Graphic Novels for Adults

In celebration of Free Comic Book Day (annually on the 1st Saturday of May), GVPL asked staff what their favorite graphic novels are. Here are some of the ones we love and think you might love too!

Updated August 16, 2024
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Akira. Book one
?tomo, Katsuhiro
Paper Book
Welcome to Neo-Tokyo, built on the ashes of a Tokyo annihilated by a blast of unknown origin that triggered World War III. The lives of two streetwise teenage friends, Tetsuo and Kaneda, change forever when paranormal abilities begin to waken in Tetsuo, making him a target for a shadowy agency that...
Adulthood is a myth : a "Sarah's scribbles" collection
Andersen, Sarah
Paper Book
The hilarious debut Sarah's Scribbles collection from Sarah Andersen, winner of three consecutive Goodreads Choice Awards for Graphic Novels and Comics These casually drawn, perfectly on-point comics by the hugely popular young artist Sarah Andersen are for the rest...
Ducks : two years in the oil sands
Beaton, Kate
Paper Book
A New York Times Notable book! One of Barack Obama's favorite books of 2022! Winner of Canada Reads 2023! "An exceptionally beautiful book about loneliness, labor, and survival."--Carmen Maria Machado Before there was Kate Beaton, New York Times...
Hark! : a vagrant
Beaton, Kate
Paper Book
FEATURED ON MORE THAN TWENTY BEST-OF LISTS, INCLUDING TIME, AMAZON, E! AND PUBLISHERS WEEKLY! Hark! A Vagrant is an uproarious romp through history and literature seen through the sharp, contemporary lens of New Yorker cartoonist and comics sensation Kate Beaton. No era...
Fun home : a family tragicomic
Bechdel, Alison
Paper Book
CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED, NATIONAL BESTSELLER  ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES 100 BEST BOOKS OF THE 21ST CENTURY Time Magazine #1 Book of the Year * National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist  Winner of the Stonewall Book Award * Double finalist for...
Solutions and other problems
Brosh, Allie
Paper Book
INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER For the first time in seven years, Allie Brosh--beloved author and artist of the extraordinary #1 New York Times bestseller Hyperbole and a Half--returns with a new collection of comedic, autobiographical, and...
Hyperbole and a half : unfortunate situations, flawed coping mechanisms, mayhem, and other things that happened
Brosh, Allie.
Paper Book
#1 New York Times Bestseller "Funny and smart as hell" (Bill Gates), Allie Brosh's Hyperbole and a Half showcases her unique voice, leaping wit, and her ability to capture complex emotions with deceptively simple illustrations. FROM THE PUBLISHER...
Spy x family. 1
Endo, Tatsuya
Paper Book
An action-packed comedy about a fake family that includes a spy, an assassin and a telepath! Master spy Twilight is unparalleled when it comes to going undercover on dangerous missions for the betterment of the world. But when he receives the ultimate assignment--to get married...
The Sandman. Book one
Gaiman, Neil
Paper Book
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER | Now a hit NETFLIX series The first of 4 comprehensive volumes introducing readers to a dark and enchanting world of dreams and nightmares- the home of Morpheus, the King of Dreams, and his kin, the Endless. The award...
Shadow life
Goto, Hiromi
Paper Book
2022 Asian/Pacific American Literature Award Winner for Adult Fiction 2022 L.A Times Book Prize Finalist Poet and novelist Hiromi Goto effortlessly blends wry, observational slice-of-life literary fiction with poetic magical realism in the tender and surprising graphic novel...
Gender Queer A Memoir
Kobabe, Maia.
Ebook
In 2014, Maia Kobabe, who uses e/em/eir pronouns, thought that a comic of reading statistics would be the last autobiographical comic e would ever write. At the time, it was the only thing e felt comfortable with strangers knowing about em. Now, Gender Queer is here. Maia's intensely cathartic...
The boy, the mole, the fox and the horse
Mackesy, Charlie
Paper Book
Charlie Mackesy's beloved The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse has been adapted into an Academy Award® winning animated short film, now available to stream on Apple TV+ #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER · WALL STREET JOURNAL BESTSELLER  ·...
Number one is walking : my life in the movies and other diversions
Martin, Steve
Paper Book
** New York Times Bestseller ** Number One Is Walking is Steve Martin's cinematic legacy--an illustrated memoir of his legendary acting career, with stories from his most popular films and artwork by New Yorker cartoonist Harry Bliss. ...
Love & vermin : a collection of cartoons by The New Yorker's Will McPhail
