Most of my favorites have been mentioned... Son of the Demon, Maus 1 & 2, Arkham Asylum, but I thought of a few sort of obscure ones worth looking into...
Lightrunner is a graphic novel by Lamar Waldron and Rod Whigham from the early to mid 80's... fantastic story, with some really nice art (if a bit dated... he sort of was in a Perez/Romita Sr. phase, I think). It's one of the few examples of a true Sci Fi story, without it delving too much into Space Opera.
Also Grease Monkey from Tim Eldred is great.
And Doug TenNapel's Bad Island and Ghostopolis are great... and safe for kids, if they can handle the scary.
And Doug TenNapel's Bad Island and Ghostopolis are great... and safe for kids, if they can handle the scary.
I've since gotten most of TenNapel's trades after reading Ghostopolis. I read it to my son (7) in two sittings (it's 270 pages!) a couple of years ago and he loved it. He talked about it for days afterword. He was scared when we read Bad Island, but when he got past the initial scary parts, he really enjoyed it. We're just started Bone and I hope it will keep his attention. Good choices!
Honorable mentions: A Contract with God, Same Difference and Other Stories, Mister O, pretty much anything by Jason but especially I Killed Adolph Hitler, Death of Captain Marvel, JLA: Earth 2, Why I Hate Saturn, Essex County 3: The Country Nurse, Ghost World (if that counts... wasn't it originally serialized in Eightball?), The Fate of the Artist, Shenzen, Pyongyang
Okay, back with my TOP 5 (rather than the top 5 superhero ones). There've been some great suggestions in the thread, and I realize that I need to get a copy of the Cowboy Wally Show soon and read it. It's been on my radar for a while, but this discussion has just popped it to the top of my "must-find-and-read" pile. Anyway - my top 5 (for today):
5. The Barefoot Serpent – story & art by Scott Morse Scott Morse is one of my “Mt. Rushmore” creators (along with Alan Moore, Frank Santoro, and Los Bros Hernandez) – I will buy anything he does, sight unseen, because I know it will be great. And this is no different. An interesting experiment in storytelling, this offers a biography of famed film director Akira Kurosawa, rendered in full-page, beautifully painted images – half of which open the book, with the other half closing it. The brilliance of Morse can be found in the juxtaposition of his animation-style artwork with the subject matter of many of his stories. There is a major, dramatic turn in Kurosawa’s story that resonates strongly with you, particularly because it is shown in such a cartoony, “light” fashion. It’s a tricky balance that Morse always makes work, and work well. In between this Kurosawa biography is a b/w (or, more precisely, sepia-toned) tale about a young girl on vacation with her parents in Hawaii. They are trying to escape the grief they have experienced in the wake of their son’s (the girl’s older brother’s) death. It is this thread of sorrow that links the two stories thematically, and enhances the overall narrative in a way that each individual tale could not achieve, despite the facility with which Morse tells each piece of this graphic novel. This is one of my “go-to” books when I need something great to read.
4. The Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy of Mr. Punch – written by Neil Gaiman, art by Dave McKean A complex narrative dealing with childhood memories and the futility of trying to pin down such hazy moments that reside in the backs of our minds. The story is challenging, the art is beautiful, and I am always amazed by the emotion and beauty and craft within this book, whenever I pull it down to read. One of my favorite collaborations between two of my favorite creators.
3. Maus by Art Spiegelman – this was already noted on the episode, so I’ll add an alternate 3a. Escapo – story & art by Paul Pope I got a chance to meet Paul Pope at the Small Press Expo six years ago, and he was amazing to talk to and he had a large batch of his books for sale there. I grabbed up as many as I could. This was one of them. The story of an escape artist who is in love with one of the other entertainers in the circus where he works – he works tirelessly to prove his love to her only to be spurned, in the end. The concept is simple enough, but Pope’s signature artwork really adds so much to this story. He fills the pages with emotion and pathos and elevates what could be a fairly bland tale to something magnificent.
