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Best Ever Graphic Novels
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It would be great if there is a www.graphicnovelsgeek.com, but there isn't. Instead it takes a lot of hard work and contacts to find out what the great graphic novels are. And they aren't cheap. Usually you are going off just one person's recommendation. So I decided to have a go at distilling the accumulated wisdom of the web on graphic novels and totting up the number of times each one was recommended. This list is the result of that. It includes votes from a previous geeklist, "Must Read Comics", though that was written over 2 years ago: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/3377/page/1This list includes any awards lists I could find, 3 different "Top 100"s, any recommendations from comics websites (mostly defunct), but at its core is the combined listings of 50 Amazon "Great Graphic Novels" lists. I gave 1 point for a mention on an Amazon list, and a varied number of points for the other lists, depending on how reliable I estimated they were. Feel free to add any comments, or anything you think is great that I've missed. You can also check out my blog, which has my 1st attempt at this on it, and an updated version: http://bestgraphicnovels.blogspot.com/The first 40 entries are the "semi-official" top 40 that I have constructed. The others after that are ones that people have added. I'll go through these and add a comment with the "semi-official" placing of that work and its points.
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Posted On: 2006-11-03 04:37:05
Edited On: 2007-06-08 07:41:39
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The Judas Contract (New Teen Titans) by Mary Wolfman, George Perez (Illustrator), Dick Giordano (Illustrator)
18 Points, zero from Amazon lists
"This collected edition is a great read for a number of reasons: the saga of Terra’s betrayal, the origin of Deathstroke, and the coming-of-age of Dick Grayson not being all. It is easy to jump into, even if you’re not familiar with New Teen Titans Pre-Crisis continuity; I’m reasonably sure that this story has indeed been referenced and included almost wholesale into Post-Crisis DC, so pretty much everything that happened here stuck.
It’s a great story at a great price, by one of my favorite authors and my favorite artist. This is nigh as good as a comic can get." |
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2 Comments []
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Posted On: 2006-11-02 08:01:40
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Planetary by Warren Ellis and John Cassaday
18 Points
"From the twisted and endlessly innovative mind of fan favourite writer Warren Ellis (The Authority, Transmetropolitan) comes an all-new foray into other worlds, altered realities and warped planes of existence, courtesy of Elijah Snow, Jakita Wagner and The Drummer: Planetary! Their charter is vague, their existence a secret buried under riddles and conspiracles, their sponsor an utter mystery (even to them), and their mission as diverse, complex and chimerical as the universe itself. Who better then to investigate theoretical snowflakes containing entire realities, lost islands where monsters thrive, ghost police detectives and 100-year old superheroes?" |
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2 Comments []
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Posted On: 2006-11-02 08:32:44
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Crisis on Infinite Earths by Marv Wolfman
17 Points
"This is a spectacular and original novel based on the epic comics series that forever changed the universe of Superman and Batman by the man who created the original tale! The original ibooks hardcover edition sold out and went into a second printing. Its cover is designed by popular artists Alex Ross and George Perez. There is still high demand for the novel. Original story has been revisited by DC Comics, and the book is big news in comics. It is intended for fans of the DC Superhero Universe. Trapped in a timeless limbo, Barry Allen, the Flash, can only watch in silent and helpless horror as, one by one, countless universes fade from existence in order to feed the insatiable need for power of the Anti-Monitor, a being from the anti-matter universe of Qward. Under the guidance of the Monitor, his benevolent opposite, the super-heroes and villains of all realities are brought together for a last, desperate stand against the forces that promise the literal end of all existence. "Crisis on Infinite Earths" was a comic book maxi series that set the tone for every superhero crossover storyline that followed it. This is an epic adventure that featured every character ever published by DC Comics, and which reinvigorated the Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman franchises. A story so big that not every angle of it could be covered in a single graphic novel. And now, Marv Wolfman, the creator of that series, has returned to bring an entirely new dimension to it in an original novel that expands upon the acclaimed series. Marve Wolfman has had an award-winning career in comic books that has spanned five decades. He is the creator of some of comics' most memorable characters, including The New Teen Titans (with artist George Perez), Nightwing, Deathstroke the Terminator, and Vigilante for DC Comics, and Blade the Vampire Slayer, Nova, Bullseye, and Black Cat for Marvel Comics. Marv has written virtually every character at DC and Marvel, including Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Spider-Man, and the Fantastic Four, as well as Howard the Duck newspaper comic strip, numerous live action and animated TV shows (including the recent Teen Titans on Cartoon Network), children's books, novels, and stage shows. Among his many accomplishments was a stint as Marvel's editor-in-chief, a DC Comics senior editor, one of the founding editors of "Disney Adventures Magazine", as well as a 16-year run as the writer of "The New Titans", and an unforgettable 70-issue run on Marvel's "Tomb of Dracula". He was the writer of the classic history-changing mini series "Crisis on Infinite Earths" from which this novel is adapted. "Crisis on Infinite Earths" is Marv's fourth novel." |
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5 Comments []
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Posted On: 2006-11-02 08:32:44
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Daredevil Visionaries by Frank Miller
Miller again, 17 points
"This is where it all began- not for Daredevil, who was already 157 issues old at the start of this collection, but for Frank Miller. A few years later he would be seen as one of those writers and artists that helped superhero comics grow up by writing and drawing "The Dark Knight Returns", and writing "Batman: Year One".
Before all that, he worked on Daredevil, Marvel's blind superhero. At the start of this volume, Miller w | |
Posted On: 2006-11-02 08:52:48
Still not sure how I feel about the cartoon.