Every year comics and individual graphic novels become more and more a part of the culture. In cinemas, the screenplays by Marvel and DC collect the largest box office take, and TV screens are flooded with series about “heroes in capes.”
Although, despite the fans’ stories, many people still think that picture books can only be interesting for children. But there are many serious works for adults that will make you look at the comics industry differently. So today’s entire selection will consist of comics for people who don’t like to read picture magazines about superheroes.
Watchmen
According to Time magazine, the graphic masterpiece by the famous author Alan Moore was deservedly included in the list of 100 best novels of the 20th century. At first glance, this is a typical story about heroes in strange costumes, but in fact, “Watchmen” can be contrasted with the usual comics.
Here, the lives of superheroes are similar to humans: a Batman-like character has erection problems, a villain saves the world, and a principled avenger can destroy all of it.
Maus: A Survivor’s Tale
The only Pulitzer Prize-winning comics in history. Its author Art Spiegelman tried to tell the story of his father, a Jewish survivor of the Holocaust camps. To simplify the visual presentation, he depicted all the Jews as mice and the Nazis as cats, but you still shouldn’t think that this makes the work funny. On the contrary, it is no less creepy than serious articles on this subject. Especially since Spiegelman already shows an accurate portrait of his father at the end of the book, forcing the reader to remember that he was talking about real people and real history all along.
Persepolis
The autobiographical work of French novelist Marjane Satrapi – a woman from Iran who tells how she survives the Islamic Revolution. After the war with Iraq, she is sent abroad, entering a world of freedom. And how she has to go back to her native country, where many things have already changed.
The Sandman
Those who lack the literary spirit in comics should read Neil Gaiman’s “Sandman” comic book. His writing talent, combined with his passion for mythology, has created a great story about the Dream, his sister Death, and the many other inhabitants of the netherworld. Even if the first book doesn’t seem very exciting, after “The Sandman: The Doll’s House,” it’s definitely impossible to stop reading.
Sin City
The complete opposite of the previous comic book is a purely visual work by Frank Miller, based on the scripts of his films. There is little text and bright colors, but plenty of violence, passion, and other emotions.
100 Bullets
Brian Azzarello, a fan of all kinds of gangster stories, suggests you think: “What if you were shown the man responsible for your greatest misfortunes? And not just shown, but also given 100 untraceable bullets. Would it be justified revenge, or would it simply be murder for self-justification?”
Azzarello’s story is more reminiscent of Tarantino movies than the usual comic books. There are no heroes here, only scoundrels and villains, and no character will remain occasionally; each of them will be described in detail.
Blacksad
Children’s cartoons about anthropomorphic animals have been very popular in recent years, but a detective story where the main characters are animals is not always like “Zootropolis.” The Spanish authors of the comic book “Blacksad” take the reader into a noir world filled with lies and cruelty.
The main character, a black cat, works as a private detective. He investigates murders, robberies, and disappearances — each time, he has to face a world of money, temptations, and lies. The pictures in this comic book are drawn very elegantly and sometimes realistically. After just a few pages of reading, you can forget that you are looking at cats, bears, and rhinos: their behavior is too similar to humans.
Preacher
This Garth Ennis comic book is the basis for the AMC series, but while the adaptation runs long, the original is fast-paced from issue one through the last issue 66. The preacher Jesse Custer possesses divine essence and power over words – the ability to control people with his voice. It’s not that simple, however; angels are sent from heaven to bring back the essence and with them the immortal patron saint of murderers. Though even that can be dealt with, there is a bigger problem: God himself has escaped from heaven.
Ennis has managed to mix everything literally in this series: apocalypse, world conspiracies, saving the world, fights, family relationships, black humor, vampires, voodoo. And if you’re not intimidated by the crudeness and frankness, it’s effortless to read, even if you don’t like comic books.
I Kill Giants
Once upon a time, there was a girl who wore bunny ears on her head, and she also had a magic bag that contained a huge hammer and a lot of magical stuff. Every day she saved the town from the giants, or maybe this girl just wanted to believe she was saving but was actually hiding from real problems in a fictional world. But whatever the case, she knew she was doing something important.
Drawn in the form of black and white sketches, the “I Kill Giants” comic book sometimes is mistakenly attributed to the fantasy genre, but in fact, this story is about the life of a simple frightened child in a complex world of adults.
