Comic & manga advice, people!

[telophase]

riofriotex said, in a comment on my post about librarians discussing manga:

I really need to learn more about graphic novels. I've just been hired as a university librarian, but part of my domain includes the curriculum collection (including picture books, juvenile literature, textbooks, etc.). It's mostly used by local teachers and education majors at the school, so graphic novels that are particularly suited for school libraries and use in the classroom would be needed in the collection, in my opinion. I would love some suggestions on where/how to learn more about the genre.

I fanpushed Usagi Yojimbo and said I'd ask you guys. Howzabout it? :D

Comments

[asteres.livejournal.com]

I've heard of the manga of Naussica of the Valley of the Wind being used as a text book before.

I've also heard good things about the series Maus used in classes. It's a story about mice in the holocaust, if I'm not mistaken. Haven't read it yet.

[octopedingenue]

Are we including Japanese comics / manga (-style) series with this? If only OEL comics, then:

Elementary school: Owly (no objectionable content)

Late elementary school / junior high: Ultimate Spider-Man (violence, bleeped-out profanity), Mary Jane (shoujo Spidey, no objectionable content)

Late junior high / high school: Maus (Holocaust violence and trauma), the start of J. Michael Straczynski's run on Amazing Spider-Man (violence, profanity), The Sandman (violence, horror/disturbing content, sexual content, profanity), My Faith in Frankie (polytheism, profanity, polyamory, homosexuality...in the cutest fluffiest way possible), The Tale of One Bad Rat (profanity, violence, sexual abuse, incest)

[joyeuxnoel.livejournal.com]

Hmm... you're looking for books that would be checked out and on demand I take it?

I second the vote for "Maus" and I'll put in a vote for "Bone" as well. Also, Scott McCloud's "Understanding Comics" is generally considered a must read for anyone whose every touched a comic book on more than a casual basis. (He also has a follow up book entitled "Reinventing Comics".)

There's also a Listof Award Winning Graphic Novels (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_award-winning_graphic_novels) at the Wikipediea.

[selenite.livejournal.com]

I second McCloud's books.

[matildarose.livejournal.com]

As far as the Japanese side of things go, I know that young adult books (short books with illustrations) are now being published in English. Boogiepop Doesn't Laugh (violence, man-eating monster, paranormal weirdness) would be good for the mid-teen and above crowd, while Kino's Journeys (some violence depending on the story, guns, talking motorcycles that are awesome :D), when they come out, may be good for preteen and up, and especially good for classroom discussions because of the different levels each story takes.

[tprjones.livejournal.com]

I think the only graphic novel I ever sought out and read most of is Elfquest by Richard and Wendy Pini. It'd be a good choice, although there's some sex in there.

[rabican.livejournal.com]

Damnit, you beat me to it all! Except for Bone, which someone else got to.

[yhlee.livejournal.com]

For the memoir side of things, Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis and Persepolis 2 are awesome (high school: sex, drug use, terrorism--some blackly funny stuff about growing up in Iran).

[asteres.livejournal.com]

BTW, in HS, I read Huxley's Brave New World. Frankly, I think V for Vendetta might be a good call.

[rayechu.livejournal.com]

My local library has copies of Usagi Yojimbo, Kenshin, and Fruits basket. All are well loved, and seem to get checked out quite a bit.

No Flying, No Tights

[(Anonymous)]

There's a website run by a librarian about graphic novels, including manga.

No Flying, No Tights (http://www.noflyingnotights.com/)

Check it out.

[dracunculus.livejournal.com]

Age of Bronze: A Thousand Ships and the sequel Sacrifice is a retelling of the Trojan War in graphic novel format, and is supposed to be meticulously researched (I haven't actually read it).

Bill Willingham's Fables, at least the first two volumes, don't have anything more objectionable than mild profanity, as far as I recall... (I haven't read any farther so can't speak for later volumes). Neil Gaiman's Stardust has a tastefully executed sex scene and is otherwise unobjectionable.

Love to give an opinion

[buddleia.livejournal.com]

I think an obvious choice would be some of The Sandman run, by Neil Gaiman, particularly A Dolls House. These are not for children - serial killers and a certain amount of horror - but for teens and young teens, I think they would be ideal.

A classic, and I mean classic, graphic novel is Watchmen by Alan Moore. It's very bleak, but very subtle and complex and uses the comic format amazingly well. Again, it's not for children at all, but for teens it's a good info dump on the cold war, the eighties fear of nuclear war, huge and terrifying moral decisions, and some of the psychology of caped heroes/vigilantism.

I see Maus recommended above. It's amazing, but it is a very adult book. It's about the holocaust, via Art Spiegelman's relationship with his father and uses animals as metaphors (mice as jews, cats as Germans, etc.). I think every teenager should read it but I really wouldn't give it to children, it tore me apart.

