Graphic Novels

Below is a list of some of our favorite Classic Comics, remembered from the Sunday Newspapers we used to read as children:

Comic strips and comic books are the origins of graphic novels. The 1930s, 1940s, and early 1950s are considered the "heyday" of comics for children. Comics were everywhere! And they were available in many different genres (e.g. romance, adventure, science fiction, etc.) for children, teens, and adults of all ages until...

The infamous "Comics Code" arrived 1954. Some vocal adults convinced the United States Senate to investigate comics. These adults (yes, some were teachers and librarians) thought the horror and crime comics were excessive and could be linked to "juvenile delinquency." No link was EVER proven between what a child / teen reads and violence. But the damage was done -- comic books were burned, banned, and demonized. This budding, accessible art form was almost lost until...

Underground, alternative cartoonists such as R. Crumb flourished in the counter-culture time of the 1960s and 1970s. Superhero comic books dominated the mainstream comic book industry but experimentation with the form took shape from groundbreakers like Crumb. This freedom to experiment with words and pictures laid the footprints for the 1980s when Alan Moore's seminal storytelling, the Watchmen was collected into one work and became the graphic novel, as we now know it.   

In the early 1990s, Art Spiegelman published his critically acclaimed, Pulitzer Prize-winning Maus as a stand-alone book that was both autobiographical AND a graphic novel. Today, Spiegelman continues to write and publish graphic novels. He also co-created TOON Books with his wife, Francoise Mouly (former New Yorker art editor) and their mission is to bring back comics for kids with their engaging and entertaining TOON Books, an early reading series.  

In 2011, the Comics Code finally disappeared. Now, many libraries and schools have embraced graphic novels for their abilities to engage reluctant readers and increase reading for pleasure. We have come full circle with the value of comics and literacy. Here at Triton College Library, we are proud to house a growing collection of graphic novels, classic comics, TOON books, and more for your pleasure-filled reading. 

- By Mary Grace Maloney, Reference & Archives Librarian, 2013-2014

Sources: see Bibliography

"Popular" Classic Comics is based on statistical information from our Technical Services Department, based on the most circulated (or checked-out) books.