Graphic Novels? ....Start Here
Start your graphic novel journey here! Explore essential reads for new fans, from the genre-defining *Watchmen* and *The Complete Maus* to the masterworks of Neil Gaiman and Art Spiegelman. Dive into the best comics, adult graphic novels, and unforgettable illustrated stories to kickstart your collection.
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Watchmen
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As former members of a disbanded group of superheroes called the Crimebusters start turning up dead, the remaining members of the group try to discover the identity of the murderer before they, too, are killed.
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Epileptic
by David B.
Hailed by The Comics Journal as one of Europe’s most important and innovative comics artists, David B. has created a masterpiece in Epileptic, his stunning and emotionally resonant autobiography about growing up with an epileptic brother. Epileptic gathers together and makes available in English for the first time all six volumes of the internationally acclaimed graphic work. David B. was born Pierre-François Beauchard in a small town near Orléans, France. He spent an idyllic early childhood playing with the neighborhood kids and, along with his older brother, Jean-Christophe, ganging up on his little sister, Florence. But their lives changed abruptly when Jean-Christophe was struck with epilepsy at age eleven. In search of a cure, their parents dragged the family to acupuncturists and magnetic therapists, to mediums and macrobiotic communes. But every new cure ended in disappointment as Jean-Christophe, after brief periods of remission, would only get worse. Angry at his brother for abandoning him and at all the quacks who offered them false hope, Pierre-François learned to cope by drawing fantastically elaborate battle scenes, creating images that provide a fascinating window into his interior life. An honest and horrifying portrait of the disease and of the pain and fear it sowed in the family, Epileptic is also a moving depiction of one family’s intricate history. Through flashbacks, we are introduced to the stories of Pierre-François’s grandparents and we relive his grandfathers’ experiences in both World Wars. We follow Pierre-François through his childhood, adolescence, and adulthood, all the while charting his complicated relationship with his brother and Jean-Christophe”s losing battle with epilepsy. Illustrated with beautiful and striking black-and-white images, Epileptic is as astonishing, intimate, and heartbreaking as the best literary memoir.
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The Complete Maus
by Art Spiegelman
The definitive edition of the graphic novel acclaimed as “the most affecting and successful narrative ever done about the Holocaust” (Wall Street Journal) and “the first masterpiece in comic book history” (The New Yorker) • PULITZER PRIZE WINNER • One of Variety’s “Banned and Challenged Books Everyone Should Read” A brutally moving work of art—widely hailed as the greatest graphic novel ever written—Maus recounts the chilling experiences of the author’s father during the Holocaust, with Jews drawn as wide-eyed mice and Nazis as menacing cats. Maus is a haunting tale within a tale, weaving the author’s account of his tortured relationship with his aging father into an astonishing retelling of one of history's most unspeakable tragedies. It is an unforgettable story of survival and a disarming look at the legacy of trauma.
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American Splendor
by Harvey Pekar
Presents a collection of black-and-white comics about personal relationships and the workaday world which served as the inspiration for the movie "American Splendor."
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Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth
by Chris Ware
The first and now critically-acclaimed book from Chicago artist Chris Ware. A lonely and emotionally impaired everyman, Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth, is provided with the opportunity to meet his father for the first time when he is 36 years old. The story, set in 1890s Chicago and 1980s small-town Michigan, is told in hundreds of small, precisely drawn panels that regularly expand to reveal stunning draughtsmanship, and supported by fold-out instructions, an index, paper cutouts and beautifully drawn period adverts.
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V for Vendetta
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In a futuristic Britain where a totalitarian regime rules, a young woman is rescued from death by a masked vigilante calling himself "V," who launches a one-man crusade against government tyranny and oppression.
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The Sandman
by Neil Gaiman
A collection of eight comics that introduce the series' lead character, the Sandman, Lord of Dreams.
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Violent Cases
by Neil Gaiman
After dislocating his arm, a young boy is taken to see a old doctor who was once the doctor of legendary gangster Al Capone.