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Topic: The Greatest Graphic Novel Post Reply | Post New Topic
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John Byrne

Grumpy Old Guy

Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 134648
Posted: 21 June 2025 at 12:48am | IP Logged | 1 post reply

1) Call ‘em paperbacks!

2) Funny story. In those simpler times when it was, indeed, possible to goof around “behind the scenes” without it being broadcast all over the planet, I did, indeed, draw Storm with an exposed breast. I knew Terry would get a chuckle out of it, and I knew he’d fix it. Which, indeed, he did.

Sort of.

He inked what I had drawn, then laid a heavy zipatone over it. In response to some freaking out in the office, Terry pointed out that the normal printing process of letterpress color on pulp paper would cause the zipatone to muddy up and turn solid black.

And that’s just what happened.

Unfortunately, neither Terry nor I, nor anyone else in the office could have predicted that the issue containing that page would be reprinted multiple times, by better and better processes—and even in black and white

And once that happened…….

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Josh Goldberg
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 25 October 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 2108
Posted: 21 June 2025 at 1:55am | IP Logged | 2 post reply

Evan,
You talking about these?

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Mark McKay
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 2283
Posted: 21 June 2025 at 4:18am | IP Logged | 3 post reply

I’ve mentioned it before when this topic has come up: David Mazzuccelli‘s Asterios Polyp feels like one of the closest things I’ve seen in that could truly be called a “graphic novel“. It uses many trappings of a classic American novel story, but telling it in ways that only a visual format could.
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Trevor Smith
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 21 September 2006
Location: Canada
Posts: 3597
Posted: 21 June 2025 at 10:18am | IP Logged | 4 post reply

Ohh, that Cap/Baron Blood B&W brings back memories. I had
both it and an Avengers with a gorgeous Earl Norem cover in
the same format.
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Joe Smith
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 29 August 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 6704
Posted: 21 June 2025 at 12:33pm | IP Logged | 5 post reply

ASTERIOS POLYP is the coolest looking book I own.
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Brian Miller
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 28 July 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 31633
Posted: 21 June 2025 at 1:17pm | IP Logged | 6 post reply

Looking up ASTERIOS POLYP, I just discovered two things. Richmond Lewis
is a woman and she’s married to Mazzucchelli.
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Edward Aycock
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 13 July 2024
Location: United States
Posts: 54
Posted: 25 June 2025 at 11:51am | IP Logged | 7 post reply

I've been reading some Eisner works recently, including "The Contract with God Trilogy" (beautiful but brutal) which does bear the claim by the people who write the introductions and criticism as "the first graphic novel".  Eisner even states that himself.  The stories have even been put into a Norton Critical Edition which, if you were an English major, you'd recognize those prestigious publications.  

It's enlightening to see all the definitions here of "graphic novel" and how fluid it has become.   And I did misname the trade paperback of "Crisis on Infinite Earths" as a graphic novel to a friend once because he was a bit of a snob and saw my comics collection as silly.   
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Brian Miller
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 28 July 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 31633
Posted: 25 June 2025 at 3:08pm | IP Logged | 8 post reply

BLACKMARK by Gil Kane is pretty damn great.

HIS NAME IS… SAVAGE predates even that.
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Dave Kopperman
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 27 December 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 3834
Posted: 25 June 2025 at 5:52pm | IP Logged | 9 post reply

The whole 'which is the first graphic novel' debate - leaving aside the nomenclature argument - is just a rabbit hole that goes exactly nowhere. Milt Gross, Frans Masreel, Lynd Ward, etc. etc. are names that are going to get tossed up just for the 20th century. There's much to be said for innovation, but if something doesn't spark a movement or a media sea change then it tends to not really be part of the history in the same way.

It's kind of like saying 'who is the first superhero?'
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John Byrne

Grumpy Old Guy

Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 134648
Posted: 25 June 2025 at 6:57pm | IP Logged | 10 post reply

Samson.
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Dave Kopperman
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 27 December 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 3834
Posted: 25 June 2025 at 7:38pm | IP Logged | 11 post reply

Doesn't The Epic of Gilgamesh predate the Book of Judges?
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Joseph Vecchio
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 26 October 2024
Posts: 27
Posted: 26 June 2025 at 7:46am | IP Logged | 12 post reply

I hate getting into these ballads, as George Carlin would
say.  I make no comment about "best", which is always
subjective.  I prefer "favorite".  Also I won't try to make a
specific definition of "graphic novel" because that would
leave out some very good stories.  And not being an artist
or writer, all I can offer is an opinion on the matter, you
all can take them for what they're worth.

"A Contract With God" is my favorite.  True, it's just a
series of short stories but they revolve around a
particular setting.  I don't think they were serialized 
previously.  I met Mr. Eisner at a convention and he
signed my copy, and I told him that I grew up in a 
Brooklyn tenement not that different from the one on 
Dropsie Ave., though my neighborhood was Italian and 
Puerto Rican rather than Jewish.  I showed it to my dad, 
who remembered the alley singers.

I'm also a fan of "Maus" for similar reasons, as it deals 
with relationships, not to mention the historical nature.

I'm surprised no one mentioned Hayao Mitazaki's brilliant 
series "Nausicaa Of The Valley Of Wind", which, as good 
as the movie was, is leaps and bounds above it.

Love and Rockets had several good storylines within its 
run, "Heartbreak Soup" and "Human Diastrophism" by 
Gilbert, and "The Death of Speedy Cholo" and 
"Mechanics" by Jaime are particular favorites.

Dave Sim's "Cerebus" has been mentioned, I would say 
"High Society", and "Jaka's Story" are my favorites there.

As far as superhero stories go, that's a little harder, I 
guess it depends on your definition of a "graphic novel".  
Some of my favorites along those lines are Frank Miller's 
"Born Again" run on Daredevil and Walt Simonson's 
longer run on "Thor".

"Watchmen" hasn't aged well, in my opinion.  I always just 
laughed at "300" and "V for Vendetta", the former 
because the homosexual/pedophilia society built by the 
Spartans was completely ignored (I had someone tell me 
the Athenians also had homosexuality in their society, but 
that's like the difference between throwing a bullet and 
shooting it), and anything involving Guy Fawkes and 
"freedom" ignores the fact that he didn't care about 
freedom, he just wanted a Catholic hegemony as opposed 
to a Protestant one.

I could say a lot more but it's almost 3am and I'm tired.  
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