Recommendations Needed: Graphic Novels/Comics for Teaching

[The Bluestocking]

I am a part-time English tutor and have currently just took on a couple of 13-year-old boys whose English is very poor and whose attention spans are that of a drunken gnat.

From what I gather, they hate reading except for comics (they read Chinese language comic books). So I figure that it may be better to hook them into reading via comics and graphic novels before sliding them in sideways to reading YA books like Harry Potter etc.

It's been a while since I've read any comics (though I have, of course, read stuff like Neil Gaiman's Sandman, Hellblazer, X-Men etc. The first two, at least, are unsuitable for young kids), so I'm not exactly up-to-date with what would be suitable for a couple of just-turned-teenage boys.

Suggestions and recommendations?

Namaste!

 

[Vince W]

I'd go with the English versions of Tintin and Asterix. Easy to read and really good.

For more recent stuff I might suggest any of the standard superhero stuff.

 

[The Bluestocking]

I'd go with the English versions of Tintin and Asterix. Easy to read and really good.

For more recent stuff I might suggest any of the standard superhero stuff.

Thanks, Vince - I'll be compiling a list from what everyone suggests on this thread. The two boys are used to reading Chinese martial arts comics so standard superhero stuff may be just what they need - and it's also good because I can tie it in with the various superhero movies and TV series that have come out/are running in recent years.

Can you recommend particular superheroes they can start with - maybe a series with more-or-less self-contained story arcs? I know who the superheroes are but at the moment, I don't know what direction most of the major series have taken.

 

[Vince W]

I'd start with Superman. Maybe the graphic novel version of All-Star Superman. It pretty much covers the early life of Clark/Superman. All-Star Batman would work well too, I think.

 

[The Bluestocking]

I'd start with Superman. Maybe the graphic novel version of All-Star Superman. It pretty much covers the early life of Clark/Superman. All-Star Batman would work well too, I think.

Okay. I don't know if we can get the TPB edition here but I'll check. If not, I guess we'll have to see what's out there. It's a trip to one of the bigger bookshops for me coming up (only Kinokuniya in the city centre will probably stock a big enough range of comics for me to pick up what's needed).

 

[Donal DeLay]

I haven't read a lot of Chinese comics, but don't be discouraged if they don't take to western comics. I do know the pacing/storytelling is very different between the two cultures, and I've had friends that taught in Japan, China, and Korea who gave kids American comics only to find them unappealing.

As far as recommendations go, lately I've been suggesting people check out the new Rocket Raccoon series because of the Guardians Of The Galaxy movie. The comic is loads of fun. As far as superhero comics goes, the recent Batman books have been pretty great. Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo's run (Court Of Owls, Death Of A Family, Zero Year) is a good place to jump on if they enjoyed the Nolan Bat-movies.

Final Frontier by Darwyn Cooke is an amazing book, and you can't go wrong with Hellboy.

 

[Cat's Cradle]

Good day, TBS! Here are four of my favorite graphic novels, and my favorite manga:

Graphic Novels:
Irredeemable by Mark Waid/Peter Krause
Kingdom Come by Mark Waid/Alex Ross (the main character is Superman)
Planetary by Warren Ellis/John Cassaday
Bone by Jeff Smith (this is a kind of humorous/fantasy/adventure book; it's very funny, very sweet, and wonderful. Not sure if a 13 year old would like it, but it's a nice alternative to punch-em-up superhero books).

Manga:
Naruto by Masashi Kishimoto (my favorite comic ever! Remarkably popular; your kids would very possibly know this; this manga is very heavily into the concepts of loyalty to friends and community; honesty and honor; and the love of friends and family; wonderful fight scenes against some very bad people, too.)

All of these are available through the several Amazon sites I checked (for the UK and the US); you can read a fair bit about them at those sites, or at wikipedia.

Perpetual Man is, I think it's fair to say, the Chrons graphic novels/comics expert. Here is a link to a great thread he started about his favorite graphic novels; a bunch of us piped in with other favorites, so perhaps something here would be of use to you. (Batman seems to be universally known--maybe a Batman comic would help you reach the imagination of your young wards).
http://www.sffchronicles.com/threads/535758/

Best of luck! I'd love if you post your choices here when you've selected the works you'll be using in class! I'm curious to see what you eventually go with.

