Coming Soon !! The Best Graphic Novel of All Time Polls !!!

[turtlex]

Hey Comic Tower Junkies – We’re preparing to put up a series of polls which we feel will ultimately determine the Comic Tower’s Best Graphic Novel of All Time.

So, put your thinking caps on, because the nominations are going to be completely up to you! That’s right, you!!!

We’re a community here and we want your participation and input.

In the coming days, we’ll create a NOMINATIONS thread and we’ll be asking our members for nominations.

Each person will get to nominate two different Graphic Novels as the Best.

Once we have a list of GNs, we’ll put all the nominees into groups and polls ( similar to the wonderful Best Movie of All Time polls that feev did such a great job with ).

We’ve decided on the following criteria to define exactly what we feel a Graphic Novel is:


Graphic Novels must tell a full story or story arc.
Graphic Novels are not multiple, separate stories ( that's a compilation ).
Graphic Novels are not just collections of a title ( such as the Marvel Masterpiece books ).


Look for the NOMINATIONS thread in the near future! We look forward to your participation!

FYI : Sam and I will be working on these polls together!

[fernandito]

Just give it to The Sandman and be done with it! :lol:

Looking forward to this competition! :thumbsup:

[Sam]

We couldn't give it to The Sandman though since that's the title of the comic series. We need the title of the GN. So The Sandman won't work, but The Sandman: Dream Country will work since that's the name of the GN. Savvy?

[fernandito]

Well, the criteria posted above specifically states that it must tell a complete story arc. Dream Country neither opens nor closes an arc in the Sandman series.

[turtlex]

That's a good point, both Sam and Feev.

This kind of question is why we started this thread before putting up polls and started accepting nominations.

By "full story" I suppose we weren't being 100% clear. Story arc is more accurate.

For instance, Gunslinger Born is a story arc and would be acceptable, though it's not a complete story....

... does that make sense?

In other words - the nominated GN can be an arc within a larger story.

That given, any of the Sandman GN's could be nominated.

And feev... I kind of expected Watchmen from you, buddy! :couple:

If anyone has any suggestions or questions - this is the place to ask them, so we can clarify before the nominations start.

[Sam]

When we say not collections we mean something more like the Complete Frank Miller Spider-Man collection. That was just a collection of the issues Miller worked on. It wasn't like The Punisher: The Slavers, which told a full story that took place withing the overall series.

Besides, like Pam said, I was expecting something more... exotic from you feev.

[DoctorDodge]

I'm gonna be random here and I know this very likely won't win, but i'm gonna ask for Judge Dredd: America to be nominated. At only 62 pages, the original story is certainly short, but will always be my favourite graphic novel ever in the fact that it brilliantly tells an ordinary citizen's life story in so few pages, makes Mega City 1 far more of a three dimensional, believeable dystopia than ever before, and makes the reader question whether Dredd is really a hero, or just a glorified villain. I had been a casual reader of Dredd before, but this was the story that made me a fan. Sure, it's currently available only as part of a collection of arcs relating to both America and her daughter, but i'm gonna nominate the original, now out of print original graphic novel that collected just the original arc. Mainly because whilst it's sequals were good, the original was PERFECT.

[Sam]

I would like to know more about your nomination. What I found on it was that the story was originally printed in Judge Dredd Magazine. Is it this issue of the magazine that you are wanting to nominate? If that's the case, then I don't think it meets the requirements.

All I am needing right now is a little more clarification on what is being nominated. I have pm'ed this message to you as well.

[Sam]

Sorry guys. I had a stupid moment and jumped the gun.:doh:

We aren't taking nominations yet. I'm sorry, A-GAIN. All I can say is I'm excited about this and want to get it started.

Take some time and think about what you want to nominate.

[Sam]

Btw, Judge Dredd: America looks like it would be an acceptable entry DoctorDodge.

forget about my moment of insanity, it never happened.

[turtlex]

DoctorDodge - Welcome to the site! :grouphug:

Seems like your question has been answered by Sam, so kudos and we'll look for it when the nomination thread opens up.

This is the kind of thing we're looking for - so if you have a question about a specific title, if it "qualifies" as a GN or whatnot, please feel free to ask.

