Like many of you, I now find myself facing an unknown number of hours, days, weeks and possibly months with time to fill while staying safe at home. However, the uncertainty of our collective crisis is making it hard for me to relax enough to focus on reading and absorbing books with dense text.
Fortunately, graphic novels and comic books – all available for checkout on Hoopla Digital – could be the answer. Comics have the potential to transport you to another world without requiring the same level of concentration as traditional, print heavy materials. And, you can count the graphic novels and comics you read towards CLP’s “Stay In and Read” challenge.
Below is a list of a few of my favorite titles, and many are the first or one part of a series. If you find you like one volume, there may be more to available to check out and read.
If you don’t know how to access Hoopla Digital, follow this link to our EResources page or view a video tutorial.
Fables Vol. 1 by Bill Willingham
The world of storybook and nursery rhyme characters who live side-by-side with humans is thrown into turmoil when Rose Red’s house is found in shambles and covered with her blood and suspects range from Jack of beanstalk fame to Blue Beard.
Hip Hop Family Tree by Ed Piskor
The lore of the early days of hip hop has become the stuff of myth, so what better way to document this fascinating, epic true story than in another great American mythological medium the comic book?
My Favorite Thing is Monsters Vol. 1 by Emil FerrisSet against the tumultuous political backdrop of late ’60s Chicago, My Favorite Thing Is Monsters is the fictional graphic diary of 10-year-old Karen Reyes, filled with B-movie horror and pulp monster magazines iconography.
Octavia Butler’s Kindred: A Graphic Novel Adaptation by Damien Duffy
Inexplicably pulled back in time to the antebellum South, a contemporary Black woman, raised in the age of Civil Rights and Black Power, must confront the harsh realities of Black history in America.
Paper Girls: Deluxe Edition Book One by Brian K. Vaughn
In the early hours after Halloween of 1988, four 12-year old newspaper delivery girls uncover the most important story of all time. Suburban drama and otherworldly mysteries collide in this smash-hit series about nostalgia, first jobs, and the last days of childhood.
Saga by Brian K. Vaughn
When two soldiers from opposite sides of a never-ending galactic war fall in love, they risk everything to bring a fragile new life into a dangerous old universe.