Graphic Novel Reading Recommendations
Author: Rachel Lawyer, Library Instruction Assistant | rachel.lawyer@usu.edu
Did you know that USU libraries has a collection of graphic novels? It’s true! We have your DC and Marvel comics, manga, and graphic novels needs covered. You can browse our collection in our graphic novels display in the lobby of the Merrill-Cazier Library or on the south side of the third floor in the PN section. For a sampling of what we have, here are some recommendations for all, whether you are new to graphic novels or looking for something fresh.
Check, Please! Book 1: #Hockey by Ngozi Ukazu
Eric Bittle may be a former junior figure skating champion, vlogger extraordinaire, and very talented amateur pâtissier, but being a freshman on the Samwell University hockey team is a whole new challenge. It is nothing like co-ed club hockey back in Georgia! First of all? There’s checking (anything that hinders the player with possession of the puck, ranging from a stick check all the way to a physical sweep). And then, there is Jack—his very attractive but moody captain.
A collection of the first half, freshmen and sophomore year, of the megapopular webcomic series of the same name, Check, Please!: #Hockey is the first book of a hilarious and stirring two-volume coming-of-age story about hockey, bros, and trying to find yourself during the best four years of your life.
The Sandman Volume 1: Preludes and Nocturnes by Neil Gaiman
New York Times best-selling author Neil Gaiman's transcendent series Sandman is often hailed as the definitive Vertigo title and one of the finest achievements in graphic storytelling. Gaiman created an unforgettable tale of the forces that exist beyond life and death by weaving ancient mythology, folklore and fairy tales with his own distinct narrative vision. In Preludes & Nocturnes, an occultist attempting to capture Death to bargain for eternal life traps her younger brother Dream instead. After his 70-year imprisonment and eventual escape, Dream, also known as Morpheus, goes on a quest for his lost objects of power. On his arduous journey Morpheus encounters Lucifer, John Constantine, and an all-powerful madman.
The Dreaming by Queenie Chan
The Dreaming is a supernatural mystery-thriller about a pair of identical twin sisters who arrive at their new private boarding school, only to find that it is haunted by something frightening and evil. A Lovecraft-inspired tale set in the Australian bush, this is a story for ages 13+, and is light on gore despite mild horror overtones, and aimed at anyone who enjoys an atmospheric story.
Invincible by Robert Kirkman and Cory Walker
When Mark Grayson inherits superpowers at seventeen, it's a dream come true - until he learns that being a hero isn't as black and white as the comic books he read as a kid.
Nightcrawler: The Devil Inside by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa
The X-Man known as Nightcrawler is a man with a foot in two worlds - one the daylight world of super heroes and super-villains; the other a netherworld of demons and angels, ghosts and monsters... human and otherwise. With the looks of a devil and the soul of a kind, ordinary man, Nightcrawler is used to being pulled in both directions. Now, he might be asked to go where the other X-Men won't - into the shadows that have always called to him! Does he have what it takes to get to the bottom of the strange deaths of thirteen children - and more importantly, is he strong enough to take on the sinister forces behind it once he does? Collects Nightcrawler#1-6.
American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang
A tour-de-force by New York Times bestselling graphic novelist Gene Yang, American Born Chinese tells the story of three apparently unrelated characters: Jin Wang, who moves to a new neighborhood with his family only to discover that he's the only Chinese-American student at his new school; the powerful Monkey King, subject of one of the oldest and greatest Chinese fables; and Chin-Kee, a personification of the ultimate negative Chinese stereotype, who is ruining his cousin Danny's life with his yearly visits. Their lives and stories come together with an unexpected twist in this action-packed modern fable. American Born Chinese is an amazing ride, all the way up to the astonishing climax.
Batman: The Killing Joke by Alan Moore
One bad day. According to the grinning engine of madness and mayhem known as The Joker, that's all that separates the sane from the psychotic. Freed once again from the confines of Arkham Asylum, he's out to prove his deranged point. And he's going to use Gotham's top cop, Commissioner Jim Gordon, and his brilliant and beautiful daughter Barbara to do it. Now Batman must race to stop his archnemesis before his reign of terror claims two of the Dark Knight's closest friends. Can he finally put an end to the cycle of bloodlust and lunacy that links these two iconic foes before it leads to a fatal conclusion? And as the horrifying origin of the Clown Prince of Crime is finally revealed, will the thin line that separates Batman's nobility and The Joker's insanity snap once and for all?
Saga, Volume 1 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples
Saga is the story of Hazel, a child born to star-crossed parents from opposite sides of a never-ending galactic war. Now, Hazel's fugitive family must risk everything to find a peaceful future in a harsh universe that values destruction over creation.
Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass by Mariko Tamaki
With just five dollars and a knapsack to her name, fifteen-year-old Harleen Quinzel is sent to live in Gotham City. She's not worried, though--she's battled a lot of hard situations as a kid, and knows her determination and outspokenness will carry her through life in the most dangerous city in the world. And when Gotham's finest drag queen, Mama, takes her in, it seems like Harley has finally found a place to grow into her most "true true" with new best friend Ivy at Gotham High. But when Mama's drag cabaret becomes the next victim in the wave of gentrification that's taking over the neighborhood, Harley's fortune takes another turn. Now Harleen is mad. In turning her anger into action, she is faced with two choices: Join activist Ivy, who's campaigning to make the neighborhood a better place to live, or team up with her anarchist friend Jack, who plans to take down Gotham one corporation at a time.
Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
Persepolis is the story of Satrapi’s unforgettable childhood and coming of age within a large and loving family in Tehran during the Islamic Revolution; of the contradictions between private and public life in a country plagued by political upheaval; of her high school years in Vienna, facing the trials of adolescence far from her family; of her homecoming—both sweet and terrible; and, finally, of her self-imposed exile from her beloved homeland. It is the chronicle of a girlhood and adolescence at once outrageous and familiar, a young life entwined with the history of her country yet filled with the universal trials and joys of growing up.
Print copy available through the Merrill-Cazier Library and USU Eastern