DoctorDodge had a good question since the original material appears in magazine form, but since it was also gathered as a GN, it's in !!!

And remember - everyone gets two nominations.. so if maybe you have a favorite that you feel might not win, but you want to nominate it - I really think you should. Here's the thing - if nothing else, the nomination will bring some attention and discussion about the title - and that's really what all this is about.

[Brainslinger]

Btw, Judge Dredd: America looks like it would be an acceptable entry DoctorDodge.


I agree (although I haven't read America.) Most Judge Dredd stories originate as parts of strips in either 2000 AD or the Judge Dredd Megazine. Both of those comics are anthologies (so Dredd would be alongside lots of other stories.) but often the strips are collected later into a GN.

It's not JUST a collection though as it's collected to form one story (if that makes sense. Sometimes there is more than one story per collection, but as long as we indicate which we mean I think that's ok. America is certainly an Arc.)

[SigTauGimp]

OOOoooo...I am excited about this one. :D


Can't wait for the nominations thread to open up. :orely:

[turtlex]

The nomination thread will open up sometime later this week - we just want to give folks time to think on it and ask questions if they have them.

I'm looking forward to this too!

ETA: I just posted a list of GN's recommended by GQ magazine. Linkage: http://www.thedarktower.org/palaver/showthread.php?t=7659

[Aaron]

This is going to be tough to decide on. :panic:

[LadyHitchhiker]

Well I know I'm going to nominate Sam & Max!!!!!!!!!!

[DoctorDodge]

Well I know I'm going to nominate Sam & Max!!!!!!!!!!

OMG, how could I have forgotten about Sam & Max: Surfin' the Highway?

"It's the rubber pants commandos!"

So WRONG, yet so FUNNY!

[turtlex]

Found this list from Time Magazine :

All-TIME Graphic Novels - "Graphic novel" is a vague moniker that gets applied to any extended form of comics, including non-fiction and short story collections. But here, at least, the term fits. Following the rules of the All TIME 100 books — focusing exclusively on book-length fictional stories originally written in English — here are the All TIME top ten graphic novels, in alphabetical order by title. — Andrew D. Arnold

Berlin: City of Stones by Jason Lutes (Drawn & Quarterly; 2000)
Part of an incredibly ambitious, years-in-the-making project, this is just the first volume of a series of novels that will all take place during the combustible Weimar era of the titular city. Drawn with clean lines and an attention to architectural detail that pays homage to such European comics as Hergé's "Tintin," City of Stones follows a young woman art student who starts an affair with a weary leftist journalist against a background of boiling politics and decadence. Filled with rich characters and period detail, even if the follow-up books never come, it will still be one of the premier works of historical fiction in the medium.

Blankets by Craig Thompson (Top Shelf; 2003)
This semi-autobiographical novel set in the snowy hinterlands of Wisconsin tells the story of a lonely, artistic young man who struggles with his fundamentalist Christian upbringing when he falls in love. Fluidly told over 582 pages, Blankets magically recreates the high emotional stakes of adolescence. Thompson has set new bars for the medium not just in length, but breadth.

Bone by Jeff Smith (Cartoon Books; 2004)
A series of black-and-white comics about three odd-looking creatures lost in a valley of dragons, talking bugs and rat creatures published over twelve years are collected here as a 1,300-page soft cover. Bone combines the humor and look of early Disney movies with the scope of the Lord of the Rings cycle. Smith draws characters that are both cute and scary, infusing every panel with dynamic energy. The best all-ages novel yet published in this medium, while children will read Bone for its breathless adventure and sight gags, older kids and adults will appreciate the themes of blind fanaticism and corrupting power.

The Boulevard of Broken Dreams by Kim Deitch (Pantheon; 2002) Deitch, an overlooked veteran of the 1960s "underground" comix movement, finally got his due with this trade-published novel. It follows the career of Ted Mishkin, a brilliant animator of the 1930s driven to madness by a (possibly imaginary) malevolent, bipedal cat named Waldo. Using a charming drawing style reminiscent of 1930s cartoons Deitch explores the nature of reality, the mystery of inspiration, the exploitation of pop culture and the redemptive power of art.

