Best Comics & Graphic Novels
Nothing satisfies anime artists more than creating original characters for comics and graphic novels—and bestselling author Christopher Hart helps them achieve this goal. Christopher Hart is the leading author of art instruction books in the US.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I am a professional animator myself and this books reminds me of the things I learned while getting my fine arts degrees. And the images are large enough to trace with tracing paper so my daughter can begin to get a feel for the correct angles and proportions of the character's features."
"As a budding artist, there were the typical things she claimed to have trouble with, and as soon as she got this book she immediately went to work."
"I would say this is a decent good book but I wouldn't recommend it for beginners because the book doesn't completely go over the steps."
"The most amazing Anime drawing guide ever."
"My granddaughter loves drawing anime characters."
"When it arrived, i skimmed through the pages, and I can assure that the contents inside both have already inspired me, and will be very helpful in improving upon my current skills."
"My daughters review because it was a gift for her: I love that it actually explains the steps on how to draw specific things; however I didn’t like that it didn’t explain how to draw the hands, eyes and heads thouroughly."
Collects Darth Vader #1-6. He is known for his creator-owned comic Phonogram , created with artist Jamie McKelvie, published by Image Comics, and for numerous projects for Marvel Comics, such as Journey into Mystery and Uncanny X-Men.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"It's a good story and the art is beautiful."
"Just not as strong as the main series."
"Great product at great price."
"Nicely done by the author."
"Really good story, hard to put the book down."
"Delivered in great condition!"
"Fits somewhat within star wars canon."
"I enjoy reading it very much."
From Pascale Lemire's blog that started it all comes another year's worth of funny photos that show the less-than-ideal side of life with dogs. Sample Pictures from Dog Shaming --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I love the variety and how different and funny they all are."
"the most swapped/stolen gift at this years' whit elephant."
"It was an Xmas gift for my daughter and she is really happy with it."
"Haha!"
"These are pretty funny!"
"A great surprise everyday from this calendar."
"Who doesn’t love 365 days of cute dogs being shamed for their bad life choices?"
"The pictures are not clear and some of the writing is so small it had to be repeated outside of the picture."
Best Action & Adventure Manga
In 1982, Kodansha published the first chapter of Akira, a dystopian saga set in Neo-Tokyo, a city recovering from thermonuclear attack where the streets have been ceded to motorcycle gangs and the rich and powerful run dangerous experiments on destructive, supernatural powers that they cannot control. Katsuhiro Otomo is best known as the creator of the three-thousand page epic Akira.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Take note, the books are presented in the original right-to-left reading format (as it is in Japan). The box cover/slip cover is well built and the graphics are crisp and the colors are deep. There are plenty of existential concepts for those who are looking for that sort of thing, but for the most part this story is straight forward. The plot is thick, be ready for two thousand pages of story development."
"Got the box today and it’s a beautiful box set, highly recommend anyone with a love for Akira to get this."
"the packaging is very nice."
"Amazing."
"The box set came in perfect condition!"
"This is a gorgeous box set!"
"First one was never shipped in any box!"
"Perfect!"
Best Art of Comics & Manga
Working closely with Moebius Productions in France, Dark Horse is putting the work of a master storyteller back in print--with some material in English for the first time! In addition to his large comics and illustration output, Moebius remained active in the film industry as well.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I love Jean Giraud and I love this book."
"Perfect quality of book and perfect content."
"I love this comic, I wish more were like this, Mobius and Jodorowski make for a great team, worth re-reading."
"I love it, very good quality."
"Beautiful copy of a total masterpiece."
Best Biographies & History Graphic Novels
Formatted in an easy-to use A-to-Z layout, this guide is packed with information and thrilling comic book art and features more than 1,100 characters including Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, The Joker, and much more.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"My 12 year old son got this book at our local library and then kept renewing it over and over again because he liked it so much."
"Got it as a gift for a friend and he loves it, he says the illustrations are from comics and so far every character is included, he is yet to find any character missing, and the illustrations are really nice."
"So far so good."
"Awesome encyclopedia for newcomers to DC comics or fanatics like me!"
"This book is so awesome!"
"I had no idea the history and detail of the superhero world."
"My brother received a marvel encyclopedia for his bday so I gave him this for Christmas."
"I purchased this book for my son as a birthday present."
