Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion

Hello,

I am looking for a recommendation for my husband and son for Christmas. They both enjoy graphic novels and I have been buying them the Batman New 52 series which has since concluded. So I am looking for a new series or just straight up books to start buying them for their stocking.

Other series they have liked are Amulet, Bone, Walking dead. So you have an idea of their tastes.

Cheers

I read Y: The Last Man Brian Vaughan this year and really enjoyed it. It might not be appropritate for your son depending on his age.

I’ve also heard good things about his Saga series.

Also- I don’t think this one is much in line with the other series you mentioned, but Joe Hill’s Locke & Key graphic novels are INCREDIBLE.

Absolutely loved them. I might have even cried at the end. Again- they are horror so you might want to check the content for appropriateness. I know every book had at least one gruesome scene.

Hi Sarah,

My son is 18 so all is good for gore or horror. I will check those out.

Right now the top runner is Batman the long Halloween.

Thank you

Sarah wrote: "I’ve also heard good things about his Saga series."

I love Saga but be warned it does have sex in it, and not vague off-page stuff.

Yep, genitalia everywhere in Saga, at least in the first volume (only one I've read).

Recommendations - maybe The Wicked + The Divine? It's about gods being reincarnated in the modern day as celebrities. There's some gore and sexual content but it's not incredibly graphic (as far as I recall).

Sarah wrote: "Also- I don’t think this one is much in line with the other series you mentioned, but Joe Hill’s Locke & Key graphic novels are INCREDIBLE.


I am not much for Graphic novels but the reviews on this are so great I am going to pick up the first one for myself.

Oh good I hope you enjoy! They really are excellent and Hill is so creative.

Neil Gaiman's Sandman books are good - but probably more for your hubby than your son (depending how old he is).

Also, the Rivers of London graphic novels, which are a bit lighter.

Another Neil Gaiman is Marvel 1602.

I absolutely love The American Vampire series and Chew. Those two series are my favorites!!!

Are you looking for new on-going series or are older graphic novels okay? I tend not to do single issue, I wait for the collected volumes to be available at my library, so these are all older titles. These are all adult but nothing too graphic. (I would not give Saga to my 18 year old son, if I had a son!! He can read it, but I don't think he would like getting it from his mom!)

Planetary, Volume 1: All Over the World and Other Stories written by Warren Ellis- four volumes, total. There is also a Batman cross-over Planetary/Batman: Night on Earth & also Planetary: Crossing Worlds, neither of which I have read, but I assume they are just as good as the original story.

My current top favorite super-hero mini-series is the Fraction/Aja run of Hawkeye, starting with: Hawkeye, Volume 1: My Life as a Weapon, four volumes total. (Jeff Lemire picked this up and there are volumes 5 & 6 from him, but my library does not have them, and the reviews are not great so I'm reluctant to buy them.)

I also really liked the Mockingbird mini-series from Chelsea Cain: Mockingbird, Vol. 1: I Can Explain & Mockingbird, Vol. 2: My Feminist Agenda

An original superhero story: Ex Machina, Vol. 1: The First Hundred Days written by Brian K. Vaughan, ten volumes total. The art in this series is great because the artist uses real people as models.

If they like Neil Gaiman and/or original Sandman, this title has been rejuvenated and there are LOTS of new Sandman titles running right now, and I have not had a chance to read any of them, but I will!! These are new so I don't think they've been collected into volumes yet, except for The Sandman: Overture which came out a bit over a year ago.
- The Sandman Universe #1 by Neil Gaiman & Simon Spurrier
- Books of Magic (2018-) #1 (the old Books of Magic from the 80s/90s were great too!! If they liked Hellblazer, they'll like these too. starting with: The Books of Magic & The Books of Magic, Volume 1: Bindings)
- House of Whispers #1 written by Nalo Hopkinson
- Lucifer (2018-) #1 by Dan Watters
- The Dreaming #1

If they like Sandman and the TV show Lucifer, you can get the old Lucifer graphic novels, too - they are very different from the show, so it's not like re-reading the same story in a different format. First volume: Lucifer, Book One.

Also, a lot of people who liked Bone & Amulet also like Fables, Vol. 1: Legends in Exile written by Bill Willingham - this is a long series and I still have not read it in its entirety - if they like it, that'll give you give ideas for a while!!

If they want more Batman, DC has come out with a reboot, and the Batman stories are good. Batman, Volume 1: I Am Gotham written by Tom King. There are several collected volumes now, I'm slowly working my way through.

If they like Catwoman and hard-boiled mysteries, I loved Ed Brubaker's Catwoman, Vol. 1: The Dark End of the Street.

If they want more like Amulet, there is Flight; this is a mixed bag and I haven't read all of them but they always look interesting: Flight, Vol. 1 by Kazu Kibuishi

A personal favorite of mine that is very magical but maybe not appealing to 18 year olds: Zita the Spacegirl by Ben Hatke.

And, finally, my all-time FAVORITE comic book, from the 80s but still available in a collected edition: The Compleat Moonshadow written by J.M. DeMatteis with amazing art from Jon J. Muth. NOTHING has ever topped this series for me!!!