He Read Novel Last Night

Accessible, beautiful, engaging — graphic novels have then many qualities that make them utterly captivating. The tales they tell aren’t just interesting; their artwork adds some other dimension altogether, making them a banquet for your brain
and
your optics. If yous’re new to the graphic novel scene and are looking to dip a toe into its deep waters, so y’all’ve come to the right place. While it can be easy to get overwhelmed by the huge number of choices you have, sure graphic novels have established themselves as landmarks of the genre — or are definitely on their way at that place — which makes them great starters to selection up and peruse.

In celebration of Free Comic Book Day on May ane, take a look at some of the most iconic, celebrated and popular graphic novels in print. Whether you’re into memoirs or fantasy, and whether y’all adore colorful digital artwork or the homespun charm of pen-and-ink drawings, you’re sure to find something you love looking at only as much as you love reading information technology.

“Accolade Girl,” by Maggie Thrash (2017)

In Honor Daughter, Maggie Thrash recounts her teenage summers spent traversing the pressures of adolescence at the all-girls Military camp Bellflower in the Appalachians. As the story unfolds, fifteen-twelvemonth-old Maggie is surprised to find herself crushing on an older girl named Erin, who works as a counselor. Amid the competition to become “Honor Girl,” the camper who best represents the qualities the camp tries to instill in those who spend their summers reenacting Ceremonious War battles and shooting rifles, Maggie navigates heartache and the gripping fearfulness of what other campers will do if they discover out she’southward gay.

The artwork in this graphic novel is unproblematic, almost resembling something a teenager would’ve drawn during art grade at camp, and that just adds to its charm — it’s immersive and folksy enough to make it feel as though you lot’ve fully been invited into Maggie’s mind. And the struggles and trials Maggie endures while figuring out her own identity during a transformative summertime — along with period details that’ll ship you right dorsum to the belatedly 1990s — will resonate with anyone who’s encountered that uniquely teenage make of hope and longing.

Named ane of Forbes’ Best Graphic Novels of 2019, writer Mariko Tamaki and illustrator Rosemary Valero-O’Connell’s Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me takes an honest look at toxic relationships. The manga-fashion story follows Frederica Riley, or “Freddie,” a self-conscious teenage girl who finds herself in a relationship with the pop Laura Dean — who, as the title reveals, continually breaks upward with Freddie at random whims, simply to restart their relationship over and over.

As the on-again, off-again relationship continues to play out, withal, Freddie is forced to accept a look at whether riding this emotional roller coaster with Laura Dean is really worth the consequences. Juggling relatively adult themes — peculiarly because the characters are at the precipice of machismo themselves — against a properties of bright colors and a familiar fine art mode,
Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Upward With Me
is ideal if you’re looking for deep characters and a story that champions diversity and queer themes.

“Persepolis,” by Marjane Satrapi (2000)

A veritable titan in the world of graphic novels, Persepolis is a highly acclaimed autobiographical tale that recounts the author’s childhood during the 1979 revolution in Tehran, Islamic republic of iran, and charts her adolescent years in Vienna, Austria. Aiming to show the realities of living in Iran during a time of major social and political upheaval — not the biased, agenda-driven media version of the Iranian Revolution that, according to the writer “didn’t represent my existence at all” — Satrapi provides visual context for global readers using weighty black-and-white artwork and a beautifully woven story.

As one of the American Library Association’southward “Meridian 10 Nearly Challenged Books” due to its depictions of politics, religion, race and other important topics, yous shouldn’t expect
Persepolis
to be a walk-in-the-park read. Simply you should expect this award-winner to exist illuminating and unforgettable. It’south a slice of literature in its own right, i that demands critical thinking and forces u.s. to contemplate the realities of war and the way the media shapes our perception.

“Saga,” by Brian K. Vaughan (2012–Present)

Saga is a multi-issue (right now there are 54, and production has been on hiatus since 2018) science fantasy-slash-space romance created by Brian M. Vaughan and illustrated by Fiona Staples. Named 1 of
Time‘s elevation ten graphic novels of 2013,
Saga
follows 2 star-crossed extraterrestrials, Alana and Marko, who fall in dear despite the fact that their races accept long been at war. The married duo at the center of this space-age
Romeo and Juliet
epic struggle to care for their daughter Hazel and discover safety as they combat a
Star Wars-esque evil empire.

If you’re looking for something to actually sink your teeth into, a new milky way to get lost in while yous shelter in identify, this critically acclaimed series should do the trick — and not simply because it’s won over two-dozen Harvey and Eisner awards. “Saga
is i of those comics that proves the value of the medium,” notes Luke Frostick of Bosphorus Review. “If you’re an adult…and y’all want to go into comics…and so selection upwards
Saga.”

