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Great Graphic Novels (#GGN2022) Nominations Round-Up, Spring

Each quarter, the Selected Lists teams compile the titles that have been officially nominated to date. These are titles that have been suggested by the team or through the title suggestion form, read by multiple members of the team, and received approval to be designated an official nomination. At the end of the year, the final list of nominations and each Selected List’s Top Ten will be chosen from these titles.

Alienated. By Simon Spurrier. Art by Chris Wildgoose. 2020. BOOM! Studios. $19.99 (9781684155279).

Three teenagers named Sam (Samuel, Samantha, and Samir) encounter an alien with incredible powers that bonds to them. But will they use those powers for good or for evil?

Asadora!, v.1. By Naoki Urasawa. VIZ Media / VIZ Signature. $14.99 (9781974717460).

A storm sweeps into Nagoya, and young Asadora—with the help of unlikely friends—must find a way to rescue her family. But there’s more to the storm than just rain and wind as Asa soon discovers.

Great Graphic Novels (#GGN2022) Featured Review of The Black Panther Party by David F. Walker & Marcus Kwame Anderson

The Black Panther Party: A Graphic Novel History by David F. Walker and Marcus Kwame Anderson
Ten Speed Press / Penguin Random House
Publication Date: January 19, 2021
ISBN: 9781984857705

The Black Panther Party documents the rise of the revolutionary party from its inception in 1966 Oakland, California, to its dissolution in the 1980s. Key figures like Huey P. Newton, Bobby Seale, Eldridge and Kathleen Cleaver, Tarika Lewis, and Elaine Brown are introduced and highlighted, as well as the Party’s still-relevant Ten Point Program and the lethal influence of the FBI’s illegal counterintelligence program, COINTELPRO.

Great Graphic Novels (#GGN2021) Nominees Round Up, December 17 Edition

Click here to see all of the current Great Graphic Novels nominees along with more information about the list and past years’ selections.

Drifting Dragons Vol. 1 by Taku Kuwabara Book Cover — *Drifting Dragons, Vol. 1* by Taku Kuwabara

Drifting Dragons, vol. 1–5 by Taku Kuwabara
Kodansha Comics
Publication Date: December 17, 2019; December 17, 2019; February 18, 2020; April 3, 2020; August 25, 2020
ISBN: 9781632368904, 9781632369444, 9781632369451, 9781632369512, 9781632369529

Drifting Dragons is a historical fantasy and cooking manga that chronicles the daily life and adventures of the crew of a draking (dragon-hunting) airship. The Quin Zaza is introduced as one of the few draking ships still in operation in this world, and the crew has no port to call home. They follow the dragons and sell the meat, oil, and other byproducts to the locals wherever they are after a successful hunt. The series features a large ensemble cast, but the main characters are Takita, a young woman who is new to the ship and the draking world, and Mika, a brazen man whose driving motivation is how much he enjoys eating dragons. Mika’s appetite leads to many scenes of food preparation and chapters often end with a recipe.

Great Graphic Novels (#GGN2020) Nominees Round Up, May 23 Edition

Click here to see all of the current Great Graphic Novels nominees along with more information about the list and past years’ selections.

The Life of Frederick Douglass: A Graphic Narrative of a Slave’s Journey from Bondage to Freedom written by David F. Walker and illustrated by Damon Smyth and Marissa Louise
Ten Speed Press
Publication Date: January 8, 2019
ISBN: 978-0399581441

He was born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey on a plantation in Maryland. He was born a slave, but after he escaped and chose his own name—Frederick Douglass—he became a public speaker, abolitionist and the most photographed man in the nineteenth century. The story of Frederick Douglass from slavery to celebration by dignitaries from around the world is brought to life in this beautiful graphic novel that both tells his extraordinary story, but also provides readers context in the form of brief vignettes titled “lessons” that show the relation between what Douglass was experiencing and what was happening in the United States and abroad. Writer David F. Walker uses his introduction to inform readers that he wrote the book having Douglass “narrate” it himself by using Douglass’ published works to influence and shape the narrative voice. Thus, readers get a story told as much as possible by Frederick Douglass himself.

Continue reading Great Graphic Novels (#GGN2020) Nominees Round Up, May 23 Edition

#GGN2019 Nominees Round Up, October 11 Edition

Stephen McCranie’s Space Boy, vol. 1 by Stephen McCranie
Dark Horse Books
Publication Date: July 3, 2018
ISBN: 978-1506706481

Amy has lived her life on a far away mining colony, but when her dad loses his job, the family must return to planet Earth, a place Amy has only read about and seen through the media. To do this she must be in cryogenic sleep for thirty years. When she and her family arrive, they must navigate a new and different world, and one that does not contain Amy’s best friend Jemmah, who is now an adult back on the mining colony. Amy also has synesthesia, which gives her the ability to attach flavors to people. Her mom is mint and her dad is like hot chocolate. At her new school she meets a boy who has no flavor. She is both scared and curious. How will she survive in this strange new Earth? Will she ever be able to reconnect with Jemmah?

Continue reading #GGN2019 Nominees Round Up, October 11 Edition