Reccomend me some comic books / graphic novels without superheroes.

Chop Logic

So, my friends have recently been getting to into comics. In the fall, I'll be starting a dual degree program, illustration and English, so it only makes sense that I'm starting to love comics, which is a combination of the two.

I've just read The Watchmen, and I liked it, but right now I'm reading MAUS by Art Spiegelman and I am in love with it. I love his art style, the way he tells the story, everything about it.

I'm looking for more comic books that are similar to this one. What I'm looking for is:

1. A similar art style. I love the art in MAUS, it mostly looks like this:





Those were the only good pictures I can find. The art is loose but still very good and at times both sketchy and beautiful. I love that it looks like a person actually drew it. It wasn't professionally inked and then professionally colored or anything, it's very apparent that a guy drew this, and I love that.

And / or:

2. The type of story. I'm really interested in stories dealing with real people. Perhaps something autobiographical, or just a story about a normal person or a semi-normal person. I'm not very interested in the typical superhero type story, but if a book approaches the superhero thing in a new way I'll look at it. But mainly, I'm looking for stuff that deals with 'real' people, or real life in some way.

Thanks for any recommendations or just general ideas, I'll check back in this thread soon.

Kyougu

I think you would really enjoy Pedro and Me, by Judd Winick.

wallabeeX

Check out Craig Thompson's Blankets and Goodbye Chunky Rice.

Also, Black Hole by Charles Burns.

And most of Chris Ware's work is incredible.

ManonvonSuperock

http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showthread.php?t=50014

Everything in the OP not under "superheroes"

Chop Logic

Thanks guys. When I get home today I'll check out the books you listed.

I think the main thing I'm really looking for here is the art style. Most comics have this really polished 'perfect', art style and I'm just not really into that. I think that's part of the reason I like MAUS so much.

Edit: Also, I'm looking for more of a one book type of thing. I don't really know the difference between a comic book or a graphic novel, but I think I'm looking for graphic novels. Like Sin City, The Watchmen, or Maus, a stoey that's contained in one book.

enderwiggin13

The Sandman - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sandman_(Vertigo)
Stardust - (more of an illustrated novel, but still quite good.) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stardust_(novel)

Quoth

Persepolis

PirateJon

Have you read Gaiman's Sandman series? While he does have 'powers', the writing is top notch and much of the art isn't typical comic book.

See also Johnny the homicidal maniac.

virgilsamms

Sandman is what I immediately thought of when I read the thread title. Gaiman's writing is excellent and I believe the illustration is done by a series of different comic artists throughout, each with their own take.

Balefuego

Y: The Last Man

Hylianbunny

Balefuego wrote: »

Y: The Last Man

Seconding this.

supabeast

Transmetropolitan, Preacher, The Invisibles, Fables

grungebox

100 Bullets

Summer Blonde and Shortcomings by Adrian Tomine

honkymcgoo

Bone.

Quoth

Preacher and Fables are great, but I think they might be a bit too far from what the OP is looking for. Preacher is extremely violent and sexually explicit, and Fables is very fantasy-oriented. Realistic they are not.

Edit: Meant to mention Ghost World as another possible option.

lostwords

You could check out Adrian Tomine's stuff. Has a few collections of his Optic Nerve comic that is good stuff.

saggio

Watchmen is an excellent graphic novel. Alan Moore is my favourite writer in the medium of all time. Another notable work from him is V for Vendetta - which is my favourite of his, and nothing like that abomination of a movie that they made recently. Another one that is great is Promethea.

There is also 300 which is done by Frank Miller, I believe, and the art and style in it are great. The movie is actually very similar stylistically with it, but the comic is still great.

Trowizilla

Y the Last Man is pretty great, but not one-volume.

Strangers in Paradise is very real-world and enjoyable, with the bonus of female characters that are shaped like people and not blow-up dolls.

honkymcgoo

Oh! I have these books, theyre individual stories but theres 3 of them by Richard Delgado called Age of Reptiles. Each book is a different story, there isnt any dialogue because they are all about dinosaurs. Theyre freaking sweet, incredibly moving for a story with no words or people in it. Might not be what youre looking for but I would be remiss if I didnt recommend it.

