Here is a list of some of our favorite graphic novels of 2014! What were some of the best new comics you read this year?
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Through the Woodsby Emily Carroll
A collection of grim fairy tales, centered on characters discovering hideous things in the dark woods at the borders of their daily lives. The simple plots and delicate voice perfectly capture the tone of myths. Get a taste of
Carroll's work.
In Real Life by Cory Doctorow & Jen Wang
Teenaged Anda finds identity and solace playing as a fearless warrior on her favorite massively-multiplayer role-playing game Coarsegold. She is recruited by another player to hunt and kill in-game gold farmers, who work 12-hour shifts in sweatshops in developing countries. Anda befriends one of the gold farmers in game and encourages him and his co-workers to organize and stand up for their rights in real life!
HowToons: Tools of Mass Construction by Saul Griffith, Ingrid Dragotta & Nick Dragotta
This series of comic strips presents Maker-esque projects you can make from easily scrounged materials! The stars are a brother and sister duo, Celine and Tucker, who actively engage in the world around them, learning through experimentation, creativity, and problem solving.
The Dumbest Idea Ever! by Jimmy Gownley
This autobiographical comic tells the story of how and why Gownley, author of the popular Amelia Rules series, became a teen comic book writer and author. While self-publishing and becoming locally famous, Gownley also bumbles through typical adolescent challenges, such as first love and growing up in a small town.
This One Summer by Jillian and Mariko Tamaki
Two young teen girls, Rosie and Windy, have spent every summer that they can remember together in the quiet lakeside town of Awago where each of their parents rent cabins. This summer though, their simple girlhood games don't seem to satisfy Rosie; as her parents fraying marriage takes a toll on their family, and her own young adulthood looms just around the corner. Instead of goofing off, Rosie is more interested in the dramas of the group of townie teens who hang around the local convenience store. Captures the feeling of summer so perfectly, you'll feel the sun's heat on your face.
The Shadow Hero by Gene Yang and Sonny Liew
Yang reimagines the Green Turtle, an obscure 1940's character, as the first definitively Chinese superhero born in a Bay Area Chinatown to immigrant parents! Hank Chu wants to grow up to be just like his dad and run the neighborhood grocery store, but instead ends up donning a mask and adopting a secret identity to fight racism and injustice.
The Fuseby Antony Johnston and Justin Greenwood
This surprising comic book series starts like a standard police procedural: the new guy shows up for the night shift: He and his gruff partner, a veteran of the force, are immediately thrust into a complicated homicide case where nothing is as it seems. Of course, it takes place on a space station orbiting Earth. A mash-up of noir and science fiction with a dash of political thriller.
