Graphic Novel Reading Group discussion

My local library is very supportive of graphic novels & manga in their collection. They also take suggestions/requests from patrons. I'm currently working up a list.

They have most of the typical: lots of Batman (including Dark Knight Returns, Killing Joke, Year One) and the usual Alan Moore (Watchmen, V for Vendetta) and Gaiman (Sandman).

What would be your top, say, 5-10 suggestions be? I'm north of 50 already with a less than comprehensive list and well on my way to 100.

They actually have a fairly nice mix of popular mainstream, shonen manga, and more historical/literary/"serious" works. They seem to be aiming for something for every taste, which is good. They even have separate juvenile, YA, and adult sections.

They just have some weird gaps sometimes. Like vol 4 of Moore's Swamp Thing and no others.

Of the suggestions so far, they have:
The Best of Little Nemo in Slumberland
A decent selection of later Will Eisner, but not many of his Spirit volumes
Most (if not all) of the Complete Peanuts
All the Calvin & Hobbes
Ghost World & most other Daniel Clowes
I Kill Giants
and the Scott McCloud stuff, which is kinda essential

Great suggestions! Keep them coming!

And since I'm sure someone will ask, it's the Durham County Public Library system in Durham, NC. (http://durhamcountylibrary.org/) My tax dollars in action and well spent, IMO.

Do they have any non-fiction graphic novels? I think these are particularly useful for getting interest from people who don't usually read comics. I'd recommend:

Joe Sacco's Palestine
John Backderf's My Friend Dahmer
Craig Thompson's Blankets
Marjane Satrapi's The Complete Persepolis
Sarah Glidden's How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less
Robert Crumb's The Book of Genesis
Hideo Azuma's Disappearance Diary (this one's a manga)
a lot of folk like Daryl Cunningham's Psychiatric Tales, but I didn't.

...and then from other genres:

Nelson, edited by Rob Davis
Jason's The Last Musketeer
Dave Sim's Cerebus, Vol. 1
Linda Medley's Castle Waiting, Vol. 1
Jeff Smith's Out from Boneville
Joshua Dysart's take on DC's Unknown Soldier Vol. 1: Haunted House

Personally, I'm really annoyed with my library in this regard. Apart from Sandman - they've got all of that - they seem to see graphic novels as kids' books. Virtually all they've got is X-men titles, plus a couple of other random superhero things. And they are random - not even going for the 'big works', they just seem to have ticked a box and said right, that's that covered. I've been trying to get in touch with someone in procurement to see if they could take them more seriously, but no luck so far. Annoying.

Whoever's in acquisitions seems to (mostly) know what they're doing or is willing to do the research beyond what may be in Publisher's Weekly.

Off the top of my head, I know we have My Friend Dahmer (on my wait list), Blankets, and Persepolis. I'll check on the others. Know they have both volumes of Castle Waiting and all of Jeff Smith (in individual volumes, not that unwieldy phone book.)

The great thing is, within their budget of course, they seem very responsive to patron requests. They won't/can't get everything, but they certainly try.

I suppose it helps that we are a countywide system with multiple branches and many patrons. They don't always get copies for every branch, but getting any book in the system transferred is painless and easy.

When I'm tempted to cry about how much of my pay goes to taxes, I remember how much use I get out of the library. (And police, fire dept, roads, etc.)

I love the library where I am, though they are apparently rated the best library system in the country as well as having the highest circulation in the country, so I'm guessing that I'm quite lucky in this regard. Suggestions I have are Carla Speed McNeill's Finder series, one of the best indie series in history, set in a post-apocalyptic world, telling all kinds of stories from dark noir mystery to romantic comedy.
Walking Dead and Invincible are great because those books are like crack, and will definitely increase traffic and circulation. And they're really good.
Setting the Standard, a book by Fantagraphics of Alex Toth stories from the fifties that are gorgeous and of every genre but superheroes.
Kirby's Fourth World Omnibuses are amazing and insane plus artistically visionary.

Herge's Tintin graphic novels have been big at my library, and our manga collection is a huge hit with teens and adults alike, since we have a variety in titles.

Some of my other favorites have already been mentioned, but Green Arrow, Vol. 1: Quiver, Black Hole, and Irredeemable Vol. 1 are among my more recent reads/recommendations.

The Maus books: A Survivor's Tale, and And Here My Troubles Began by Art Spiegelman should be on your list.

Deaytripper by Gabriel Bas

V for Vendetta ( David Loyd)- WAtchemen ( Brian Bolland) both by Alan Moore

Unknown Soldier ( Ponticelli) by Dysart

and perhaps a South American comic as Aldebran Project by Leo
( is anyone amongst ya that recognises the worth or even knows anythin about this ongoing series -I got last summmer the last Volume)
or why not -Largo Winch-

Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms
A Thousand Ships
Midnight Nation - New Edition
Batgirl, Vol. 1: Batgirl Rising

I second Maus and Understanding Comics.

For adults, I recommend Mike Carey's series Lucifer, Vol. 1: Devil in the Gateway; for kids, the Yoko Tsuno series (Yoko Tsuno on the Edge of Life) is fantastic.

