When thinking about comic books, the most obvious association is with heroes like Superman and Captain America clashing with villains threatening the very existence of Earth. However, the comic medium is far more than superhero stories.

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Graphic novels have grown in popularity over the past decade and are exploring more than man's dreams to fly and fight crime. The comic medium has grown to include stories that study life, ask the hard questions, and shed light on the world’s mysteries. There are graphic novels that not only don't feature any characters with powers of any kind, but some that don't have so much as a single fight scene or action setpiece.

10  Maus

Mice-in-prison-uniforms

Art Spiegelman’s graphic novel, Maus, is widely considered one of the greatest graphic novels of all time. Maus has won numerous awards over the years, including Eisner and Harvey Awards. However, its most prestigious recognition comes from being the first and only graphic novel to win a Pulitzer Prize.

Maus is the story of Art’s father, Vladek, a Polish Jew that experienced the horrors of the Holocaust firsthand. Exploring the relationship of father and son, Maus depicts Art’s interviews with his father, as he draws his Vladek’s recollections of surviving the Holocaust with Art’s mother, Anja. A haunting graphic novel, Maus uses the imagery of mice as Jews, cats as Nazis, and pigs as Poles, to help readers digest the atrocities that took place during this time period.

9 Daytripper

Man-reading-newspaper-on-bench-next-to-dog

Daytripper is the combined work of Brazilian comic artists, Fabio Moon (Casanova) and Gabriel Ba (Umbrella Academy). Awarded both an Eisner and Harvey Award, Daytripper is renowned for its contemplative story and unique art.

The story of Daytripper chronicles the life and death of its main character, Bras de Oliva Domingos, an obituary writer with aspirations of writing a critically acclaimed book like his father. Told in a mind-bending fashion, the reader views Bras’ life through a jumbled timeline of highs and lows that reveal the beauty of life and death, reminding them that they must live each day to the fullest because tomorrow is never guaranteed.

8 Blankets

boy-holding-girl-in-snow

Blankets is an autobiographical account of Craig Thompson’s life. The coming-of-age story is widely renowned, receiving Harvey, Eisner, and Ignatz Awards for its relatable story and stunning artwork. Named Time Magazine’s No. 1 Best Comic of 2003 and No. 8 Best Comic of the Decade, Blankets is a must-read for graphic novel lovers.

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Blankets is an all too familiar story of childhood. Exploring the pains of adolescence, readers see Craig attempt to navigate relationships with his family as he experiences his first love, heartbreak, and doubts in his faith in Christianity. As Craig struggles through early adulthood he comes to terms with his spirituality and uses Blankets as a way to explain his beliefs to his parents.

7 Black Hole

The cover of Charles Burns' Black Hole

Black Hole is the work of artist and writer, Charles Burns. Another winner of the Harvey, Eisner, and Ignatz Awards, Black Hole is a sci-fi story with trippy imagery that draws readers into a story that highlights the cruelty and alienation of being on the outside in high school.

The story follows a group of teenagers as they reach puberty and begin to explore all the things that go along with that. However, these teens have more to worry about than most, as a sexually transmitted disease known as the Bug plagues their Seattle suburb. Once contracted, the Bug results in genetic mutations that leave the adolescences facing a world of isolation and anxiety as they transition to adulthood.

6 Ghost World

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Ghost World by Daniel Clowes is a quasi-autobiographical story about friends growing up and growing apart. The overwhelming success of the graphic novel led to its win of an Ignatz Award and even spawned a film adaptation with Scarlett Johansson that was nominated for Oscar and Golden Globe awards.

Ghost World is the story of two friends: Enid and Rebecca. After graduating high school, the two girls are left wondering what to do next. Wandering around town and criticizing just about everything in their path, Enid and Rebecca eventually must face the inevitable and take the next step in their lives. However, that step may be on different paths for each of them.

5 Pride Of Baghdad

lions-eyes

Brian K. Vaughan’s novel, Pride of Baghdad, is a fictional story based on the true events of four lions that escaped the Baghdad Zoo during an American bombing raid in the spring of 2003. Pride of Baghdad received a great deal of acclaim winning a Harvey Award and being recognized by IGN as the Best Original Graphic Novel of 2006.

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Pride of Baghdad follows the story of the four lions that escaped the Baghdad Zoo during the Iraq War. A truly unique tale, Vaughan embodies each lion with distinctly different viewpoints of the Iraq War as he examines the costs of freedom among the tragedies of war.

4 Stitches

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Stitches is David Small’s graphic memoir. It was a #1 New York Times bestseller, National Book Award finalist, and named in the top 10 Best Books of 2009 by Publishers Weekly.

David Small’s story illustrates his early life in Detroit, Michigan. As a child, Smalls was exposed to large doses of radiation from his father's work as a radiologist. As time went on Smalls would be diagnosed with cancer and undergo surgery to remove a growth in his neck. While the surgery was deemed harmless, Smalls awoke from the operation virtually mute, as one of his vocal cords had been removed along with the growth. Stitches tells the story of Smalls as he escaped into his drawings from his harsh adolescent reality.

3 The Underwater Welder

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The Underwater Welder was created by Jeff Lemire, a comic author and artist who has worked on numerous titles for DC, Marvel, and Image Comics. His story has gained a great deal of attention in the comic community receiving a nomination for the Harvey Awards and making its way onto the New York Times Bestseller list.

The Underwater Welder is the story of Jack Joseph, an oil rig worker off the coast of Nova Scotia. With a pregnant wife at home, Jack is soon to be a father. However, this Twilight Zone-style tale takes a turn when Jack has a supernatural experience on one of his dives. A mind-bending story, The Underwater Welder explores the relationship between father and son.

2 Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths

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Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths was the first work of Shigeru Mizuki to be translated and published in English. A famous manga artist, Mizuki was renowned in Japan for his work. However, Mizuki’s reputation grew with Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths, gaining him international attention with its numerous awards, including the Heritage Essential Award at the Angoulême International Comics Festival.

Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths is a semiautobiographical account of Mizuki’s experience in the Japanese infantry at the end of World War II. Mizuki depicts the final days of the New Guinea campaign, where the soldiers were told to die for the honor of their country, mixing real photos with his illustrations and leaving readers with a meditation on the consequences of war.

1 A Contract With God

An old man walks up the stairs in pouring rain in Will Eisner's A Contract With God.

Considered the first graphic novel or at least the story that popularized the genre in America, A Contract With God and Other Tenement Stories, is the work of the great Will Eisner. Revolutionizing the comic industry and developing the graphic novel medium, the Eisner Awards are named after Will Eisner for his legendary work in the field.

A Contract With God is made up of four interwoven stories about the residents of a tenement building in the fictional neighborhood known as Dropsie Avenue in the Bronx. These short stories explore Jewish-American history, delving into mature topics based on ethnic identity and proving the graphic novel as an art and storytelling format worthy of recognition.

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