Hi there,
I’m currently working at MMU’s Library, and I’ve been asked to put together
a small reading list of comics (8-10 books, although there is room for a few
more) to coincide with the IGNCC conference taking place at MMU in June. The
list is part of our Love To Read scheme, which tries to encourage our students
to use stock in our Library to read for leisure, rather than just for study.
Anyway, rather than going for one of those canonical best of lists (for want of
a better way of describing it) with the usual suspects (Watchmen, Maus,
Persepolis etc.), I thought it may be good idea to develop a list that showcases
a selection of comics which do some interesting things with the
form/storytelling that often get overlooked by those more canonical lists I
mention.
I’m largely having to use current stock in the Library, but I have been
told I have small budget, so can order a few books in if needs be, which is
amazing. SO, I thought I would reach out to the list to see if any of you may
have a suggestion or two. Is there anything you can think of that may be a good
addition to such a list? As I say, I’m trying to highlight some of the more
unusual uses of comics storytelling, which challenge the way we think about the
form.
The list has kinda branched out into a few areas:
The "comics as" section.
-Comics as PhD (Nick Sousanis, Unflattening)
-Comics as course syllabus (Lynda Barry, Syllabus)
-Comics as exploration of comics form (Scott McCloud's Understanding
Comics)
The interesting use of comics form (sorry these titles are so bad, I
hope you get the jist though...)
-Chris Ware's Building Stories
-Richard McGuire's Here
-Silent comics likes Andrzej Klimowski's The Secret / Shaun Tan's The
Arrival
Graphic reportage (effectively spotlighting some recent additions to our
catalogue)