Grab a Graphic Novel: Off to the Movies
We’re highlighting our graphic novel collection by exploring tried-and-true cartoon classics, as well as fresh-off-the-press new releases. Pick up a graphic novel today!
Our Grab a Graphic Novel blog series presents our latest reads from the aforementioned collection. Available at all five libraries, the collection encompasses comics, manga and, of course, graphic novels — anything that uses pictures as an intrinsic part of the storytelling process.
This month, we’re exploring graphic novels that draw from — or contribute to — a movie or TV series. These cross-media stories find ways to adapt or further develop the original source material. In some cases, graphic novels may even have served as the inspiration for the big screen! Check out a selection of flick picks below.
Junior and Young Adult Graphic Novels
Adventure Time (various authors)
Description: It’s ADVENTURE TIME! Join Finn the Human, Jake the Dog, and Princess Bubblegum for all-new adventures through The Land of Ooo. Based on the popular children’s cartoon, this series and selection of spinoffs will delight fans of all ages.
Steven Universe (various authors)
Description: Steven Universe is just your normal Beach City citizen… who is anything but normal! Join Steven as he learns not only how to save the day with the help of Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl, but as he learns what it means it be a great friend and an even better neighbor! There will be crazy adventures any time of day when you live in Beach City, between bike races and late night karaoke; this is just the beginning for Steven!
Avatar, the Last Airbender spinoffs by Gene Luen Yang
Description: Beginning in the immediate aftermath of popular cartoon series Avatar: the Last Airbender, the comics by Gene Luen Yang offer a continuation of the Gaang’s adventures as they restore peace and balance to the world.
Scott Pilgrim by Bryan Lee O’Malley
Description: Scott Pilgrim’s life is fantastic. He’s 23 years old, in a rock band, between jobs, and dating a cute high school girl. Everything’s awesome until a seriously mind-blowing delivery girl named Ramona Flowers enters his life.
Spiderman (various authors)
Description: Follow the adventures of everyone’s favorite web-slinging superhero across many iterations, styles, authors, and universes with our collection of young adult Spider-Man comics.
Battle Angel Alita by Yukito Kishiro
Description: After more than a decade out of print, the original cyberpunk action classic returns in glorious 400-page hardcover deluxe editions, featuring an all-new translation, color pages, and new cover designs!
Adult Graphic Novels
The Umbrella Academy by Gerard Way
Description: In an inexplicable worldwide event, forty-seven extraordinary children were spontaneously born by women who had previously shown no signs of pregnancy. Millionaire inventor Reginald Hargreeves adopted seven of the children; when asked why, his only explanation was, ‘To save the world.’
Snowpiercer by Jacques Lob
Description: On a future, frozen Earth, humanity has been packed onto self-sustaining trains, doomed to circumnavigate the globe until the end of the interminable ice age – or until the engines give out. When a scrap of music piques their interest, the inhabitants of the Icebreaker take the ultimate risk and cross the frozen ocean, a vast expanse with no train tracks … and no way to return to them.
In a future where the outside world is encased in ice, the last humans, representing a hierarchy of lost society, travel on a train that never stops, but their relative peace is unsettled when the train’s poor become disgruntled.
The Ghost in the Shell by Matsumune Shirow
Description: In a near future, technology has firmly taken root into society at large. Cybernetic implants are nothing uncommon and robots roam as plentiful as humans, all connected through their “ghosts” to the electronic datastreams of the net.
V for Vendetta by Alan Moore
Description: A powerful story about loss of freedom and individuality, V FOR VENDETTA takes place in a totalitarian England following a devastating war that changed the face of the planet. In a world without political freedom, personal freedom and precious little faith in anything, comes a mysterious man in a white porcelain mask who fights political oppressors through terrorism and seemingly absurd acts in this gripping tale of the blurred lines between ideological good and evil.
A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin
Description: Winter is coming. Such is the stern motto of House Stark, the northernmost of the fiefdoms that owe allegiance to King Robert Baratheon in far-off King’s Landing. There Eddard Stark of Winterfell rules in Robert’s name. There his family dwells in peace and comfort: his proud wife, Catelyn; his sons Robb, Brandon, and Rickon; his daughters Sansa and Arya; and his bastard son, Jon Snow. Far to the north, behind the towering Wall, lie savage Wildings and worse–unnatural things relegated to myth during the centuries-long summer, but proving all too real and all too deadly in the turning of the season.
As we talk about different graphic novels, we can only feature a fraction of the awesome works within our collection. We’d love to hear from you as well! What is your favorite graphic novel? Leave a comment with your own recommendation!
For more reading suggestions, check out the posts in our Plano Reads tag. We also have several virtual Book Clubs to appeal to any kind of reader.
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