Once Again About Comics!

National Comic Book Day is September 25th! In recognition of this, I've taken over the display in our library this month to showcase some of the best and my favorite graphic novels I have on hand. I've been in charge of our graphic novel collection for just over a year now and I believe I've made great strides to open up new pathways and show a lot of new content to all age-groups and both genders in our library (read: everyone, no graphic novels are specific to one gender only.) 

So please look at our display shelf (located in the upstairs apse, far left shelf behind the computers) for what I will be labeling as my favorites and WHY they make a good story. There's a great deal of Image comics lately as I went on a binge after seeing some of the quality work they've been putting out at their both at ALA. Not all of it...some of it. Other than that expect a good amount of the Big Two, some great independent stuff, biographies, and the best of some smaller-time publishers. Off the top of my head, look for Swamp Thing and Animal Man, some of the best to come from the DC New 52, along with Batman: Court of Owls and, surprisingly, Aquaman. Marvel's series you wont find a lot of the Big Leaguers, but that might be for the better. Instead look for Deadpool, now being written by comedian Brian Posehn. There's also Avengers Academy and Runaways, two series about super-powered teens dealing with deceit, teamwork, and coming together in times of crisis through the lens of Marvel's biggest heroes. 

Note: this is more of an "adult" novel.

There's a great deal of Image titles to choose from as well, including the new up-and-comer Saga, the story of a Romeo and Juliet who got far enough to conceive and birth a child while on the run from their respective species in an intergalactic civil war. There's Chew, the exploits of a VICE cop who gets psychic readings from anything he
eats. ANYTHING. Except beets. Peter Panzerfaust, a parallel of J.M Barrie's famous work. Peter is an American boy traveling through war-torn, nazi-occupied Europe at the height of WWII. Contains all the fixings of the original story in a historical setting matching the tone and narrative of the original. Revival is the story of a sleepy Wisconsin town affected by a strange phenomenon; the dead have risen, not as zombies but as who they were before, as fresh as the last day they lived.

As far as independents go, there's the story of H.P. Lovecraft and the events that set him from pulp-writer to horror master craftsman. I Kill Giants follows an anti-social girl, who believes she fights and slays giants, but what are the giants really? Koko Be Good follows a girl with some time on her hands to think about the choices she's made after meeting a man who walks the opposing path she has, but doesn't seem to be benefiting from it, but also doesn't really mind. Can she learn to be good and feel good for doing so? Persepolis is a biographical memoir of Marjane Satrapi growing up through the struggles of the Islamic Revolution in Iran. Maus, in a similar light, follows the accounts of the Author's father through the Holocaust, straight from his father's mouth. Written in a symbolic style; Jews are mice, Nazis are cats, French, Frogs, etc., it allows for easy following for any age and proves a great historical and moral lesson. Finally, Americus parallels the plight of magic in children's novels, most prominently seen in Harry Potter by Christian Activist in the early 2000's.

TL:DNR, Graphic novels have alot to talk about, a lot to be said, and a lot to teach that should be available to the reading public. 

That's my goal here with the orders I place every month. While what I order for the most part is what I would read, I readily open to suggestions from the public. I have left suggestion sticky-notes at my display here in the library and would hope that anyone would be willing to lend me their opinion.