Today is National Comic Book Day. I'm not a big comic book fan, but I grew up reading the Sunday Funny Pages. It was almost as anticipatory as Saturday morning cartoons. I've tried a few graphic novels, but I'm just not a visual person, so I find that I don't always know what is happening in the story without more text. (I have a similar issue with emojis) I do better with illustrated stories because there is usually more text. Are you a comic book fan? Do you have a favorite graphic novel?
Today, I'm featuring some comics, graphic novels, and illustrated stories that I've enjoyed.
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Breaking the Chain: The Guard Dog Story by Patrick McDonnell
The Story: From the award-winning syndicated comic strip Mutts, the long-awaited “Guard Dog” story is now collected and presented in full color along with supplementary material.
Why I love it: I remember when the comic strips told of this character's last days as a chained dog. They were really hard to read, so much emotion. Thankfully, there is a happy ending. Guard Dog is a side character in the series, but serves as an important voice for dogs who are chained out in yards all the time. This book not only includes the strips from that story arc but also provides Guard Dog's backstory, which I largely missed because he was already an established character when I started reading the strip as an adult in the university's student newspaper.
Buy Breaking the Chain: The Guard Dog Story at Amazon
Garfield at Large: His First Book by Jim Davis
The Story: Garfield's origin story.
Why I love it: I'm not sure which came first - my love for orange cats or my love of Garfield (I have two orange cats, but neither is named Garfield). It was always the comic strip I was most excited to read each week. It was a rare treat to get one of the books, and I still have the few I received as gifts.
Buy Garfield at Large: His First Book at Amazon
The Gullfather: Birdsay Seagull vol 1 by Jeff Sikaitis and Jake Wheeler
The Story: In the first book in the series, “A Seahawk Situation,” Birdsy and his crew are at war with the owners of the boardwalk eatery, Zen and Out, after they erect a wooden security seahawk to scare the gulls of Shoretown.
Why I Love it: I reviewed this middle-grade comic book a few years ago and thought it was cute. Perhaps it is because the characters are animals, but I didn't have trouble with the story.
Buy The Gullfather: Birdsay Seagull vol 1 at Amazon
Can't We Talk about Something More Pleasant? by Roz Chast
The Story: In her first memoir, Roz Chast brings her signature wit to the topic of aging parents. Spanning the last several years of their lives and told through four-color cartoons, family photos, and documents, and a narrative as rife with laughs as it is with tears, Chast's memoir is both comfort and comic relief for anyone experiencing the life-altering loss of elderly parents.
Why I Love It: My book club read this as part of a special program at the library in 2021. At first I was distracted by the illustrations but once I got past that, I read it in one evening. Now that I'm caring for an aging parent, I think I should re-read it.
Buy Can't We Talk about Something More Pleasant? at Amazon
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling (illustrator: Mary GrandPré)
The Story: An orphaned boy discovers he's a wizard!
Why I Love It: I only own the illustrated editions of the first two books. They were kind of pricey when I bought them, so I thought if I waited, they would either become cheaper or I would find them at thrift sales. I kind of feel like this is the best of the books and the movies, as you do get the full story but you also get to see it come to life so to speak.
Buy Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone at Amazon
Donna Huber is an avid reader and natural encourager. She is the founder of Girl Who Reads and the author of how-to marketing book Secrets to a Successful Blog Tour.
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