2. Asterios Polyp by David Mazzucchelli – again, this was noted on the episode, so I’ll go to: 2a. Storeyville – story & art by Frank Santoro I went to the MoCCA festival in 2007 and, in my role as a reviewer for the Pulse, got some of the recent releases from Picturebox Inc., a small press publisher on the fringe of the art comics movement. One of those was Cold Heat 1-4 by Frank Santoro and Ben Jones. I didn’t think much of it, put it aside, and let them gather dust for a few weeks. When I finally read them, I was blown away. It’s hard to articulate, but Santoro’s work really speaks to me. So, I had to seek out his other work, which consisted mainly of Storeyville, his first comic, which he published as an oversized story on newsprint. It is sublime and heartfelt and understated in a way that far too many comics are not, and it tells a poignant story about a young man in Depression-era America seeking out his former partner. Santoro works in a “contour line” art style, which does not rely on cross-hatching or shading or other overwrought details to provide depth to the imagery. It’s a simple technique that is harder to pull off than one might think, but Santoro does it with aplomb. Noted as a touchstone by Chris Ware, this is an art comic that doesn’t read like an art comic (as a reviewer on the Heroes Con site noted).
1. From Hell – written by Alan Moore, art by Eddie Campbell For those who want to argue, this was only serialized out of fiscal necessity and was always meant to be a single narrative. I will also note that Moore – when discussing From Hell during the creation of the book – was excited for the opportunity to tell this story in a manner more in line with true novels, primarily noting that he and Campbell were not going to have arbitrary page lengths for each individual chapter. They would be as long as necessary, as with a prose novel. That said, I think this is the pinnacle of Moore’s work in comics (not that his works since then have been less than enjoyable, they just have to compare to this work). The manner in which Moore pulls together all these disparate threads from his research to tell this tale – while making a statement about violence (not only in Victorian England but also in the late 20th century when this was initially being published) and a statement about power, and many other things besides – is a masterful bit of storytelling that I always find incredibly impressive. I loved the annotations he provided as well, giving me insights into the narrative I might have missed otherwise, especially those parts specific to English culture of the time. And, the most resonant part for me, comes with only a page or more to go and we have a scene with some young girls all named after the prostitutes we have seen the Ripper kill over the course of the story. Turning to the back for the annotation, I discovered a note from Moore stating that all the clues to where this scene comes from can be found in the main narrative and, if one wished, one could go back and figure out this part for themselves. So, having finished 500+ pages of the Jack the Ripper tale, I had to plunge back into the beginning and read it again. And, sure enough, it was there the whole time, hiding in plain sight. A deft bit of misdirection that was lost in the movie adaptation (as so much was *sigh*). And, has there ever been an artist better suited to a story than Eddie Campbell on From Hell? I don’t think so. His scratchy linework brilliantly captured the claustrophobic dreariness of Victorian England, circa 1888. No other artist could have pulled off what Campbell did here. It’s a true testament to these two artists – who disagree as to the true identity of Jack the Ripper – just how good this book is.
Honorable Mentions: 3 Story by Matt Kindt Fracture of the Universal Boy by Michael Zulli A Small Killing by Alan Moore & Oscar Zarate Chance in Hell by Gilbert Hernandez Capote in Kansas by Ande Parks & Chris Samnee Enemy Ace by George Pratt
LIke Murd, I don't read that many graphic novels and so my list is so narrow I might not even consider a couple of these stories my favorites! But anyway: 5. King David, by Kyle Baker (2002) : I don't even remember why I bought it. It was pretty good. 4. Batman:Son of the Demon (1987) : Well, as Jamie mentioned referring to himself, I too had a lot of disposable income at that time (I was single and in the military) so I just bought it and loved it! 3. X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills (1982): Don't know how I got my hands on this one, but I loved it. I was living in Texas at the time. Hmm... 2. Death of Captain Marvel (1982): I bought it at a used bookstore for about $5 when I lived in Hawaii. It was so good! 1. Blackmark by Gil Kane (1971): Also considered one of the earliest graphic novels in the U.S., I bought this at some museum gift shop while on a high school field trip. I think I walked in the shop, spun the paperback book rack around not expecting to see anything I wanted and BOOM!: that Gil Kane artwork just jumped out at me! I grabbed it, bought it, and hid it away from my classmates 'cuz I didn't wanna share!