 

[The Bluestocking]

Final Frontier by Darwyn Cooke is an amazing book, and you can't go wrong with Hellboy.

Oooh! Hellboy completely slipped my mind! I think that's going into the reading list for them....

 

[The Bluestocking]

Good day, TBS! Here are four of my favorite graphic novels, and my favorite manga:

Graphic Novels:
Irredeemable by Mark Waid/Peter Krause
Kingdom Come by Mark Waid/Alex Ross (the main character is Superman)
Planetary by Warren Ellis/John Cassaday
Bone by Jeff Smith (this is a kind of humorous/fantasy/adventure book; it's very funny, very sweet, and wonderful. Not sure if a 13 year old would like it, but it's a nice alternative to punch-em-up superhero books).

Manga:
Naruto by Masashi Kishimoto (my favorite comic ever! Remarkably popular; your kids would very possibly know this; this manga is very heavily into the concepts of loyalty to friends and community; honesty and honor; and the love of friends and family; wonderful fight scenes against some very bad people, too.)

All of these are available through the several Amazon sites I checked (for the UK and the US); you can read a fair bit about them at those sites, or at wikipedia.

Perpetual Man is, I think it's fair to say, the Chrons graphic novels/comics expert. Here is a link to a great thread he started about his favorite graphic novels; a bunch of us piped in with other favorites, so perhaps something here would be of use to you. (Batman seems to be universally known--maybe a Batman comic would help you reach the imagination of your young wards).
http://www.sffchronicles.com/threads/535758/

Best of luck! I'd love if you post your choices here when you've selected the works you'll be using in class! I'm curious to see what you eventually go with.

Thanks for the suggestions, CC! I'm toying with the idea of selecting one of the superhero series playing now (e.g. The Flash) and getting them to watch that while also reading the comic book series.

Also - Manga is out unless we can get English-language versions. These boys are 13 but their English language proficiency is that of a 7-year-old with middling English language skills.

Yes - that challenging.

 

[wam]

I am a part-time English tutor and have currently just took on a couple of 13-year-old boys whose English is very poor and whose attention spans are that of a drunken gnat.

From what I gather, they hate reading except for comics (they read Chinese language comic books). So I figure that it may be better to hook them into reading via comics and graphic novels before sliding them in sideways to reading YA books like Harry Potter etc.

It's been a while since I've read any comics (though I have, of course, read stuff like Neil Gaiman's Sandman, Hellblazer, X-Men etc. The first two, at least, are unsuitable for young kids), so I'm not exactly up-to-date with what would be suitable for a couple of just-turned-teenage boys.

Suggestions and recommendations?

Namaste!

Since I've never seen Chinese language comic books, I couldn't say for sure but the obvious thing to do is to find out what goes into those books and build on that. Doesn't matter if the equivalent is a comic book or not although, obviously, that's a better place to start. Since what Americans put into comic books and what everyone else puts into them is generally different it might be best to put aside the assumption that what they're reading is going to be similar to U.S. comics. Find out what they read and why and then try to find something with not too many words that does the same thing then build from that.

 

[Hex]

Coming to this late (I just noticed it in the "similar posts" thingie at the bottom of something else) but, I have a 7 year old boy with questionable reading skills (well, he's 8 now, but still) and he adored Zita the Spacegirl (which may be a little young/ girl-focused for 13 year olds, you could check) and especially the Amulet series -- fabulous and properly grown up. Everyone raves about Bone, but the English is non-standard and so might not be hugely helpful for teaching.

They're for 7-11 year olds, but the Frankie Pickle books are really funny and combine comic sections with text. The English is quite American, but again, my 8 year old can read them.

There's also Barrington Stoke, who produce books for children with dyslexia (standard text books but with lots of pictures). We've had lots of success with Chris Bradford's books (there are a couple about Ninjas, and one called Gamer), which are aimed at teenagers in terms of themes and ideas, but with more straightforward language than other teen books. Chris Bradford's a martial artist so the fight scenes are particularly detailed and good.

 

[Editorinchic]

No Mad Max lover here?