Come a little closer, bub
All I’m going to say about the movie is that the intro sequence was the coolest one I’ve seen in a while. What I really wanted to do with this post is recommend a number of related books, like I did for Slumdog Millionaire. But, you know what? I really couldn’t come up with any.
I used to love the X-Men series and, in fact, Wolverine was my favourite character. There was a time I used to read more comics and graphic novels along with all the other books I could get my hands on. However, when I tried to think of the last graphic novel I read, it was Cancer Vixen by Marisa Acocella Marchetto. And that came out in 2006!
While I’m really looking forward to reading Skim by Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki (the Book Club pick in June for the new CBC site that I’m working on), I think I need to get back on track with this genre again. So, I’m going to put it out to you: what graphic novels should I put on my reading list? Or, what books would you recommend for someone who enjoyed the X-Men Origins: Wolverine movie?
Kimberly Walsh is a social media and online community manager. You can follow her on Twitter @AliasGrace.
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
Jeff Smith’s Bone, Bryan Lee O’Malley’s Scott Pilgrim, anything by Scott McCloud, Fables. My favourite one that I’ve read in the past two years was Y: The Last Man by Brian K Vaughan.
Oooh, I love comix (sorry, I can’t call them graphic novels.) Some of my faves?
-Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi (I haven’t seen the movie but the book was AMAZING)
-Boulevard of Broken Dreams or Alias The Cat by Kim Deitch (seriously one of the most talented comix artists ever.)
-MAUS I and II by Art Spiegelman (Pulitzer winner, needs no intro from me)
-From Hell by Alan Moore (Made into a terrible movie with Johnny Depp, but the book is absolutely mind-blowing.)
-Any of the HATE comix by Peter Bagge (The misadventures of Buddy Bradley, a New Jersey-born loser and his crazy girlfriend, Lisa. Not as racist as the name implies.)
Hmm, none of these are really like X-Men at all…
Raquel: LOL. Yeah, graphic novels are just a fancified way of saying comix. Maybe your picks aren’t X-Men related but there are some good choices nonetheless. The movie version of Persepolis was great. Alias The Cat sounds right up my alley. And I think MAUS could stand for a re-read. It’s been years.
Batman: The Killing Joke – recommended to me by my friend Dermot who is a comic fanatic. They say this story explains the Joker’s possible origin.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/index.html?curid=524986
I’ll second the Killing Joke. It was clearly a huge influence on The Dark Knight.
Mouse Guard Fall 1132 by David Petersen
JLA: New World Order, which collects the beginning of Grant Morrison’s run. Best “new old school” superhero comic I’ve read.
I’m also rather partial to Grant Morrison’s run on Doom Patrol from the early 90s, but it’s pretty opaque.
I could go on (almost anything by Alan Moore or Morrison are at least worth a look), but that would top my list right now.
Bessy & Gerald: Two votes for the Killing Joke gets that one added to my list for sure. Looks great. Thanks!
I will second jeff smith’s “Bone”. Great graphic novel series.
Jenn & Austin: Again, two votes puts Bone on the list. I took a quick peek on Chapters and added it to my wish list! I’m also intrigued by Y: The Last Man.
Resurrection – Marc Guggenhiem, one of the creators of Eli stone
Young Liars
Hellblazer….hell anything from Vertigo
Cerebus by Dan Simms
Third on the Killing Joke…just ready anything that Alan Moore did. Obviously Watchmen, The League… Saga of Swanp Thing
Batman – The Dark Knight Returns
There are just too many to choose
Andrew: Thanks for all the great recommendations. I’m sure there are way to many to choose but all these top picks are certainly going to come in handy when trying to narrow down my selection.