September 2018: Blankets By Craig Thompson

Blankets is an emotional autobiography that narrates the struggles of childhood, teenage experience and how to reconcile those experiences as an adult. Focusing on Thompson’s devout religious upbringing in light of his sexual awakening, as well as the sexual abuse he endured from a male babysitter, Blankets offers a beautiful blending of realist panels with […]

August 2018: Citizen 13660 By Miné Okubo

Citizen 13660 offers a glimpse into the history of Japanese Interment in America during WWII. Pressured by white farming lobbyists in the 1940s who encouraged a hysterical media, the United States government rounded up everyone of Japanese descent into “protective custody.” Written and drawn by Miné Okubo, this novel offers a stirring portrayal of the harshness of […]

July 2018: Lumberjanes: What the Junk? By Noelle Stevenson

Lumberjanes, Volume 1: Beware the Kitten Holy by Noelle Stevenson focuses on the adventures of five girls who are attending a camp for “Hard-Core Lady Types” who face increasingly bizarre threats and mysteries. Cute, fast-paced and energetic, this graphic novel is a mix of science-fiction and fantasy, with a hint of magic realism. The chapters are […]

June 2018: V for Vendetta By Alan Moore and David Lloyd

No recommendation list really feels complete without this classic by Alan Moore (unfortunately, no relation to our Jessica) and David Lloyd. Critically acclaimed and translated to the big screen in 2005, with Hugo Weaving and Natalie Portman, V for Vendetta follows the story of two characters named V and Evy in a 1990s dystopian Britain. Following a […]

May 2018: Adamtine By Hannah Berry

Adamtine by Hannah Berry is undoubtedly one of the most thrilling Gothic narratives produced within the last ten years. It is hair-raisingly terrifying and a subliminal mix of horror, murder-mystery and gothic realism. Adamtine focuses on four main protagonists and a murder victim, Rodney Moon. No one really knows what happened to Moon and the four protagonists’ tenuous […]

April 2018: Saga By Brian K. Vaughan

Saga by Brian K. Vaughan is a modern space opera with a vague resemblance to Romeo & Juliet as two star-crossed lovers from planets at war go on the run with their child. Stalked by their respective species, pursued by bounty-hunters, Prince Robot IV and spurned ex-lovers, they struggle to keep their family together. Vaughan is a master at […]

March 2018: Maus: Of Mice and Monsters By Art Spiegelman

Maus by Art Spiegelman is a memoir based on his father, Vladek Spiegelman’s experiences as a Polish, Jewish person and Holocaust survivor. Like many holocaust narratives, the events depicted are absolutely gruesome and sometimes difficult to read. The graphic novel is gripping and intense, but also tender and light-hearted. It engages with national stereotypes, depicting Jewish […]

February 2018 – No Straight Lines: Four Decades of Queer Comics Edited by Justin Hall

Welcome to February and LGBT History Month! Our newest recommendation is an Anthology series, edited by Justin Hall, called No Straight Lines: Four Decades of Queer Comics. Covering the decades between the Stonewall riots (1969) and the modern day, this Anthology incorporates a host of legendary underground comic and cartoon artists. From established artists like Eric Shanower, […]

January 2018: Fun Home By Alison Bechdel

Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel is the first ‘Graphic Novel’ I ever read and it was a welcome surprise to encounter it again on my “Women’s Writing” module during my MA at Cardiff University. I’d read comics and the European version, Bande Designee, before, but nothing quite like this. Fun Home, much like Persepolis, is […]

December 2017: “Persepolis” By Marjane Satrapi

I’d like to start us off with Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. This award-winning Graphic Novel is an autobiography covering Satrapi’s childhood and early adult years in Iran during and after the Islamic Revolution. Engaging and gripping, the novel starts with young Marjane’s first interactions with the veil and her love for Kim Wilde, moving on to her […]