Best Comic Books
In this groundbreaking tour de force, Caldecott Medalist and bookmaking pioneer Brian Selznick sails into uncharted territory and takes readers on an awe-inspiring journey. “Engrossing, intelligent, beautifully engineered and expertly told in word and image.” -- The New York Times Book Review. “Brian Selznick proves to be that rare creator capable of following one masterpiece-- The Invention of Hugo Cabret --with another even more brilliantly executed.” -- Washington Post. Older kids and adults alike will be mesmerized by the interlocking stories. an emotional experience that neither the words nor the illustrations could achieve on their own.”-- School Library Journal ,starred review.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"It is about amazing illustrations and wonderful story."
"Another classic by Brian Selznick!"
"Nice."
"Love how this interweaves two stories into one...interesting read!"
"My daughter is a school teacher and love it."
"Brian Selznick, a masterpiece writer of text to visual arts."
Best Comic Strips
![The Complete Calvin and Hobbes [Box Set]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41fyRuOpIOL._SS600_.jpg)
The entire body of Calvin and Hobbes cartoons published in a truly noteworthy tribute to this singular cartoon in The Complete Calvin and Hobbes . There is great personal satisfaction in attending to detail and quality, and I remain very proud of the standards the strip met day after day. Its a rare gift to find such fulfilling work and I tried to show my appreciation by giving the strip everything I had to offer."
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"That being said, I would strongly recommend against purchasing a used copy of this set unless you've verified with the seller that the binding is SEWN binding. A little background: being aware of the issues surrounding the glued binding, I did a little research on internet forums to see if the issue had been corrected. It took forever to get through to them (the number seems to be intended for wholesalers looking to purchase in bulk), but the lady that helped me was able to call back and confirm that the binding is now sewn rather than glued."
"I just wanted to point it out, because I got the impression that the binding was only glued, but I guess that must refer to the ‘Softcover – 4 volume edition’."
"This is a boxed set that arrives in shrink-wrap."
"Very nice box set that screams quality."
"What a wonderful, complete set of calvin & Hobbes books!"
"Quality is pretty good, there was some scuff marks or something on one of the books."
"I have 2 books of selections in Kindle format, but this is the real deal and a beautifully bound set."
"Bought as a gift for my 10yo son."
Best Fantasy Graphic Novels
All six volumes of Bryan Lee O'Malley's epic tale of a slacker's quest to win the heart of the girl of his dreams by defeating her seven evil ex-boyfriends! Looking for the perfect entry point into the world of SCOTT PILGRIM?
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Our 14 year old read all six books in two days - he loved them!"
"hes already read them all...wish it was a digital version."
"La saga de SCOTT PLIGRIM es una de las mas refrescantes de lo que va el siglo 21."
"The focus on characters, the quirky but ultimately VERY relateable setting and the witty humour all come in full circle to present what is in my opinion the definitive love story for the 80's and 90's kids."
"A great collection of a great GN."
"Scott pilgrim is one of my favorite graphic novel has romance, fight, fun and more."
"Got it as a gift for my younger sister to encourage her to read more."
"Story is very much for youths, but if you dont mind the young humor its a blast and can go by quick if you want it to."
Best Graphic Novels
Collects Darth Vader #1-6. He is known for his creator-owned comic Phonogram , created with artist Jamie McKelvie, published by Image Comics, and for numerous projects for Marvel Comics, such as Journey into Mystery and Uncanny X-Men.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"It's a good story and the art is beautiful."
"Just not as strong as the main series."
"Great product at great price."
"Nicely done by the author."
"Really good story, hard to put the book down."
"Delivered in great condition!"
"Fits somewhat within star wars canon."
"I enjoy reading it very much."
Best Comics & Graphic Novel History & Prices
Formatted in an easy-to use A-to-Z layout, this guide is packed with information and thrilling comic book art and features more than 1,100 characters including Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, The Joker, and much more.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Awesome encyclopedia for newcomers to DC comics or fanatics like me!"
"This book is so awesome!"
"I had no idea the history and detail of the superhero world."
"My brother received a marvel encyclopedia for his bday so I gave him this for Christmas."
"I purchased this book for my son as a birthday present."
"This was a gift for my ex husband and he absolutely loves it."
"Couldn't ask for a better book from Borders or Barnes and Noble (and beats the price)."
