I've read about half of the comics listed here and my mixed opinions about them reinforces the foolishness of lumping all comics together as a category. How are you supposed to compare such wildly...
I've read about half of the comics listed here and my mixed opinions about them reinforces the foolishness of lumping all comics together as a category. How are you supposed to compare such wildly different genres as a gag strip (Hark! A Vagrant), a superhero comic (The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl), a sci-fi drama (Patience), a historical fiction drama (Berlin), and whatever the hell Prince of Cats is?
It'd be like categorizing all non-graphic novels as "wordies" and then just listing their 10 favorites, which includes one fiction novel, one travel guide, one memoir, one collection of short stories, and one history textbook. It's just a weird.
That said, this article is as good a place as any to get started on some new comics.
It seems like someone writing about their ten favorite books over the last decade would be just as useful and interesting? This is never going to be objective, but it's a useful signal.
It seems like someone writing about their ten favorite books over the last decade would be just as useful and interesting? This is never going to be objective, but it's a useful signal.
I'm not getting down on the article (it's a good list!), nor am I looking for some sort of objective measurement for opinions. I'm more just musing on the general practice of grouping all graphic...
I'm not getting down on the article (it's a good list!), nor am I looking for some sort of objective measurement for opinions. I'm more just musing on the general practice of grouping all graphic novels as if they are all the same genre, which I don't feel happens nearly as often for other types of books.
On the other side, it's a relief this list isn't 100% superhero rehashes. For a long time, I didn't know comics couldn't be anything but kid's entertainment (Asterix, here in Europe) or...
On the other side, it's a relief this list isn't 100% superhero rehashes.
For a long time, I didn't know comics couldn't be anything but kid's entertainment (Asterix, here in Europe) or "superheroes" (of which, before the 00s Marvel movies I knew exactly 2: Batman and Superman). For that reason, I long thought I wasn't interested in them. It wasn't until my late teens when, by sheer coincidence, a local library introduced a "comics for adults" section maintained by a very dedicated, geeky staff, and I discovered comics such as Akira, Jimmy Corrigan or Persepolis. Basically, this list.
I know exactly what you mean when you say a lot of these are essentially different media but IMO that trumps the usual depiction of comics as essentially all being the same genre. It's the opposite to lists like this one by Polygon, which (some odd webcomics aside) might actually include a few somewhat fresh takes on the usual superhero tropes... but it's still all the same tropes.
I've read about half of the comics listed here and my mixed opinions about them reinforces the foolishness of lumping all comics together as a category. How are you supposed to compare such wildly different genres as a gag strip (Hark! A Vagrant), a superhero comic (The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl), a sci-fi drama (Patience), a historical fiction drama (Berlin), and whatever the hell Prince of Cats is?
It'd be like categorizing all non-graphic novels as "wordies" and then just listing their 10 favorites, which includes one fiction novel, one travel guide, one memoir, one collection of short stories, and one history textbook. It's just a weird.
That said, this article is as good a place as any to get started on some new comics.
It seems like someone writing about their ten favorite books over the last decade would be just as useful and interesting? This is never going to be objective, but it's a useful signal.
I'm not getting down on the article (it's a good list!), nor am I looking for some sort of objective measurement for opinions. I'm more just musing on the general practice of grouping all graphic novels as if they are all the same genre, which I don't feel happens nearly as often for other types of books.
As an example, the Guardian has a summary of the best books of 2019 split up by genre, and graphic novels is a genre of its own, as if it were a similar genre to sports books, or memoirs, or fiction (which itself is split into multiple sub-genres!).
I guess on the bright side, graphic novels are less isolated by genre. (For the non-superhero comics, anyway.)
On the other side, it's a relief this list isn't 100% superhero rehashes.
For a long time, I didn't know comics couldn't be anything but kid's entertainment (Asterix, here in Europe) or "superheroes" (of which, before the 00s Marvel movies I knew exactly 2: Batman and Superman). For that reason, I long thought I wasn't interested in them. It wasn't until my late teens when, by sheer coincidence, a local library introduced a "comics for adults" section maintained by a very dedicated, geeky staff, and I discovered comics such as Akira, Jimmy Corrigan or Persepolis. Basically, this list.
I know exactly what you mean when you say a lot of these are essentially different media but IMO that trumps the usual depiction of comics as essentially all being the same genre. It's the opposite to lists like this one by Polygon, which (some odd webcomics aside) might actually include a few somewhat fresh takes on the usual superhero tropes... but it's still all the same tropes.
I am an enourmous fan of Kate Beaton’s Hark a Vagrant comics. They are hilarious, and like the article pointed out - they prompted me to learn a lot.