These essential graphic novels are must-reads for anyone interested in the comic medium. The first list is those I’ve reviewed, followed by links to additional works available at Amazon.com.

My Reviews

Age of Bronze: A Thousand Ships | Eric Shanower’s gorgeous retelling of the Trojan War.

Finder | An aboriginal science fiction series by Carla Speed McNeil.

Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic | Alison Bechdel’s memoir of her childhood, focusing on her father’s life in the closet.

Hicksville | Dylan Horrocks creates a town where everyone reads comics in order to show how the medium’s unexplored potential can break your heart.

Locas and Palomar | Massive collections of the Brothers Hernandez’ Love and Rockets stories capturing Hispanic life in California with a punk mentality.

Persepolis | Marjane Satrapi’s story of her childhood in Iran.

Stuck Rubber Baby | Howard Cruse’s semi-autobiographical story of a man coming to terms with his homosexuality during the civil rights movement of the 1960s.

The Tale of One Bad Rat | A thoughtful and powerful exploration of an abused girl’s trip to reclaim her life by Bryan Talbot.

More Classics

Blankets | A young man’s coming-of-age tale by Craig Thompson in a brick of a graphic novel.

The Complete Peanuts | Collections of the most important American comic strip.

From Hell | Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell explore the Jack the Ripper mystery.

Maus: A Survivor’s Tale : My Father Bleeds History/Here My Troubles Began | The Pulitzer Prize-winning Holocaust biography by Art Spiegelman.

The Plastic Man Archives | Wonderfully funny and inventive tales of the stretchy superhero by Jack Cole.

The Sandman | A modern fantasy classic written by Neil Gaiman.

The Spirit Archives | Will Eisner returns establishes a graphic language all his own. (Start with Volume 13, when Eisner returns post-War, if you’re not sure what to sample.)

Understanding Comics | Scott McCloud explains how the medium works — a must-read!

Watchmen | Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons deconstruct the superhero.

Why I Hate Saturn | Everyday urban life takes a fantastic turn in this tale by Kyle Baker.