"I bought this for a grandson's 12th birthday and he loved it."
Best Manga Comics & Graphic Novels
Look for the sequels to The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia , with The Legend of Zelda: Art & Artifacts and the upcoming Legend of Zelda Encyclopedia due out April 24th 2018. He is the series producer and manager of The Legend of Zelda and won the Golden Joystick Awards’ Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"The opening letter from Shigeru Miyamoto sets a wonderful, celebratory tone for the rest of the book. The first third of the book, entitled "The Legend Begins: The World of Skyward Sword" is devoted to said title, the most recently released Zelda game we all played and loved. It's filled to the brim with the concept and official art that inspired Skyward's Sword brilliant aesthetic style. As one who views Skyward Sword as one of the most beautiful and brilliantly inspired video games ever made in terms of its art design and visuals, this is just fine with me. There's tons here, including a lot of really interesting ideas for characters that didn't make it into the game, like a floating Fi in a massive suit of armor or Zelda designs that are decidedly more elegant and fancy. There's also a good amount of location art that is simply gorgeous and really captures your imagination, just like the settings in the game did. What is even better about this section is the following 70 or so pages that actually chronicles, in great detail, the events of each timeline in chronological order. Sprinkled liberally through all of this are nice screenshots and art, as well as fascinating tidbits, like boxes that fully decipher the various Hylian/Hyrulean dialect text that appear in the games. This section closes with a very nice letter from Eiji Aonuma, arguably the second most important man behind the Legend of Zelda, after Shigeru Miyamoto of course. The lay-outs are nice, the printing quality is vibrantly beautiful and sharp as a tack, and the pages are crisp and clean. The binding is also high quality, which is important because this is a big book that would fall apart relatively quickly if it wasn't bound well. There are few games that capture the sense of beauty, imagination, and adventure like the Legend of Zelda effortlessly does with each and every release."
"As a Zelda fan it's wonderful to have a physical book of all game events (from 1986=2011), concept images and developer interviews."
"There's translations of some of the games in-game language systems and explanations for why certain things are as they are, for example hinting that timeshift stones and the ocarina of time are made of the same time-travel capable material. If I had to say anything negative, it would be that perhaps learning about the development decisions made during other games would have been nice, particularly Majora's mask, instead of just showing Skyward Sword concept art."
"One thing that I wish this had, and I don't know why I assumed it would... but I have a Nintendo Power magazine of Zelda from the 90's that was pretty cool."
"I say, anything that will hold his attention for that long and he will read in it daily, I consider it a great buy."
"After going through Amazon in search of gift ideas, I came across this particular one and decided it might be a good gift to purchase for him."
Best Comic & Graphic Novel Publishers
Introducing the first eight volumes of the fan-favorite, New York Times Best Seller series collected into one massive paperback collection! The Walking Dead is all about the living, the people who struggle to retain their humanity in the face of the unspeakable.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"The artwork is phenomenal, and the inclusion of additional covers, sketches, and other drawings at the end is a welcomed finish."
"You can buy one compendium for much cheaper than it would cost to get the 50 individual issues that comprise it."
"The characters for the most part look and act very different from their television counterparts, and things move at a very fast pace. The pages are beautiful and glossy (remember: it's ALL in black and white), the artwork is nicely done, and it really keeps your attention. The show is great at turning these lively, fun and interesting caricatures into real people. The producers of the show have made it clear that they "switch things up" to keep viewers guessing, so reading this book does NOT mean you'll necessarily be spoiled."
"I was instantly engaged; I couldn't not reserve time to watch this very realistic post-apocalyptic show on AMC that I fell completely in love with either. Needless to say, I called Amazon and they were more than reluctant to help me :) to either refund me the price or send me a new Walking Dead Compendium, I ended up doing an exchange and I have no further complaints regarding this replacement copy!"
"Just gives another reason to buy another copy!"
"The Walking Dead, Vol 22, A New Beginning by Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adlard, Stefano Gaudiano, Cliff Rathburn – This is another interesting and gripping installment in this terrific graphic-novel series about human survivors struggling to live in a world of flesh-eaters."
"Now, quite a few of the reviews said that there was a problem with the ink in the middle of the book, but mine seems to be in perfect condition."
"I have always enjoyed the comic and will look forward to reading the other volumes."