McPhail, Will
Paper Book
A New Yorker Best Book of 2022 The long awaited first collection by Will McPhail, with over 150 cartoons, including his New Yorker classics and new gems. With his shrewd eye for mundane absurdities and hysterically astute drawings of animals, Will McPhail is the New...
V for vendetta
Moore, Alan
Paper Book
In an alternate future in which Germany wins World War II and Britain becomesa fascist state, a vigilante named V stalks the streets of London trying tofree England of its ideological chains.
The handmaid's tale : the graphic novel
Nault, Renée
Paper Book
The stunning graphic novel adaptation * A must-read and collector's item for fans of "the patron saint of feminist dystopian fiction" (New York Times).   Look for The Testaments, the sequel to The Handmaid's Tale   In Margaret...
The Flintstones. Vol. 2
Russell, Mark
Paper Book
The second volume of one of the best-reviewed series of 2017 continues here when author Mark Russell returns to the celebrated reimagined Hanna-Barbera story of the classic stone age family from Bedrock in THE FLINTSTONES VOL. 2: BEDROCK BEDLAM. With art from Scott Hanna, Rick Leonardi and Steve...
Persepolis
Satrapi, Marjane
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * Wise, funny, and heartbreaking, Persepolis is Marjane Satrapi's acclaimed graphic memoir of growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. "A wholly original achievement.... Satrapi evokes herself and her schoolmates coming of age in a...
The Arab of the future. a graphic memoir / [1], A childhood in the Middle East (1978-1984)
Sattouf, Riad
Paper Book
The Arab of the Future, the #1 French best-seller, tells the unforgettable story of Riad Sattouf's childhood, spent in the shadows of 3 dictators--Muammar Gaddafi, Hafez al-Assad, and his father In striking, virtuoso graphic style that captures both the immediacy of...
Stitches : a memoir --
Small, David
Paper Book
The prize-winning children's author depicts a childhood from hell in this searing yet redemptive graphic memoir. One day David Small awoke from a supposedly harmless operation to discover that he had been transformed into a virtual mute. A vocal cord removed, his throat...
Maus : a survivor's tale
Spiegelman, Art.
Paper Book
The definitive edition of the graphic novel acclaimed as "the most affecting and successful narrative ever done about the Holocaust" (Wall Street Journal) and "the first masterpiece in comic book history" (The New Yorker) * PULITZER PRIZE WINNER * One of Variety's "Banned and...
My brother's husband. Volume 1
Tagame, Gengoroh
Paper Book
"When a cuddly Canadian comes to call, Yaichi-a single Japanese dad-is forced to confront his painful past. With his young daughter Kana leading the way, he gradually rethinks his assumptions about what makes a family. Renowned manga artist Gengoroh Tagame turns his stunning draftsmanship to a...
Roaming
Tamaki, Mariko
Paper Book
"Gloriously rendered... An ode to traveling as friends when you're both young and carefree and every new experience is exciting and wondrous."―Robert Ito, The New York Times Book Review Spring Break, 2009: Five days, three friends, and one big city. ...
Blankets : a graphic novel
Thompson, Craig
Paper Book
Named one of Time's top 100 Best Young Adult Books of All Time! "...A rarity: a first-love story so well remembered and honest that it reminds you what falling in love feels like. ...achingly beautiful." - Time magazine Wrapped in the landscape of a blustery Wisconsin...
Asadora! Volume 1
Urasawa, Naoki
Paper Book
A deadly typhoon, a mysterious creature and a girl who won't quit. In 2020, a large creature rampages through Tokyo, destroying everything in its path. In 1959, Asa Asada, a spunky young girl from a huge family in Nagoya, is kidnapped for ransom--and not a soul...
Monster. Volume 1
Urasawa, Naoki
Paper Book
Naoki Urasawa's unforgettable thriller follows a brilliant doctor's journey into the darkest depths of the human soul. Johan is a cold and calculating killer with a mysterious past, and brilliant Dr. Kenzo Tenma is the only one who can stop him! Conspiracy and serial murder open...
Titan
Vigneault, François
Ebook
When MNGR First Class João da Silva arrives on the moon of Titan to take charge of Homestead Station, he finds the massive mining colony plagued by tensions between the giant, genetically-engineered Titan workers and the Terran management. As anger mounts, what began as a routine posting quickly...

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