For children, Princess Nausicaa would be excellent, the young protagonist is wonderful and the post-apocalyptic setting beautifully realised. I'd also recommend The Wolves in the Walls by Neil Gaiman for younger children.

I suppose some obvious choices for children as well are the Tintin books, by Herge, and the surprisingly adult Asterix and Obelix books by Goscinny and Uderzo (the in-jokes are priceless and must have been a nightmare to translate from the original French). I picked up a lot of French from untranslated Tintin books and I know a few others who did. They're ideal for this.

Lucien's Tips for Librarians

[amberley.livejournal.com]

I echo everyone else's recommendation of Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics and also point to Lucien's Tips for Librarians (http://leep.lis.uiuc.edu/seworkspace/tarr/lucien/libr.html) on graphic novels.

[riofriotex.livejournal.com]

What are OEL comics?

Thanks for the suggestions!

[riofriotex.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the great suggestions, esp. McCloud's books as I have a lot to learn.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Original English Language. It's a term used in the US manga publishing industry to refer to homegrown manga, as opposed to the stuff from Japan and Korea. Although recently, the industry has been heading for the term "global manga" instead of OEL.

If you use "comics" and "graphic novels," it's usually understood to refer to American-published works; other ones tend to get a modifier tacked onto the word: "French comics" "Filipino comics" (in their langages, 'bande dessinée' and 'komik,' respectively).

[telophase.livejournal.com]

You'll wanna keep checking this over the next few days: judging by the nubmer of people I don't recognize posting here, another blog somewhere has linked to this, so there will proably be more. XD

[riofriotex.livejournal.com]

My book club is going to read these, although I am going to have to ILL them - neither my university nor the local public libraries have them

[melster.livejournal.com]

While Maus is, at face-value, a story about mice in the holocaust, it's actually the story of the author's father in the holocaust. Different groups of people are represented as different animals, and the Jews are mice.
(And it's a wonderful read, as well as educational. ^.^)

[mutecornett.livejournal.com]

Age of Bronze is totally *fantastic*, both volumes, but there's some longing or horrified talk of incest, there's non-explicit sex, gay and straight, rather a lot of violence, etc.

[mutecornett.livejournal.com]

Things that might be considered a little less well-known (Blankets and Jimmy Corrigan are pretty well-known but whatever, nobody's recced it yet!):

Same Difference and other stories, by Derek Kirk Kim, comes highly recommended by Scott McCloud. I really liked it and then I ended up liking it even more, and it's mild enough for middle schoolers.

Craig Thompson's Blankets and Carnet de Voyage are both great and well-known and gentle.

I loved Jessica Abel's Perdida, which is probably best for high schoolers and adults due to some possibly-disturbing themes.

Charles Burns's Black Hole is dark and disturbing but really, really good, and delves into sex and teenage alienation. Probably best for high schoolers rather than the young ones, again.

Chris Ware's Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth is not for kids, but god it's amazing. My friend read it in senior year of high school and I read it in my freshman year of college and it hit like a truck. It's two stories at once, one in the present and one in the past but in the same family, of a father's abandonment and it's utterly amazing. If you get nothing else, get this. It really is that good. It's best for adults and mature high schoolers, but seriously, really good.

Osamu Tezuka's Phoenix series and his Buddha series are amazing works. I would highly recommend these, period, but the art might lead people to mistake it for kid's stuff, but there's a lot of really shocking stuff in it, and I don't know how well high schoolers would take to the art. Basically, the art's kind of cartoony (which kids might like better) but the stories are very mature (high school +). The Buddha series is somewhat milder than the Phoenix series.

Keiji Nakazawa's Barefoot Gen is gutwrenching from what I've read of it, and um, it's educational! It's an autobiographical story about the bombing of Hiroshima, from beginning to end. Um. It really is gutwrenching though. High school +.

I'm mostly listing my favorites, period, but I'm two years out of high school (I'm 19) and I know I would have loved these back then.

[robynbender.livejournal.com]

"Persepholis" (I and II) by Marjane Satrapi -- the heroine is nine when the Islamic fundamentalists overthrow the Shah.

"The Rabbi's Cat" by Joann Sfar
From School Library Journal
Grade 9 Up–A slinky gray cat lives with a rabbi and his beautiful young daughter. One day, the feline eats their parrot, only to find that he has gained the birds ability to talk. Witty and highly intelligent, the cat immediately decides that he wants to learn more about Judaism, from the Kabbalah to the Torah. Thus begins this funny, sad, spiritual, and utterly delightful trio of tales. The stories tell much about Jewish life in the 1930s, both in the initial setting of Algeria and in Paris. They also impart Jewish teachings and philosophies in a highly entertaining way,

[nohx.livejournal.com]

Hi! You don't know me, but a friend linked me to this post.

