,

What are your favorite graphic novels/comics from Europe?

I ask of participants to avoid adding duplicates and, if it's possible, to add English translations.

Also let’s avoid works by European authors for American publishers (an example would be Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons creating Watchmen for DC comics).

Thanks!
1

by
4.10 avg rating — 12,900 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
2

by
4.29 avg rating — 18,085 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
3

by
4.24 avg rating — 19,764 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
4

by
4.31 avg rating — 11,912 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
5

by
4.31 avg rating — 18,355 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
6

by
4.27 avg rating — 234,683 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
7

by
4.02 avg rating — 2,408 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
8

by
3.96 avg rating — 12,232 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
9

by
4.07 avg rating — 15,572 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
10

by
4.31 avg rating — 14,302 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
11

by
4.21 avg rating — 15,403 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
12

by
4.10 avg rating — 15,915 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
13

by
4.23 avg rating — 4,049 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
14

by
4.35 avg rating — 14,005 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
15

by
4.24 avg rating — 16,540 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
16

by
4.16 avg rating — 8,999 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
17

by
4.04 avg rating — 15,349 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
18

by
4.37 avg rating — 6,296 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
19

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 11,462 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
20

by
4.16 avg rating — 13,188 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
21

by
4.04 avg rating — 13,640 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
22

by
4.06 avg rating — 7,266 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
23

by
4.15 avg rating — 7,509 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
24

by
4.24 avg rating — 13,824 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
25

by
3.89 avg rating — 13,850 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
26

by
4.39 avg rating — 380,111 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
27

by
4.33 avg rating — 10,343 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
28

by
4.26 avg rating — 327,210 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
29

by
4.34 avg rating — 1,364 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
30

by
4.18 avg rating — 7,840 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
31

by
4.22 avg rating — 2,653 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
32

by
4.18 avg rating — 34,261 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
33

by
4.21 avg rating — 7,055 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
34

by
4.22 avg rating — 1,498 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
35

by
4.15 avg rating — 653 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
36

by
4.22 avg rating — 16,470 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
37

by
4.29 avg rating — 1,182 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
38

by
4.31 avg rating — 4,084 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
39

by
4.38 avg rating — 11,175 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
40

by
4.43 avg rating — 159,436 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
41

by
4.35 avg rating — 6,551 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
42

by
3.93 avg rating — 6,308 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
43

by
4.05 avg rating — 19,521 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
44

by
4.18 avg rating — 1,728 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
45

by
3.99 avg rating — 1,550 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
46

by
4.25 avg rating — 1,674 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
47

by
4.02 avg rating — 843 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
48

by
4.04 avg rating — 12,699 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
49

by
4.24 avg rating — 1,200 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
50

by
3.94 avg rating — 1,081 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
51

by
4.15 avg rating — 1,475 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
52

by
3.94 avg rating — 873 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
52

by
4.13 avg rating — 855 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
54

by
3.49 avg rating — 867 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
55

by
4.06 avg rating — 20,783 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
56

by
4.28 avg rating — 1,051 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
57

by
4.03 avg rating — 8,697 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
58

by
4.20 avg rating — 1,252 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
59

by
3.72 avg rating — 1,304 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
60

by
4.28 avg rating — 1,010 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
61

by
3.98 avg rating — 960 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
62

by
3.96 avg rating — 2,623 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
63

by
4.27 avg rating — 1,098 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
64

by
4.10 avg rating — 264 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
65

by
4.21 avg rating — 1,162 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
66

by
3.95 avg rating — 242 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
67

by
3.88 avg rating — 12,597 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
68

by
4.29 avg rating — 1,617 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
69

by
4.06 avg rating — 685 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
70

by
4.01 avg rating — 11,086 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
71

by
4.16 avg rating — 116 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
72

by
4.32 avg rating — 1,218 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
73

by
4.06 avg rating — 1,243 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
74

by
3.86 avg rating — 732 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
75

by
4.10 avg rating — 672 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
76

by
4.07 avg rating — 4,405 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
77

by
3.75 avg rating — 599 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
78

by
4.26 avg rating — 8,189 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
79

by
3.94 avg rating — 1,111 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
80

by
4.26 avg rating — 2,551 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
81

by
4.16 avg rating — 7,417 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
82

by
4.27 avg rating — 410 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
83

by
4.03 avg rating — 12,704 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
84

by
4.18 avg rating — 9,887 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
85

by
4.03 avg rating — 1,276 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
86

by
3.73 avg rating — 1,150 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
87

by
3.93 avg rating — 13,271 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
88

by
3.70 avg rating — 496 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
89

by
3.57 avg rating — 855 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
90

by
4.29 avg rating — 4,261 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
91

by
4.22 avg rating — 79,853 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
92

by
4.15 avg rating — 497 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
93

by
3.65 avg rating — 257 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
94

by
4.05 avg rating — 1,845 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
95

by
4.17 avg rating — 11,979 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
96

by
3.92 avg rating — 624 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
97

by
4.15 avg rating — 884 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
98

by
3.86 avg rating — 1,823 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
99

by
3.96 avg rating — 1,009 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
99

by
4.08 avg rating — 1,998 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
879 books · 332 voters · list created January 28th, 2012 by Sérgio (votes) .
236 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Sérgio 1211 books
104 friends
Alessandra 2196 books
62 friends
Antaeus 434 books
6 friends
Jordan 4420 books
27 friends
Komuniststar 3401 books
102 friends
JoJo 1166 books
90 friends
Nicolo 4495 books
1181 friends
Ana 4354 books
483 friends