Here's another one I forgot to put in my honorable mentions, and I don't think I've seen it mentioned previously in the thread:
This was the book that made me appreciate Joe Kubert. He's so good with real people and drawing the textures of clothing. This book really resonated with me, and I've been following his work ever since (while picking up the occasional back-issue whenever possible). Great stuff.
love arkham asylum. got the hardcover when it came out. yes the ones with the shitty binding glue so if you open the book too much the pages fell out. about a third of my pages are loose so it makes it a bitch to read when the pages get mixed up from lending it to people!!!
Lots of good recommendations here. I just bought some of the GNs mentioned here and need to read them. Here's my list based on what I have read (in no order):
JLA: Earth 2: Frank Quitely awesomeness Emperor Doom: Good call, LibraryBoy. Probably the first GN I bought new, I loved that it felt so different from the regular issues that were coming out ... I got this feeling from Marvel Fanfare stories as well Killing Joke: My friends and I passed this one around when it came out ... even the non-comic book readers read this one. Mother, Come Home, Paul Hornschemeier: an excellent, emotional story Excalibur: The Sword is Drawn: Alan Davis instantly became my favorite artist (until the next favorite artist came along).
I haven't put enough thought into this to create a list myself yet, but "The Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy of Mr. Punch" is definitely on it. Arkham Asylum might make it, Violent Cases would have to be considered, too. Killing Joke would have to be on it, though I never considered it a GN before.
I was surprised that no one mentioned God Loves, Man Kills on the episode. I didn't like it that much myself, but perhaps only because my expectations were elevated. By the time I read it, I was probably burnt out on Claremont. It has one of the great titles, though.
I haven't put enough thought into this to create a list myself yet, but "The Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy of Mr. Punch" is definitely on it. Arkham Asylum might make it, Violent Cases would have to be considered, too. Killing Joke would have to be on it, though I never considered it a GN before.
I was surprised that no one mentioned God Loves, Man Kills on the episode. I didn't like it that much myself, but perhaps only because my expectations were elevated. By the time I read it, I was probably burnt out on Claremont. It has one of the great titles, though.
God loves man kills was ok. I read it when it came out and several times since. It's important to the x-men but it's rather bland to me as a comic.
My first comment here, to ask a question on this OGN Episode: someone had a Howard Chaykin graphic novel on their top 5. Which Chaykin graphic novel was it?
Comments
Lightrunner is a graphic novel by Lamar Waldron and Rod Whigham from the early to mid 80's... fantastic story, with some really nice art (if a bit dated... he sort of was in a Perez/Romita Sr. phase, I think). It's one of the few examples of a true Sci Fi story, without it delving too much into Space Opera.
Also Grease Monkey from Tim Eldred is great.
And Doug TenNapel's Bad Island and Ghostopolis are great... and safe for kids, if they can handle the scary.
5) Jim Henson's The Storyteller
4) JLA/JSA: Virtue and Vice
3) X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills
2) Arkham Asylum
1) The Killing Joke
Honorable mentions: JLA: Earth 2 and Batman Earth One (I just read this the other day, and freakin' loved it)
The Cowboy Wally Show
thanks
Blacksad (I don't care that it has 3 stories collected in it, it's still a GN to me)
Officer Downe (originally a one-shot story which later got a hardcover release, but so did Batman: The Killing Joke!)
and finally my favorite
Afrodisiac
Anyway - my top 5 (for today):
5.
