sienkiewicz) Surreal, shifting art styles, abstract acid-noir story, serial kills and transhumanism. Blew my mind. Definitely not for everyone, but this really shows what you can do with the medium

Anyway, that'll keep you busy for a while! I should probably ask at this point what have you read and/or liked and I can recommend more. And I'm always up for talking comics!
 
Thanks Josh!

Ha, I've barely read anything (besides Asterix and Obelix, Tintin, etc as a kid, which don't reaaally count). I've borrowed Hawkeye and Sandman off a friend, but I haven't had a chance to really get into it yet. That list should keep me going for a while (Uni and all the readings in an English degree can make it hard to motivate oneself to read for leisure as well), but if anyone else has more suggestions, that'd be great!

Aaand, if there are any theory books I should read, that'd be cool too? I've kind of learn about the various movements, genres, events in film just by being constantly involved in reading, watching and discussing film; but I'm trying to get a similar understanding in a much quicker time frame.
 
Oh, yeah, you want Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics. THE place to start as far as theory goes. He's written a couple other that are worth reading too, but that's the place to start!

And Asterix is still pretty awesome :D
 
JoshL said:
Oh, yeah, you want Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics. THE place to start as far as theory goes. He's written a couple other that are worth reading too, but that's the place to start!

And Asterix is still pretty awesome :D
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Alrighty, thank you! I'll suppose I'll pick that when I'm about halfway through the list. I might flick you a pm when I get through it all (in probably several months time :P) to get some follow up recommendations.

It is! I read a few when I stayed with my Grandma a couple of months back, and I realised my Mum used to read them with me for purely selfish reasons!
 
Feel free! And when you read some (or if you read something I didn't mention), feel free to drop me a line to let me know what you think!
 
I haven't been to the comics shop for quite a while, so I'm not up on what's hot. Fact is, I never really was. Still, I've had a waxing and waning interest in them since I was a kid.

Frank Miller's Ronin is my all time favorite comic book. It wasn't actually released as a novel, but as a six book or so miniseries. But nowadays you can find them collected together as a graphic novel. And to think I collected the original books when as a kid. I kick myself now for not holding on to them and keeping them safe. Very cinematic for a comic book.

I've been very inspired by Joseph Michael Lisner's work. Though I have no idea what he may have done recently. But I think his Lucifer's Halo really impresses with what you (or at least he) can do with the medium. I also recommend anyone check out his Angry Christ Comix: the Angry Works of JML, for the same reasons. Though it's not a novel, but a collection of shorts.

Faye Perozich and Daerick Gross made a graphic novel adaptation of The Vampire Lestat which is quite lovely. An interesting example of adapting a novel into a graphic novel.

Not sure this qualifies as a novel. I guess it's considered a stand alone short story. Lucifer: Nirvana is beautifully illustrated by Jon J. Muth. Oh, I see Muth did Josh's recommendation, Moonshadow. I guess I should try to look Moonshadow up myself, then.

Haven't seen any recent ones, but the comic books and then graphic novel collections of Stephen King's The Dark Tower are beautifully illustrated and seem nicely adapted.

I'm also a big fan of Guy Davis's art. His The Marquis: Danse Macabre is pretty cool. He also did quite a bit of work for White Wolf's beautiful RPG books. Oh cool, looks like he's been doing stuff for movies as well.

I don't own a copy (drats) because the price tag has always deterred me, but Frank Miller's 300 is beautifully illustrated and packaged.

I don't have or really know any books on theory. But back when I thought I'd try to make a graphic novel myself, I picked up The Complete Idiot's Guide to Creating a Graphic Novel by Nat Gertler and Steve Lieber. I think it's brilliant. If you want to see how a graphic novel is actually constructed, check it out.
 
I'm not hugely into comic books, but my very small collection consists exclusively a few Batman novels: The Long Halloween, Year One and The Killing Joke. They're all pretty good reads.

I guess I'd ought to try Arkham Asylum next then...
 
The reason I went for those books in the first place was the fact that Chris Nolan has stated that these were heavy influences on his Dark Knight trilogy. You can certainly see the influence that these novels had on those films.
 
I focus mainly on superhero comics, but what genre are you interested in? Romance? Western?

Dark Horse Comics is putting out an original version of the Star Wars saga, and I'm waiting for the graphic novel version to come out.
 
I want to love 300, but at the end of the day, I just like it. It is, as you said richy, absolutely beautiful. But it's not Miller's finest work, and he managed to tell the same story with more impact in one panel in Sin City! Right there with you on Ronin. And the Dark Knight Returns is an classic for Batman books, though I don't like it as much as the others mad hatter mentioned (and mad hatter, knowing a bit about your tastes in film, you're going to LOVE Arkham Asylum!) I haven't read the Lisner stuff you mentioned, so I'll have to check that out!

Mogul, it looks like the trade for The Star Wars series is set to come out on 7/9/14, so not too much longer to wait! It's also based on the original draft of Star Wars, so very different than the movie. More details here. Dark Horse has done a great job with Star Wars over the years; sorta sad to see it go back to Marvel (though I loved the Marvel books as a kid. And, I say without shame, the Star Comics Ewoks series). Dark Horse is awesome; they've got some great original books, and some of the best licensed books out there. If you're a Buffy fan, the last two "seasons" have been really great (with Whedon and some of the other show's writers doing issues!)

As an aside and off topic, a few weeks ago I went to a local indie con with a preview of a comic I wrote! First comic I've ever written! Just the first 8 pages of the first issue (I'm currently writing issue 3, but like me, the artist works a full time day job, so things are going pretty slow). Not much to show and as a writer I make a pretty good musician, but I'm very excited about it. I love comics but can't draw to save my life, so it's awesome getting a chance to participate!
 
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If you like Watchmen, check out V for Vendetta. Hellboy is also great, but maybe not as high up on the intellectual scale as Alan Moore's work. Still amazing, though, in my opinion.
 
Josh, haven't forgotten about that! Is this the one? When do we get to see something? :)

How was the Indie Com experience for you? Cool? Did you have your own booth or table or something? Very cool.
 
thanks for remembering, richy! I have a bunch of the preview books leftover, so shoot me your address in a PM and I'll send one to you (same goes for anyone else who wants one, though most of the ones left have a blank cover for the artist to do a sketch...he did about half a dozen at the con). He's hoping to start posting pages online this summer, so I'll let you know if/when that happens. The con was fun; we had a table, though with just a preview book (and some music stuff/merch from me because why the hell not. Did sell some though!). All local indie folks, most had a pretty extensive collection of books to sell. Ranged from pretty poorly done stuff to professional level books! And it being small press stuff, there were some wonderfully weird things around!
 
Yeah that sounds like a cool experience, Josh. Always kind of romanticized it. Hard not to, I think, if you ever seen Chasing Amy. =P
 
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