More voters…


Comments Showing 1-26 of 26 (26 new)

dateUp arrow    newest »

message 1: by Sérgio (last edited May 27, 2012 03:56AM) (new)

Sérgio I've changed the rules a bit.

Maybe it would be easier to just choose the first books for each series, but I think since most classic series have a story by book it would make more sense that way.

What do you guys/gals think?


message 2: by Alessandra (new)

Alessandra It's a different approach. With only the first volume, the list will be a more compact sampling of the range of European graphic novels available. If you permit individual books after the first one the list may grow a lot larger, but it will also reflect the relative popularity and influence of each particular series.

As it is, I note there are already a number of later volumes here.


message 3: by Sérgio (new)

Sérgio Yes, that's true.

I'm going with this because a lot of series in the main European comics tradition (the franco-belgian one) tend to go for decades and dozens of graphic novels, so the style and the quality of the books tend to change a lot.

For example: Tintin in the Land of the Soviets (first book) is very different from The Castafiore Emerald and if people think that that first book is representative of the series they going to have a wrong idea of it.


message 4: by Sérgio (new)

Sérgio I had some good advices from participants so I decided to keep the rules simpler.

Thanks!


message 5: by Sunnykimmy (new)

Sunnykimmy How did "Suske en Wiske" not make the list? I know it's written in Dutch but when it comes to European graphic novels it's definitely one of the best (series). That, the "Donald Duck" ones and the "Tina/Noortje" ones. Sadly they're all Dutch. I'm not sure if they've been translated.


message 6: by Sérgio (new)

Sérgio Sunnykimmy wrote: "How did "Suske en Wiske" not make the list? I know it's written in Dutch but when it comes to European graphic novels it's definitely one of the best (series). That, the "Donald Duck" ones and the ..."

Hi!

You can always add it yourself if you want to.

And you can add an untranslated version in the case where there isn't a translation in English.


message 7: by Sérgio (new)

Sérgio Deleted a few duplicates from the list:

Le Photographe - Tome 1
Le Photographe - Tome 2
Le Photographe - Tome 3
Isaac Le Pirate, Tome 1: Les Amériques


message 8: by Periklis (new)

Periklis I just added some titles, I checked the list twice and removed a couple I added and were already there. I apologise in advance for any duplicates and/or non-fitting books.


message 9: by Sérgio (new)

Sérgio Hey there Periklis. Thanks for voting on this list, you added plenty of cool stuff.

However there's a bunch of books I'm not sure should be in the list.

Like, you added some books created only by argentinian creators. If they are by a non-europena and a european I just they can be on the list. But not if both creators are non-europeans.

Juan Giménez:

Leo Roa: The True Tales of Leo Roa
The Fourth Power

Carlos Trillo and Eduardo Risso

Vampire Boy
Borderline, Vol. 1
Eduardo Risso's Tales of Terror

Ricardo Barreiro:

Cain

There's also some all american creators books I think:

The Silent City
by Erez Yakin (apparently he's from New York)

Dominion

and FLYWIRES


I think the rest is OK. Just tell me what you think about the books I mentioned if you can.


message 10: by Periklis (new)

Periklis Hey Sergio, thanks for creating this list in the first place. You're right about your remarks and I have removed the conflicting books. I left David Loyd's Kickback Despite being published by Dark Horse. I think the original commision was from a Spanish publisher. I'm really not sure...
One thing that I kept thinking upon is the definition of European creators, by market. In the case of "Metabarons", both creators are Latin American (Jodorowsky is Chilean & Gimenez from Argentina?) but were published by an iconic European publisher (Metal Hurlant) while Jodorowsky lived & worked (and continues to do so) in France. It's not an argument, just something to think upon, especially in Jodorowsky's case.


message 11: by Sérgio (new)

Sérgio Thanls for erasing the books. Actually you could have kept one of them - Apocalypse: The Eyes of Doom' writer is italian so it's ok to have it on the list.

I think you're right about Kickback. Wikipedia says it was published first in Europe.


Yeah, I was thinking about that too. It's very hard to decide one way or another. What you said about Jodorowsky is true. I won't take a position either way so if you want to add it, I won't erase it. Only if other voters complain about it.


message 12: by Sérgio (new)

Sérgio I've noticed a similar case to the Metabarons one. Aldebaran is written and drawn by Léo, a brazilian who has lived and created comics in France for over thirty years.