The Barefoot Serpent – story & art by Scott Morse
Scott Morse is one of my “Mt. Rushmore” creators (along with Alan Moore, Frank Santoro, and Los Bros Hernandez) – I will buy anything he does, sight unseen, because I know it will be great. And this is no different. An interesting experiment in storytelling, this offers a biography of famed film director Akira Kurosawa, rendered in full-page, beautifully painted images – half of which open the book, with the other half closing it. The brilliance of Morse can be found in the juxtaposition of his animation-style artwork with the subject matter of many of his stories. There is a major, dramatic turn in Kurosawa’s story that resonates strongly with you, particularly because it is shown in such a cartoony, “light” fashion. It’s a tricky balance that Morse always makes work, and work well.
In between this Kurosawa biography is a b/w (or, more precisely, sepia-toned) tale about a young girl on vacation with her parents in Hawaii. They are trying to escape the grief they have experienced in the wake of their son’s (the girl’s older brother’s) death. It is this thread of sorrow that links the two stories thematically, and enhances the overall narrative in a way that each individual tale could not achieve, despite the facility with which Morse tells each piece of this graphic novel. This is one of my “go-to” books when I need something great to read.
4.
The Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy of Mr. Punch – written by Neil Gaiman, art by Dave McKean
A complex narrative dealing with childhood memories and the futility of trying to pin down such hazy moments that reside in the backs of our minds. The story is challenging, the art is beautiful, and I am always amazed by the emotion and beauty and craft within this book, whenever I pull it down to read. One of my favorite collaborations between two of my favorite creators.
3. Maus by Art Spiegelman – this was already noted on the episode, so I’ll add an alternate
3a.
Escapo – story & art by Paul Pope
I got a chance to meet Paul Pope at the Small Press Expo six years ago, and he was amazing to talk to and he had a large batch of his books for sale there. I grabbed up as many as I could. This was one of them. The story of an escape artist who is in love with one of the other entertainers in the circus where he works – he works tirelessly to prove his love to her only to be spurned, in the end. The concept is simple enough, but Pope’s signature artwork really adds so much to this story. He fills the pages with emotion and pathos and elevates what could be a fairly bland tale to something magnificent.
2. Asterios Polyp by David Mazzucchelli – again, this was noted on the episode, so I’ll go to:
2a.
Storeyville – story & art by Frank Santoro
I went to the MoCCA festival in 2007 and, in my role as a reviewer for the Pulse, got some of the recent releases from Picturebox Inc., a small press publisher on the fringe of the art comics movement. One of those was Cold Heat 1-4 by Frank Santoro and Ben Jones. I didn’t think much of it, put it aside, and let them gather dust for a few weeks. When I finally read them, I was blown away. It’s hard to articulate, but Santoro’s work really speaks to me. So, I had to seek out his other work, which consisted mainly of Storeyville, his first comic, which he published as an oversized story on newsprint. It is sublime and heartfelt and understated in a way that far too many comics are not, and it tells a poignant story about a young man in Depression-era America seeking out his former partner. Santoro works in a “contour line” art style, which does not rely on cross-hatching or shading or other overwrought details to provide depth to the imagery. It’s a simple technique that is harder to pull off than one might think, but Santoro does it with aplomb. Noted as a touchstone by Chris Ware, this is an art comic that doesn’t read like an art comic (as a reviewer on the Heroes Con site noted).
1.
From Hell – written by Alan Moore, art by Eddie Campbell
For those who want to argue, this was only serialized out of fiscal necessity and was always meant to be a single narrative. I will also note that Moore – when discussing From Hell during the creation of the book – was excited for the opportunity to tell this story in a manner more in line with true novels, primarily noting that he and Campbell were not going to have arbitrary page lengths for each individual chapter. They would be as long as necessary, as with a prose novel.
