I highly recommend Astro City, starting with Life in the Big City. That's a collection of single-issue stories, but they're some of the best super hero stories out there. The second book, Confession, is one longer story (the groundwork for which is laid in the first book). One of the main characters is a superhero priest version of Batman, and the story also deals with a group of biblically themed superheroes who believe their powers come from God.
Invincible is also a good read, with some nice twists. Not necessarily as thought-provoking, but a lot of fun. It's an ongoing series, but it's been collected into both trade paperbacks and larger hardcover archives.
I should mention that Marvel Comics recently started a line of graphic novels based on classic literature. For example, there's The Odyssey. An Amazon search for Marvel Illustrated Classics turns up a wider selection.
Neil Gaiman has a number of graphic novels out. Dark and thought-provoking, often with ties to classical mythology, but I don't think there's anything that should really cause it to fail to pass muster. Look for Sandman (series of collected novels), Stardust (also a novel and a very cool movie), and Neverwhere.
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Date: 2009-11-20 02:07 (UTC)I highly recommend Astro City, starting with Life in the Big City. That's a collection of single-issue stories, but they're some of the best super hero stories out there. The second book, Confession, is one longer story (the groundwork for which is laid in the first book). One of the main characters is a superhero priest version of Batman, and the story also deals with a group of biblically themed superheroes who believe their powers come from God.
Invincible is also a good read, with some nice twists. Not necessarily as thought-provoking, but a lot of fun. It's an ongoing series, but it's been collected into both trade paperbacks and larger hardcover archives.
I should mention that Marvel Comics recently started a line of graphic novels based on classic literature. For example, there's The Odyssey. An Amazon search for Marvel Illustrated Classics turns up a wider selection.
Neil Gaiman has a number of graphic novels out. Dark and thought-provoking, often with ties to classical mythology, but I don't think there's anything that should really cause it to fail to pass muster. Look for Sandman (series of collected novels), Stardust (also a novel and a very cool movie), and Neverwhere.