At the Squirrel Hill branch, a lot of my co-workers are into graphic novels. I decided to give them a chance, and they’re wonderful. I like to think of them as picture books for grown-ups, even though there are graphic novels for children. I’ve read a lot of graphic novels recently, and I thought that I would share with you some of my favorites.

The Wicked + The Divine by Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie

The premise for this is that gods are treated like celebrities in this world. Every 99 years some gods are reincarnated, but they’re only on Earth for 2 years and then they die. They definitely put their time to good use, but in a bad way. This series is very exciting.

Giant Days by John Allison, Lissa Treiman and Whitney Cogar

This ongoing graphic novel involves four friends trying to survive university. Readers follow them as they deal with relationship drama, friendship drama and surviving their classes. This one is very funny and I highly recommend it.

Lumberjanes by Noelle Stevenson, Grace Ellis, Brooke Allen, Maarta Liho and Shannon Watters

This a popular series, and after reading all 3 of the volumes, I see why. It’s about four friends in a summer camp that is similar to the Girl Scouts. They do activities to earn badges but there’s a catch: during each activity the friends always end up fighting supernatural creatures. This series has a little bit of everything: comedy, love, supernatural elements and most important of all, friendship.

Saga by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

The story surrounds Marko and Alana, who fall in love and have a baby. Now typically you would think, “What’s wrong with that?” The problem is that they are from two different worlds and aren’t supposed to be together. So, because of this they’re on the run, and there’s so many people who want to take them down. This series is filled with dark humor and fantasy, so if that’s your thing then this series is for you!

I Hate Fairyland by Skottie Young, Jean-Francois Beaulieu, Nate Piekos and Rian Hughes

So far there’s only one volume out, but it’s worth reading. This graphic novel is about a little girl named Gertrude who visits Fairyland and ends up being on a 27 year quest to finding a key to get out of Fairyland and to go back home. Her friend and sidekick, a fly named Larry, is hilarious! I’d have you read it just for him, to be honest.

Are there any graphic novels that you’ve read recently that you have enjoyed? Let us know in the comments below!

-Kayla

Kayla works at Squirrel Hill as a Clerk, so when you come up to the customer services desk you might see her face! When she’s not at the library she enjoys reading, watching TV & listening to music. You might also find her at your local Starbucks, because she loves her Frappuccinos.