1. Uzumaki
I like manga so Uzumaki was bound to rank high for my list but it was more than that. Uzumaki has a dark mood that slowly smoothers you. The images are striking in all of their gory detail and the book throws things at me that I have seen before (Shuichi’s dad rolled up in the tub). What can I say, the spiral drew me in.
2. Watchmen
The colors are bold and the characters are doubly. I loved the way Watchmen brought the superhero down to our level and rolled it in the mud. Also it was really fun picking out all of those little details that seemed to pop up everywhere. The only thing keeping this from number 1 was the ending, it just sort of deflates there.
3. Fun Home
When I first started my list Fun Home was further down but it crept up. Out of all of biography types of graphic novels we read, I really liked Fun Home the best. I think the way it was not entirely in chronological order made it stand out. Bechdel created this more like a flow of consciousness that while terrible in Jimmy Corrigan was pulled off well here. Interesting characters and attention to detail round out the reasons I liked this.
4. Dark Knight
Female Robin. End Post.
Seriously though the Dark Knight visually was stunning with all of the water colors creating a very muddy and dirty Gotham. The storyline was much more mature than your average Batman, and seeing Superman shriveled up like a raisin made my day.
5. American Born Chinese
The artwork for ABC was very clean and simple. I felt like I was reading something the vein of the TV shows like Dexter’s Lab during the monkey king parts. This was a good thing. Chinky made my day when he was first introduced and I loved how honestly stereotypical he was (which turned out to be a major part of the plot). An interesting story with moral to it rounded this book out.
6. Maus
The story was the major driving point in Maus. I found Vladek’s story captivating in its honesty and detail. The art for Maus would have to be its week point. I liked the few visual easter eggs (like the swastika road), but there just were not enough of them. The characters looked blain and that may have been intentional but it often made it difficult to tell who was who.
7. Persepolis
As with Maus the story was the major driving point for this well, but unlike Maus it was not as compelling. Marjane’s story really starts to drag its heels when she goes to Europe and though it picks up when she comes home I don’t think it ever recaptures the interest I had at the beginning. There are even less visual easter eggs than Maus and the art did not even have the novelty of critter people to make it standout.
8. Jimmy Corrigan
Ugh
Ok I know this was suppose to simulate the confusion of the main character but you know what? Confusion is not pleasant and I really don’t feel like going through a confusing book. I would not have finished this if it were not for class. The main character is also about as unlikeable as you can get, and in a confusing bunch of whatever for a story, a compelling main character could have kept me anchored but no. Jimmy alienated himself from me like few characters have. By the end of the story I was praying for him to spontaneously explode.