I know how it goes. I say that I teach high school English and then I start talking about graphic novels and people start to ask why in the work I'm giving comic books to children. What I really ought to be doing is teaching the Classics. Blegh.
ONE, graphic novels and comic books are not the same thing. A comic book is, say, the long running Detective Comics of which you can find a new edition every week or every month. It's a series; the story comes out in installments. A graphic novel is one complete story in one binding (or, I guess, a finite number of bindings like Maus or Persepolis, which each have two parts). And, if you really want to get technical, these media are both distinct from trade paperbacks, which can take any number of comic books and republish them in one binding.
TWO, when the hell did you get an education degree or study any kind of pedagogy that didn't come from your favorite talking head, Ms. Armchair Commentator. Bugger off. What I know is that sometimes (most of the time) kids don't care about the Classics because you hand them a 700 page anthology and they go to sleep instantly. I'll admit that I cringe when I hear them ask "what, no pictures?" but graphic novels hit the best of both worlds and make all of us happy. Especially me. Graphic novels make me happy when I can pass them out to a class full of teenagers...
At any rate, I firmly believe that everyone, not just teenagers, should find a copy of these eight graphic novels. They're all authentic stories told in beautiful ways. But be aware, these ain't your daddy's comic books.
1) The Odyssey by Garth Hinds
FINE! THERE! I have a Classic for you. But actually, I'm proud to start off this list with Gareth Hinds and his monumental adaptation of Homer's epic. If you ever think to yourself, "hey, I should go for that... it's a comic book adaptation and it will save me time!" think again on this one. It's a massive 278 page, full vibrant color retelling of the ancient Greek story. And I love it. I read through my anthology translation of The Odyssey when I was in college and I loved it then, but my love was renewed when the story I knew was illustrated and revitalized by Hinds.
Hinds himself isn't a one-hit wonder, either. He has been adapting other well-known stories such as Beowulf, King Lear, and The Merchant of Venice.
Hinds himself isn't a one-hit wonder, either. He has been adapting other well-known stories such as Beowulf, King Lear, and The Merchant of Venice.
2) Persepolis 1 & 2 by Marjane Satrapi
When you go looking for this one, be aware that you can get in two volumes or one (I have a copy of the complete Persepolis. The difference is that part 1 is Marjane's story as a child in Iran, all the way up until she goes to Paris for school, which begins part 2. This story is Satrapi's memoir. The Iranian Revolution enveloped her childhood and she had to deal with family members disappearing, bombs going off, and still learning what it was to be a girl. Then, when her parents sent her to Paris so that she could have exposure to something other than a regime government, she spirals out of control, only holding on by the skin of her teeth. She finally goes home to recuperate in her parent's house.
The entire story is told in black and white, flat pictures. There isn't much realism in the illustrations, but there is definitely an artistry. One fair warning, the books were originally published in French, so at times the English translations can seem odd or flat.
3) Batman: Year One by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli
This is definitely a tour de force for the writer and illustrator. This publication kicked Miller's career into high gear and Mazzucchelli, while having already been established in the comic book world, is well known for his work on this one.
I think everyone knows how Batman (Bruce Wayne) got his start fighting crime: Joe Chill shot and killed Bruce's parents when he was very young and then he turned to the bat, a sign of fear, to fight crime. But telling it like that has nothing of real interest in it. So, therefor, these two gentlemen were kind enough to lay the whole story out for us to enjoy. An interesting method of storytelling, though, is that it is told both from Bruce Wayne's and Jim Gordon's points of view.
4) Artemis Fowl: The graphic novel by Eoin Colfer, Andrew Donkin and Giovanni Rigano
Another adaptation, this story is more recent. If anyone has read the Artemis Fowl series itself, you will know that it can be described as cyber-punk fairy stories with an adolescent criminal mastermind as a protagonist. And the graphic novel adaptation only gets better from there. I think the artwork in this one is incredible, it is true to the original story and I think I recommend it whether or not you liked the books.
5) Marvel 1602 by Neil Gaiman
Neil Gaiman, author of The Sandman, Coraline, and American Gods took some of our favorite Marvel superheroes and sent them back in time! Well, not, like in a time machine or anything...
