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This star means that the title or site is recommended especially for younger teens
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While Maus has done a lot to show the kind of powerful storytelling comics can do, there are many, many more true stories that have been told beautifully in graphic novels. Read on for memoirs, war stories, and one of the best ways to live history that I know.
Jump to a title:
Cartoon History of the World
Definition
Ethel and Ernest
Fallout: Robert Oppenheimer, Leo Szilard, and the Political Science of the Atomic Bomb
Fax from Sarajevo
King
Maus
One Hundred Demons
Pedro and Me: Friendship, Loss, and What I Learned
Persepolis
Still I Rise: A Cartoon History of African Americans
Testament
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History -- blech. The way history is portrayed in textbooks with those musty, tedious recitations of dates and places, you can easily forget just how dynamic history can be. There were people, just like you, wrapped up in that event! They were excited, scared, happy, or defeated. Larry Gonick's Cartoon History of the World Parts I and II bring back the humor and the pathos to telling the story of past events, from the evolution of the planet to Greek fashion statements. While making you laugh, he also manages to teach the reader a great deal about the course of human events -- who knew history was this much fun? review by robin |
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Comics make a great format for autobiography because you can tell the story of your life and make your hair look any way you want it to. Definition is the second installment of a four-part narrative of Ariel Schrag's high school years following our heroine through the trials and tribulations of AP Chemistry, crushes on boys, crushes on girls, late-night concerts, and general adolescent awkwardness. Schrag writes and illustrates her stories with a great sense of the silliness of everyday life, and the result is episodes that satisfyingly chronicle the essential weirdness of people. Definition was written in "real time" during Schrag's sophomore year, and the hyperactivity, stress, angst, and euphoria of high school seem immediate and very real. This series also gives readers a chance to see the evolution of a young artist, as Schrag's techniques and style change over the years of her project. Graphic representations of sex, drug and alcohol use, and continual questioning of sexual orientations and identities render Schrag's books appropriate for mature audiences only, but as a post-highschooler, I found that Schrag's frank documentation of taboo subjects kept the story engaging and believable. I laughed until I cried over the frenetic antics of Ariel and friends, and came away from the story convinced that Gwen Stefani of No Doubt is the only pop star worth worshipping. review by Alison |
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Perhaps you remember from your childhood Raymond Briggs' serene and beautiful wordless book about the snowman who comes to life? Or even the animated film, just as serene, with its haunting piano score? Far from wordless or serene, Ethel and Ernest is nonetheless an affecting and heartfelt portrait of Raymond Briggs' parents from their first meeting to their last days. The couple, a maid and a milkman who meet in pre-War London, are familiar as one's own family members: cantankerous but loving, stuck in their ways, and taking on the world in their own fashion. review by robin |
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The atomic bomb remains perhaps one of the most brilliant and most heinous inventions of the human race, and the issues surrounding its creation, in science, politics, and war are the focus of this cautionary tale. Jim Ottaviani, a science Academic librarian, has ably traced the beginnings of the race to capture the secret of the atom through to the triumph and tragedy of the atom bomb's first test. Ottaviani excels at portraying the men involved, including Enrico Fermi, Albert Einstein, Neils Bohr, and Richard Feynman. However, this story focuses on the leader of them all, Los Alamos director Robert Oppenheimer, a fine scientist and a persuasive and diplomatic middle-man between the group of scientists and the military. The success of these scientists' creation is certainly double-edged, and Oppenheimer himself was scrutinized and persecuted over questions of his loyalty to the U.S. The artwork is by a number of fine creators, all in elegant black and white, though Oppenheimer's interrogation at the finish is formatted in an unfortunately confusing manner. This title remains powerful look at a defining moment of the 20th century, provoking the reader to question invention at all costs and voicing a very simply warning: just because we can do something doesn't always mean that we should. review by robin |
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For a lot of us, as horrific as the conflict in Bosnia is, it is also very far away. It has been fairly easy, in the recent past, to sit in our kitchens and living rooms and distance ourselves from such atrocities -- 9/11 has changed all of that. Author Joe Kubert, known for his war comics and work on legendary comic heroes such as Superman and Batman, was drawn into the current conflict by relating the story of Ervin Rustemagic, a businessman and friend of the author's caught in 1992 in Sarajevo as war broke out. As the conflict mounted, and genocide once again became a reality, Ervin's only contact with the outside world through a fax machine. A powerful document of recent events that should not be overlooked. review by robin |
