Bittersweet Fu (富中作樂) is an illustration lover’s graphic novel. The meticulous hand of its author, Ko Sing, is visible in every page. Whether it’s the distinct character design for each and every background character, or the lovingly rendered …

The making and success of Scott Pilgrim are a sign that videogames really have infiltrated our popular consciousness. When captions such as “+9999 EXP” and “Level Up” are casually assigned to characters without explanation as punchlines, it presumes the audience …

It’s hard to believe that Exit Wounds is a work of fiction. Set in the city of Tel Aviv in 2002, the book revolves around an unidentified victim of a terrorist bombing. The story begins when Koby, the main character, …

Between 2001 and 2010, Brian Clevinger went from an amateur webcomic author to a professional comic book writer, sought after by  Marvel and DC. This nine year span also marks the life of 8-bit Theatre, a free, online serial …

Flying pigs. Death-ray robots. Chinese-style vampires. Demons with tentacles. Welcome to the warped world of Ken Foo, an up-and-coming Singaporean comic artist. The artist’s artistic sensibility is a dizzy derivative of Japanese manga (think Excel Saga and Trigun), Stephen …

Almost twenty years after its publication, Maus: A Survivor’s Tale (1992) is still the best reference point for a “serious” comic book or graphic novel. Written and illustrated by Art Spiegelman, Maus tells the story of Spiegelman’s father’s Holocaust experience …

Released in 2010 in Spain both in Spanish and Catalan, this graphic novel is based on the experience of story writer Isabel Franc, an established LGBT fiction author, who had to deal with breast cancer in recent years. Illustrated by …

The Taste of Chlorine (Le goût du chlore, 2008) bears a simple story: Young man goes to the pool. Meets a girl. Using this simple premise, illustrator and author Bastien Vivès tells a compelling story through a series …

María and Me (María y Yo, 2007) is a graphic novel by Miguel Gallardo, an award-winning illustrator from Barcelona. In it he recounts his recent journey to the Canary Islands with his his niece María, who happens to …

Jimmy Liao makes some great adult picture books. He combines serious writing with playful illustrations in a way that’s reminiscent of Maurice Sendak’s works (you know, the Where the Wild Things Are guy). They differ in that Liao’s writing style …