my favorite sequential art books
Discover the best sequential art books in this curated reading list, featuring iconic graphic novels like Watchmen, Maus, and The Sandman, plus classics from Charles Schulz, Jeff Smith, and Craig Thompson—essential comics for every fan.
Book
Bone
by Jeff Smith
Three modern cartoon cousins get lost in a pre-technological valley, spending a year there making new friends and out-running dangerous enemies, in a compilation of the creator's Bone series all in one binding.
Book
Watchmen
by Alan Moore
Imagine a future where Nixon is still President, America won the Vietnam War, and the nuclear clock stands at five minutes to midnight.
Book
Blankets
by Craig Thompson
This is a highly charged, personal story, crammed with pain, discovery, family and first love.
Book
Maus I: A Survivor's Tale
by Art Spiegelman
The bestselling first installment 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.
Book
The Sandman
by Neil Gaiman
A collection of eight comics that introduce the series' lead character, the Sandman, Lord of Dreams.
Book
The Complete Peanuts Vol. 1
by Charles Schulz
This first volume, covering the first two and a quarter years of the strip, will be of particular fascination toPeanuts aficionados worldwide: Although there have been literally hundreds of Peanuts books published, many of the strips from the series' first two or three years have never been collected before―in large part because they showed a young Schulz working out the kinks in his new strip and include some characterizations and designs that are quite different from the cast we're all familiar with. (Among other things, three major cast members―Schroeder, Lucy, and Linus―initially show up as infants and only "grow" into their final "mature" selves as the months go by. Even Snoopy debuts as a puppy!) Thus The Complete Peanuts offers a unique chance to see a master of the art form refine his skills and solidify his universe, day by day, week by week, month by month.