Great Scott! It’s Clobberin’ Time!

December 19, 2013 by 5eyedbookworm 9 Comments

My first encounter with a graphic novel was holding a rather thick comic book with the title “Death of Superman” that belonged to a neighbor. I had no idea what a graphic novel was at the time (only a comic book) but it got me reading all right. Having watched Superman and Batman when I was younger, I wasn’t new to the world of comic heroes. Our dog was even called Sheena. Sheena, Queen of the Jungle. Sound familiar? Reading comics was a different thing because my parents couldn’t afford them. I resorted to borrowing Archie double digests from classmates, and Tin Tin and Asterix from the school library. An Archie Double Digest was a luxury and when they eventually bought me one, I was the happiest little thing on Earth. When I got older and my parents could spare some money for my voracious appetite for reading, I bought X-Men and X-Files comics.

Alice famously said, “What is the use of a book… without pictures or conversations?” While we might all agree with Alice on that, books intended for a more ‘mature’ audience don’t have any traces of pictures- well, at least most of them, but we still read them, don’t we? So when graphic novels emerged, I’m sure children of all ages rejoiced. You bet I did.

Having discovered graphic novels lately, I posted a personal challenge to read five graphic novels next year but when I discovered the 7th Annual Graphic Novels and Manga Challenge hosted by Nicola, I decided to join that instead. My aim is to read 12 graphic novels or comics.

The challenge will run from January 1st to December 31, 2014. This year has three levels of play:

Modern Age: 12 books – I’m joining this one. I’ll be tracking my progress HERE.
Bronze Age: 24 books
Silver Age: 52 books

If you want to read more about the challenge and join, please visit this page.

Here are the books that I plan to read for the challenge. This is tentative and if I find better ones along the way, I’ll switch to those.

Marble Season, Ghost World, Underwater Welder, Chew, Fables

American Born Chinese, Watchmen, Blankets, Anya’s Ghost

Green River Killer, Pedro & Me, Mind MGMT

I also listed some alternatives, just in case I get bored with the ones listed above (which I doubt):
Persepolis
Black Hole
Maus
Sandman

I think I’m going to have fun with this challenge. If you would like to join the challenge, please click on this link. If you want to check out the best graphic novels this year, click on any of the links below:

Salon’s Unforgettable Graphic Novels From 2013
Washington Post’s Top Ten Graphic Novels of 2013
School Library Journal’s Top 10 Graphic Novels of 2013
Best Graphic Novels and Comics of 2013 – Goodreads

Have you read a graphic novel before? Would you like to recommend one?