Best Graphic Novels of 2017

With me leaving the library at the end of this year, I'm putting together a Best of 2017 list. I'll only be covering two books per category, but that shouldn't stop you from coming in and finding out for yourself which books were our best from the last year, or the rest of our collection, which is also great.

-God Country- 
Donny Cates
 Emmet Quinlan is an old man deep in dementia and Alzheimer's. This is a problem for his son as well as the local cops. When a tornado levels the entire town, Emmet finds himself restored with the God of All Blades in his hand. Now beings from other worlds are on his doorstep, trying to wrest the God of All Blades from his grip, and lose his sanity in the process. This book is a great 
one-shot volume that gives a lot in the small bits of mythology it delivers while at the same time outlining the life of a mere mortal man trying to grasp at the last pit of his person-hood he's been granted.

 

-Spill Zone-

Scott Westerfeld

The city of Poughkeepsie is a wasteland thanks to toxic spill. What spilled, no one seems to know, but whatever it was has warped reality with the Spill Zone. Only one ex-resident dares brave the Spill Zone, collecting pictures of the twisted remains of the city for top-dollar profits. After being given a million-dollar offer, Addison has a bounty she's not sure she can fulfill if it means having to face what remains of the Poughkeepsie population.

 


-Afar-
Leila Del Luca
Boetema suddenly develops the ability to astrally project to other worlds, unintentionally possessing the bodies of people light years away. Inotu, her inquisitive brother with a pension for trouble, finds himself on the run after he's caught eavesdropping on an illegal business deal between small town business tycoons and their cyborg bodyguard. When Boetema accidentally gets someone hurt while in another girl's body, the siblings are forced to work together to solve the problems they've created on their planet and others.

-Adventures of Superhero Girl-

Faith Erin Hicks

 Trying to balance between a day job and crime fighting is a run-of-the-mill premise for most super hero tales. Superhero girl deals with that premise incredibly mundanely, but delivers a realistic slice of life, when it come to dealing with a non-super-powered arch-nemesis or your older brother upstaging you in your own city.

-Witch Boy-  
Molly Ostertag
In thirteen-year-old Aster's family, all the girls are raised to be witches, while boys grow up to be shapeshifters. Anyone who dares cross those lines is exiled. Unfortunately for Aster, he still hasn't shifted and he's still fascinated by witchery, no matter how forbidden it might be. When a mysterious danger threatens the other boys, Aster knows he can help -- as a witch. It will take the encouragement of a new friend, the non-magical and non-conforming Charlie, to convince Aster to try practicing his skills. And it will require even more courage to save his family and be truly himself.

 

-All's Faire in Middle School-

Victoria Jamieson

Eleven-year-old Imogene has grown up with two parents working at the Renaissance Faire, and she's eager to begin her own training as a squire. First, though, she'll need to prove her bravery. Luckily Imogene has just the quest in mind—she'll go to public school after a life of being home schooled! But it's not easy to act like a noble knight-in-training in middle school. Imogene falls in with a group of girls who seem really nice (until they don't) and starts to be embarrassed of her thrift shop apparel, her family's unusual lifestyle, and their small, messy apartment. Imogene has always thought of herself as a heroic knight, but when she does something really mean in order to fit in, she begins to wonder whether she might be more of a dragon after all.