Friday, November 30, 2007

CHALLENGE | Graphic Novels Challenge 2008

I was all excited when I found out Dewey was hosting a Graphic Novels Challenge.

A glance at my sidebar (where it says "Comics & Manga Read 2007") will tell you I read manga and graphic novels from time to time. So, what can be easier?

Even the rules of participation are flexible:

To participate in the Graphic Novels Challenge, simply choose at least 6 graphic novels to read from January 2008 to December 2008. You may overlap with other challenges. You may also change your list of titles at any point if something comes up that you want to switch around.

I thought I could do a nice well-structured reading list with themes and stuff. But I'm afraid my reading habits has always been chaotic. So, without further ado, here is my list:


  1. Cairo Written by G. Willow Wilson with art by M.K. Perker
    My director just read it and he recommended it to me. Cairo is a modern magical-realism retelling of the Aladdin story, rendered in stark black-and-white illustrations by Turkish artist M.K. Perker

  2. League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: The Black Dossier Written by Alan Moore
    I loved the first two volumes of LOEG written by Alan Moore. It has been long delayed, but thankfully, it's finally arrived. From what I know of the story, the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen have been disbanded and disavowed, and the country is under the control of a tyrannical regime. Now, after many years, the still youthful Mina Murray and a rejuvenated Allan Quatermain return.

  3. The Complete Persepolis Written and illustrated by Marjane Satrapi
    Satrapi's memoir of growing up in revolutionary Iran. I read an interview Satrapi gave a while back and she seemed like an interesting, fiery personality indeed.

  4. Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Long Way Home by Joss Whedon and Georges Jeanty
    It broke my heart when Buffy finally went off the air. Season 8 of Buffy continues in comic form.

  5. The Death of Captain America by Ed Brubaker et al
    This is actually pretty out of place on my usual reading list for comics, because I have tried very hard to avoid the Marvel Civil War series since it came out. These crossover series always involve too many titles and if I try to follow the entire story-line, I will have to buy over 30 trade paperbacks. But I'm going to try this one, because the story reads like the death of an icon.

  6. Seven Soldiers of Victory Vol. 1 Written by Grant Morrison
    Once again, I've been hearing all these praises for the series, which brings in Grant Morrison to tie in several unrelated characters in their pursuit against a common foe. I think. Honestly, I have no idea what this series is about. The challenge is to go into this series blind.

  7. Batman: Death and the City Written by Paul Dini
    I am a Batman fan, and I have too many Batman T-shirts for any respectable adult. I'm throwing this into the mix as I have heard good things about Paul Dini's run on the Dark Knight mythos. This one features Zatanna.

  8. Birds of Prey: Dead of Winter Written by Gail Simone
    Gail Simone is one of my favourite comic book writer. She revitalised the Birds of Prey franchise, made convincing heroes out of B-list characters like Huntress and Black Canary. This will be her swan-song on the BoP series.

  9. Crime Bible: Five Lessons of Blood Written by Greg Rucka
    The spin-off from 52, and it features one of my favourite DC character, Renee Montoya – who has taken the mantle of The Question towards the conclusion of the 52 series.

Other Titles (too many to list all)

  • Shortcomings By Adrian Tomine

  • Welcome to Tranquility: Volume 1 & Volume 2 by Gail Simone

  • Fallen Angel Vol. 4 by Peter David

  • Mouse Guard: Fall 1152 By David Petersen

  • The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman

  • B.P.R.D. Garden of Souls by Mike Mignola et al

9 comments:

Carl V. Anderson said...

I'll be reading Black Dossier for mine as well. I'm really excited to finally have it and may have to crack into that one early!

Dewey said...

Thanks for joining! Your list looks really interesting. My husband says the Black Dossier contains an audio CD, right? I look forward to reading your review because I'm wondering how that works. I've listened to a spoken word CD by Alan Moore before, and I wonder if it's that sort of thing.

darkorpheus said...

Carl The Black Dossier is definitely a must read. I'm going to try to put it off though. Not going to buy it until Christmas. :)

Dewey Thanks for hosting this. I will try to share what impression I have of The Black Dossier here.

Iliana said...

I really want to do this challenge but I'm going to need some major help choosing books. I've only read a few graphic novels - which I've loved really - it's just not a genre I am very familiar with.
I'm taking note of some of your selections :)

purplefugue said...

Now this sounds like an interesting challenge, a whole lot less intimidating than the Russian one...haha! A good excuse if any to get more Sandman novels - I loved the first one!

jpderosnay said...

i'm glad you're joining in this too - its going to be fun!

i haven't read "league" yet, so i'll be curious as to what you'll make of it...

Ana S. said...

Very nice list. I was looking at Cairo just the other day, and I wish I had included it in mine. I should have included some Mike Mignola too. So many great books to read, sigh.

Andi said...

Oooh, lots of new-to-me titles here. I can't wait to hear what you think of them!

darkorpheus said...

Iliana You have lots of time to pick your titles. Just sample, see what you like. Who knows -- you may become a comic convert after this challenge.

But The Sandman is a good introduction. I know a lot of readers out there would agree.

Indigo I love that it's so manageable, and there are always new titles coming out -- and the variety of comics is so varied everyone should be able to find something that suits their taste. Do sign up for the challenge. We'll compare notes and reading list.

Jean Pierre I've just finished reading The Black Dossier - and I'm thinking I prefer the first two volumes which have a more coherent storyline.

Nymeth We can always include more titles, so no worries. I was wondering if I should re-read the Hellboy series just for the fun of it.

Andi Will try my best to write about them. Goodness knows I'm so behind on my write-up on books. But do bear with me, because some of the titles I have included are not yet published.

Maybe I should read more backlist. Maybe the Complete Bone?