I would have to recommend the _Kabuki_ series by David Mack. Not only is it of high literary value, but the artwork is drop-dead amazing and innovative (think more paintings than comic art). For more info, go to davidmack.net and if you want to ask him any questions yourself, his message board is http://www.comicscommunity.com/boards/mack....he actually does respond there.

I know that Kabuki has been used in many high school and college courses since its initial publication in 1994. One such online deconstruction exists here: http://faculty.vassar.edu/mijoyce/VanessaChang/index.htm. More to be found here: http://www.davidmackguide.com/interviews.

Hope this helps!

[tammylee.livejournal.com]

Ahah! Most of my recc's were already said!

The Skeleton Key books by Andi Watson - Talks about a girl from Manitoba who finds a costume and key that allow her to travel between worlds where she meets with a kitsune who comes home with her. She has to deal with the realities of trying to help her strange friend fit in and with growing up and learning what it means to have to decide between your dreams and your friends.

Courtney Crumrin And the Night Things by Ted Naifeh (a bit scary for wee kidlets? More on par with goosebumps or something?) A collection of shorter comics about Courtney Crumrin who knows magic and sees the world from a grumpy point of view. Sort of like your classic fairy tales where there aren't alwaaaays happy endings. (Also, you might want to check out Polly & The Pirates by Ted Naifeh as well! I haven't gotten my hands on it yet but it has good reveiws?)

Peanut Butter & Jeremy's Best Book Ever by James Kochalka - All ages friendly and James was pretty decorated last year? Super cute story about a cat named Peanut Butter, who thinks he is an office worker, and his 'friend' Jeremy, a raven who likes to steal hats.

Hopeless Savages, Hopeless Savages: Ground Zero from Oni Press - Super fun stories about a family of punks!

If you can still find copies, Athena books one and two by Dean Hsieh
The greek gods remastered as rockstars... sort of!

The Ultimate Spiderman graphic novels! Spidey is in high school! Same with Ultimate Fantastic Four.

[estara.livejournal.com]

How about the recommendations here
http://www.ala.org/ala/yalsa/booklistsawards/greatgraphicnovelsforteens/gn.htm
Since it's the American Library Association, there probably would be stuff that fits. If riofriotex is a member, they can read the nominations with annotation.

Personally I'd like to recommend Linda Medley's Castle Waiting Hardcover collection, which is just amazing especially for female teenagers.

[estara.livejournal.com]

I forgot to mention this website, whose reviews I find quite well argued, so it might be one more resource to decide on whether to order a certain comic or manga. http://comicsworthreading.com/

[mkcs.livejournal.com]

Useful for educational purposes:

The Tale of One Bad Rat, by Brian Talbot (deals with a teenage runaway who has been sexually abused; no explicit sex IRRC, and the difficult topic is extremely well handled).

V for Vendetta, by Alan Moore (examines politics, freedom, and ethics; likely to be good for older teens; challenging).

Understanding Comics, by Scott McCloud (provides a good basic starting point for critical evaluation of comics).

The entire Asterix series (good for children, providing enjoyable plots and good starting points for discussing both European geography and classical history; some rather objectionable gender politics).

Maui, Legends of the Outcast, by Robert Sullivan (New Zealand myth-cycle, retold as a comic).

some more places to start...

[(Anonymous)]

hi,
you may also want to read some more recent kat kan (http://www.linworth.com/PDF/aprilmaycurrentarticle.pdf)

and consider 'a child's life (http://online.recordnet.com/articlelink/043004/news/articles/043004-gn-12.php)' and 'manga-sixty years of japanese comics (http://www.paulgravett.com/articles/041_californiancontroversey/041_californiancontroversey.htm)', since you're at a university. have fun!

[dracunculus.livejournal.com]

all of which is also in the Iliad! But your point is a good one :)

I should probably also mention the blood-spattered crime scene in the first book of Fables! The plot is light-hearted but *does* center around a gory murder.

[dracunculus.livejournal.com]

"Polly and the Pirates", on the other hand, would be suitable even for very young children.

[mistressrenet.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes, I enjoyed the first one very much (haven't gotten hold of the second one yet).

Re: Love to give an opinion

[mistressrenet.livejournal.com]

So much love for Tintin and Asterix.

[mistressrenet.livejournal.com]

I can't remember the work/ya-safeness of them, but Rick Veitch's Rare Bit Fiends were terribly fascinating-- he drew his own and other's dreams. Very cool stuff.

Seconding Sandman, Maus, Asterix, Tintin. I've always had a terrible weakness for Michael Zulli, though he's not always super-coherent. I'm not sure Puma Blues ever got put together in one place though.

[selenite.livejournal.com]

Yes, it's magnificent. But it's shelved on top of the book case well out of the kiddies' reach.