'Graphic Novels' that could belong on any bookshelf.

[Rorschach]

I have friends etc who don't even read comics but have certain books like Watchmen or V For Vendetta on their bookshelves along with other regular books. What other comics can you think of that might fit this criteria?

[victorxd1999]

Maus, Dark knight returns, Sandman, Preacher, Planetary, Transmetropolitan, Enigma and a lot of other early 90s Vertigo titles

[Balakin]

Maus, Dark knight returns, Sandman, Preacher, Planetary, Transmetropolitan, Enigma and a lot of other early 90s Vertigo titles

+ Daytripper (that is really a book that everybody should read), Criminal, Sleeper, From hell, LoEG.

[victorxd1999]

+ Daytripper (that is really a book that everybody should read), Criminal, Sleeper, From hell, LoEG.

Yes, Daytripper, very underrated. It's one of my books I give to everyone who's interested. Sleeper and Criminal are Brubaker's awesomeness so yes indeed. And of course From hell and LoEG, how could I forget those? To be honest, most Moore works fit. Like Top ten, Swamp thing etc.

[Black Iron Tarkus]

In addition to what's already been mentioned:

Bone, The Incal, Metabarons, Sin City, Batman: Year One, Solo, WE3, Black Hole, Ghost World, and pretty much anything by Darwyn Cooke or Paul Pope.

[canadianaidan64]

On a purely visual level, The graffiti designs watchmen, leather bound frank millar batman, and absolute sandman are some very classy looking books that wouldn't even look out of place in the White House library.

As far as literary graphic novels go, the only book I have to add to the afore-mentioned lists (excluding We3 which I hated) is Essex County by Jeff Lemire.

[Hero]

Love this thread. Great suggestions so far. Would books like Kingdom Come and Marvels start to fall into the list's criteria?

Now, I'm approaching this as a comic book fan. It's tough for me not to. But, considering the original poster's question again, if I can paraphrase: what comic books or graphic novels would fit right in on the book shelf of an otherwise non-comic/GN reader?

I really do think the "big ones" like Watchmen, V for Vendetta and Sandman very much fit the bill and belong on that bookshelf. And this thread has some excellent series named in it and I certainly am not trying to put down anyone's suggestions. I just ask for the sake of conversation in this thread, and let's just take Preacher as an example (I like the Preacher series, so this is not a put down): would Preacher truly "fit in" on a non-comic readers bookshelf the same way that Watchmen/V/Sandman do? Would an otherwise non-comic reader read Preacher and put it on their bookshelf the way they would Watchmen? Or Transmetropolitan (another series I love), does it fit the same way Watchmen does?

Again, I'm not trying to trash any of those series at all. I love the recommendations above and this thread could almost be retitled "What are some all-time must read comic series?" But, as comic fans, are we going beyond what a non-comic reader would like or appreciate with some of our recommendations?

[Balakin]

Love this thread. Great suggestions so far. Would books like Kingdom Come and Marvels start to fall into the list's criteria?

Now, I'm approaching this as a comic book fan. It's tough for me not to. But, considering the original poster's question again, if I can paraphrase: what comic books or graphic novels would fit right in on the book shelf of an otherwise non-comic/GN reader?

I really do think the "big ones" like Watchmen, V for Vendetta and Sandman very much fit the bill and belong on that bookshelf. And this thread has some excellent series named in it and I certainly am not trying to put down anyone's suggestions. I just ask for the sake of conversation in this thread, and let's just take Preacher as an example (I like the Preacher series, so this is not a put down): would Preacher truly "fit in" on a non-comic readers bookshelf the same way that Watchmen/V/Sandman do? Would an otherwise non-comic reader read Preacher and put it on their bookshelf the way they would Watchmen? Or Transmetropolitan (another series I love), does it fit the same way Watchmen does?

Again, I'm not trying to trash any of those series at all. I love the recommendations above and this thread could almost be retitled "What are some all-time must read comic series?" But, as comic fans, are we going beyond what a non-comic reader would like or appreciate with some of our recommendations?

I think well written series that stays away from the cliches and complicated continuities of the mainstream superhero books could interest people, no matter of the content. It just depends on the people's taste. So I would recommend series like Preacher, Y the last man, Fables, Criminal, Sleeper, etc. to anyone.

[aaltomuoto]

Personally I found Kingdom Come to be completely impenetrable. Never understood why that one is rated so highly. Marvels is pretty good though.

[victorxd1999]

Personally I found Kingdom Come to be completely impenetrable. Never understood why that one is rated so highly. Marvels is pretty good though.

I too found Kingdom come quite average. But maybe it's just me.

On Preacher: I think a non-comic reader would not put your average superhero books on the shelf. They would put the comics that could be sold as a normal sci-fi/fantasy book if you take out the pictures (in theory). I think Preacher fits the bill, the same with Transmetropolitan (for example, I lended a friend of mine V for Vendetta since he was intrigued by the movie and I wanted to give him a taste of comics. Turns out, it wasn't his first of that kind of comic. He already read all the Transmetropolitan issues online, and he loved them.). I also think you would see comics which were used as a base for movies or tv series faster on somebody's shelf.

[ed2962]

I would add Maus and Persepolois to the list. The Love and Rockets collections. Maybe Fatale? I don't know how truly literary it is, but I think it would be of interest to folks who don't normally read comics. I own Blankets but I haven't gotten around to reading it yet.

I wouldn't put Kingdom Come or Marvels to the list. As much as I like them, they're really aimed at folks who are already superhero fans. Part of appreciating those stories is being aware of silver age and bronze age cape comics and knowing how they're different than 90's comics.

[Hero]

I think well written series that stays away from the cliches and complicated continuities of the mainstream superhero books could interest people, no matter of the content. It just depends on the people's taste. So I would recommend series like Preacher, Y the last man, Fables, Criminal, Sleeper, etc. to anyone.

Yeah, I think that's right. When I finally overdosed on superhero comics, that was the exact direction in which I went.

...I think a non-comic reader would not put your average superhero books on the shelf. They would put the comics that could be sold as a normal sci-fi/fantasy book if you take out the pictures (in theory)...

I think that's a really good way of looking at it...

...I also think you would see comics which were used as a base for movies or tv series faster on somebody's shelf.

...and another great point.

I really like the exercise of considering, if you take out the pictures would this be something that a non-comic fan would like? And yeah, much of the great non-superhero stuff can really fit that criteria.

[Hero]

I wouldn't put Kingdom Come or Marvels to the list. As much as I like them, they're really aimed at folks who are already superhero fans. Part of appreciating those stories is being aware of silver age and bronze age cape comics and knowing how they're different than 90's comics.

Excellent point, in full agreement. This really fits with what others were saying, too (see my quoted reply above).

[Diamond]

Eddie Campbell's Alec and Bacchus. How come nobody has mentioned them yet?

[bob fett]

I'd say the Parker series of books by Darwyn Cooke.