Graphic Novels Challenge - 2010 Wrap

At the start of 2010 I signed up for The Graphic Novels Challenge, which I will be participating in again in 2011. I am really pleased that I read 19 books that (more or less) fit into my own loose definition of a graphic novel. I tried to make my choices varied but I am sure that I am only scraping the surface of the genre and I know from the bits of paper sticking out of my copy of 500 Essential Graphic Novels that there are plenty more out there to track down!

What really struck me when I was copying the list over was that, with the exception of The Guild, they were all written by men! What's that all about? I'll have to do some investigating and try to find some more female authors for 2011 as I think that the only one I have ever read is Marjane Satrapi's excellent Persepolis.

I'm kicking myself that I stopped reviewing in April but my 2010 graphic novel highlights, from a very strong selection, were Girl Genius (I sooooo wish I could afford to buy all the colour editions!), Absolute Sanman, The Guild and Blankets. None of which I would have read without the blogging community egging me on so thank you and I look forward to seeing what next year brings!

2010 Graphic Novels:
Murder Mysteries - Neil Gaiman & P. Russell Craig
The Magic Flute - P. Russell Craig
Absolute Sandman - Vol 1 - Neil Gaiman
Pyongyang: Journey in North Korea - Guy Delisle
Girl Genius: Omnibus 1 - Phil and Kaja Foglio
Death Note volumes 1 & 2 - Tsugumi Ohba
1: Out from Boneville & 2: The Great Cow Race - Jeff Smith
The Adventures of the Princess and Mr Whiffle - Patrick Rothfuss
When The Wind Blows - Raymond Briggs
The Unwritten: Vol 1 - Mike Carey & Peter Gross
Harlequin Valentine - Neil Gaiman & John Bolton
Comics: The Invisible Art - Scott McCloud
The Invention of Hugo Cabet - Brian Selznick
That's Not My Cow - Terry Pratchett
The Guild - Felicia Day & Jim Rugg
We3 - Grant Morrison & Frank Quitely
Blankets - Craig Thompson

Persepolis - Marjane Satrapi

This book counts towards both the Non-Fiction Five and the Graphic Novel Challenges. I think that this might actually make it a Non-Fiction Six but I'm sure that can't hurt!

With my recent (rather tardy) joining in with the Graphic Novel challenge, and in a bid to get enough books read to earn my "Minor" badge, it seemed a good time to read Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. My paperback edition contains both The Story of a Childhood and The Story of a Return.

Persepolis is an autobiographical graphic novel set in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. At this time, Satrapi is the six-year-old daughter of two Marxists. As she grows up in Tehran she witnesses first-hand the effects that the revolution, and the war with Iraq, have on her home, family, friends and school. The second book in this omnibus covers her adolescence years spent in Vienna as, at the age of 14, her parents sent her out of the country to keep her safe and then finally her return to attend college in Iran which takes us up to her mid-twenties.

Like Maus, which I read earlier this year, the story is told using deceptively simplistic black and white images however this does not mean that the story is a simple one. It's a very personal, and honest, account of a girl growing up in very difficult circumstances. Satrapi uses a very dark sense of humour to skirt a fine line between comedy and tragedy which works effectively in allowing her to tell her personal story as well as recount some pretty horrific events happening around her. The contradiction between public and private life in Tehran lent itself well to depiction by illustration and the nuances of rebellion, whilst her and her friends were ostensibly conforming in dress and behaviour, were fascinating.

I think that condensing the book to standard paperback size, as in my edition, was a shame as sometimes the text was a bit hard to read and the layout felt compromised. Having said that, I still enjoyed it and I think I have been incredibly lucky to have read three such good examples of non-fiction graphic novels this year. I've also tracked down an excerpt which gives a good sense of what to expect from this book.

The Graphic Novels Challenge

Fashionably late to the party, I've just seen, and joined in with, the Graphic Novels Challenge!

Hosted by Laza of Gimme More Books, the challenge has four grades to mark achievement and I am aiming for at least a Major by the end of the year but I might even get my Masters!

Minor: Read 6
Major: Read 12
Masters: Read 18
Doctorate: Read 24

So far this year, I've already read two non-fiction graphic novels which are Maus by Art Spiegelman and Burma Chronicles by Guy Delisle. I know I have at least four more books lurking in the TBR pile that would qualify for this challenge and my local library has recently expanded it's "Teen" section which, for some reason, is where the Graphic Novels are all kept. Hopefully I'll be able to earn my Minor grade without succumbing to the temptation that my recent purchase of the book 500 Essential Graphic Novels: The Ultimate Guide has made me very vulnerable to as well...

I'm really looking forward to this one!

Watchmen - Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons

I've just finished reading Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. What an experience. The only other graphic novel I've read is V for Vendetta, also by Alan Moore, which I loved reading but this was something else.

The artwork by Dave Gibbons is incredible - I spent ages just staring at the almost cinematic imagery on the first page! If you clicked that link then you'll probably also gather that this is not a story about kittens and bunnies. It's a pretty bleak tale and contains plenty of violence - not one for children.

The story is set in an alternative 1980s America where the threat of an all-out nuclear war is very real. It follows a group of retired super heroes (although as with the exception of Dr Manhattan they don't actually have super powers perhaps it's more accurate to describe them as a group of volunteer vigilantes) whom someone is, or appears to be, picking off one by one. What I quite liked about the book as I was reading it was that I was never quite sure who was a goodie and who was a baddie, possibly because no-one is ever really either, and that really helped to build genuine suspense as I didn't know where the story was headed and I could see that the clock was ticking down the minutes... The ethical and political points made in the story are as relevant today as they were in 1986/7, when the comics were first published and this makes for a thought-provoking, as well as entertaining, read.

It's being made into a film, directed by Jack Snyder who also directed the visually delightful 300, which will be released 6th March 2009. This should make for interesting, of dark, viewing but I really can't figure out how they'll manage the transition of some of the sub-plots. The costumed actors in the publicity stills look pretty impressive though so fingers crossed it's a good one.