Recommendations for recent graphic novels

Help me out here people, I have a $150 gift card at a comic book store and I'm overwhelmed with options! I've been out of touch for a while now and haven't really read anything new in a few years. I'm looking for graphic novels that are absolutely essential, aren't superhero comics (at least not traditional ones), are more or less standalone, and have great art. Some of my favorites include: Blankets (Craig Thompson), Asterios Polyp, Cages (Dave Mc Kean), American Splendor, Maus, and anything by R. Crumb, Peter Kuper, Neil Gaiman, Grant Morrison or Alan Moore.

Thank you good people!

Brian. K. Vaughn’s Saga is a good read and I hear his other series Paper Girls is a good read. Grant Morrison is currently writing a Green Lantern series which may not be your thing but if you’re a Morrison fan maybe give it a look. Also I’d recommend Vinland Saga it’s probably the best manga out right now.

If you want stuff that is great, but not superhero comics, looking at current and former Eisner winners or Eisner-nominated stuff is always a good idea:

• My Favorite Thing Is Monsters by Emil Ferris (memoir)
• Descender by Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nguyen (science fiction)
• Monstress by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda (fantasy)
• Saga by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples (science fiction)
• Paper Girls by Brian K. Vaughan by Cliff Chiang (science fiction)
• Southern Bastards by Jason Aaron and Jason Latour (action)
• Mister Miracle by Tom King and Mitch Gerards (superhero/surrealism)
• Giant Days by John Allison, Max Sarin and Julia Madrigal (comedy/slice of life)
• Black Hammer by Jeff Lemire and Dean Ormston (superhero/surrealism)
• Gideon Falls by Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino (horror)
• Through the Woods by Emily Carroll (horror)
• The Vision by Tom King and Gabriel Hernandez Walta (superhero/horror)

And so on.

My favorite superhero comic of the past ten years, however, is The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl by Ryan North, Erica Henderson, and Derek Charm. It's fantastic comedy and just wonderful writing.

Edited by alliterator on Jan 2nd 2020 at 5:31:17 AM

Thanks people! I ended up buying a couple of books that were on my reading list for a while -

• Saga (volumes 1 and 2)
• The Complete Life and Times of Scrooge Mc Duck (volumes 1 and 2)
• Fun Home
• El Deafo
• Pittsburgh by Frank Santoro (that was more of a gamble, I just really liked the art)

Can't wait to get cracking on those!

I don't think "My Favorite Thing is Monsters" is a memoir, but the protagonist Karen Reyes is based off the writer as a kid. Very good book though.

My reccomendations:

"Real Friends" and "Best Friends" by Shannon Mc Hale "Go With The Flow" by Karen Schneemann and Lily Williams The Berrybrook Middle School series including "Awkward", "Brave", and "Crush" by Svetlana Chmakova,

"The Breakaways" by Catherine G. Johnson

"Blankets" by Craig Thompson

"Sheets" by Brenna Thummler

"Invisible Differences: A Story of Asperger's, Adulting and Living Life in Full Color." by Mademoiselle Caroline, and Julie Dachez.

"Dare to Disappoint: Growing Up in Turkey" by Ozge Samanci

"Anya's Ghost" by Vera Brosgol

"Be Prepared" by Vera Brosgol

"Persopolis" by Marjane Satrapi

"Nimona" by Noelle Stevenson

Everything by Raina Telgemeier ever did.

• Once & Future by Kieron Gillen - A ghostly adventure-horror story where the protagonist (and his retired vampire hunter grandma) face off against monstrous versions of heroes from myth and legend, namely King Arthur. Featuring art from Dan Mora, you know this is something you need to pick up for the drawings and panel work.

• Menace of New York by Elliott Kalan - A horror thriller story that basically asks, "What If? a Jason-Expy ended up in New York and became a regular fixture of the city?" An examination of slasher horror, our increasing apathy for hyperviolence, and the limits of our willingness to change the status quo.

Edited by reppuzan on May 19th 2021 at 6:24:25 AM

Dragon Kingdom of Wrenly: The Coldfire Curse - When a curse called "the coldfire" starts affecting dragons in the land of Crestwood, a young yellow dragon named Cinder is sent on a quest to find the dragon king. Her mission takes her to the land of Wrenly where she discovers that the dragon king, a young red dragon named Ruskin, is a pet for Wrenly's prince. The two of return to Cinder's homeland of Crestwood, where they meet her cousin, a young green dragon named Groth. The three of them then are told how to get rid of the curse, by an older dragon named Nova, who sends the trio on another quest. This time to the land of Primlox to get a potion from the fairies, and then on to the land of Flatfrost to use the potion to save the dragons of Crestwood.

Edited by pikafan on Jun 8th 2021 at 3:57:31 AM