Last semester, I wrote an article about my newfound passion for graphic novels, and I provided a list of some of the best ones I had read at the time. I’m continuing my quest to read all of the great graphic novels out there, and below, I present you with ten more authors and their thought-provoking works.
1. Raina Telgemeier, Smile
Did you ever have braces when you were younger? I bet you worried a lot about looking like a “nerd” or having your friends make fun of you. Well, Telgemeier knows all about braces and a whole lot of other dental things. In this incredibly funny memoir, she tells us all about the drama that filled her early adolescence when her two front teeth got knocked out. Telgemeier’s full-color illustrations lead us on a journey to have her teeth look “normal” again, as well as her journey to self-acceptance. Through her drawings, she shows us all of the painful dental procedures she endured and the uncomfortable gear that she had to wear to get her smile back.
2. Miriam Katin, We Are On Our Own and Letting It Go
In We Are On Our Own, Katin—inspired by her own experiences as a child in Hungary—tells the story of a mother and her young daughter during the tumultuous years of WWII. It’s the year before the end of the war, and things are getting increasingly worse for Hungarian Jews. The mother and daughter pose as a Russian servant and her illegitimate daughter, and escape to the Hungarian countryside to reduce suspicion as they elude the grasp of the ever-present Nazis. Through her beautiful graphite illustrations, Katin elegantly captures the constant fear, the continuous presence of violence and hatred, and the loss of faith that both mother and daughter endure.
In Letting It Go, Katin portrays the long-term impact of the story she tells in We Are On Our Own. This memoir takes place decades after the events of WWII when she and her family have already lived in the United States for many years. When her adult son suddenly announces that he’s moving to Berlin, Katin is horrified at the thought of her son living on “enemy” land. However, during the course of the book, she visits Berlin twice and slowly begins to come to terms with what happened on that land all those years ago. Her colored-pencil drawings prove to be the perfect way to showcase her personal journey.
3. Corinne Mucha, Freshman: Tales of Ninth Grade Obsessions, Revelations, and Other Nonsense
What does every fourteen-year-old want? To fit in. When Annie starts high school, she’s determined to be one of the cool girls because she’s afraid that who she is during freshman year will determine what she will be like for the rest of her life. But as soon as she starts high school, it’s clear that things will not go as she wanted. Using white, green, gray, and black illustrations, Mucha takes a magnifying glass to the roller coaster that is freshman year.
4. Rutu Modan, Exit Wounds and The Property
Exit Wounds tells the story of a young man, Koby Franco, and his journey to heal old wounds in a modern Israel. He and his father are estranged, and he works with his aunt and uncle driving a taxi. One day, a female soldier contacts him and tells him that his father may have been killed in a suicide bombing. At first he is reluctant to get involved, but he soon joins the soldier in trying to find out what really happened to his father. In the process of piecing together his father’s last days, Koby begins to understand what kind of man his father was. Somewhere along the way, he also finds out more about himself. Modan’s full-color illustrations of modern Tel Aviv and of the wealth of characters that Koby meets paint a realistic picture of the repercussions of family secrets and the constant fear of losing those you love.
In The Property, Modan revisits the hurt that family secrets can cause but this time in post-WWII Poland. Regina Segal leaves Poland for Israel during the war and doesn’t return for six decades. After the death of her son, she goes back with her granddaughter, Mica, to reclaim her family’s old property. However, almost immediately after their arrival, it becomes apparent that—unbeknownst to her granddaughter—the property is Regina’s least concern. As we watch Regina come to terms with a modern Poland, decades-old secrets come to light and transform both Regina and Mica. Along the way, we meet a series of colorful characters who both help and hinder the discovery of the truth. Like in Exit Wounds, Modan’s full-color drawings are the perfect complement to this ultimately hopeful story.
5. Nicole Georges, Calling Dr. Laura
In this funny and revealing memoir, Georges tells the story of a long-kept family secret that suddenly comes to light when she is in her early twenties. Growing up, her family always told her that her father had died when she was young, but when she happens to visit a psychic, she learns that her father is still alive. She chooses not to confront her family about it until some time later. (As the title suggests, she ultimately asks Dr. Laura Schlessinger for advice.) In the meantime, we learn about her love for animals, her difficult childhood, and her relationships with women. Georges’ black-and-white illustrations are honest and funny and go perfectly with her witty writing.
6. Pascal Croci, Auschwitz
In this brutally honest depiction of the horrors of the WWII concentration camp in Auschwitz, Croci tells us the story of two survivors, Kazik and Cessia, and their memories of what happened to them at this notorious camp. Croci based these characters on survivors that he interviewed when doing research for this book. Every page is filled with haunting images of death, violence, and hopelessness. Croci’s drawings will stay with you long after you turn the last page.
7. Craig Thompson, Habibi
In this stunningly illustrated work, Thompson tells the story of Dodola and Zam, two children who have been thrust out into the world and forced to survive on their own. The world around them is filled with cruelty, violence, oppression, lust, and apathy, but together they create a place of love and hope. This is the story of how Dodola and Zam first meet, how they live together, how they are pulled apart, and how they’re finally brought back to each other. Thompson tells their tale through breathtaking Middle Eastern-inspired imagery that decorates all 672 pages of this heart-wrenching and inspiring work.
8. Ellen Forney, Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo, and Me: A Graphic Memoir
Is there a connection between mental illness and creativity? In this darkly funny memoir, Forney tries to answer this question as she tells the story of her life after she is diagnosed with bipolar disorder. As a cartoonist, her livelihood is dependent upon her creativity, so when she is first diagnosed, she refuses to take lithium because she fears it will dull her mind. However, as the episodes of mania and depression become too much for her to deal with, she agrees to take medication. But this is only the beginning of her struggle to deal with her BP, as she spends years trying to figure out the right concoction of medications that will stabilize her without affecting her creativity. Forney’s vivid black-and-white illustrations perfectly capture all of the ups and downs of her illness.
9. Kathryn Immonen and Stuart Immonen, Moving Pictures
Ila Gardner is a young Canadian woman working in a museum in Nazi-occupied France, and Rolf Hauptmann is a German officer whose job is to ensure that no art escapes the grip of the Nazis. Husband-and-wife-team Kathryn and Stuart Immonen tell the story of the relationship between this unlikely pair against a backdrop of art, betrayal, and fear. The chiaroscuro of the pages creates beautiful contrasts of light and shadow that add a 3-D quality to the characters’ faces and emotions.
10. Shaun Tan, The Arrival
In this list of graphic novels, this work is unique, as Tan decides not to use text in the telling of the story. The book is entirely made up of his breathtaking surreal drawings, and centers around a man who chooses to leave his family to immigrate to another country. Upon his arrival, he is confused by his landscape, which is filled with strange shapes and even stranger animals. The story of an immigrant struggling to understand his new environment and find people to connect with is a familiar one, but Tan’s sepia-toned drawings take the classic immigrant story to a new and enchanting place.
