Forget your preconceptions!
The following list of comic books (graphic novels) will inspire new and exciting ideas. All have great illustration, but most importantly, all have those superbly written, twisty plots that make you say, ‘this is gooood!’
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns: The story takes place in a crime ridden Gotham City. After years of absence, an aging Batman returns to the city to once again fight crime. This is a story of vengeance. Forget the tight wearing, camp batman, in this story you will see a psychotic vengeful old man coming to terms with his own mortality. Yet, what sets this work aside is the complexity of the writing.
300: Frank Miller presents the reader with a re-telling of the classic Battle of Thermopylae, in which 300 Spartans hold back a hoard of Persians. He uses the comic book genre to tell a jingoistic tale of heroism. For me, what makes this book unmissable is the representation of a ‘death and glory’ style of writing, which no longer seems to sit comfortably in our society.
Watchmen: Another story of aging glory with a band of washed out superheroes trying to come to terms with a mysterious killer. Once again it is the writing that sets this book aside. Its ‘serious’ approach to the subject of legacy makes this an essential graphic novel.
Maus: A Survivor’s Tale: This is the biography of Holocaust survivor, Art Spiegelman, presented in the form of a graphic novel. The novel took thirteen years to complete and sees the Jews presented as mice and the Germans as Cats. The writing is amazing and the story moving. A must read…
League of Extraordinary Gentleman: Imagine a world where all those Victorian novels have come true. Then build a super team that includes people such as the Invisible man, Dr Jekyll/Mr Hyde and Captain Nemo, and you have some idea of what this novel offers. For me the skilful construction of a unique world, together with slick stylised writing that reflects Victorian novels of old, sets this novel aside.
V for Vendetta: The novel is set in a ‘near future’ world where a nuclear war has seen Britain become controlled by a fascist power. The novel takes the best elements of dystopia books such as 1984 and re-works the classic genre. The writing is tight, the characters excellent. If nothing else this book will give you a new perspective on a genre you may have thought was dead.
