THE TEN BEST GRAPIC NOVELS OF ALL TIME

I have spent much of my life promoting Graphic Novels as an art form. I do that at the stores, at conventions, online, and in the media when opportunity arises. I am quite happy that Graphic Novels have gained a much wider appreciation in mainstream society in recent years.

In my efforts to expose more people to the joys of Graphic Novels, from time to time I compose a list of the Best Graphic Novels of all time. Naturally, these kind of lists are always subjective. It's an art, not a science. I hope that you will agree, however, that there are some worthy picks here. The selections are in alphabetical order.


Black Hole by Charles Burns


Blankets by Craig Thompson


Criminal by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips


Ghost World by Dan Clowes


Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth by Chris Ware


Maus by Art Spiegelman


Sin City by Frank Miller


Tale of One Bad Rat by Bryan Talbot


Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons


Y The Last Man by Bryan K. Vaughn and Pia Girarra.

Some pretty nice books there, don't you think?
Well if you agree that these are fantastic books by amazingly talented creators, you will be happy to know that the creator of one of these books will be appearing at Lee's Comics in Mountain View next month to premiere a brand new Graphic Novel!

Can you guess who it is?

Let me give you a couple of hints.

Fist, the creator has never appeared at Lee's Comics before. Second the creator does all the writing and artwork for his Graphic Novels. That should narrow down the list quite a bit!

Let's see who will be the first to guess the identity of our next in-store creator appearance!

SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS

There's a terrific article in today's San Jose Mercury News. It's called "Graphic novels' growing appeal." The picture above ran with the article, and I'm quoted in it, but don't let that stop you from reading it.

I'm the most happy about how the the article promotes quality graphic novels. The author, Randy Myers really knows his stuff, and has excellent taste in literate works such as Maus, Persepolis and Blankets. He also mentions popular and compelling ones such as Watchmen, Y: The Last Men, and The Walking Dead. This is one of the best articles that I've seen promoting the kind of Graphic novels that I love the most.

I hope that this article inspires some new readers to try graphic novels.
This article has certainly inspired me, and I intend to start a display of the recommended graphic novels it in my store.

PRINCE VALIANT

PRINCE VALIANT Vol. 1: 1937-1938
Fantagraphics Books, Hardcover $29.95

My favorite comics work ever is Prince Valiant by Hal Foster. Years ago, Foster's entire cannon was released by Fantagraphics, one year's worth of material at a time, in oversized softcover volumes. These volumes are now long out of print, and command collector's prices. It's a shame that such vital material was so expensive and hard to find.

Now Fantagraphics has begun a new series of volumes that are a great improvement over the previous ones. They are hardcover with better reproduction and coloring. The previous volumes were in soft cover, which, due to the oversized format, was easy to damage. The hardcover format is a much better way for this timeless material to last through the ages. The coloring and reproduction are much improved as well. There is now 2 years worth of material in each volume, double what the previous volumes had. The first volume includes several pages of nicely illustrated historical Hal Foster articles and interviews.



A glance at Foster's Prince Valiant will show you how beautiful and masterful the illustrations are. Foster starts off nicely, but after around 18 weeks, he really hits his stride. Where the pages were previously done generally on a 12-panel grid, they now open up with much larger vistas of sprawling castles, armies marching, and action scenes. All are rendered with singular beauty, flair and realism. It's the work of an absolute master, working at the height of his powers. Upon reading it, the amazing discovery is that the stories are even better than the art! All of Foster's incredible panoramas are there in service of a thrilling saga. Prince Valiant is a man of action, but he is also quite cunning and strategic. He is bold, strong, and well trained, but more frequently he out-thinks his opponents. You can't wait to see what happens on the next page.

This beautiful volume belongs in any comic book fan's library. I have read these stories many times over the years, and I have loved them each time. I am reading this volume at home right now, savoring a few pages each night. This is absolutely fantastic material. It's my Desert Island graphic novel. If I could only keep one Graphic Novel, this would be the one. It's available at the stores right now. Buy yours today!