What is your favorite graphic novel?

[Hyunjae]

Hello!
Lately I have found a new interest in graphic novels. I have read most of Walking Dead series and am mesmerized by it. I googled what people considered to be good graphic novels and found some interesting books. One was Northlanders by Brian Wood, a gritty story about vikings. Another very different novel was Blankets by Craig Thompson which is a lovestory.
So do you have any recommendations? The subjects I am mostly interested in are fantasy and sci fi, and maybe little bit of lovestory.
Northlanders


Blankets

[ProxyFable]

I'll have to check out Blankets, it looks good. As for recommendations... first off my list would be Joe the Barbarian, it's a great urban fantasy story with fantastic art!

[AvP]

Watchmen has to be my favourite of all time.

[Raoul Duke]

Pride of Baghdad is just downright solid storytelling. Even my mom loves this book.

[biglu]

I loved the "Y The Last Man" series




http://www.amazon.com/The-Last-Vol-D...ref=pd_sim_b_1
http://www.amazon.com/The-Last-Man-B...ref=pd_sim_b_3
http://www.amazon.com/The-Last-Man-V...ref=pd_sim_b_2
http://www.amazon.com/Last-Deluxe-Ed...ref=pd_sim_b_2
http://www.amazon.com/The-Last-Delux...ref=pd_sim_b_4

[Saurabhinator]

My favourite is Fables.
James Jean works wonders on the covers and the story is so engrossing!



Northlanders is totally enticing me.
I have read Watchmen, Pride and Y the last men and would definitely recommend them as well.

[Parka81]

Lucha Libre, Vol. 1

[TinyBird]

The subjects I am mostly interested in are fantasy and sci fi, and maybe little bit of lovestory. I prefer non-manga style.

Which is bit sad because you may miss a TON of excellent sci-fi/fantasy/romantic comics that are Japanese. Quick examples could be GUNNM, Ashen Victor, Berserk, Vinland Saga, Pluto and Planetes for first two genres.
Also, we have a General Comics Thread you may be interested of: http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=228128

I personally have way too many favorites, especially ones that are hard to pinpoint to one book or series (like Morbius the Living Vampire comics in Vampire Tales or the New Mutants), but if I skip the obvious ones like Hellboy, these two come pretty close to the top:
Basically everything by Warren Ellis (Transmetropolitan and Lazarus Churchyard especially if you want something bit less goofy) but Nextwave appeals to me most:


As well as Richard Sala's Mad Night:


EDIT: Also Donjon, even if it may look like... uh... kinda.. well yeah.


EDIT2: Oh damnit, Beasts of Burden too!


EDIT3: I swear to god I stop now. But Groo the Wanderer. Again maybe more of a acquired taste when it comes to writing, but all the details and armor/etc designs and variations are great, even if they are really cartoony.

[Velocity Kendall]

My art teacher leant me Miracleman when i was a kid and it scared the shit out of me.

Never, ever piss off kid superheroes...

[sanya]

Y! The Last Man and Fables are big favorites for me, but here are some others I've reread too often.

Hellblazer is just an awesome pick up and read sort of book-- please don't let the movie turn you off-- it's really not a great representation.



The Authority-- they lost their way a bit after volume 3, but it's an amazing read.


Okay, I really can't say enough good things about Lucifer-- the comic began as a spin off that told the story of Sandman's Lucifer-- and I think people were turned off by the idea of a sort book that might be a "Poor man's Sandman"-- but that's not it at all. The story takes little to nothing from Sandman and really stands on it's own as a work, and frankly it generates a lot of heat. It's such a great story, a very different story than Sandman, but definitely one with a ton of merit. A must read!


Finally, I mostly read shoujo manga (Hana Yori Dango and Skip Beat are my faves) with some shounen on the side (D. Gray Man, Gantz and Naruto currently), but one I really want to share is a super off the beaten path 30 issue story called National Quiz. Bizarre and fantastic with some art that will really make you stop and stare.

[Velocity Kendall]

translator: Emperor Ketchup!
he has his own single note theme song

[Raoul Duke]

Anybody find it disappointing that Fables is completely unreadable?

[sanya]

Anybody find it disappointing that Fables is completely unreadable?

In what way? (sincere)

[JJacks]

I'm going to have to second Blankets. The story is bittersweet and told in an honest manner.

[OmenSpirits]

Gon

[JFierce]

Always will be Berserk.
Best manga art I've seen and a great story.
Adult content galore though.

[vineris]

Attachment 1472298





If you have to pick just one, read Finder. It's sci-fi, there are a number of different stories that mostly revolve around one set of characters.

[Raoul Duke]

^I read a few random issues of it and couldn't tell you what the hell they were about. Also I can tell the interior art was a lower priority than the cover. I really felt like a sucker for buying them. It seems like they tried to throw the plot over the audiences head, before anybody noticed the storytelling was bad. They banked on James Jeans amazing cover art and Neil Gaiman's name as creator.

[sanya]

Ooh, I see. Well I have to disagree a bit: it's true the interior art isn't particularly impressive, truthfully I'm not a fan myself, but when writers choose their artists, they don't always go for the person who comes off the most flashy: sometimes they choose people who let the story shine over artistic style. Hard to say if this is one of those times, but I'll allow them the benefit of the doubt.

As for the story, it's actually quite good. It's a story with ongoing arcs so it isn't meant to be a pick-up-and-read book in the least, other than a few inter-arc one shots. I especially like the first swath of the story ending in "War and Pieces" and am not crazy about it so much after that. I'd recommend picking up the first arc, "Legends in Exile" (issues 01-05) to get a sense for the pulse of the story.

[Hyunjae]

Wow, so many great looking suggestions, thanks all!

[arenhaus]

Sandman. If you can even call that a graphic novel. A graphic epic?

If limited to standalone novel-size work drawn by the same artist, then Watchmen.

[Max Challie]

Purgatory Kabuki, hands down

[Vermis]

A couple more for the beardy-weirdy fanclub.





It's a wee bit like the Alien franchise, in my opinion. There are only the first two; anything else doesn't count.

[bcarman]

I kind of take it from a point of ignorance. I just go for the pictures.
Dave McKean is rather godlike.

And had to add Shaun Tan. Incredible book.

[Misplacedhippos]

At the moment Guy Delisle's works are some of my favourites.
Non-Fiction travel comics basically. They give a really interesting temporary immersion in a culture.


-----

[8smoku8]

[manlybrian]

One of these.

The Long Halloween by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale


Creature Tech by Doug TenNapel

[Cartogriffi]

I don't read many graphic novels, comics, or manga but I love Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Watchmen, and V for Vendetta. All have a lot of depth, and manage to do this with both the text and the graphics.

[PuppyKitten]

Another vote for Y: The Last Man.

It was one of my first graphic novels (along with The Walking Dead), and it fueled my interest in comics.

[blogmatix]

Do the Tintin comics count as graphic novels? I grew up with them, and after all the years I have yet to find anything better. :-)







They are unfortunately probably also the reason why, in everything I draw, I cannot unlearn the habit of putting dark outlines around everything. :-)