On Sunday, June 26th, at the American Library Association’s Annual Conference, the Graphic Novel Member Interest Group put on what has become an annual panel listing what may be the best (and a few of the worst) graphic novels to come out in the past three years. This year’s list focuses on graphic novels for grown-ups. While not all the books listed are necessarily for mature audiences only, they all will be of interest primarily to adults.
This year’s panelists were Thomas Maluk, a blogger for panels.net, Marcela Peres, a member of the Valkyries, and Gina Gagliano, marketing and publicity manager for First Second. Thomas and Marcela are also on the No Flying No Tights staff. Their choices are completely subjective and they have made their choices based on their experiences as readers, booksellers, and bloggers rather than as librarians.
Sadly, this is just the list with none of the commentary that went along with it at the panel. If you have any specific questions about any of their choices, please comment below.
GRAPHIC NOVEL MEMBER INTEREST GROUP PRESENTS
BEST AND WORST GRAPHIC NOVELS AND MANGA
FOR GROWN-UPS
Best New Graphic Novel or Manga
NIJIGAHARA HOLOGRAPH
Inio Asano
Fantagraphics
9781606995839
THE THRILLING ADVENTURES OF LOVELACE AND BABBAGE
Sydney Padua
Knopf
9780307908278
THE SCULPTOR
Scott McCloud
First Second
9781596435735
THE ART OF CHARLIE CHAN HOCK CHYE
Sonny Liew
Knopf
9781101870693
LUCKY PENNY
Ananth Hirsh and Yuko Ota
Oni
9781620102879
KILL MY MOTHER
Jules Feiffer
Liveright
9781631491061
Best New Graphic Novel or Manga Series
SHUTTER
Joe Keatinge
Image
9781632151452
THE WICKED + THE DIVINE
Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie
Image
9781632150196
CLEAN ROOM
Gail Simone and Jon Davis-Hunt
DC Comics
9781401262754
DESCENDER
Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nguyen
Image
9781632154262
UNFOLLOW
Rob Williams
DC Comics
9781401262747
Best New Graphic Novel or Manga Continuing Series
SAGA
Brian K. Vaughn and Fiona Staples
Image
9781607066019
WHAT DID YOU EAT YESTERDAY?
Fumi Yoshinaga
Vertical
9781939130389
SUNNY
Taiyo Matsumoto
VIZ Media
9781421555256
BITCH PLANET
Kelly Sue DeConnick and
Valentine De Landro
Image
9781632153661
LAZARUS
Greg Rucka and Michael Lark
Image
9781607068099
Best Graphic Non-Fiction or Memoir
DARK NIGHT: A TRUE BATMAN STORY
Paul Dini and Eduardo Risso
DC Comics
9781401241438
THE ARAB OF THE FUTURE
Riad Sattouf
Henry Holt
9781627793445
THINGS TO DO IN A RETIREMENT HOME TRAILER PARK
Aneurin Wright
Penn State University Press
9780271071121
DARE TO DISAPPOINT
Ozge Samanci
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
9780374316983
Worst Graphic Novels and Manga
GET JIRO: BLOOD AND SUSHI
Anthony Bourdain and Joel Rose
DC Comics
9781401265007
HERE
Richard McGuire
Knopf
9780375406508
Graphic Novels and Manga We’re Most Looking Forward to Reading
ROLLING BLACKOUTS
Sarah Glidden
Drawn & Quarterly
9781770462557
BECOMING ANDY WARHOL
Nick Bertozzi and Pierce Hargan
Abrams
9781419718755
MONSTRESS
Margorie Liu and Sana Takeda
Image
9781632157096
Underrated but Wonderful Graphic Novels and Manga
MANIFEST DESTINY
Chris Dingess
Image
9781607069829
VINLAND SAGA
Makoto Yukimura
Vertical
9781612624204
LADY KILLER
Joelle Jones and Jamie Rich
Dark Horse
2940152648751
GORGEOUS
Cathy G. Johnson
Koyama Press
9781927668276
