Over the weekend, I started getting into #graphicnovels and #comics and got a few of the top suggestions from Reddit and Co. (IN., Limbo, Saga, Daytripper, The Boys).
Do you have any other suggestions that are not your typical Marvel & DC superhero stuff?
I am thinking about pitching a book group, like 4-5 titles, at a group of over-60s I know. “Graphic Novels You Should Have Read.”
And I realized that I’m weak on the topic now, since I don’t go to comic book stores anymore & I didn’t keep up in the general interest bookstore where I worked.
So tell me what you think the best graphic novels up to this very minute are, please and thankudrivethru.
Le Monde Sans Fin: the Institut Francais D'Ecosse on the Royal Mile, #Edinburgh , has a free exhibition (until May 10th) around the bestselling graphic novel collaboration between environmental scientist Jean-Marc Janovici and Angouleme winning creator Christophe Blain. I have a short review up on Down the Tubes https://downthetubes.net/in-review-le-monde-sans-fin-exhibition-edinburgh/
In 2012 I self-published a 30-page #comic, DELILAH DIRK AND THE SEEDS OF GOOD FORTUNE.
11 years later, in 2023, despite the default pay-what-you-want price being $0.00 and only being available in (DRM-free) PDF format from one obscure store, it made up 5% of my #book "royalties."
It's not the complete picture, but take from that what you will.
This week!
🐭 Early dream-scape concepts from my 2020 childrens' book LET'S GET SLEEPY!,
🤲 some joy-filled recommendations,
👬 and notes on staying connected now that Tinyletter has shut down and Tumblr is behaving carelessly.
(In the spirit of staying connected, it's a free public post, too.)
In Deutschland sterben jährlich rund 127.000 Menschen durch Rauchen. Die Politik versucht daher, Werbung für Tabakprodukte und E-Zigaretten aus dem öffentlichen Raum zu verbannen, besonders zum Schutz von Jugendlichen und Kindern.
Dass auch fiktive Charaktere aus Kinderbüchern dazulernen können, hat Lucky Luke schon in den 1980er-Jahren unter Beweis gestellt.
'One of the most successful African comics has no super heroes, and certainly no supernatural powers.
Instead, “Aya,” a graphic novel series, is full of everyday heroes, and topping the list is Aya herself, a young woman navigating the delights and obstacles of early adulthood in the West African nation of Ivory Coast.'
In this week's post, a short video revealing one dumb, fun little thing I did while I was flatting DELILAH DIRK AND THE TURKISH LIEUTENANT, just to amuse myself. No one else was meant to see it, but YOU can, now.
Damn it – for the second time in four months, Gail Simone has got me shedding real tears in a coffee shop. First time was Variants (the Jessica Jones limited series); I read that in a new-to-me place in Minneapolis. Today, at one of my locals, it was Clean Room (Volume 3 in particular). #GraphicNovels#Marvel#VertigoComics
Over the last few weeks I've been doing a retrospective deep-dive into DELILAH DIRK AND THE TURKISH LIEUTENANT, a graphic novel I started making almost 18 years ago, and which was published ten years ago.
The posts explore ideas of style, tone, regrets, and youthful hubris, among other things. Also compares different, secret! versions of the finished work!
This week on the Patreon:
since I'm in the liminal space of page prep and lettering for DD4 and I don't have anything thrilling to show, a deep dive into 2007's
⚔️ DELILAH DIRK AND THE TREASURE OF CONSTANTINOPLE. ⚔️
What makes a Canadian guy in his mid-twenties decide to publish a comic outlining the origins of a semi-mythical, tea-loving 19th-century English lady adventurer?
@bookstodon In 2023 there's been a huge expansion in the number of graphic novels, graphic memoirs, and graphic nonfiction published. They deserve a 2023 "Best of" list of their own. Here's mine; add yours. I always want to hear about great graphic books!
Best Graphic Books published in 2023:
THE LIBRARIAN OF AUSCHWITZ, Salva Rubio, Antonio Iturbe
YAZIDI! Aurélien Ducoudray, Mini Ludvin
SUNSHINE, Jarrett J. Krosoczka (author of HEY, KIDDO)
DICTATORSHIP: IT'S EASIER THAN YOU THINK! Sarah Kendzior, Andrea Chalupa, Kasia Babis
THE INFINITY HEART, Wendy Xu
FUNNY THINGS: A COMIC BIOGRAPHY OF CHARLES M. SCHULTZ, Luca Debus, Francesco Matteuzzi
EIGHT BILLION GENIES: DELUXE EDITION, BOOK ONE, Charles Soule, Ryan Browne
GENDER IS REALLY STRANGE, Teddy Goetz, Sophie Standing
MONICA, Daniel Clowes (author of GHOST WORLD)
COURAGE TO DREAM: TALES OF HOPE IN THE HOLOCAUST, Neal Shusterman, Andrés Vera Martínez
ARTIFICIAL: A LOVE STORY, Amy Kurzweil
WASHINGTON'S GAY GENERAL, Josh Trujillo, Levi Hastings
This week on the Patreon, it's the
🤜 FONT SHOWDOWN 🤛
Two posts diving into my reasons for wanting to find a new typeface for this graphic novel, and an opportunity to say
"this one looks the best, you idiot,"
or
"you're obsessing over nothing, idiot."