graphic novels

  • A New Way to Read Biographies

    ~posted by Di Z. In The Infinite Wait and Other Stories, Julia Wertz recounts the time she was diagnosed with lupus and was not able to read novels, one of her favorite pastimes. Wertz’s condition gave her intense headaches and the inability to concentrate, resulting in her trying without success to finish the same paragraph for… Continue reading

  • Book Bingo: Graphic Novels

        – posted by Sven This summer The Seattle Public Library in partnership with Seattle Arts & Lectures is excited to offer a summer reading program for adults called Beach Blanket Book Bingo! In order to help you along on your quest to complete your bingo sheet, we’ve pulled together some reading suggestions based on each… Continue reading

  • Book Bingo: Books You Can Finish Reading in a Day!

     – Posted by Eric G. This summer The Seattle Public Library, in partnership with Seattle Arts & Lectures, is excited to offer a summer reading program for adults called Summer Book Bingo! In order to help you along on your quest to complete your bingo sheet, we have pulled together some book suggestions based on… Continue reading

  • Science Fiction Checklist Challenge: Graphic Novels

    ~Posted by Daniel S. Science fiction and graphic novels go together like a cape and a mask. You may not have considered it before, but the superhero genre really is just another version of sci-fi. Think about all the sci-fi concepts that pop up in your favorite comics: Radiation turns an ordinary man into a… Continue reading

  • Seattle Rep’s ‘Lizard Boy’

    From the ashes of Mount St. Helens emerged a monster with mysterious powers—powers that changed one boy’s life forever. Superhero or freak? Not even he was sure until one fated night of adventure, music and love on the streets of Seattle. Triple-threat Seattle artist Justin Huertas brings Lizard Boy, his breakout hit of the 2013… Continue reading

  • Comics: Focus on Matt Kindt

    By Sven For those on the lookout for unique voices in comics, if writer/illustrator Matt Kindt has not blipped on your radar, it’s time to fine-tune your scanners. Specializing in complex, reality-shattering narratives, and a fluid illustration style soaked in watercolors, Kindt’s decade-plus long career in the industry has resulted in some of the most… Continue reading

  • I Am Woman

    ~posted by Kara I was never a die-hard fan of graphic novels or comics. I remember in high school I was convinced by a friend to read Peach Girl and I found it entertaining enough, but not enough to turn me into a fangirl. As I get older, and I find less time to sit and read,… Continue reading

  • Comics That Educate

    I like to read comics and I also like to learn. I also like to read comics to learn. If you’re not one of the many people who already read non-fiction comic books, then you might find these reviews and recommendations helpful on where to start. The 14th Dalai Lama is a manga biography of Tenzin Gyatso… Continue reading

  • Los Bros Hernandez continue to amaze

    Should they ever award a Nobel Prize in Literature to a cartoonist, the debate might focus solely on which Los Bros Hernandez deserves it most. Gilbert and Jamie Hernandez are best known for their comic book series Love and Rockets which they created with their brother Mario in the early 1980s. Los Bros Hernandez have… Continue reading

  • Comic book memoirs and family secrets

    Several talented cartoonists have used comics memoir (also called graphic memoir) to chronicle their family stories. Alison Bechdel has rightly received much acclaim for her books Fun Home and Are You My Mother? which closely examine her relationships with her father and mother respectively. Below are several more comics which deftly explore complex familial relationships.… Continue reading

  • Learning history from comic books

     I didn’t think I was a fan of comic books, but after reading Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, my view of comic books completely changed.”I found that the comic book format particularly makes learning history more enjoyable due to its lively pictures and brief narrative. I recently read three American history comic books that I happened… Continue reading

  • Science Fiction Fridays: Top twelve of 2012 Part 2 of 3

    Part II in the countdown of the best genre fiction of the year. Part I can be found here, and don’t forget to leave your favorites in the comments! The Croning by Laird Barron A tiny candelight held up to the moments in life where reality turns to nightmarish horror. Barron explores one man’s flickers… Continue reading

  • Science Fiction Fridays: Graphic novels for giving

    Graphic novels make the best gifts. I mean, who doesn’t love to feel like they are giving a truly great gift, and a gift that might actually have a deeper resonance with the receiver. Graphic novels are special because you can give the right graphic novel to almost anyone. People who self-identify as the “I don’t read”… Continue reading

  • Science Fiction Friday: Bulletproof fiction Part I

    I’ve written before about the joys of graphic novels and the great crossover appeal with science fiction and fantasy tropes. But what about that crossover working the other way? A growing number of authors are writing stories with superheroes in more realist settings, or as I like to call it, bulletproof fiction. This subgenre is… Continue reading

  • Science Fiction Fridays: Let’s Get Graphic

    Is there anything better in life than lounging outside on a sunny day reading a great graphic novel? What if we throw in some goth music and some particularly dark graphic novels? Now we’re cooking, my dark-sided friends! So step outside into the sunshine, put on your headphones and check out these surefire graphic novel… Continue reading

  • Wordless Stories for Adults

    As a librarian, I read daily, whether it’s emails, tweets, blog posts, magazines, a variety of news sources (hard to call them papers anymore), and naturally, books. These words add up. I figured out once that I read about 200 words a minute on average, and when I count the minutes and hours I read… Continue reading

  • The Reading Dead: A Zombie literary salon.

    AMC’s The Walking Dead has risen again for a second season, but the aisles of your local library are already crowded with zombies, including Robert Kirkman’s original graphic novel series upon which the show is based (and what isn’t based on graphic novels at this point?) and the first season on DVD.   For anyone who thought the zombie craze was so 2009,… Continue reading

  • Seattle Picks: Set in Seattle

    Indian Killer by Sherman Alexie Someone is murdering white men in Seattle, scalping them and leaving owl feathers behind. As racial tensions rise to fever pitch, suspicion falls on John Smith, an Indian raised by white parents. Leaving Yesler by Peter Bacho Choices are few for a mixed-race working class kid from the projects, but… Continue reading