Recommended graphic novels/comic books

[Happy]

What are your favourite graphic novels/comic books? Or what would you recommend?

I'll start.

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The Walking Dead
It's just brutal in the best possible way. Far more brutal than the television series'.
3.5/4

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Sex Criminals
Absolutely brilliant. Tells the story of two people who, for some reason, when they have an orgasm, time stops. So they rob banks. Sure, it's more complex than that, but I'd hate to bore you with details. Very well written and well illustrated. Plus, brimping.
4/4

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Chew
Set in a dystopian future where chicken is illegal. The main character has the ability to see the entire history of anything he eats. It's gross. Really cool though. The story becomes more and more absurd as the series progresses.
3/4

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Maus
Frame narrative that tells the author's father's experience during the holocaust. All the jews are illustrated as mice, the germans as cats, americans as dogs, poles as pigs, etc. One of the ongoing themes involves the difficulty of the author in getting his father to tell the story, which is very interesting. Kind of like the graphic novel equivalent of the film Shoah.
4/4


I'm not really a fan of marvel/DC, or superhero comics in general, but I'm currently reading Marvel's Hawkeye (by Matt Fraction et al.) and it's so good it may just make this list.

 

[Haim]

The gamer-the main character has abilities like an rpg game character in "real" life, he level up learns abilities and other shit game character does.
It has modern day setting with magic fantasy elements.

Steins;gate-I liked the anime of it.

One punch-Hero for a hobby.

 

[Happy]

The gamer-the main character has abilities like an rpg game character in "real" life, he level up learns abilities and other shit game character does.
It has modern day setting with magic fantasy elements.
.

This sounds intriguing. Would you say you like it primarily because of it's setting; or because it's got a story with considerable depth? If it has a really good story, I might be interested in checking it out.



I'm gonna add this to my recommendations, even though it's entry-level as far as comics/manga go:
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Death Note
Yeah, it's Death Note. Yeah, everyone's probably read it/watched it. But it's popular for a good reason. It's amazing. Except I remember that whole Yotsuba saga and the Near/Mello saga were a bit of a letdown. It's probably the Harry Potter of manga.
3/4

 

[Ex-User (9086)]

If you're into manga and moderately gruesome dark themed things then there's a chance you will love Berserk.

 

[Haim]

This sounds intriguing. Would you say you like it primarily because of it's setting; or because it's got a story with considerable depth? If it has a really good story, I might be interested in checking it out.

It's interesting because he always learn new things and because of the inner insight of game character, I like the world, the story isn't complex but I don't think it reduces the comic value.

I didn't know black and white manga was included, then I have more.

Ansatsu Kyoushitsu Spin off Koro sensei Q-a comedy, basically Assassination Classroom in medieval fantasy game setting, recently came out, pretty decent so far.
Terra Formars- mars if full of humanoid cockroaches, a group of humans needs to defeat them, interesting story.
Hunter x Hunter- a freaking masterpiece.
Parasyte - the maxim- really good story.
Accel World - virtual realty fighting game

 

[Puffy]

Maus is the kind of comics I like reading. Its author, Art Spiegelman, worked on two anthologies called RAW and Arcade in the 1970s/80s that collects together the work of many excellent artists. Its aim is to showcase the more experimental examples of the form, so they tend to deviate (in diverse ways) from the more popular genres (newspaper strips, funny animals, superhero, etc.)

I started there years ago and then read into individual artists I liked. Lynda Barry, Alison Bechdel, Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, Jodorowsky, Moebius, Gilbert & Haime Hernandez, Ben Katchor, Bryan Talbot. To name a few.

I'd recommend Frank Miller & Akira to the OP. And Chris Ware (ACME Novelty Library, Jimmy Corrigan, Building Stories) in general, as I've never seen anyone on the forum mention him and he's one of the most gifted people in comics right now imo.

 

[Redfire]

Second Maus and Death Note (although for Death Note it's easier to just watch the show, same thing)

Also:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watchmen (movie is good too)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lex_Luthor:_Man_of_Steel
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batman:_The_Killing_Joke

 

[Jennywocky]

Yeah, all the typicals, some of which have been mentioned:

- original Watchmen
- V for Vendetta (I think the graphic novel is far better than the movie)
- Anything by Gaiman (esp the Sandman series)
- Miller's stuff
- Much of the Fables run by Willingham/Buckingham
- Anything with art by Dave McKean or Bill Sienkiewicz or Alex Ross
- Akira -- just so great
- stuff by J. Michael Straczynski (Midnight Nation, Rising Stars, his reinvention of Squadron Supreme was interesting even if it petered out, etc.)

I like Terry Moore's SIP and other items, but it's lighter, more amusing reading in an INFP bent.

 

[Happy]

I had trouble getting into the V for Vendetta graphic novel. I found it terribly slow, but I didn't stick with it all that long. Perhaps it deserves a revisit.

Another really good one I read a few years ago was The Underwater Welder:
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As far as graphic novels go, it's a fairly mundane story, but is told extraordinarily well. The drawing style is beautiful in its roughness. It's a really good exploration into the human psyche.
3.5/4

 

[Jennywocky]

I had trouble getting into the V for Vendetta graphic novel. I found it terribly slow, but I didn't stick with it all that long. Perhaps it deserves a revisit.

I would agree there are parts in the beginning that can feel slow. Plus it took me some time to grasp the setting and what was going on.

One huge difference is that the book is about fascism vs anarchy, where the movie is Americanized into conservatism vs liberalism. Another change is that the book retains much of the ambiguity over V and his character; while the movie tried to make him to a sympathetic and likable human character (along with adding action elements), what I liked about the book is that isn't really clear whether he is "good" or just another form of extremism in itself. At the end, the most you can say of him is that he was likely who he had to be to face down the regime and was pure enough about it that he also applied his own rules to himself; but from the view of conventional morality, was he good or bad? And was he still "human" in the conventional sense? Not clear. The ends justify the means, to him. I find him fascinating -- he has this vision and you can't tell whether he's sane or a madman... or maybe both. The same with Evee, she's even more "normal" in the book and even very weak in some ways through much of it; and she is very opposite V and remains so.

 

[omics]

The stories "The Metamorphosis", "The Castle", and "The Trial" (all written by Kafka) have been adapted into graphic novels, and I recommend those! I read 2 out of those 3 in German, not English, and a long time ago as well, so I'm not sure which exist in what language. Probably all are in English somewhere.

 

[Puffy]

The stories "The Metamorphosis", "The Castle", and "The Trial" (all written by Kafka) have been adapted into graphic novels, and I recommend those! I read 2 out of those 3 in German, not English, and a long time ago as well, so I'm not sure which exist in what language. Probably all are in English somewhere.

I did an assignment on Kafka comics adaptations at University, funnily enough. I remember Peter Kuper's 'Metamorphosis' being the most interesting (his own book 'The System' is pretty good). I didn't know The Castle had been adapted.

 

[omics]

I did an assignment on Kafka comics adaptations at University, funnily enough. I remember Peter Kuper's 'Metamorphosis' being the most interesting (his own book 'The System' is pretty good). I didn't know The Castle had been adapted.

Wordless graphic novel with a woodcut style & Kafka/ominous feel?! I really want to "read" The System now. Thaaank you

A post on the publisher's website discussing the 'The Castle' adaptation is here: http://www.selfmadehero.com/news/2013/06/launch-the-castle-by-jaromir-99-and-david-zane-mairowitz/