On Reading Graphic Novels discussion

I have been reading a lot of graphic novels recently and really enjoying them. I would love to talk about the books I've read and find out from others which books they like and why. This discussion group seems like a really good place to start.

So here are three of the books I have read recently with a few thoughts about them. Have you read them? Do any of them interest you? What are you reading at the moment and what do you think of it?

"Boxers and Saints" by Gene Luen Yang

This is the story of the Boxer Rebellion / Yihetuan Movement in China in the late 19th Century. The story is told twice, once from the point of view of a man who was a Boxer and once from the point of of a young woman who was a Chinese Christian.

I love the way these two books expose the reader to the complexity of the situation and the way each person's limited individual experience and basic personality traits shape their view of the world around them. You can then see why they act the way they do. I very much enjoyed this pair of books. It was a great read.

"I Kill Giants" by Kelly and Niimura.

This book is about an odd young girl at high school who clearly has some mental health issues. She believes a giant is coming and that she has to kill it. Her fantasy life has become mixed in with her real life and causes her no end of trouble, at school in particular. Eventually the various elements of her life collide and we get to see how her psychological issues have come about and how that relates to her obsessional fantasies.
It won 3 Awards - Best Script, a Manga award and Best Indy Book and was Nominated for an Eisner award.

Having worked for many years with troubled children adn young adults I enjoyed this book and found myself caring a lot about out young protagonist.
The only criticism I have is that some of the less central characters were harder to recognise and remember so I had to riffle through the book a couple of times to find the backstory of a character.

"Box Office Poison" by Alex Robinson

This book is very much a slice of life memoir of a group of friends starting work after college. It's a story centred on the gritty realism of life and people's personalities but in a fairly light-hearted way. Some parts of it had me laughing out loud.

It turned out to be a book I couldn't put down although it was different from other memoir-type graphic novels in a way I couldn't easily define at first and wasn't the happiest read.

Judging by it's reviews I think the biggest frustration with this book for a lot of readers might be that a couple of the main characters are not very likeable. I found this off-putting at first too but, in the end, I found I didn't mind it because other characters became quite endearing and it was interesting to see how these not-so-likeable people got on.

A second issue I found was that some of the characters don't seem to grow throughout the narrative - they start with certain difficulties and and character flaws which seem to lock them into their problems and they just continue like that. This is thrown into sharp relief as others in the book move forwards in their lives and begin to work through their problems. At first I didn't like the frustration of this, but then I began to see how this was one of the main themes the author was writing about.

For me it was the kind of book that gives you more if you persevere, but I can see how it might not be for everyone.

Yes! Let’s reawaken the discussion. I have read so many graphic novels this year than ever before and it would be great to connect with others about the medium. I had not read the ones you mentioned. They sound interesting.

This past year I have jumped around with reading many Manga style one to Squirrel Girl Comic Volumes to Graphic Novel memoirs.

I recently finished reading Maus volume 1 and found the autobiography/biography style of surviving the Holocaust and being a child of a survivor tangible, raw, and real. I’m look forward to reading Volume II.

I read at least one to two graphic novels read a week. It is a bit addicting!

That sounds great. I've heard good things about Squirrel Girl - did you enjoy it? I'd be interested to know which Manga you've been reading too. I think my favourite Mangas at the moment are Planetes, by Makoto Yukimora, Pluto by Naoki Urasawa and Bakuman by Tsugumi Ohba. I also really enjoyed the OEL Manga called Brody's Ghost by Mark Crilley.

I've not read Maus. The subject is so brutal; I find it hard to face. Maybe I should be a bit more courageous! Is it hard to read?

Anyway, great to talk with you, let me know what you think! :-)

Squirrel Girl is witty, with some great messages, has good info on the MCU universe, and some good laugh out loud moments.

I have been reading Manga for about a year. So I am still new to the genera. Some that I have enjoyed are Witch Hat Atelier, Girl from the other Side, and am currently still reading Ancient Magus Bride and Fruit Baskets. A high school one that is a guilty pleasure has been Beastars. It is a bit of a high school soap opera, but has some interesting societal moments that are poignant.

Maus is amazing! It is a difficult subject! The author has the Nazis as cats and the Jewish people as mice. I think this was a good tactic to make it readable and truly see what it took for the survivors to survive! I have heard and read stories about the survivors but didn’t really know all the sacrifices made to do so.

I will definitely read part two!

M

Ahh Beastars - I've seen quite a few episodes of the Anime for that one. It is fun and really interesting, especially wth the dynamic of the predator / prey division. I still really enjoy high school stories. Although I'm off work for medical reasons at the moment (My docs think I may have MS) I'm a teacher so I guess school is still an important place for me!

One of my favourite shorter high school Mangas is "Genkaku Picasso" by Usamura Furuya. It's about this young lad who's great at art and is called Picasso by his friends. Then there's this accident which he survives but his friend Chiaki doesn't. As he's dealing with this loss the ghost of Chiaki appears to him and challlenges him to use his art to save people. (This is just info from the blurb so it shuoldn't spoil the story.)

Thanks for the info about Maus. I've put it on my TBR and ordered a copy of the complete edition with part 1 and 2 in the same book. I am quite looking forward to it now!

Good to talk, Jo

Bettttttt