Perp's Top 10 Graphic Novels!

[Pedro Del Mar]

Hmmmmmm..... interesting....

US style is making me think Super Heroes?........

 

[Perpetual Man]

Hmmmmmm..... interesting....

US style is making me think Super Heroes?........

Could well be.

 

[Pedro Del Mar]

Was thinking The Dark Knight Returns but you say "creators" so rules it out.....

I did think V for Vendetta but you say US style which rules this one out...

 

[Perpetual Man]

All I can say is it is going to be something unexpected and...

a big whoops as Batman:The Dark Knight mentioned above, should be Dark Knight Returns.

Before I do the number 1 slot there's going to be another nearly made the list section... and I realise I didn't up pictures up for the last one so...

 

[HoopyFrood]

Pep, you're worse than the presenters on Britain's Got Talent for keeping us in suspense.

 

[Perpetual Man]

 

[Perpetual Man]

Pep, you're worse than the presenters on Britain's Got Talent for keeping us in suspense.

Ain't I just >snigger<

 

[Magnus85]

Where's From Hell...?

 

[Perpetual Man]

From Hell is a great graphic novel, a masterpiece of the artform written by Alan Moore on top form.

I can see why so many people rate it so highly (I rate it highly).

But...

For me it was too serious and in places a little hard going and the artwork did not appeal to me as much as I would have liked. All personal reasons and I appreciate I'm in a minority.

That being said I think that it might be time to re-read it and see whether I appreciate it with 'different eyes'

When I first read it I can remember it not being what I expected, and that might have effected the way I remember it.

 

[Kamosis]

Nothing about WE3?

I simply love this one!

 

[Perpetual Man]

There are two more honourable mentions and the first place to come, Kamosis (but WE3 isn't one of them.)

I've read a number of Grant Morrison's works and his writing style just does not mesh with me. I can see what he does, the ideas are phenomenal, but reading them just leaves me cold.

 

[Perpetual Man]

The Last Two Honourable Mentions:​

The Crow by James O'Barr​

The Crow is not just a graphic novel, it is an expression of grief, a collection of beautiful artwork, some poetry all held together within the structure of sequential art that tells the story of a man brought back from the dead by the power of vengeance and the consequences of that.

It is not the greatest drawn strip, neither is the writing the best, but it is one of those where the sum is greater than the parts.

There have been a number of attempts to do sequels, spinoffs and to move it into other media, but other than the original movie (itself becoming something more than what it was due to the death of the star, Brandon Lee on set) nothing else has come close.

The only real answer is the emotional core that bled from O'Barr into the work, pouring his heartache and loss into the story on the page.

Sin City by Frank Miller​

Sin City is more than just a graphic novel, it is a series of graphic novels and for me the best is the dubiously titles That Yellow *******. But... it would not be the best if it was not for the fact that the early stories all interlink, giving a complete tale, while being able to be read as individual stories at the same time.

In many ways it might be argued that Sin City is what Miller was born to write and draw. The style he virtually created for the series is his and his alone, no matter how it has been copied since. The hardboiled writing style is completely owned by him. No one else could tell these tales only Frank Miller and no-one else would want to.

The stories are dark and twisted, often close to the edge, but the way Miller tells them gives them a gripping readability that is unmatched by virtually anything else on the market.

The way they interlink is subtle. There is no direct flow from one to the other, it is just in reading one enriches another, and by the time you get to the end you get the full picture of the issues that were introduced in the first. It's odd that in reading a series that is in black and white, when you eventually get to see the whole picture it is like seeing all the colours.

 

[thatollie]

I think I know what your #1 is going to be.

But instead of telling everyone, I'm going to b**** about the fact that Warren Ellis didn't get an honorable mention.

 

[Connavar]

The Dark Knight Returns didnt make your top 10 but Killing Joke made it ? Your taste in Batman stories is forever tainted in my eyes

Your top 10 is otherwise no surprises with Watchman,Preacher,Maus.

I never get the love for Preacher personally. Is it because its so lets kick god's ass thing ? Preacher is interesting but i cant compare to to Max Punisher,Hellblazer,War Stories,Hitman by Ennis...

Maybe i ask one serious question, you dont like any french,european comic ? Only American comics ?

 

[thatollie]

Conn, you've got to remember that Perp is quite the expert when it comes to Mainstream American Comics and Graphic Novels. Those are his specialist subjects and this is a topic about his tastes.

 

[Perpetual Man]

A few good points raised here:

thatollie - No Warren Ellis? No matter how much someone reads there are always going to be gaps in ones library, and outside of Ellis' mainstream work, I never have been tempted to read Ellis output, which is short-sighted of me. I can't guarantee that is going to change in the near future, but a mention of some of his better works might be added to a future 'to read' list!

I'm intrigued at what you think the #1 is going to be!