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In his introduction to this first volume, Ho Che Anderson emphasizes biography as an interpretation of the facts he had gathered, and as a kind of meditation of the man behind the legacy. He wonders about how to uncover the man beneath all of the legend and idolization. He asks, quite rightly, how far we as a nation and as a people have come in the pursuit of Civil Rights since the turbulent 60s. At the center of his questioning turns the life of Martin Luther King, Jr., in all its glory and flawed moments, and he deftly creates a portrait of a complex man. This volume follows the beginning of his life, from childhood in the South through his courting of Coretta Scott to the infamous stabbing in Atlanta, 1960. The artwork is a mix of harsh black and white images, almost like snapshots taken with an intense flash, carefully placed instances of color, and images and photographs taken during the events portrayed. The mix of visual medium complements the stark nature of the writing -- in cracking open MLK's life, Mr. Anderson is attempting to uncover the power and the reality of the man through a string of events, from public speeches to personal moments, as they happened and as they are remembered. I was personally reminded anew what a powerful speaker Martin Luther King, Jr. was, and how vital that talent is in persuasion and personality for leaders. Happily, the second volume was just recently published, in 2002, and the third is due out this coming May. An ambitious work, certainly, and told with a storyteller's flair to make history live. review by robin |
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Yes, Maus won the Pulizter Prize. Yes, it's been translated into countless languages and is hailed by critics and readers alike as the graphic novel. These are all well-deserved recognitions of a monumental work -- but the real reason you should read Maus is the simple, unforgettable punch of one survivor's story. Art Speigelman captures in spare black and white his father's story of surviving the Holocaust in Poland, as well as his own strained relationship with his parents and the weight of history. You may think you've heard it all before -- the smoke stacks, the tatooed numbers, the ghettos. Think again -- Speigelman mangages to take all the grim humor and the horror and make it fresh -- a kick we all need every once in a while to appreciate both the strength and evil present in humanity. review by robin |
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I know from my own experience that the addition of pictures to memoirs and journals can transform thoughts and memories into something more than just the workings of an individual brain. As the graphic novel format spawns new variations and genres, more authors are beginning to suggest that comic books can help us to make sense of the confusion in our lives. This brings me to One Hundred Demons, which is Barry's first officially autobiographical book (although her fans might recognize incarnations of some family members from The! Greatest! Of! Marlys! and Freddie Stories). Barry's artwork employs collage, painting, calligraphy and various other interesting techniques, giving readers the feeling of being taken on a guided tour through a friend's attic... or maybe just into the top drawer of an old bureau, full of odd socks, faded photos, and empty perfume bottles. For anyone who grew up weird and wondering what made "normal" people seem so different, these stories of elementary school, bad love, and strange shopping trips will sound very familiar. Who knew that childhood unpopularity and grown-up nostalgia could give birth to stories that seem true even to strangers? So get out your block of Japanese ink, a horsehair paintbrush, and a pad of yellow legal paper and write a few of your own stories about how as we grow up we never quite manage to lose the kids we were. Sincerely! Pass it on!! review by Alison |
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You all know the tag line of The Real World: Seven people are chosen to live in a house to find out what's "real." In 1993, in San Francisco, the world was given an unexpected, and perhaps unasked for, gift -- through watching this hyped reality soap opera, we all got to live with someone who had AIDS. That young man, Pedro Zamora, touched the entire country -- but for author Judd Winick, fellow cast member, he was simply one of his best friends. Here he relates the story around and after the television show and the life-changing effect Pedro had on him. This is the book that got me really into graphic novels. Like Maus, it has won awards, and like Maus, it made me both laugh and cry. If you must read only one graphic novel, this is the one. <>review by robin |
