{"id":80852,"date":"2014-09-10T07:55:52","date_gmt":"2014-09-10T12:55:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=80852"},"modified":"2014-09-12T09:17:10","modified_gmt":"2014-09-12T14:17:10","slug":"how-to-build-a-fantastic-comic-book-collection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=80852","title":{"rendered":"How to Build a Fantastic Comic Book Collection"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Fallon Bleich, Senior Assistant , INALJ Arkansas<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

How to Build a Fantastic Comic Book Collection<\/span><\/h3>\n

\"fallon.bleich\"<\/a>I\u2019ve been reading a ton of comic books and graphic novels lately, the majority of which have come\u00a0from my library. We\u2019ve also recently done programming for Free Comic Book Day, as well as increased\u00a0our comic collection quite a bit. And while I know money is tight for most libraries, there is something\u00a0to graphic novels that draws in a new patronage. These people might not read anything else, or they\u00a0could be like me and read a ton and love graphic novels too, or they could be somewhere in the middle.\u00a0Regardless, with the advent of Marvel becoming a movie powerhouse and the quality of comics that\u00a0publishers are putting out, now is the perfect time to be adding to your graphic novel selection.<\/p>\n

The Basics<\/strong><\/p>\n

You\u2019re going to need superhero comics; this is just a given. As mentioned before, Marvel has really\u00a0pushed out some amazing films (seriously, if you haven\u2019t seen Guardians of the Galaxy, go now) in\u00a0the past few years. And besides them, there are also the Batman, Spiderman, and X-Men films to also\u00a0recognize. To start building your collection, I would definitely start with the graphic novels that inspired\u00a0the movies:<\/p>\n

–Batman: The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller<\/a>: Inspired the first Christian Bale as Batman films, but\u00a0it is also well known as the graphic novel that turned Batman around. It\u2019s dark and gritty and by the man\u00a0who also wrote the Sin City novels. Actually, I could probably build a whole collection around just Frank\u00a0Miller novels, since he\u2019s so prolific in his writing, but if you\u2019re going to buy any of them, this is where I\u00a0would start.<\/p>\n

–X-Men: Days of Future Past by Chris Claremont & John Byrne<\/a>: The original story is actually only a couple\u00a0of issues long, and I wouldn\u2019t normally say get an entire volume such as this for that, I really like how\u00a0this one is organized. Kitty Pryde\u2019s character is fully developed in this volume and it gives a little bit\u00a0more back story to the movie. I loved the movie, don\u2019t get me wrong, but I think reading this volume\u00a0really helps the movie out.<\/p>\n

–The Infinity Gauntlet by Jim Starlin, Ron Lim, George Perez<\/a>: Trust me, you\u2019ll want this one. This is where\u00a0the current Marvel phase is heading and your patrons will want to check this out. I won\u2019t spoil for\u00a0anybody, but if you don\u2019t mind being somewhat spoiled (Marvel always modifies a little), then pick this\u00a0up and read away!<\/p>\n

-Any of the New 52 : A few years back, DC decided to overhaul their characters and started fresh. It was\u00a0basically awesome for any newbies to the comic book world, because you didn\u2019t have to worry about\u00a0coming in on a weird story arc that you had to go hunt down past issues. This book<\/a> collects all of the\u00a0debut issues and might help you figure out which ones you want to invest more money into. They\u2019re\u00a0all pretty amazing, but I highly suggest both Wonder Woman<\/a> and Batwoman<\/a> to add to your collection.\u00a0Wonder Woman, because it has some great art and Batwoman because she\u2019s an openly gay crime\u00a0fighter.<\/p>\n

–Ms. Marvel by G. Willow Wilson<\/a>: First Muslim superhero, great art, fun back story and awesomely\u00a0snarky teenage protagonist, what more could you ask for? The new Ms. Marvel storyline has been\u00a0amazing so far and the first volume will be put out in October, so it\u2019s a perfect time to add it to your\u00a0collection!<\/p>\n

–Watchmen by Alan Moore<\/a>: Watchmen is one of my favorite novels of all time. The story is fantastic\u00a0and the movie actually followed it pretty closely. Alan Moore is another one of those that I could build\u00a0an entire collection around, because his works are amazing. He\u2019s also won awards for this one and per\u00a0Goodreads, it\u2019s considered a \u201cgateway title\u201d.<\/p>\n

The More Advanced (aka Yay! We got more money!)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Now we\u2019re going to start digging into the more graphic novel part of the name. These are all great works\u00a0that aren\u2019t necessarily superhero based but still great additions to any comic collection.<\/p>\n

–Fables by Bill Willingham<\/a>: This is what Once Upon A Time should have been. Don\u2019t get me wrong, I do\u00a0like that show for its campiness, but Fables is far superior and has so many fantastic storylines. Basically\u00a0all the fabled lands of the legends and fairy tales have been overtaken by the Adversary and the\u00a0characters are forced to flee to our realm and live out their lives here. It\u2019s a great addition for patrons\u00a0who aren\u2019t necessarily into the superhero comics.<\/p>\n

