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Comic Book/Graphic Novel Recommendations?

Hi Paul,

I've recently gotten into comic books and I'm looking for some more suggestions. So far I've read and love the Sandman and the Preacher series, also I've read the Watchman and some specific Justice League stuff I borrowed from a friend. But I'm looking for more recommendations, maybe stuff the friend doesn't know about?

If it helps, when I'm not reading comics, my favorite genre is magical realism, and I've read a lot of Pynchon, Marukami, Gunther Grass, and Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

Thanks!

P.N. Guin asked Paul Constant in Books & Writing over 2 years ago | Report

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    Paul Constant

    Hey P.N.

    You should try Dash Shaw. He's written three large comics right now, but his big one is Bottomless Bellybutton, and it's fan-fucking tastic. A little more experimentally, you might like his newest book, Body World, too.

    There's a world of stuff out there more literary than Preacher and Watchmen*: Asterios Polyp is probably the best book to come out last year, and it's astounding in a very Murakami-like way. If you haven't read Dan Clowes or Chris Ware, you should get cracking. They both started out as the young turks, but now they're kind of at the top of their artform, doing fine work.

    Specifically, if you want to get into deeper, more literary stuff, you should visit the Fantagraphics Bookstore in Georgetown. They carry more than just Fantagraphics stuff, but it's like a weird alternative universe where super-heroes never existed. I bet you might like Lynda Barry and the Hernandez Brothers, too.

    And you should also look up Yoshihiro Tatsumi, the Japanese cartoonist whose books are being translated and published for the first time in America. He brings an eastern sensibility to comics, and his sense of atmosphere is second to none.

    It'll take a little bit of effort to learn how to read their comics—-it's easy to read all of these authors, but it's harder to get into these comics because they require more work, like, you know, a "real" book by Pynchon. I think you'll find it's worth the effort.

    * Which is not to say I don't like those series, too. Preacher is one of my favorites.

    Paul Constant answered in Books & Writing over 2 years ago | Report
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