Research

This book has been invaluable. McCloud explains comics on a technical level in great detail. He describes how comics work due to closure, the way our brains create understanding. He demonstrates how cultural differences influence the design and structure of comics and the way we read them. And he explains what readers are unconsciously doing and how artists and writers are making them do it.

Tom Hart's graphic memoir is about the untimely death of his daughter, Rosalie. Hart uses the graphic form to articulate his and his wife's on-going search for meaning in the aftermath of Rosalie's death. By using a variety of drawing styles he differentiates the different stages of grief, hopelessness, rebirth, and eventually finding hope again.

Set in World War 2 Onward to Our Noble Deaths is a Tezuka-esque blend of wonderfully illustrated backdrops and landscapes, juxtaposed with  cartoonish, almost lampooning, soldiers populating the foreground of the panels. This works well in providing depth and realism to the world of the story, yet gently disguising the darker elements enough to ensure they don't distract from the overall flow of the emotional story of the Japanese soldiers.. 

Intricately drawn, quirky, surreal and very funny, this book includes stories about an outraged sweetcorn kernel, some wrestlers going for a wander before their big finale, a rabbit, a monkey nut, bread, bhajis. 

The book is entirely drawn, including all text boxes and this gives a very personal, autographic feel, as though we are reading it straight off the drawing board.

This graphic novel tells a highly allegorical tale of the dwellers of an apartment building. Their lives and stories intertwine and relate inevitably to each other in ways that point to the mystery of life. The variation of drawing styles and layout is used brilliantly to separate the different elements of the story.

Chester Brown tells the story of his youth  and his mother’s mental illness in a detached, understated manner, giving the book a dream-like quality.