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As a child, Marjane Satrapi wanted to be a prophet when she grew up. She even began writing her own holy book; among her dictates were such rules as "no old person should have to suffer" and "all maids should eat at the table with the others." Raised by modern, Marxist-leaning parents, Marji was an outspoken child who eagerly embraced new ideas. She would have the chance to wrestle with a lot of them: she was 10 years old when the events of Iran's Islamic Revolution began. Persepolis has received tons of hype from both comics fans and the mainstream press; like Art Spiegelman's Maus, Persepolis won over people who had never thought a comic book could convey serious subject matter. Marjane Satrapi' s funny, wise, heart-wrenching book deserves every bit of praise it has received. Her stark, witty black and white forms have the power to make you laugh in one panel and gasp with horror in the next. Her writing is full of subtle insight as she shows us a child and a country caught up in revolution, fundamentalism, and war. Most importantly, she shows us how ordinary lives go on amid uncertainty and violence. She's also unbelievably funny. U.S. fans eagerly await the second volume of Satrapi's memoir, which was originally written and published in France (where the author now lives). Curse those lucky French! While adults are more likely to pick up Persepolis, politically- or historically-minded teens will love it too. It's a natural choice for teachers and librarians. If you need to convince someone that comics can educate as well as entertain, go buy this book right now. review by jen |
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At this point, happily, every reviewer in the world seems to have discovered the frank, optimistic, and critical voice of Marjane Satrapi. Persepolis: A Story of a Childhood has become a known title in the book world and is being used, like Maus before it, to show that these graphic novels aren't just funny books. Although not quite as cohesive as the first volume, this second memoir of Satrapi's life is no less poignant, hilarious, and galvanizing. When we last saw her, Marjane was on her way to Vienna to discover a life beyond Iran's ever more constraining society. In Vienna she discovers all manner of hijinks to get involved in, from boys to weed, but she can only blot out her family and her troubled homeland for so long. In many ways, the author's young adulthood is not unlike any other adventuresome teen's progress, and Satrapi presents her adolescence with the same wit and critical eye that she used to delve into her childhood. Here she is more lost, more unsure of herself as youthful certainty gets slowly eroded by reality. Despite the appeal of remaining oblivious in the relative safety of Europe, she eventually chooses to return to Iran. Her life there is full of everyday struggles to maintain her independence while trying to navigate her way toward love and marriage. Most of all, she trys to find a way to understand her countrymen's juggling of history, national pride, religious piety and hypocrisies both large and small. In the end, she knows she must recall her own voice before she can criticize others thankfully for all of us reading her tale, she did just that. Her art is just as crisp and suits the topic so well that it's hard to imagine anyone else melding word and image so organically. review by robin |
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Taking a cue from Larry Gonick's creations, Still I Rise relates the history of African Americans, from landing on U.S. shores as slaves to soldiers in World War II and beyond. With equal doses of humor and serious purpose, illustrated in elegant black and white, the Lairds have condensed a great deal of history into an informative, definitely entertaining title. review by robin |
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Testament is a work I was not expecting to adore for the very simple reason that I'm entirely unaware of most of the stories of the Old Testament. I have virtually no religious background and so even well-known stories are new to me, so I was worried the stories would not resonate with me as they might with another, more familiar reader. First off, I was wrong -- the stories are presented in simple language and with outstanding illustrations across the board. The fact that I didn't know them may have in fact been a bonus -- the drama was all new to me -- but I've compared my reactions with friends who knew more ahead of time and they were equally impressed. The frame for these tales is conversation in a bar with a familiar bartender, but each tale has its own art and style. My only quibble is that many of the stories felt rushed -- I wanted more detail, more time to digest each. This title is published by a subsidiary of the American Bible Society, and Testament is refreshingly free of any preachiness -- they are presented as stories, not a religious text, nor are they intended to be taken as such. The violence represented, for certainly the old Testament is not full of peaceful stories, is at around a PG-13 level. For anyone looking for a unique and excellently illustrated addition to their collection, check Testament out. review by robin |
Cartoon
History of the World I and II
Ethel
and Ernest: A True Story
Fallout:
Robert Oppenheimer, Leo Szilard, and the Political Science of the
Atomic Bomb 
Fax
from Sarajevo
King
Persepolis
2: The Story of a Return
Still
I Rise: A Cartoon History of African Americans
copyright Robin Brenner 2002-2004