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...
Are you my mother? : a comic drama
Bechdel, Alison
Paper Book
From the best-selling author ofFun Home,Timemagazine's No. 1 Book of the Year, a brilliantly told graphic memoir of Alison Bechdel becoming the artist her mother wanted to be. Alison Bechdel'sFun Home was a pop culture and literary phenomenon. Now, a second...
Fun home : a family tragicomic
Bechdel, Alison
Paper Book
A fresh and brilliantly told memoir from a cult favorite comic artist, marked by gothic twists, a family funeral home, sexual angst, and great books. This breakout book by Alison Bechdel is a darkly funny family tale, pitch-perfectly illustrated with Bechdel's sweetly gothic...
Hobtown mystery stories. 1, The case of the missing men
Bertin, Kris
Paper Book
"Kris Bertin's stories are a revelation, a triumph--each stamped with the mark of a new and rising genius." --David Adams Richards The Case of the Missing Men is the first part of an ongoing mystery thriller set in a strange and remote East Coast village called Hobtown. The...
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...
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...
Uzumaki : spiral into horror
Itō, Junji
Paper Book
A masterpiece of horror manga, now available in a deluxe hardcover edition! Kurouzu-cho, a small fogbound town on the coast of Japan, is cursed. According to Shuichi Saito, the withdrawn boyfriend of teenager Kirie Goshima, their town is haunted not by a person or being but a...
Gender Queer A Memoir
Kobabe, Maia.
Paper Book
2020 ALA Alex Award Winner 2020 Stonewall -- Israel Fishman Non-fiction Award Honor Book 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...
Monstress. Volume one, Awakening
Liu, Marjorie M.
Paper Book
2018 Eisner Award winner, Best Writer"" open="" /> 2018 Eisner Award winner, Best Painter/Multimedia Artist"" open="" /> 2018 Eisner Award winner, Best Continuing Series"" open="" /> 2018 Eisner Award winner, Best Publication for Teens"" />
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  ·...
V for vendetta
Moore, Alan
Paper Book
The graphic novel that inspired the hit Warner Bros. motion picture from the Wachowskis, the directors of THE MATRIX films and SPEED RACER. In the near future, England has become a corrupt, totalitarian state, opposed only by V, the mystery man wearing a white porcelain mask who...
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...
Paying the land
Sacco, Joe
Paper Book
NAMED A BEST BOOK OF 2020 BY THE NEW YORK TIMES, THE GUARDIAN, THE BROOKLYN RAIL, THE GLOBE AND MAIL, POP MATTERS, COMICS BEAT, AND PUBLISHERS WEEKLY From the "heir to R. Crumb and Art Spiegelman" (Economist), a...
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...
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
"Quaint, meditative and sometimes dreamy, blankets will take you straight back to your first kiss." --The Guardian Blankets is the story of a young man coming of age and finding the confidence to express his creative voice. Craig Thompson's poignant...
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...
Titan
Vigneault, François
Paper Book
"Like the best futuristic science-fiction, Titan has a lot to say about the world that we live in right now." -- Mental Floss 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...

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