Getting Into Graphic Novels

I'd never completely read a graphic novel before, which is why when I turned to the back cover of Watchmen and read "If you've never read a graphic novel, then Watchmen is the one to start with" I was intrigued. Clearly doesn't take much for me, but of course there were other reasons: one coworker had just finished the book and another had just seen the film. Both had great reviews on each. Also, Mr. First had recommended I read this back in November and I proceeded to forget about it until this month. Either way, odds were good that it'd be at least a decent read.

Let me just say that I really enjoyed that book! It was such a visual feast, I'd completely lose track of time during my commute. I'd even get annoyed when someone interrupted my reading to ask me questions about it.

You know how some stories are hard to get into at first? The ones that take work for you to imagine the scene and characters in your head? Definitely did not happen with this one. You're instantly thrown into this world. In fact, there's so much to take in that you're bound to miss details as you fly through the story. I actually kept flipping back to earlier chapters after learning new info and realizing I completely missed several clues! The end of each chapter even includes supplementary background info (via newspaper clippings, book excerpts, letters, etc.) that are referenced in the story. And, of course, the art is amazing. The way each panel is set up was clearly made for the movies.

I'm not sure if I'll go see the movie now (since I always prefer the book to the film), but a part of me is curious to see how they brought this already-lively book to life. And if I had known it'd be this good, I would've just bought it myself instead of borrowing it from my coworker.

The Complete Persepolis is one I did buy two years ago after the movie came out. This story serves as a memoir of author Marjane Satrapi's childhood in revolutionary Iran. The bits I've read so far are funny and touching, but like I mentioned earlier, I'm having a little trouble getting into this one. Maybe I'll give it another chance now (though now that I've read Watchmen it seems so much more subdued).

I never did watch the film, but I remember it caught my eye because it was filmed as a black and white animated feature. It's just another to add to my ever-growing list!

Other graphic novels I've recently read about and would love to get my hands on include: