Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Graphic novel roundup

This Saturday, the book club is focusing the discussion on graphic novels, something which I very rarely buy because (1) they're quite expensive and (2) I don't get them sometimes.

It's only recently (i.e., this year) that I decided to collect some 'seminal works' of graphic fiction. Some of them I pictured below. The rest are somewhere in my bookshelves. I don't have a lot of graphic novels in my shelves, although I make sure to buy the really good ones.

I loved David Small's autobiographical Stitches, which was nominated for a National Book Award. Charles Burns's Black Hole was a scary and mysterious read. Craig Thompson's Blankets somewhat put me off with its overly religious themes. I didn't quite understand Nate Powell's Eisner-winning work, Swallow Me Whole. Daniel Clowes's Ghost World is a gas. And I have yet to read Maus and From Hell.


So we're going to discuss Thompson's Habibi this Saturday. I loved it, and I'm very much interested to hear other people's thoughts about it. I couldn't care about his other two works though. Blankets and Good-Bye, Chunky Rice left no lasting impressions after the last page.



But my current favorite would be Tove Jansson's comic strip about the Moomin family. These tales are timeless. I have no doubts that these collected comic strips would still be enjoyed by future generations. It's such a treat to read the adventures of Moomin, Moominmamma, Moominpappa, the Snork Maiden, Sniff, Little My, and the rest of Jansson's wonderful creations.

4 comments:

Monique said...

How about Watchmen by Alan Moore? Have you tried reading it? And Neil Gaiman's Sandman series? :)

Peter S. said...

Hi, Monique! Yes, I've a copy of Watchmen and I liked it! As for the Sandman series, I think I have 4 of those. I enjoyed those graphic novels too.

Stepford Mum said...

I want those Moomin books too! One day!

Peter S. said...

Hi, Stepford Mum! I believe there are 7 books that make up the collection. So I still have 4 more books to go! The 1st book is quite difficult to find.