 | Making Comics: Storytelling Secrets of Comics, Manga and Graphic Novels by Scott McCloud
Buy new: £7.44 / Used from: £6.23 Indepth exploration of what all comic makers need to know. A bit advanced for young kids.
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 | Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art by Scott McCloud
Buy new: £8.19 / Used from: £7.00 Practical and theoretical examination of how comics work. Key text!
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 | Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood & The Story of a Return: v. 1 & v. 2 by Marjane Satrapi
Buy new: £8.95 Fascinating and moving, Satrapi describes growning up during the Iranian Islamic revolution. Deceptively simple artwork.
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 | The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman
Buy new: £10.16 / Used from: £8.96 Multi awardwinning story of Speigelmans relationship with his father and his father's wartime experience, Harrowing and brilliant. Not for children
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 | Spiral-Bound by Aaron Renier
Buy new: £10.99 / Used from: £1.13 Mystery adventure, perfect for younger readers. Beautiful lively artwork.
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 | Cigars of the Pharoah (The Adventures of Tintin) by Herge
Buy new: £6.29 / Used from: £2.37 Anything by Herge is worth reading. I loved all the Tintin adventures as a child.
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 | The Acme Novelty Library: v.16: Vol 16 by Chris Ware
Buy used from: £25.00 Ware is often held up as the current master of the comics medium. Not always to everyones taste, this title gives best insight into his bleak and achingly poetic outlook. I love it, kids won't.
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 | The Four Immigrants Manga: Japanese Experience in San Francisco, 1904-22 by Frederik L. Schodt
Buy new: £12.50 / Used from: £7.16 Historically fascinating account of the Japanese immigrant experience in the US 1904-24. Of historical interest.
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 | Ethel and Ernest by Raymond Briggs
Buy new: £6.99 / Used from: £0.01 Moving account of Briggs's parents lives, and a remarkable social history. Great for all ages (though might make you cry).
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 | Great British Comics by Paul Gravett
Buy new: £11.79 / Used from: £2.45 Gravett and Stanbury are THE authority on British comics. Loads in it, and even more on their greatbritishcomics.com site.
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 | Blankets by Craig Thompson
Buy new: £14.48 / Used from: £9.50 A first love story. Beautiful artwork and storytelling. Also see Thompson's Carnet de Voyage travel diary.
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 | Epileptic by David B.
Buy new: £8.98 / Used from: £6.51 Dark, dense and epic. Mystical but true account of growing up with an epileptic brother.
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 | American Splendor: The Life and Times of Harvey Pekar - Stories by Harvey Pekar
Buy used from: £8.00 Pekar's autobiographical comics focus on the everyday and mundane. Film version also recommended.
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 | 99 Ways to Tell a Story by Matt Madden
Buy new: £7.75 / Used from: £3.49 Tells same one page story in 99 different ways. Great for teaching about style and genre.
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 | Paul Has a Summer Job by Michel Rabagliati
Buy new: £8.99 / Used from: £5.95 French Canadian camp counsellor tale. Stylish artwork and suprisingly moving. Teens and upward.
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 | Education of a Comics Artist by Steven Heller
Buy new: £17.09 / Used from: £12.28 Advice and observations from comics top practicioners.
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 | Fun Home by Alison Bechdel
Buy new: £7.75 / Used from: £5.49 Short for funeral home, where Bechdel grew up. Amazing personal account of her family. More for grown-ups.
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 | Night Fisher by R. Kikuo Johnson
Buy new: £8.99 / Used from: £4.27 Darkly rendered coming of age tale in Hawaii. Look out for his forthcoming bio of early US naturalist Audubon.
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 | Black Hole by Charles Burns
Buy new: £10.15 / Used from: £10.06 Nearly 10 years in the making, consistently exquisite artwork, and incredible story of mutant highschoolers in the woods. Teens upwards
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 | The Tale of One Bad Rat by Bryan Talbot
Buy used from: £2.99 Excellent survival tale of abuse, homelessness and somehow Beatrix Potter. Teens and upwards.
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 | Ordinary Victories by Manu Larcenet
Buy new: £10.79 / Used from: £4.00 Wow I love this book, and look forward to whatever else he may produce.
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 | Asterix The Gaul (Asterix (Orion Paperback)) by René Goscinny
Buy new: £4.58 / Used from: £2.48 Great for children, and still loved by adults. Read one and you'll end up getting them all.
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 | In the Studio: Visits with Contemporary Cartoonists by T Hignite
Buy new: £18.50 / Used from: £5.00 Indepth, intelligent examination of a selection of major comic masters and their influences.
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 | Isaac the Pirate: v. 1: To Exotic Lands (Isaac the Pirate (Graphic Novels)) by Christophe Blain
Buy new: £9.89 / Used from: £3.95 Blain makes it look so easy with this sumtuous storytelling. Second volume available, both highly recommended.
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 | The Rabbi's Cat by Joann Sfar
Buy new: £9.80 / Used from: £10.25 Beautiful. I'm going to buy everything that gets translated from French.
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Listmania!