Steev

I'm surprised no one has recommended The Walking Dead yet, so I will.

It is a multi-volume series and is still going, though.

I enjoyed Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea, which I checked out from my library a few months ago. Nothing too mindblowing happens in it; it's just the author's account of how he saw things when he worked in North Korea for a few months.

KVW

Mouse Guard (see also: publisher's site) is probably right up the OP's alley.

Craigopogo

I read Fun Home a while ago, by Alison Bechdel, and it's really good.

seasleepy

Not sure if it's exactly what you're looking for, but you might like American Elf, which is a diary comic.

Local H Jay

The manga form of Akira, Shortcomings, and Blue Pills: A Positive Love Story.

Forar

Hylianbunny wrote: »

Balefuego wrote: »

Y: The Last Man

Seconding this.

Thirded.

Also; Fables and Preacher.

There are fantastical elements to both, but it's not "superhero" faire.

Improvolone

Fables, Fables, Fables, and Jack of all Fables.

vonPoonBurGer

You might be interested in some of the early underground comics artists/writers, people like Robert Crumb and Harvey Pekar. They were contemporaries of Art Spiegelman, and Maus is a product of that scene to some degree.

jkylefulton

Most of what I'd normally recommend has already been recommended, so....how about CASANOVA? You're only looking at two trades for everything that's been published (though you might want to pick up the floppies at $1.99 per issue, since those include back matter and whatnot from the writer).

Edit: And Fraction's FIVE FISTS OF SCIENCE would meet your 'real people' criteria.

ManonvonSuperock

Five Fists was a little too superhero-y i would think

giant lightning hologram robot?

Also, Barefoot Gen and An American Born Chinese

Rankenphile

David B is a brilliant comics artist who helped found l'Association, a french publishing house for non-cape comics. He's become a bit of a legend in some circles, much the way Spiegelman did with Maus. The above book, Epileptic, is his masterpiece - an autobiography about growing up in France in the shadow of an epileptic brother while his parents tried every sort of treatment imaginable. Very heavy stuff, but wonderfully done.

I'd also recommend reading a number of Craig Thompson's works from Top Shelf Press, including Goodbye Chunky Rice and Blankets. Both are incredibly touching and sad tales and are nothing like superhero comics.

Also from Top Shelf is a great graphic novel called Box Office Poison. There's a few of them out now, although I've only read the first, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Spiegelman's other works are really fascinating. Love & Rockets, by the Brothers Hernandez, is a great series from the 80s, as is most of the work by Daniel Clowes. He wrote Ghost World, Eightball, David Boring and Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron, all of which are worth a read.

Sam Kieth also published, while working on The Maxx, a great little series he called Friends of Maxx, although it had nothing to do with the amazing purple "superhero". It was basically three issues only (that I know of) and was a wonderful little series just dealing with relationships. The Maxx itself, while the protagonist is a giant purple muscle freak, really isn't much of a superhero tale, and is most definitely worth a read - at least the first 20 issues.

Honestly, if you're really interested in this sort of thing, order a catalog from Top Shelf, Fantagraphics and a couple of other indie publishers and just sort of browse, or spend some time doing some research from some of the links above. Even delving into the history of alternative comics, starting with Robert Crumb, is fascinating and often reveals a lot of incredible works you'd otherwise miss if you only read about dudes in tights punching monsters and masterminds.

TychoCelchuuu

Seconding Transmetropolitan.

Zombiemambo

Any mention of Sin City yet?

Rankenphile

while transmet and sin city are both fun books, I don't think they're really fitting the criteria he was asking for originally

I mean, don't get me wrong, I love them both

but they're a far cry from Maus

GoodOmens

I just read both parts of Persepolis and enjoyed it completely. Also, "Pride of Baghdad" is awesome, even if it doesn't exactly deal with real people...rather, real lions.