–The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman<\/a>: You knew this one would end up somewhere on the list and for\u00a0good reason. It\u2019s really good. And honestly, much better than the show! I think what Robert Kirkman has\u00a0done with the show has been great, but the comics, like most things, will always hold a special place in\u00a0my heart.<\/p>\n

–Saga by Brian K. Vaughan<\/a>: I love this series so hard. I may even lurve it. Saga is beautifully written,\u00a0drawn, and just thought out. It\u2019s a giant epic about two soldiers from opposite sides of a war who fall\u00a0in love, have a baby, and do everything they can to protect her. There are also side stories about the\u00a0people who are chasing after them, as well as the royalty in charge. You won\u2019t regret this choice, I\u00a0promise.<\/p>\n

–Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi<\/a>: I always recommend this one to younger\u00a0people trying to make that transition to more adult work. This is Satrapi\u2019s memoir of her life in Iran\u00a0during the Islamic Revolution. There is also a movie where they animated the strips, but it wasn\u2019t\u00a0necessary. I love Satrapi\u2019s black and white style and it\u2019s an easy read.<\/p>\n

–Hyperbole and a Half: Unfortunate Situations, Flawed Coping Mechanisms, Mayhem, and Other Things\u00a0That Happened by Allie Brosh<\/a>: This one will seem like a weird choice, until you actually read it. Brosh is\u00a0hilariously funny and poignant all at the same time, plus her description of depression is spot on. While\u00a0it may not be the typical \u201cgraphic novel\u201d, it is important in that it shows that you don\u2019t necessarily have\u00a0to use a comic book format to be a graphic novel. Plus, it will appeal to your 20-somethings in your\u00a0library.<\/p>\n

–Delilah Dirk and the Turkish Lieutenant by Tony Cliff<\/a>: Ok, so this one might actually be more teen\u00a0oriented, but I don\u2019t care. It\u2019s so much fun! Delilah Dirk is the perfect amount of snarky, bad-ass female\u00a0fighter, and lovable ne\u2019er-do-well. You can\u2019t help but love her and I think both adults and teens will love\u00a0this book. It\u2019s beautifully drawn and very well written.<\/p>\n

The Ultimate Book Buyer<\/strong><\/p>\n

How\u2019d you get so lucky!? You have unlimited funds to buy awesome new graphic novels and comics?\u00a0Go nuts, but make sure you know your patrons. We\u2019ve got a ton of people who show up for our Doctor\u00a0Who events, so we buy some of those comics. We also have a huge amount on Free Comic Book Day, so\u00a0we know that superhero basics are also key. The Walking Dead compendiums? Never on the shelf for\u00a0very long, nor is the manga or the Scott Pilgrim volumes. I could go on and on and make a list here too,\u00a0but there isn\u2019t enough time or space to tell you all of my favorites. As always, feel free to hit me up in\u00a0the comments below or on twitter for more suggestions, and definitely tell me yours, as I always love\u00a0new reads!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Fallon Bleich, Senior Assistant , INALJ Arkansas How to Build a Fantastic Comic Book Collection I\u2019ve been reading a ton of comic books and graphic novels lately, the majority of which have come\u00a0from my library. We\u2019ve also recently done programming for Free Comic Book Day, as well as increased\u00a0our comic collection quite a bit.…<\/p>\n

Read more \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":59613,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[145],"tags":[6344,6539,69,6545,6549,6535,3592,6537,6529,5709,5213,6541,3835,6528,6534,6533,5710,6542,4377,6531,6530,6538,5711,6543,6536,6532,6544,6547,5548,6540,6343,6548,6546],"class_list":["post-80852","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","tag-alan-moore","tag-allie-brosh","tag-article","tag-batman-the-dark-knight-returns","tag-batwoman","tag-bill-willingham","tag-blog","tag-brian-k-vaughan","tag-chris-claremont","tag-comic-books","tag-comics","tag-delilah-dirk-and-the-turkish-lieutenant","tag-fallon-bleich","tag-frank-miller","tag-g-willow-wilson","tag-george-perez","tag-graphic-novels","tag-hyperbole-and-a-half-unfortunate-situations-flawed-coping-mechanisms-mayhem-and-other-things-that-happened","tag-inalj-arkansas","tag-jim-starlin","tag-john-byrne","tag-marjane-satrapi","tag-ms-marvel","tag-persepolis-the-story-of-a-childhood","tag-robert-kirkman","tag-ron-lim","tag-saga","tag-the-infinity-gauntlet","tag-the-walking-dead","tag-tony-cliff","tag-watchmen","tag-wonder-woman","tag-x-men-days-of-future-past"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/fallon.bleich.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1WoMK-l24","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80852","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=80852"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80852\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/59613"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=80852"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=80852"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=80852"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}