That said, I think this is the pinnacle of Moore’s work in comics (not that his works since then have been less than enjoyable, they just have to compare to this work). The manner in which Moore pulls together all these disparate threads from his research to tell this tale – while making a statement about violence (not only in Victorian England but also in the late 20th century when this was initially being published) and a statement about power, and many other things besides – is a masterful bit of storytelling that I always find incredibly impressive. I loved the annotations he provided as well, giving me insights into the narrative I might have missed otherwise, especially those parts specific to English culture of the time. And, the most resonant part for me, comes with only a page or more to go and we have a scene with some young girls all named after the prostitutes we have seen the Ripper kill over the course of the story. Turning to the back for the annotation, I discovered a note from Moore stating that all the clues to where this scene comes from can be found in the main narrative and, if one wished, one could go back and figure out this part for themselves. So, having finished 500+ pages of the Jack the Ripper tale, I had to plunge back into the beginning and read it again. And, sure enough, it was there the whole time, hiding in plain sight. A deft bit of misdirection that was lost in the movie adaptation (as so much was *sigh*).
And, has there ever been an artist better suited to a story than Eddie Campbell on From Hell? I don’t think so. His scratchy linework brilliantly captured the claustrophobic dreariness of Victorian England, circa 1888. No other artist could have pulled off what Campbell did here. It’s a true testament to these two artists – who disagree as to the true identity of Jack the Ripper – just how good this book is.
Honorable Mentions:
3 Story by Matt Kindt
Fracture of the Universal Boy by Michael Zulli
A Small Killing by Alan Moore & Oscar Zarate
Chance in Hell by Gilbert Hernandez
Capote in Kansas by Ande Parks & Chris Samnee
Enemy Ace by George Pratt
chris
5. King David, by Kyle Baker (2002) : I don't even remember why I bought it. It was pretty good.
4. Batman:Son of the Demon (1987) : Well, as Jamie mentioned referring to himself, I too had a lot of disposable income at that time (I was single and in the military) so I just bought it and loved it!
3. X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills (1982): Don't know how I got my hands on this one, but I loved it. I was living in Texas at the time. Hmm...
2. Death of Captain Marvel (1982): I bought it at a used bookstore for about $5 when I lived in Hawaii. It was so good!
1. Blackmark by Gil Kane (1971): Also considered one of the earliest graphic novels in the U.S., I bought this at some museum gift shop while on a high school field trip. I think I walked in the shop, spun the paperback book rack around not expecting to see anything I wanted and BOOM!: that Gil Kane artwork just jumped out at me! I grabbed it, bought it, and hid it away from my classmates 'cuz I didn't wanna share!
This was the book that made me appreciate Joe Kubert. He's so good with real people and drawing the textures of clothing. This book really resonated with me, and I've been following his work ever since (while picking up the occasional back-issue whenever possible). Great stuff.
chris
got the hardcover when it came out.
yes the ones with the shitty binding glue so if you open the book too much the pages fell out.
about a third of my pages are loose so it makes it a bitch to read when the pages get mixed up from lending it to people!!!
JLA: Earth 2: Frank Quitely awesomeness
Emperor Doom: Good call, LibraryBoy. Probably the first GN I bought new, I loved that it felt so different from the regular issues that were coming out ... I got this feeling from Marvel Fanfare stories as well
Killing Joke: My friends and I passed this one around when it came out ... even the non-comic book readers read this one.
Mother, Come Home, Paul Hornschemeier: an excellent, emotional story
Excalibur: The Sword is Drawn: Alan Davis instantly became my favorite artist (until the next favorite artist came along).
I was surprised that no one mentioned God Loves, Man Kills on the episode. I didn't like it that much myself, but perhaps only because my expectations were elevated. By the time I read it, I was probably burnt out on Claremont. It has one of the great titles, though.
I have a vison of Droopy hanging out in the Bronx!!!
And yes - Blacksad is AWESOME \m/