Your favorite graphic novels

[Doctora Pepper]

Graphic novels are different than comic books in that they usually have a defined plot line and do not continued indefinitely (like, say, Archie or Batman). (well, that's my definition at least).

My favorites so far are the Sandman(Neil Gaiman) series and Lucifer (who was a side character from Sandman). I've also read Uzumaki, a Japanese pseudo-horror comic, that was amazing both plot-wise and visually.

My mom's favorites of the moment are by Rick Geary. Among other things, he illustrates true historical stories: the kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby, the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.

Does anyone else here read graphic novels?

[LucreziaBorgia]

I like the Silent Hill ones. I have to admit I had to read them a couple of times to 'get' them though. Confusing stuff at times. I keep a copy of The Watchmen by my bed for some nighttime reading as well. I like the 'classics' in graphic novel format as well.

[kingcap72]

I haven't read a graphic novel in years. But back in the day, my favorites were two X-Men related graphic novels; 'God Loves, Man Kills' and 'The New Mutants.'

[PoisonGirl]

I love the Sin City ones.

[Dean James]

Best one I've read in recent years is Asterios Polyp by David Mazzucchelli.

Shortcomings by Adrian Tomine is good but he's usually good. Blankets by Craig Thompson. Fun Home by Allison Bechdel.

Gosh, there's so many it's hard to choose.

[Doctora Pepper]

I haven't read Bechdel in ages... I think I have a copy of one of hers at my mom's house. Sometimes I catch up with them in Funny Times (monthly satirical newspaper), but everything is so character driven I can't really keep up without reading them in order.

Any time I visit my mom she drags me up to the comic book stores in Berkeley. Walls lined with comics I've never heard of. Bins filled with bagged DC and Marvel. Conans to the left of me, Swamp Things to the right of me. Big sections of awkward coming of age stories. The occasional Gothic Lolita mag and Deathnote doll. I have no idea where to begin. I've read some pretty bad comics in my day, so I'm wary of a lot of them.

I guess of the major comic producers my favorite would be Vertigo. My husband likes them a lot, and it's rubbed off on me.

[NVash]

Some of my all time favorites would be the...

Strangers In Paradise series by Terry Moore
Bone series by Jeff Smith
Ultimate X-Men Vol 6: Return Of The King by Mark Millar
The Invisibles by Grant Morrison
Transmetropolitan by Warren Ellis

... and Preacher by Garth Ennis, though that series had one of the suckiest and most offensive cop out endings I ever saw in my life.

[sputnik]

i think my all-time favourite is 'jimmy corrigan: the smartest kid on earth' by chris ware

i also love:
the watchmen
persepolis, by marjane satrapi
epileptic, by david b.

and i just recently read asterios polyp by david mazzuchelli and loved it.

[Dean James]

Can't forget Maus I and Maus II by Art Spiegelman.

[Dean James]

I haven't read Bechdel in ages... I think I have a copy of one of hers at my mom's house. Sometimes I catch up with them in Funny Times (monthly satirical newspaper), but everything is so character driven I can't really keep up without reading them in order.

Fun Home is her autobiography and it's terrific. She's taking a sabbatical from Dykes to Watch Out For and is now making a sequel to Fun Home. I love Bechdel, she's great.

i think my all-time favourite is 'jimmy corrigan: the smartest kid on earth' by chris ware

i also love:
the watchmen
persepolis, by marjane satrapi
epileptic, by david b.

and i just recently read asterios polyp by david mazzuchelli and loved it.

LOVE Chris Ware. I met him once. He's very unassuming, as you can imagine. LOVE Persepolis, that's a wonderful series.

French Milk by Lucy Knisley- Adorable. So cute. A wonderful read.

Swallow Me Whole by Nate Powell

Berlin by Jason Lutes- Good, old-fashioned solid storytelling about Germany unraveling in WWII.

Get A Life by DuPuy and Berberian- Awesome! Cute! A fun read about a guy in the neverending struggle to grow up.

Black Hole by Charles Burns- This one is huge and took him forever but golly, it's well done. Kids in high school who all fuck each other and share this strange STD strain that transforms them into deformed mutants. Extra mouths, tails, fur, webbed hands, things like that. Then the murders start to happen.

[darksithbunny]

Lady Chatterley's Lover will always be the one for me.

[PoisonGirl]

I forgot about The Watchmen! Another favorite of mine.

[Doctora Pepper]

Maus of course is great - I read it time and again as a child.

I never knew they made Lady Chatterly's lover into a comic.

Black Hole sounds interesting. Drama with a tinge of sci-fi? If you liked that you might like Uzumaki or another one I read recently, the Drifting Classroom.

It's about a Japanese elementary school that switches dimensions (that's all I'll say about that). It's time travel meets Lord of the Flies, but not quite so gory. It's not perfect, and there's some sexism (the little boys are always the heroes and the little girls are the caretakers), but it's got some interesting ideas.

I also have a copy of R. Crumbs version of Genesis. It's huge, and I haven't started it yet.

[Pojo]

It's mostly just a marketting term so that adults don't feel self-conscous about reading books with pictures. But I really enjoyed American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang. I also liked Bechdel's Fun Home, and Shortcomings by Tomine. Watchmen is one of a kind, though I didn't care for the ending. The Long Halloween is a favorite, and I liked Joss Whedon's Fray.

[Valley Doll]

I also have a copy of R. Crumbs version of Genesis. It's huge, and I haven't started it yet.

I have that one, too. I need to start it one day.

I haven't read a lot of graphic novels, but I've enjoyed some of the Batman related titles:

Year One
The Long Halloween
Dark Victory

Watchmen is fantastic, as is Persepolis.