The story is set in 1602 in England. Queen Elizabeth I is on the throne at the beginning of this story and she knows about the existence of mutants and others with superhuman abilities, though she refers to them as witch breed. I think the story is a little slow in starting and you need to have a pretty solid knowledge of many of the Marvel heroes is you are to identify which witch breed is which in this one (for example, Spiderman is a young boy known as Peter Parquagh and there is no radioactive spider; meanwhile, Magneto has found himself a place as the High Inquisitor in Spain... I could go on). Anyway, Elizabeth is murdered by the Dr. Doom analog and James I takes power in England. He promptly chases out the English witch breed and they flee to the New World, thus making possible the next two stories in this series. I may go so far to say that the plot in this one is fairly simple, but it is the characters and tropes, crafted by the talent of Mr. Gaiman that makes this story wonderful.
6) American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang
Those of you involved with the blog will know that this story is on my reading list for this summer, thanks to an opportunity to teach it this coming school year. I'm stoked. Anyway, the book tells three stories at once: there is the legend of the Monkey King, who wants to be a god; the story if Jin Wang, who just wants to fit in at his American school; and a comic-strip-animated sitcom called "Everyone Ruvs Chin-kee," in which Danny, a seemingly All-American boy, needs to entertain his Chinese stereotype cousin. The interesting thing is that all three of these stories intertwine in surprising ways throughout the book. I recommend this one because it tells a cultural story that is true to itself. There is grappling with heritage and what that means in an American context, but the book itself definitely doesn't sell its soul to get something other than what it is.
7) Maus I & II by Art Spiegelman
Maus is another story told in two parts (like Persepolis) and it also tells multiple cultural stories at once (like American Born Chinese). Additionally, Spiegelman tells this story using animals. No, not like cute bunnies and lambs, ones that are more representative of the culture... Let me try that description again...
Maus tells two stories at once. The story in present tense is Spiegelman himself, in New York, grappling with an aging father whose health is degrading. The past tense story is the one that Speigelman's father is telling about himself, growing up and falling in love in Poland just before World War II, and then being detained at the Auschwitz work camp. This is where the illustrated animal characters come into play: the Jews are illustrated as mice and the Nazis are cats. This also means that there are implicit commentaries when the people in the story pretend to be someone else in order to avoid capture; the illustrated pictures depict them as wearing different masks. Unfortunately, Spiegelman's father, interacting with his son, seems to be unnervingly different than the young man he described himself as. But in telling his father's story, Spiegelman is able to come to a certain understanding of a man who, for good or for ill, raised him.
Fair Disclaimer: I know that many people think of comic books and graphic novels as trivial stories and take them lightly; Maus is not a story to be taken lightly. I would go so far to say that this one should only be read by more mature audiences. I apologize that that conflicts with the title of this post.
8) The Arrival by Shaun Tan
Tan tells a moving story of a father who emigrates to a new land before his wife and daughter in an attempt to make some money and move them out of their home country, filled with oppression. When he arrives in the new country, everything is completely foreign and he understands little. However, he is able to meet people along the way who support him and help him become familiar with his new home. Additionally, Tan tells this entire story without words.
Yes, you read that right. This is a graphic novel without any words. I think it is an incredible work which is able to give strong emotional concepts, as well as centering on a sympathetic character. Tan has also paid enough attention to avoid showing a cultural bias. In other words, there are not shop signs written in English or Spanish or any other known language. The new country the man finds himself in does not resemble New York or San Francisco any more than it resembles London or Rio de Janeiro or Delhi The reader is thrust into the same unknowing and discovery that the man himself is. And it is moving. It is a harrowing story as well as a happy one. I very highly recommend it to you.
That's all for now! Anyone have any questions, comments, concerns? Quips, quibbles, complainants? Let me know in the comments below!
The entire story is told in black and white, flat pictures. There isn't much realism in the illustrations, but there is definitely an artistry. One fair warning, the books were originally published in French, so at times the English translations can seem odd or flat.
3) Batman: Year One by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli
This is definitely a tour de force for the writer and illustrator. This publication kicked Miller's career into high gear and Mazzucchelli, while having already been established in the comic book world, is well known for his work on this one.
I think everyone knows how Batman (Bruce Wayne) got his start fighting crime: Joe Chill shot and killed Bruce's parents when he was very young and then he turned to the bat, a sign of fear, to fight crime. But telling it like that has nothing of real interest in it. So, therefor, these two gentlemen were kind enough to lay the whole story out for us to enjoy. An interesting method of storytelling, though, is that it is told both from Bruce Wayne's and Jim Gordon's points of view.
