Customer Reviews

500 Essential Graphic Novels: The Ultimate Guide

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Kannenberg's book is a ton of fun to read. It's very easy to pick and flip through. This book has caused me to spend hundreds of dollars to catch up on "necessary reading."

It is organized by genre: horror, superhero, non-fiction, crime, humor, etc. There is some manga in the book, but that's not really the emphasis here. Please note that superhero is listed as a genre, so if you're looking for that it's in the book but in a limited way. (It should also be noted that Kannenberg's team of contributors does a great job listing some amazing superhero stuff. They know what they're talking about.)

I really love the 4 color, glossy paper--it really makes the covers and art shine. he also lists ISBN's and publishers. It's a great tool for creating what-to-buy lists. The summaries of the titles are accurate and fairly short. The commentary on the various titles is pretty good. He throws in some cool info nuggets here and there. I wanted more commentary on certain titles, but that's a minor complaint. Again, this book helps you focus your reading on the titles that are likely to interest you.

I have some quibbles on the star ratings, but that's to be expected. I also like the age ratings--very helpful for finding some titles for my son.

I enjoy this book so much for quick little reading bursts that I am inclined to get the companion book on top 500 anime movies.

This is a very good overview of what's out there in the world of the graphic novel. Broken up into genres, you'll find short reviews and observations on each book. If you are new to this art form and want to get some sense of where to start, this book can serve as a solid guide for selecting material.

It's impressive, too, that the author did not limit the titles only to what's currently hip, but includes older work, such as the timeless (and excellently crafted) Tin-tin stories of Herge.

A fantastic book, and the most comprehensive on the market. This book is "Essential" for teachers and librarians and for converting the non-fans in your life. It's guaranteed to stir up controversy, as no-one is going to agree with all the choices included (or omitted), but that's half the fun. The other half is discovering new gems to seek out and read. Part-guide book, part-conversation piece--no self-respecting fanboy should be without one!

Several guides to graphic novels were published in 2007-2008, and this is the most visually appealing of them all. It has glossy paper and lush, full-color reproductions of the cover art that makes it a pure pleasure to flip through the pages. Significant titles like Maus have a double-page spread all to themselves, and may include excerpts from the work. Less important titles are presented two to a page. Some of the other great features are, in addition to a plot synopsis, an actual review written by the author explaining the significance of the work. There is also a quality rating system ranging from one to five stars. Each listing is also followed by suggestions for further reading and related titles. I especially liked that this included classic titles (including "Tintin") and I saw several that I've never heard of that I would love to check out.

Now for the weak points. There are no age ratings listed in the descriptions, and the titles are grouped by genre, so you have odd instances where preschool titles like "Owly" are next to adult titles like "Lone Wolf and Cub" (both are in the Adventure genre). There is an age listing in the index, so theoretically you could look up the list of titles in a certain age range and then flip to the title to read more about it (although I have to echo another reviewer's complaint - the font in the index is almost microscopic!). However, I think the age ratings given by the author are totally unreliable. Included in the "All Ages" category are titles like "Buddha" and "Fushigi Yugi" which other books rate as ages 16+ due to nudity and sexual situations. Teachers and librarians should double-check any of the listings in this book in a secondary source to get a more accurate age rating. I would recommend they look at Understanding Manga and Anime or Graphic Novels: A Genre Guide to Comic Books, Manga, and More (Genreflecting Advisory Series) instead.

Of course there will be disagreements over which titles are included and which are left out, but this book has a definite bias toward titles of male interest. The entire comics/graphic novel format is in general male-dominated, however part of the tremendous success of manga in the past decade is that it has corrected that oversight, with over 30% of manga sales in the "shojo" category, geared toward females. Sadly, this book pretty much leaves female readers out in the cold. There isn't even a Romance category, and titles that could be considered romance are stuck into other categories like Adventure and General Fiction. And while about 10% of the titles in this book are manga, "Fruits Basket" (listed by the New York Times as the #1 top shojo title) isn't even listed here. The author missed a great opportunity to correct this unfortunate gender bias.

With the above caveats, I would still recommend this title to a fan of graphic novels for the enjoyment of flipping through the beautiful listings. It's not detailed or comprehensive enough to use as a real reference, but it is certainly attractive enough to make a great gift.

. . . a magnifying glass would come in handy. And they're presenting mostly comic strips and comic books as graphic novels. And it's more of a listing than any in-depth presentation of those comics. Many titles, like THE INVISIBLES, only Volume I is shown, not all the many volumes.

Looking up 'graphic novels' shows how they've played it loose with the 'novel' description.
It's a compendium; concise, but not detailed (Plot and Review are given, but only sparse descriptions). In the introduction they do say they're 'uncomfortable' with the name 'graphic novel'; but that may be a CYA qualification. I expected, wished for a more contemporary definition and inclusion of just such titles.

Still, for a broad overview it's well done. Without its good printing and sheer weight I would've given it three stars. Hope someone comes along to present today's ground-breaking actual graphic novels.

A very good way to be introduced to a broad swath of the best in graphic novels. It unfortunately (but necessarily) can only give the briefest of synopses to many of these works - but it does a great job of getting you interested in a lot of books you might not have come across or been interested in otherwise.

The author gears this list of 500 essential graphic novels towards the higher educated, self important, New York Times book review lovin' stuffed shirts. I picked it up hoping to find some hidden treasures that I may have not read, only to find it so one sided it's ridiculous. To be on this list, have your book be: depressing, deadly serious, a racially based autobiography... etc. This list is not for comicbook fans. Not at all. I really felt that this book was only for PHD's in English Theory, or for a group of professionals who get together for stodgy book clubs. It lists the basics that should be on the list (Watchmen, Maus, Dark Knight Returns...etc) and then fills out with high-fallutin' books the average Joe wouldn't even pick up on a whim. Name one person under 50 who gives a f' about freakin' TinTin? Leaf thru at the shelf, and then put it back!