From my public library, I always borrowed the Asterix and Tintin books. Loved the Uncle Scrooge collections.

From my bookstore experience, I recommend Bone by Jeff Smith and Amulet by Kazu Kibuishi. Amulet isn't a manga. Haven't read Smile by Raina Telgemeier but it was super popular with 11/12 year old girls. They would come in with a parent specifically looking for it. American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang. Anya's Ghost by Vera Brosgol.

Ha! I could go on and on. But just one more: Strangers in Paradise by Terry Moore.

Here are some suggestions in different genres, not particularly heavy on superheros:

100 Bullets by Brian Azzarello
A Dangerous Woman: The Graphic Biography of Emma Goldman by Sharon Rudahl
A Distant Soil by Colleen Doran
A House Divided by Marshall Poe
A.D.: New Orleans after the Deluge by Josh Neufeld
Akira by Katsuhiro Otomo
American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang
Are You My Mother? by Alison Bechdel
Area 10 by Christos Gage
Batman: The Black Glove by Grant Morrison
Berlin by Jason Lutes
Blankets by Craig Thompson
Bone by Jeff Smith
Box Office Poison by Alex Robinson
Brooklyn Dreams by J.M. DeMatteis/Glenn Barr
Cerebus the Aardvark by Dave Sim
Channel Zero by Brian Wood
Chew by John Layman
Cleburne by Justin S. Murphy
Concrete by Paul chadwick
Couscous Express Brian Wood/Brett Weldele
Courtney Crumrin by Ted Naifeh
Cravan by Mike Richardson
Criminal by Ed Brubaker
Criminal Macabre by Steve Niles
Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt by Chris Hedges
Daytripper by Gabriel Ba
Dead West by Rick Spears
Demo by Brian Wood
Echo by Terry Moore
Elf Quest by Wendy & Richard Pini
Eternal Smile by Gene Luen Yang
Excalibur: The Legend of King Arthur by Tony Lee
Fallen Angel by Peter David/David Lopez
Fell by Warren Ellis
First Wave by Brian Azzarello
Footnotes in Gaza by Joe Sacco
From Hell by Alan Moore
Fun Home by Alison Bechdel
Gotham Central by Greg Rucka
Grendel by Matt Wagner
Greyshirt by Rick Vietch
Grickle by Graham Annable
Hawaiian Dick by B. Clay Moore
Houdini: The Handcuff King by Jason Lutes & Nick Bertozzi
How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less by Sarah Glidden
Invincible by Robert Kirkman
Isabel Soto Adventures by various authors
Jack the Ripper: A journal of the Whitechapel murders 1888-1889 by Rick Geary
Journalism by Joe Sacco
Love and Rockets by Gilbert & Jaime Hernandez
Luna Park by Kevin Baker
Macedonia by Harvey Pekar
Madman by Mike Allred
Mage: The Hero Defined by Matt Wagner
Maus by Art Spiegelman
Meridian by Barbara Kesel & Joshua Middleton
Moriarty by Daniel Corey
Morning Glories Nick Spencer & Joe Eisma
My Life in a Jugular Vein: Snakepit Comics 2004-2006 by Ben Snakepit
One Hundred Demons by Lynda Barry
Palestine by Joe Sacco
Powers by Brian Michael Bendis
Prime Baby by Gene Luen Yang
Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea by Guy Delisle
Queen & Country by Greg Rucka
Rat Catcher by Andy Diggle
Red by Warren Ellis
Resistance by Carla Jablonski
Rex Mundi by Arvid Nelson
Road to America by Baru and Jean-Marc Thévenet
Ruse by Mark Waid
Safe Area Goražde by Joe Sacco
Saga of the Swamp Thing by Alan Moore
Sam & Twitch by Brian Michael Bendis
Sandman by Neil Gaiman
Selina's Big Score by Darwyn Cooke
Shenzhen: A Travelogue from China by Guy Delisle
Sleeper by Ed Brubaker
Stormbreaker by Anthony Johnson
Stuck Rubber Baby by Howard Cruze
Stumptown by Greg Rucka
Sweets by Kody Chamberlain
The Cartoon History of the Modern World, pts. 1 and 2 by Larry Gonick
The Cartoon History of the Universe, vol. 1-7 by Larry Gonick
The Castaways by Rob Vollmar
The Conduit by Jimmy Palmiotti
The Couriers by Brian Wood/Rob G
The Dreamer by Lora Innes
The Fixer by Joe Sacco
The Freebooters Collection by Barry Windsor-Smith
The Golem’s Mighty Swing by James Sturm
The Graphic Modern History of World War II by Gary Jeffery
The Incal by Alexandro Jodorowsky & Mœbius
The Losers by Andy Diggle
The Maxx by Sam Keith
The Sandman presents Dead Boy Detectives by Ed Brubaker
The Silence of Our Friends by Mark Long & Jim Demonakos
The Spirit, Book One by Darwyn Cooke
The Unknown by Mark Waid
The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman
Transmetropolitan by Warren Ellis
V for Vendetta by Alan Moore
Watchmen by Alan Moore
Whiteout by Greg Rucka
Y: The Last Man by Brian K. Vaughn