Graphic Novels Month

This month we are featuring graphic novels, those beautiful volumes that marry artwork with storytelling. The stories can be as deep and as moving as novels that employ only prose, but their form brings both freedom and constraints to tell stories in a different way.

The freedom, of course, is the artwork. Settings, characters, emotions, actions can all be expressed by the artwork. By lifting that burden from the text, the author can concentrate on the dialog and the storyline. Working together, the art and the text tells a story in a different way than a traditional novel.

That format brings constraints, as well. Dialog can't run on for pages and pages. It has to be honed down to fit in the panels, where it has to take much less of the page than the artwork. Almost like distilling a scene or a thought to fit in the three lines of a haiku, the author has to think carefully about the impact of every word.

Most people know a few of the major graphic novels, especially those that have been turned into movies, such as Watchmen or V for Vendetta. We decided to feature a range of lesser-known titles that have entertained us. We hope you enjoy our selections below.

All the Reviews - Online!

We've reviewed nearly a hundred books for our newsletter and are adding a bunch more every month. These are all books we like and recommend. (We just don't talk about the ones that don't grab us.) If you're looking for something to read, check out our Books We Like page on our website. It's searchable by genre, keywords, author, and more. All in a spiffy database for fast retrieval.