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Memetic fun for the whole family

Because it’s easier than writing a substantive post, I’m going to get infected by a meme. Quoth Steve Lieber:

I’d like to challenge other bloggers to come up with their own list of eleven titles that libraries should shelve. No rules, but participants are encouraged to cite a variety of genres, and you get extra bonus points if you can avoid repeating a publisher. One-line summaries are nice, but not required. And no, they don’t have to be all-ages books, though all-ages lists are certainly welcome. (Links open in new windows.)

Eleven books from eleven publishers makes for an especially arbitrary list. I could list fifty comics that libraries should have, but sticking to the rules does keep the list reasonably short and diverse. The first six are good for readers of all ages, the latter five are probably not OK for younger children but may be enjoyed by intelligent young teenagers. They’re all good comics for adults to read.

  1. Good-bye, Chunky Rice by Craig Thompson (Top Shelf Comix)
  2. Sock Monkey by Tony Millionaire (Dark Horse)
  3. The Sandwalk Adventures by Jay Hosler (Active Synapse)
  4. Dog & Pony Show by Pam Bliss (Paradise Valley Comics)
  5. Amy Unbounded by Rachel Hartman (Pug House Press)
  6. X-Men by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, et al. (Marvel)
  7. Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi (Pantheon)
  8. Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud (HarperPerennial and DC)
  9. True Story, Swear to God by Tom Beland (AiT/Planetlar)
  10. Kabuki by David Mack (Image)
  11. The Invisibles by Grant Morrison, et al. (DC Vertigo)

Comments

  1. khaled says:

    I’ll agree on the Kabuki, completel and utterly. In all it’s forms, truely amazing work.

    Good-bye Chunky rice, hmm not bad, but I must have missed something that made it such a success. Don’t get me wrong I thought it was good just not in the top 11.

    Understanding Comics that’s another damn good one.

    Kirby and Lee X-men, can’t say I’ve read any so I wouldn’t be able to comment.

    Invisibles, problem for me is I like Grant, but NO one can give me a straight answer as to what Invisibles is actually about, and that lack of knowledge or clear answer, makes me a bit aprehensive of actually jumping into that story.

    I’m going to do this on my site, because I think I’d have a much different set there.

    — 10 August 2004 at 9:51 pm (Permalink)

  2. Steven says:

    We’ve got some posts on The Invisibles somewhere on the blog… I plan to write about it more at some point. It is a slippery text, though, hard to pin down. That’s one of the things I love about it and all of Morrison’s work.

    — 12 August 2004 at 1:07 pm (Permalink)