I wont' erase either since they can be considered in the border of what can be called European comics.


message 13: by Periklis (new)

Periklis indeed, from his amazon bio: "In 1974, he was back in Brazil and decided to devote himself to drawing. When Leo discovered European graphic novels, he decided to try his luck in France and settled in Paris in 1981."


message 14: by Sérgio (new)

Sérgio I've erased a couple of books

Icaro , which was scripted by Moebius but has art by Taniguchi and was first published in Japan

Den: Neverwhere, because Richard Corben is an american


If someone of more books that shouldn't be here let me know


message 15: by Alice (new)

Alice Sunnykimmy wrote: "How did "Suske en Wiske" not make the list? I know it's written in Dutch but when it comes to European graphic novels it's definitely one of the best (series). That, the "Donald Duck" ones and the ..."

Hey! "Suske en Wiske" definitely is a classic!Those were so good! And they were indeed translated, at least they were in French, though the name is very different: It's called "Bob et Bobette". But it's funny I was so sure it was Belgian (Flemish) and not Dutch! Oh well, the more you know :)


message 16: by Silent_bomber (last edited May 12, 2015 04:49AM) (new)

Silent_bomber Going by the OP's rules (avoid US publishers) these ones don't seem to qualify -

"The Tale of One Bad Rat" was originally published by American company Dark Horse. "History of Violence" was published by one of DC's imprints in the US and was created by two Americans (though to be fair John Wagner has spent most of his life in Scotland). I'm pretty sure that Cromwell Stone was Dark Horse and that those Discworld comics were US adaptations of the British novels. The Last American was definitely originally by Epic Comics (a Marvel imprint).

"Heart of Empire" was published by Dark Horse, but its the sequel of "The Adventures of Luther Arkwright" which was originally published in the UK by Valkyrie Press (and others).


message 17: by BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) (last edited May 14, 2015 07:24AM) (new)

BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) Alice wrote: "But it's funny I was so sure it was Belgian (Flemish) and not Dutch! Oh well, the more you know :)
..."


Willy Vandersteen is indeed Belgian, if that is what you meant. He was born in 1913 in Antwerp, where he died in 1990. Several of the original Suske en Wiske comic books were translated into English as Willy and Wanda / Spike and Suzy. See also the Suske en Wiske series on GR.


message 18: by Silent_bomber (last edited May 10, 2015 04:19PM) (new)

Silent_bomber I added "Miracleman Book 3 - Olympus" by mistake, I forgot that Miracleman only got to the halfway point of Book 2 before the UK title was cancelled. The end of Book 2, and Book 3 were first published in the US by Eclipse Comics IIRC.

---------------------

Anyway -

"Arctic Nation" (#20) is included in "Blacksad" (#34)

and

"Desolation Jones" (#415) and "Ministry of Space" (#409) are US published comics.


message 19: by Dr (new)

Dr Dabbler Is this list strictly for continental Europe, or also UK?


message 20: by BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) (last edited May 14, 2015 06:36AM) (new)

BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) Dr wrote: "Is this list strictly for continental Europe, or also UK?"

It says 'from Europe', so in my humble opinion that would include the UK, Ireland, Iceland, Malta and even Cyprus. If not, the desciption should have said so... :-)


message 21: by Silent_bomber (last edited May 14, 2015 07:00AM) (new)

Silent_bomber I think that the description referring to Alan Moore as a "European author" indicates that this is for all of Europe, not just continental Europe.

The list creator also voted for a few UK graphic novels himself.


message 22: by Sérgio (new)

Sérgio Silent_bomber wrote: "I think that the description referring to Alan Moore as a "European author" indicates that this is for all of Europe, not just continental Europe.

The list creator also voted for a few UK graphic..."


You're right about this Silent Bomber UK published comics are allowed (as I say in the description).

Also, thanks for the tips. I'll make corrections right away. :)


message 23: by Silent_bomber (new)

Silent_bomber Crecy (#434) was from US publisher Avatar Press


message 24: by Pedro (new)

Pedro Cravo I casted my votes and added three titles:
- Histoire sens herós, from Dany and Van Hamme
- Les guardiens du Maser (vol 1), from Frezzato
- El Mercenario (vol 1), from Segrelles

I had to add the Portuguese editions because when I tried the original titles they wouldn't show up.


message 25: by Silent_bomber (new)

Silent_bomber Voted for a few more, slowly working my way through lols

Am I the only one who thinks its a shame that Tintin dominates the top of the list as much as it does? I don't hate it or anything its just that I'd rather the top 20 was a little bit more diverse than it is.


message 26: by Melissa (new)

Melissa I added "Yellow Negros" by Yvan Alagbe even though this first time translation was published in the US by New York Review of Books because his work was originally published in France. Hope that follows the guidelines.


back to top



Related News

Here at Goodreads World Headquarters, we sort through a lot of books each month. Our monthly Readers’ Most Anticipated Books feature is exactly...

Anyone can add books to this list.