The Greatest Graphic Novels (that I’ve read)
I love graphic novels. It all started with comic books, for me. When I was a kid, I devoured Mad Magazine (my family had a subscription) and Archie Comics–a friend of mine had hundreds of them–I’m not sure why, I just know that all I wanted to do when I went over to her house was read about Betty and Veronica and their never-ending battle for the oblivious and indecisive Archie’s romantic attentions.
But I can’t say I truly loved the art form until I went off to college and, in my freshman year, dated a guy who was obsessed with good grades (he was also gay, but that’s another story and one you have to pour a couple of drinks into me before I’ll tell you the details of). Our dates consisted of his worrying about homework over dinner and then insisting we go to the library to study after dinner. Woo-hoo. This was a problem for a lazy English major like me who had worked way too hard in high school to get to college to want to continue working once I was there, but then I discovered that in the Quincy House library there was an enormous collection of original Marvel comic books–and a truce was reached. The guy studied. I read comic books. For hours on end.
Claire
Kim
