What is your favorite graphic novel?

[Ccs]

Batman: The Long Halloween is probably the best Batman book ever. And Watchmen is the best deconstruction of superheros out there, too bad about the mediocre movie.

Berserk is my favorite comic series. Technically it's manga, but the style doesn't really look manga-esque.

[manlybrian]

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. :-)

Good choice. I like throw Asterix and Obelisk in with those too.

[Hyunjae]

Thanks again for the suggestions, keep em coming!
I recently purchased Y The last man, Planete, Northlanders, and Joe the barbarian. I think these are great starting points.
I guess I was a bit too vague when I said I am not partial to manga, Berserk and Planete look fine to me. I am quite ignorant when it comes to manga so please bear with me, but for some reason when I thought of manga I thought of anime with huge eyes and overly feminine looking males. But now I realize that manga is just any comics that come from japan..... So yeah, please disregard when I said non-manga

I have found two amazing free online graphic novels, I am sure a lot of you have seen them already.
The Wormworld Saga by Daniel Lieske http://www.wormworldsaga.com/index.php


Are we heroes yet? http://www.dota2.com/comics/are_we_heroes_yet/

[TinyBird]

when I thought of manga I thought of anime with huge eyes and overly feminine looking males. But now I realize that manga is just any comics that come from japan..... So yeah, please disregard when I said non-manga

Ha, yeah, that's kinda like thinking that all western comics are about superheroes... In any case then I definitely suggest you checking out Naoki Urasawa's (especially for the story) and Yukito Kishiro's work (along with Berserk too). Also Appleseed and Ghost in the Shell by Masamune Shirow could be of interest for you. Also though not very sci-fi and with a bit of an horror flair, Hitoshi Iwaaki's Parasyte is quite an interesting manga too.




I know that GUNNM does have a big eyed girl as the main character but everything else, especially all the cyborgs are really awesome and ruthless.

Also if you were looking for romance, maybe Kaoru Mori's work would fit you? Emma and A Bride's Story both have gorgeous historical artwork and the overall romance isn't too mushy. Again it's romance (though Wiki actually says Emma is a seinen manga, so it's targeted for men) so the character style is bit more generic, but when it comes to the story you don't have to worry about the average "animu kawaii".

[blogmatix]

Good choice. I like throw Asterix and Obelisk in with those too.

Yup: Asterix was my other favourite. :-)

[Vritra]

Well, this is a good idea for a thread. I can't say I have any 'favourite' comic book or anything like that, but I'll drop some that comes to mind.

Cages has already been mentioned, but it truly is a masterpiece from Dave McKean. I forget whether it was chapter six or seven, but the narrative starts folding back. This is a must-read for me.






Then there's Asterios Polyp by Mazzuchelli. There's also a take on it from Scott McCloud, though I can't really speak as highly of it.






Frank by Jim Woodring is another staple for comic nerds like me. It really is a gorgeous and inventive work.





And now on to manga.

H2 by Adachi Mitsuru is one incredible manga. He really is the best romance/sports comic maker that I know of. Any of his work is a must-read.



Read this right to left.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<


Vagabond by Takehiko Inoue is another manga masterpiece for me. Adapted from a novel on Miyamoto Musashi.






Samurai Executioner by Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima. Lone Wolf and Cub is their most famous work, but I always thought this was their masterpiece.

[Raoul Duke]

Does anybody know if Claire Wendling or Sergio Toppi have any books translated into english? I love their art and I can almost make out the plot by pictures alone, but I want to actually read them.

[Aaron_]

So many cool stuff posted here. Mine must be Oink by John Mueller. Really solid art and just brutal and anarchist. Story is a bit wonky but the art is just tooo sweeeet.

[Blackthorne]

Thanks again for the suggestions, keep em coming!
I recently purchased Y The last man, Planete, Northlanders, and Joe the barbarian. I think these are great starting points.
I guess I was a bit too vague when I said I am not partial to manga, Berserk and Planete look fine to me. I am quite ignorant when it comes to manga so please bear with me, but for some reason when I thought of manga I thought of anime with huge eyes and overly feminine looking males. But now I realize that manga is just any comics that come from japan..... So yeah, please disregard when I said non-manga

I have found two amazing free online graphic novels, I am sure a lot of you have seen them already.
The Wormworld Saga by Daniel Lieske http://www.wormworldsaga.com/index.php


Are we heroes yet? http://www.dota2.com/comics/are_we_heroes_yet/

Thanks for that! The art in that Dota 2 comic really blew me away...and that doesn't happen much anymore. People check it out if you haven't yet!

[Hunin]

I really love Sanctuary by Ryoichi Ikegami and Sho Fumimura, Crying freeman is great too, but they are defiantly adult reads, and they may be manga but aren't the typical style, more cinematic I suppose,









Hellsing is really entertaining too,



And of course, sailor moon is a classic too,



Claymore, really cool fantasy action,

[Farvus]

Nowdays I discover lots of great new comics but Thorgal ones have always been and still are my strong influence for me. I always loved Rosinski's more textural painterly way of inking as opposed to very sterile hatching in western comics. Both rendering and design fits the gritty world well. This whole "fantasy very faithful to medieval lifestyle" aesthetic burned to my brain so much when I was reading as a kid that it makes me cringe when I see fantasy art with oversized shoulderpads and ten feet swords.

One page from Thorgal - The Black Galley



---

First two pages from Thorgal - Beyond the Shadows





One of my new favourites would be Animalz drawn by Enki Bilal. I like his aesthetic an the postapocalyptic world he created.



Also sci-fi Aldebaran series was good read.

[JDSart]

Its been a while since i read a graphic Novel. I know i coud mention a few by making some memory.

My favorite will always be Neil Gaiman´s Sandman Not much explanation needed, like with Watchmen or Akira, its simply a must read.

I would mention now, Slaine: The horned God on visuals, Simon Bisley´s art fitted perfectly for the book.





I kill Giants has a really sweet story.



The Nikopol trilogy by Enki Bilal is awesome too


The Incal by Muebius and Jodorowsky no less

[Black Spot]

When I was 8 or 9 living in Malaysia, our armor used to give my brother & me these little books full of violent Chinese cartoons. Sadly, I can't find any examples on the net yet, but some of them depicted things like a guy having a nail hammered in his skull for a perfect murder (this was in the 60s), demon possessions, zombies etc. All the writing was in Chinese, so we relied totally on the pictures to get the stories, which we did in the main. I was totally gripped and they didn't give me nightmares. The comedies went more over our heads as you did need to understand more what was being said.

[JFierce]

Vinland Saga's a good manga. Another one of those "takes forever to come out but the arts damn sweet" stories.

Focused around Vikings and more nordic areas.



That and a guy uppercuts a horse

[Vielfras]

Mentioning Berserk and not saying anything about it's si-fi rival?

Gantz written and illustrated by Hiroya Oku. The cool thing about this manga apart from the crazy story and the violence is that it is done entirely by digital media! He uses a 3d program and than draws it all on Photoshop.







I love authors who are not afraid to kill important characters.

[stgodd]

Asterix, as I grew up reading it.
but more recently It would be Blame. I'm not a fan of manga or anime normaly but I love the art style in this. The only part i dont like is the human faces.

[michaelharris]

I haven't actually read this... but I just love the art soooooo much. The writer gets a little wordy but I am trudging through it. And the art is really really awesome. It's 20s mobsters vs aliens vs vampires.



this is just gory, bloody fun.