1001 Comics You Must Read Before You Die: The Ultimate Guide to Comic Books, Graphic Novels and Manga [Hardcover]

Paul Gravett (Editor), Terry Gilliam (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 25, 2011

Visually amazing, this critical history of comic books, manga, and graphic novels is a must-have for any comic buff or collector.  Over the centuries, comic books and their offshoots, such as graphic novels, manga, and bandes dessinées, have evolved into a phenomenally popular, influential, and unique art form with which we can express our opinions, our fantasies, our nightmares, and our dreams. In short: comics are emphatically no longer just for kids. This diverse, constantly evolving medium is truly coming into its own in the 21st century, from Hollywood's blockbuster adaptations of super-powered caped crusaders to the global spread of Japan's manga and its spinoffs, and from award-winning graphic novels such as Maus and Persepolis to new forms such as online webcomix. This volume is the perfect introduction to a dynamic and globally popular medium, embracing every graphic genre worldwide to assess the very best works of sequential art, graphic literature, comics, and comic strips, past and present.
An international survey, this engaging volume is organized according to the year of first publication in the country of origin. An opening section acknowledges pioneering pre-1900 masterpieces, followed by sections divided by decade, creating a fascinating year-by-year chronicle of the graphic medium worldwide. The material includes the very earliest one-off albums to the latest in online comics and features some series and characters that have run for decades.
Packed with fantastic reproductions of classic front covers and groundbreaking panels, this book is visually stunning as well as a trove of information--perfect for the passionate collector and casual fan alike.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"1001 Comics You Must Read Before You Die emphasizes comic books, graphic novels, and manga from recent decades though the earliest entry dates to 1867. Comics historian Paul Gravett, the book’s general editor, consulted specialists in 27 countries." ~Boston Globe

"There have been other guides to comics and comics characters, but this book is the only one that is global in breadth, considerate of every genre, fully illustrated, and offers a critical assessments to winnow out only the very best works. This colorful and authoritative review includes every important artist in comic books, manga and graphic novels. Visually amazing, this critical history of the graphic narrative form - including comic books, manga and graphic novels - is a must have for any comic buff or collector." ~Legacycomics.com

"Recommended for those with a curiosity about the medium and highly recommended for fans who might need to expand their horizons." ~Forcesofgeek.com
                

About the Author

Paul Gravett was hailed by The Times of London as "the greatest historian of the comics and graphic novel form." Gravett co-edited the important British magazine Escape
(1983-89), which championed a wider appreciation of comics from Europe and beyond. In 1990, he curated "God Save The Comics!", a major installation on British comics, which was opened by the French cultural minister Jack Lang for the launch of France's National Comics and Image Centre in Angoulême. After nine years directing a project by the Cartoon Art Trust to establish a National Cartoon Museum in London, in 2001 he became an independent exhibition curator, journalist, lecturer, and broadcaster. He is the author of Manga: 60 Years of Japanese Comics (2004), Graphic Novels (2005), Great British Comics (2006), Mammoth Book of Best Crime Comics (2008), and Incredibly Strange Comics (2008). He directs the Comic festival at London's Institute of Contemporary Arts. In 2008, he curated the western world's first exhibition of contemporary Chinese comics in London, and in 2009 he organized "In Search of the Atom Style" at the Atomium in Brussels. He is currently preparing exhibitions about Korean manhwa, Finnish artist Tove Jansson and her Moomin characters, and American comic book genius Jack Kirby.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 960 pages
• Publisher: Universe (October 25, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0789322714
• ISBN-13: 978-0789322715
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 2.5 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #498,967 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Fascinating Resource, November 8, 2011

By 

Timbo - See all my reviews

This review is from: 1001 Comics You Must Read Before You Die: The Ultimate Guide to Comic Books, Graphic Novels and Manga (Hardcover)

I could not disagree more with the comments of the previous reviewers.

This book is a fascinating international survey of the comics medium and is very accessible for the experienced or general reader truely interested in possibilities of the medium.

Yes, certain titles have been included in the 1001 Comics list that are currently out of print or have yet to be translated into English, but with so many publishers now reprinting lost classics and translating foreign language comics, this is not a huge problem. Indeed the author, Paul Gravett, has posted a database of the 1001 Comics list on his website - www [dot] PaulGravett [dot] com - with the aim of keeping it updated with details of translations and new editions as they become available.

So cast aside your fan-boy obsession with superheroes and issue numbers, and approach this book with an open mind. I guarantee you'll discover some classic reading material you never knew existed. Despite having 960 pages, my only criticism would be that the book is too short!

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars frustrating, October 27, 2011

By 

reading guy "reader" (dc) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 1001 Comics You Must Read Before You Die: The Ultimate Guide to Comic Books, Graphic Novels and Manga (Hardcover)

The previous reviewer is right on target; this is initially an interesting book to flip through, but good luck trying to actually make use of it. Once you read the articles you will find it generalizes (The Fantastic Four - okay well, that's a lot of issues...) without breaking down artists or story liens that are of consequence. Furthermore, lots of early (1800s) comics are profiled but where to get them? Are they in anthologies? How can they be tracked down? So three stars for visual presentation but lacking in content and editing.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Maybe it's 10,000 comics, October 25, 2011

By 

Barry Pearl (E Northport, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: 1001 Comics You Must Read Before You Die: The Ultimate Guide to Comic Books, Graphic Novels and Manga (Hardcover)

This is a well printed, 960 page book. The title is fantasy and completely misleading. When they discuss comics, the often discuss an individual one, but also they discuss, full runs of titles like the X-Men. But they don't break down which individual issues are done by the artists they like, including Kirby, Heck and Adams. When they discuss the character Sauron, they don't mention what issue. So this is really 10,000 comics you must read before you die. Which doesn't help me much in determining which comics stood out in long runs.

It doesn't cover just comic books as we know them. It covers comic strips too. That is, the Complete Peanuts and other reprints of newspaper strips are mentioned here as well. So is Manga, Graphic Novels etc. Also, books by Feiffer and similar artists are mentioned. There are several contributors who address their specialties.

They do something which is good, but then left me frustrated. They often mention a series within a comic, like Adam Strange. So it wasn't just the comic. However, in so many cases, if there is NO picture of the cover, there is NO listing of what issues the character appeared. And example of that is Red Nails, they do not mention what issue of Savage Tales that Conan story was in. Good look seeing that on a shrunken cover. And sometimes there is no picture of a cover.

For Nick Fury (SHIELD) they don't mention what issue Steranko started or ended. They do reference issue #159. But again, they don't tell where Strange Tales end.

At the bottom, the often have a section of "Also by" For example, for the Aforementioned SHIELD they say, "Also by Steranko" then list, "At The Stroke Of Midnight," "Captain America, " X-Men" and a few others. But they don't tell you what comics the stories appeared in or the artist did. Good Luck. And Steranko was not mentioned in the X-Men section at all.

Two other books are available and I enjoyed them more:
The Slings and Arrows Comic Guide, which lists so much of everything comics.
Or Tony Isabella's 1,000 Comics you must read.