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this appeared on the old forum. Chuck brought up the topic in the other thread, so i found this and offer it here.
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The Graphic Novel as American Literature... beyond MAUS
Sal brought up an interesting notion, when he said he was searching for a graphic novel to include in his lit. class on the CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN NOVEL, beyond the obvious choice of the pulitzer-winning MAUS by Art Speigelman.
I've given it some thought, and have constructed the following list, based on the following criteria:
- "Contemporary" - no adaptations of old or classic works, so excluding the Opera adaptations of Kane and PC Russell, or KAFKA, etc.
- "American" - therefore the brilliant output of the British writers like Neil Gaiman and Alan Moore are not included. But, since their work is amongst the best, i feel one must mention Mr. Moore's work on FROM HELL, V FOR VENDETTA, WATCHMEN, and SMALL KILLING; and Mr. Gaiman's MR. PUNCH, STARDUST, SIGNAL TO NOISE, VIOLENT CASES, and SANDMAN:ENDLESS NIGHTS. This also excludes excellent works by the Japanese and Italians (but they're Axis powers anyway, so who cares?), and the French (but they're French, so who cares?).
- "Graphic" - i was looking for narratives that used words and images, not merely books with illustrations. This excluded Lynda Barry's THE GOOD TIMES ARE KILLING ME, etc.
- "Novel" - I was looking primarily at fictional works that were not reprints or compendiums of ongoing comic books, but were either 1-shots or limited series originally published in the GN square-bound bookshelf format, or oversized GN format. This excludes trade paperbacks of all the SANDMAN books, MIRACLEMAN, CEREBUS, BONE, STRANGERS IN PARADISE, JIMMY CORRIGAN, LOVE & ROCKETS, SIN CITY, etc. I did include some non-fiction, however, to the extent it was autobiography, and not just reportage. And i didn't exclude superheroes, as they are as viable a genre of fiction as any.
With that in mind, here's a list of stuff i've either read or heard about:
* Ghost World / David Boring / Like a Velvet Glove Cast In Iron - Dan Clowes
*Tale of One Bad Rat - Bryan Talbot
*Brooklyn Dreams - JM DeMatteis
*Jew of New York - Ben Katchor
*Boulevard of Broken Dreams - Kim Dietch
*Golum's Mighty Swing - J. Sturm
*Why I Hate Saturn - Kyle Baker
*Road to Perdition - Max Collins
*Heavy Liquid - Paul Pope
*Green Candles - Tom DeHaven
*My Cancer Year - Harvey Pekar
*A Contract with God - Will Eisner
*Fax From Sarajevo / Yossel - Joe Kubert
*Stuck Rubber Baby - Howard Cruse
*Cages - Dave McKean
*The Score - Gerard Jones
*300 / Hard Boiled - Frank Miller
The following books feature established superheroes:
*Batman:The Dark Knight Returns / Elektra Lives Again - Frank Miller
*The Death of Captain Marvel - Jim Starlin
*Marvels - Kurt Busiek
*Kingdom Come - Mark Waid
*Iron Wolf: Fires of Revolution / Twilight - Howard Chaykin
*Batman:War On Crime - Paul Dini
*Golden Age - James Robinson
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Note: i'd think you'd also want to read Scott McCloud's excellent UNDERSTANDING COMICS, a very readable philosophical exegesis about how to comprehend visual storytelling.
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