“Blankets,” by Craig Thompson (2003)

Blankets recounts the story of a young Craig Thompson, who was raised in an Evangelical Christian family from the Midwest. In a tale told through flashbacks, the graphic novel follows Craig as he falls in love with a daughter named Raina during a winter church building army camp and the two explore the struggles of organized religion, adolescence and relationships. This coming-of-age story also looks into the subtleties of family dynamics — in detail at how organized religion influences those relationships — and how we re-procedure and reframe our formative years when looking back on them as adults.

The winner of two Eisner and iii Harvey Awards,
Blankets
is full of lush, flowing ink drawings that will drib you right back into the joys and angst of early boyhood. Information technology’southward a “superb example of the art of cartooning: the blending of word and picture to achieve an effect that neither is capable of without the other,” and it demonstrates precisely why and how graphic novels can be then engrossing.

“The Sandman,” by Neil Gaiman (1989–1996)

Want to bound straight to the top and read one of the most acclaimed graphic novels — peradventure of all time? Bank check out Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman, which was one of the showtime graphic novels to make it onto
The New York Times‘ Best Seller List. Between 1989 and 1996, Gaiman produced an incredible 75 total issues, along with one special and multiple spinoffs, which are now available in several volumes. How perfect is that if you’re looking for something rampage-worthy and all-consuming?

Each tome is packed with gorgeous, colorful artwork from some of the virtually talented artists in the medium. But, woven with mythology from a variety of different ages, the storyline itself can be a bit tricky to summarize. When Neil Gaiman was asked to try to explain the plot in a single sentence, he replied, “The Lord of Dreams learns that 1 must change or dice, and makes his conclusion.” Cryptic? Absolutely. Just suffice it to say that if y’all like unique domains, all-powerful beings and dark fantasy,
The Sandman
has your name all over it.

“Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic,” past Alison Bechdel (2007)

Fun Habitation: A Family Tragicomic is a bestselling graphic memoir that primarily tells the story of the author’due south human relationship with her father, the manager of a funeral home that his family nicknames the “Fun Home.” Information technology’s not until Alison comes out as a lesbian in college that she learns her begetter is also gay — right before he passes away simply weeks afterwards, leaving Alison to untangle the many questions she’south struggling to answer regarding her begetter’s hidden life.

Total of chilly, blueish-toned artwork meant to highlight the bleakness of the subject area thing and the “arctic climate” of the writer’s family unit,
Fun Home is an intimate, mesmerizing case of a graphic memoir — and a graphic novel — at its finest. Information technology’south a story of unearthing the cocky and trudging through the grief that bubbles upwards when nosotros think back on people we’ve lost, choices we’ve fabricated and past selves we’ve abandoned, and the catharsis
Fun Dwelling house
provides is a reward all on its ain.

“We3,” by Grant Morrison (2005)

For a story centered around animals,
We3
hits on a myriad of deeply human themes. Loss, abandonment, and identity are just some of the motifs found throughout this harrowing tale. Bandit the canis familiaris, Tinker the cat, and Pirate the bunny are 3 cybernetically enhanced “animate being weapons” created by the American government to serve every bit the ultimate soldiers – until they’re deemed expendable. The 3 are rescued from the military machine past their creators and ready immediately out on a journey to find “Dwelling house”.

Grant Morrison originally penned this iii-effect series back in 2005 while Frank Quitely provided this story’s at present-iconic artwork.
We3
will exist a hard read for pet parents and animal lovers, as fauna cruelty is one of this projection’s well-nigh intrinsic themes. Merely the cruelty, violence, and tragedy presented in this narrative aren’t without merit. Morrison juxtaposes expiry and callousness with love and compassion, then asks readers to determine how much a life is worth – be it a person’s life or an brute’s.

“Fables: Legends in Exile,” by Beak Willingham (2012)

At its cadre,
Fables
is a story about stories. This series examines how nosotros shape stories, and how we’re likewise shaped past them in turn. Characters from fairy tales, nursery rhymes, and old wives’ tales serve equally the principal protagonists, and antagonists, of Neb Willingham’south legendary series. The likes of Snow White, Pinnochio, Prince Charming, Beauty and the Brute, and the Big Bad Wolf dwell in the fictional New York customs of Fabletown. At that place, they try to eke out normal lives for themselves – or as “normal” equally these larger-than-life figures can manage.

There are over 150
Fables
comic books as of this writing, about of which are available equally multi-effect graphic novels.
Fables: Legends in Exile
is the starting point for newcomers; it offers the get-go five issues of the original comic plus an additional called ‘A Wolf in the Fold’.
Fables’
litany of nuanced characters elevated the serial above many of its contemporaries, alongside Willingham’due south ability to tackle intricate themes – sometimes with grace and tact, and other times with harsh efficiency, merely always with authenticity.