4) Artemis Fowl: The graphic novel by Eoin Colfer, Andrew Donkin and Giovanni Rigano
Another adaptation, this story is more recent. If anyone has read the Artemis Fowl series itself, you will know that it can be described as cyber-punk fairy stories with an adolescent criminal mastermind as a protagonist. And the graphic novel adaptation only gets better from there. I think the artwork in this one is incredible, it is true to the original story and I think I recommend it whether or not you liked the books.
5) Marvel 1602 by Neil Gaiman
Neil Gaiman, author of The Sandman, Coraline, and American Gods took some of our favorite Marvel superheroes and sent them back in time! Well, not, like in a time machine or anything...
The story is set in 1602 in England. Queen Elizabeth I is on the throne at the beginning of this story and she knows about the existence of mutants and others with superhuman abilities, though she refers to them as witch breed. I think the story is a little slow in starting and you need to have a pretty solid knowledge of many of the Marvel heroes is you are to identify which witch breed is which in this one (for example, Spiderman is a young boy known as Peter Parquagh and there is no radioactive spider; meanwhile, Magneto has found himself a place as the High Inquisitor in Spain... I could go on). Anyway, Elizabeth is murdered by the Dr. Doom analog and James I takes power in England. He promptly chases out the English witch breed and they flee to the New World, thus making possible the next two stories in this series. I may go so far to say that the plot in this one is fairly simple, but it is the characters and tropes, crafted by the talent of Mr. Gaiman that makes this story wonderful.
6) American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang
Those of you involved with the blog will know that this story is on my reading list for this summer, thanks to an opportunity to teach it this coming school year. I'm stoked. Anyway, the book tells three stories at once: there is the legend of the Monkey King, who wants to be a god; the story if Jin Wang, who just wants to fit in at his American school; and a comic-strip-animated sitcom called "Everyone Ruvs Chin-kee," in which Danny, a seemingly All-American boy, needs to entertain his Chinese stereotype cousin. The interesting thing is that all three of these stories intertwine in surprising ways throughout the book. I recommend this one because it tells a cultural story that is true to itself. There is grappling with heritage and what that means in an American context, but the book itself definitely doesn't sell its soul to get something other than what it is.
7) Maus I & II by Art Spiegelman
Maus is another story told in two parts (like Persepolis) and it also tells multiple cultural stories at once (like American Born Chinese). Additionally, Spiegelman tells this story using animals. No, not like cute bunnies and lambs, ones that are more representative of the culture... Let me try that description again...
Maus tells two stories at once. The story in present tense is Spiegelman himself, in New York, grappling with an aging father whose health is degrading. The past tense story is the one that Speigelman's father is telling about himself, growing up and falling in love in Poland just before World War II, and then being detained at the Auschwitz work camp. This is where the illustrated animal characters come into play: the Jews are illustrated as mice and the Nazis are cats. This also means that there are implicit commentaries when the people in the story pretend to be someone else in order to avoid capture; the illustrated pictures depict them as wearing different masks. Unfortunately, Spiegelman's father, interacting with his son, seems to be unnervingly different than the young man he described himself as. But in telling his father's story, Spiegelman is able to come to a certain understanding of a man who, for good or for ill, raised him.
Fair Disclaimer: I know that many people think of comic books and graphic novels as trivial stories and take them lightly; Maus is not a story to be taken lightly. I would go so far to say that this one should only be read by more mature audiences. I apologize that that conflicts with the title of this post.
8) The Arrival by Shaun Tan
Tan tells a moving story of a father who emigrates to a new land before his wife and daughter in an attempt to make some money and move them out of their home country, filled with oppression. When he arrives in the new country, everything is completely foreign and he understands little. However, he is able to meet people along the way who support him and help him become familiar with his new home. Additionally, Tan tells this entire story without words.
Yes, you read that right. This is a graphic novel without any words. I think it is an incredible work which is able to give strong emotional concepts, as well as centering on a sympathetic character. Tan has also paid enough attention to avoid showing a cultural bias. In other words, there are not shop signs written in English or Spanish or any other known language. The new country the man finds himself in does not resemble New York or San Francisco any more than it resembles London or Rio de Janeiro or Delhi The reader is thrust into the same unknowing and discovery that the man himself is. And it is moving. It is a harrowing story as well as a happy one. I very highly recommend it to you.
That's all for now! Anyone have any questions, comments, concerns? Quips, quibbles, complainants? Let me know in the comments below!
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