List
2020 Staff Picks: Graphic Novels
Our expert staff members look back at the year and share their favorite titles.
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Year of the Rabbit
2020 by TianGet this itemWritten from the perspective of his extended family’s incredible struggle to survive their internment in the brutal work camps of Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge, this graphic novel packs a wallop. I read it in one big gulp on a Saturday afternoon this past October and it lingered with me long after. An important story, beautifully and heartrendingly told. Recommended by Chris.
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Amazons, Abolitionists, and Activists
2019 by Kendall, MikkiGet this itemI love books that teach me things that are often overlooked or purposely left out of history books. This graphic novel primer of individuals and groups of women throughout history is eye-opening, intriguing, and fun. With the election of Kamala Harris to the office of the vice presidency, this is a wonderful book for this historic moment to learn about the women who fought and persevered to get us here. Recommended by Allyson.
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DCeased: Unkillables
2020 by Taylor, TomGet this itemTom Taylor’s popular Injustice series shows just how good he is at managing crowds of DC’s heroes and villains in epic story lines where anything goes. He does the same with his DCeased books but adds zombies (or close enough to zombies). The pages will fly by once you start this. Recommended by Steven.
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Displacement
2020 by Hughes, KikuGet this itemThe incarceration of Japanese Americans is something that we don't learn much about in school. Hughes, whose grandmother was incarcerated in the camps, is pulled back in time in this graphic novel to navigate life in the camps alongside her grandmother. It was a clever, engaging, and personal way to depict this unjust chapter of our nation's history. Recommended by Allyson.
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Harleen
2020 by Sejic, StjepanGet this itemStjepan Sejic puts the “adult” in adult graphic novel with this smartly written original story for the popular anti-heroine Harley Quinn. Page by gorgeously illustrated page, he shows how the bright young psychologist is slowly seduced by a Joker who’s as manipulative as he is sexy—yes, really. Sejic takes risks and pulls them off, brilliantly. Recommended by Steven.
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The Arab of the Future 4
2019 by Sattouf, RiadGet this itemRiad Sattouf’s "The Arab of the Future" series, now up to volume 4, is one of the most consistently amazing comics out there right now. It’s an effortlessly endearing memoir about his volatile childhood bouncing among Libya, Syria, and France throughout the late '70s and early '90s with his French-born mother and his Syrian-born father. Sattouf has said the next volume will conclude the memoir. Recommended by Chris.
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