Con - It has been an age since I last read B:TKR so if I had recently read it again it might have slipped into the top 10, but from memory as brilliant as it is, The Killing Joke hit harder because of the brutality of Barbara Gordon moment. I still remember reading it, thinking that was horrible, carrying on then my mind caught up with my eyes and the whole: "Holy crap! That was Batgirl!!!"

That being said TKR has some of my all time favourite lines ever.

I'm not sure. I never particularly was bothered about the God side of Preacher, it was just an incidental part of the story. It was the over the top nature of the story, the characters, the dialogue and the great power implanted in Jessie's mind that he carried so well and never abused as much as he might have. Yes Ennis has written some other superb stuff. His Punisher Max run was astounding, but I saw it as comics rather than Graphic Novel, I don't think the translation from ongoing series to GN format worked as well as some of Ennis' other material.

Hitman - How can you not love Hitman. A title that see the main characters menaced by an army of zombie penguins and a superhero called the defenstrater (work it out) and with an ending that is as heartbreaking as it is superb is well worth a mention, but I felt there were a few moments where it lacked consistency.

Hellblazer - Okay I meant to include Ennis run in my honourable mentions and forgot. It's a magnificent run. (I might delay my #1 announcement and do another section on it - sorry Hoops. Hehehehe)

War Stories - Magnificent too, but I think they work better as individual stories than as a graphic novel.

As far as Ennis goes I don't think there is anything he has written that I have not liked, no matter how close he has come to bad taste - I would even consider The Boys, but it's not finished yet.

European stuff. It is a good question, and I have to admit that my European reading is not what it could be. However what I have read (outside of Asterix) has never really struck me as my kind of thing.

I do feel guilty about neglecting 2000AD material. The Day The Law Died, The Cursed Earth (Judge Dredd), Portrait of Mutant (Strontium Dog), Meltdown Man and countless others informed my early comicbook reading and I love the stories no end and as to why I did not include them... to be honest I don't know!

They just did not come to mind when I was thinking about the list.

 

[thatollie]

A few good points raised here:

thatollie - No Warren Ellis? No matter how much someone reads there are always going to be gaps in ones library, and outside of Ellis' mainstream work, I never have been tempted to read Ellis output, which is short-sighted of me. I can't guarantee that is going to change in the near future, but a mention of some of his better works might be added to a future 'to read' list!

I'm intrigued at what you think the #1 is going to be!

Are you looking for Ellis recommendations?

Oh, I'll PM you with my guess for #1.

 

[Connavar]

Ah Perp my bad i didn't know you were ranking the stories how they are read in GN,collection form thinking about Ennis comics. GN is just a nicer name for comic books to me. If a series is awesome in single issues, its awesome in collection form unless of course its Original Graphic Novel one shot.

Killing Joke i read only few years ago when i became Batman fan. It seemed not as important TDK as superhero story. Barbara Gordon have never been Bat girl in my superhero reading time, she has always been Oracle, shot decades ago by Joker. The emotional punch of The Killing Joke was old news to me.

Speaking about european comics, i have read Torpedo drawn by Jordi Bernet,Alex Toth and along with Tintin, Asterix other french classics i have more respect for comics outise US/Japan. I wasn't well read until recently in european comics.

 

[Perpetual Man]

Are you looking for Ellis recommendations?

Oh, I'll PM you with my guess for #1.

Any recommendations would be gratefully accepted - and the same goes for any European stuff Con!

Thatollie -he he he he he he

 

[No One]

Excellent listing of graphic novels here Perp! Not that I've read all of them, but you're offering a superb guide as usual.

Just to go back to the Killing Joke: I was always under the impression that it was intended as a one-off non-canon instalment, exploring the dichotomy between Bats and Joker - namely that they're both suffering from the same fundamental madness but reacting in opposing ways.

I've always had the impression, as the title suggests, that Batman kills the Joker on that final page. Sure, Batman says just beforehand that, in spite of how far Joker has pushed the limits of abuse in the story, he still wants to bring Joker in and do it all by the book. Then the Joker tells his gag and Batman just...snaps.

Anyway, agreed that it is a superb and deeply influential book in the Batman mythos. Heck, even the two batman games make references to it. In Arkham Asylum the Joker (voiced perfectly by Mark Hamill) uses an alias from KJ in the form of Jack White as well as having the line, "So, there are these two guys in a lunatic asylum...say, have I told you this one before?" Love that. Of course, the game also includes Barbara Gordon in her role as Oracle.

Then just recently, and interestingly, I found myself listening to an interview tape in Arkham City, in which Joker relates his origins to Hugo Strange, outlining an event very much in line with the backstory from KJ. It also ends with the quote "I like to keep things interesting. A wise man once told me that if you have to have an origin story, you're better off making it multiple choice", so it keeps the truth neatly obscured.

Oops, got a bit of an Arkham Asylum/City love-in going. I'm very hooked on these at the moment

Great work Perp.