The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller (DC Comics; 1986)
One of the best-selling graphic novels of all time, this black comedy version of Batman's latter days masterfully combines satire with superhero antics without betraying it's central character's core of danger. Along with Alan Moore & Dave Gibbon's Watchmen, it redefined the concept of "superhero," and helped spark the first wave of "serious" interest in comics.

David Boring by Daniel Clowes (Pantheon; 2000)
Although best known for his book Ghost World, thanks to the movie version, Dan Clowes' David Boring, about a guy in search of a woman while the world may be ending, marked his first truly novelistic approach to graphical storytelling. Peerless in his ability to create offbeat characters and write sardonic humor, Clowes has lately gotten more experimental in his form, but David Boring remains his most readable and unified book.

Ed the Happy Clown by Chester Brown (Vortex; 1989)
Brown, who has sustained a career as one of comicdom's maverick creators, first became known with this fantastically funny, violent and absurd debut novel, a bizarre farce that includes Martians, vampires, Ronald Reagan and a doleful, miserable protagonist named Ed the Happy Clown. Montreal's Drawn & Quarterly has just begun re-publishing the chapters as individual comics with new covers.

Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth by Chris Ware (Pantheon; 2000)
The most perfect novel yet seen in this format, Ware innovates in form and in content to create a uniquely American story, both tragic and gut-splittingly funny. Neither smart nor a kid, Jimmy reunites with his long-lost dad, finds him a great disappointment, and discovers an African-American sister he never knew about. Confronting race, history, and family this book proved incontrovertibly that the form could be as deep and complex as any prose novel.

Palomar: The Heartbreak Soup Stories by Gilbert Hernandez (Fantagraphics Books; 2003)
A kind of über graphic novel that collects a series of smaller graphic novels all situated in a small town "somewhere south of the U.S. border," this giant tome by a seminal comic artist will likely be the author's magnum opus. Part of the creative team behind the deeply influential "Love and Rockets" comic book series (along with his equally talented brother Jaime) Gilbert has created a pan-American epic that spans multiple generations of a family run almost exclusively by women. Hernandez' Palomar combines the look of Archie comics with Faulkner's richness of character and place into the melodramatic sweep of a sexy soap opera to create one of the most remarkable works of any narrative art.

Watchmen written by Alan Moore / drawn by Dave Gibbons (DC Comics; 1986)
Moore, who has become one of the most successful graphic novelists of the age (From Hell; League of Extraordinary Gentlemen), first broke out with this, his deconstruction of the superhero. Working with U.K. compatriot Gibbons, Moore created a complex murder mystery with intense, unforgettable characters that explored the themes of absolute power, love and the medium of comic books. It is the only graphic novel to also be included in the All-TIME 100 Novels list.

[LadyHitchhiker]

Well I know I'm going to nominate Sam & Max!!!!!!!!!!

OMG, how could I have forgotten about Sam & Max: Surfin' the Highway?

"It's the rubber pants commandos!"

So WRONG, yet so FUNNY!

I went through a phaze where I forgot them, and then I had the graphic novel which got stolen and then I forgot it and then I got it again and THIS one shall never leave me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Sam]

**sneaking toward Liz to steal her "precious"**

[LadyHitchhiker]

Nooooooooo it's my precious!!!!!!!! MY precious! Me needs my precious! Me wants my precious!

[Matt]

My nomination is going to be The Dark Knight Returns...it really can't be beat imo.

[Sam]

That is a hell of a ride, but Frank Miller himself has written some works in 300 and Sin City that I think give The Dark Knight Returns a run for its money. I've got some ideas myself, but I really want to see what others nominate.

Matt, do you think we might be able to get those reminders put up once the actual voting begins?

[fernandito]

TDKR and Watchmen are the ones to beat.

[Brice]

From Hell?

[turtlex]

We'll be putting up a nominations thread in the next day or two - likely on Friday!

[turtlex]

Definitely From Hell !!

[Brice]

:D

[Aaron]

Blankets

[turtlex]

Friends - the Nominations thread is now up - Please make your nominations !!!!

http://www.thedarktower.org/palaver/showthread.php?t=7714

I'll close this thread in a day or so.