Yes to all your comic book selection. Maus was also the first graphic novel I read when I was 22, in grad school, when my fellow classmate taught it in his practice class. I reread it not long ago and own a copy.
I also own Watchmen and Sandman. Like you, I got Watchmen before the movie to read it first (and I really thought the movie was the book on screen) and was very impressed by it. My favorite volume of the Sandman is the 6th one, the one with historical short stories, which is not a surprise for someone with BA and MA in history. It is not my very favorite of Gaiman's things but I do love mythology. I'm not an art person, I read for words not the art, so I'm not exactly the audience for graphic novels but I did like these for stories.
Also Fun Home by Alison Bechdel would be on my best graphic novel list. I really liked that one.
I collected Buffy Season 8 and Angel Season 6. I liked them but I ended I up really disliking the direction of Buffy Season 8, so I sold those. Angel ones were actually better as a story and I actually liked the art there. But I read for story not the art.
I read Maus for a class taught by a grad student, actually :) I still have my copy, too, though I haven't reread it since. It's not the kind of book I really feel like rereading... but one that I do want to keep, and maybe share with the rodents.
I thought the Watchmen movie did a really good job of adapting the book (casting, especially!). Ozymandias's plot is changed, and I did kind of miss the craziness of the original, but I can totally understand why, too.
For Sandman, I was surprised by how much I liked the 6th volume, because I don't terribly like history -- but it worked for me here. (Not my very favorite of Gaiman's things -- that would be American Gods and The Graveyard Book -- but up there.)
I thought about including GNs which were not standalone but tied in to franchises in other media. Like, there are several Avatar: the Last Airbender comics that I really enjoyed, and the Rivers of London comics are a pretty good supplement -- but ultimately decided it was too hard for me to deconvolute those from my feelings for the overall canon.
I haven't read any Bechdel, but have definitely heard good things about her work, and should pick up something by her one of these days. As you can tell, my comic tastes, like my reading tastes in general, gravitate heavily towards SFF, so something that's comic and not genre starts out with two strikes against it. But at some point, for cultural literacy, I should...
Yes to all your comic book selection. Maus was also the first graphic novel I read when I was 22, in grad school, when my fellow classmate taught it in his practice class. I reread it not long ago and own a copy.
I also own Watchmen and Sandman. Like you, I got Watchmen before the movie to read it first (and I really thought the movie was the book on screen) and was very impressed by it. My favorite volume of the Sandman is the 6th one, the one with historical short stories, which is not a surprise for someone with BA and MA in history. It is not my very favorite of Gaiman's things but I do love mythology. I'm not an art person, I read for words not the art, so I'm not exactly the audience for graphic novels but I did like these for stories.
Also Fun Home by Alison Bechdel would be on my best graphic novel list. I really liked that one.
I collected Buffy Season 8 and Angel Season 6. I liked them but I ended I up really disliking the direction of Buffy Season 8, so I sold those. Angel ones were actually better as a story and I actually liked the art there. But I read for story not the art.
Reply
I thought the Watchmen movie did a really good job of adapting the book (casting, especially!). Ozymandias's plot is changed, and I did kind of miss the craziness of the original, but I can totally understand why, too.
For Sandman, I was surprised by how much I liked the 6th volume, because I don't terribly like history -- but it worked for me here. (Not my very favorite of Gaiman's things -- that would be American Gods and The Graveyard Book -- but up there.)
I thought about including GNs which were not standalone but tied in to franchises in other media. Like, there are several Avatar: the Last Airbender comics that I really enjoyed, and the Rivers of London comics are a pretty good supplement -- but ultimately decided it was too hard for me to deconvolute those from my feelings for the overall canon.
I haven't read any Bechdel, but have definitely heard good things about her work, and should pick up something by her one of these days. As you can tell, my comic tastes, like my reading tastes in general, gravitate heavily towards SFF, so something that's comic and not genre starts out with two strikes against it. But at some point, for cultural literacy, I should...
Reply
Leave a comment