What I love about graphic novels is that not only do most of them tend to be autobiographical, but they also do an awesome job at commenting on the problems of the world in which the lead lives.
I don’t care if you have to buy, beg, borrow or steal, but if you like reading graphic novels, you NEED to read these ones. Trust me, for they are full of brilliant meaning and wit.
Kari ~ Amruta Patil
If memory serves me right, this was first graphic novel I read. I was in college and it spoke to me on several levels. It is about a young professional barely scraping through in Mumbai. Here’s a gist of the story:
“They were inseparable – until the day they jumped. Ruth, saved by safety nets, leaves the city. Kari, saved by a sewer, crawls back into the fray of living. With Angel, Lazarus, and the girls of Crystal Palace forming the chorus to her song, she explores the dark heart of smog city – loneliness, sewers, sleeper success, death – and the memory of her absentee Other.”
Persepolis ~ Marjane Satrapi
The author describes her life in Iran and Europe (Austria) during and after the Iranian Islamic revolution, right from her childhood to early adulthood.
A great way to learn about the current situation in Iran (I’m referring to the morality police and compulsory hijab) is to understand where it all began.
This graphic novel is an intimate account of what it was like to live through it all, as a young girl and woman, coming of age.
The Buddha ~ Osamu Tezuka
This magnum opus is an 8-volume series from Japan. It traces Siddhartha’s epic journey as he renounces his princely duties to become the Buddha. Read this one for its beautiful blend of human emotions and Buddhist philosophy.
“Prince Siddhartha runs away from home, travels across India, and questions Hindu practices such as ascetic self-mutilation and caste oppression. Rather than recommend resignation and impassivity, Tezuka’s Buddha predicates enlightenment upon recognizing the interconnectedness of life, having compassion for the suffering, and ordering one’s life sensibly.”
Munnu: A Boy From Kashmir ~ Malik Sajad
This semi-autobiographical, graphic novel is about a young boy named Munnu, who lives with his family of 6 (his parents, sister Shahnaz, brothers Adil and Akhtar, and his favourite of the lot, his older brother, Bilal) in Kashmir.
He loves two things: eating sugar and drawing. But a childhood in Kashmir can hardly be that simplistic and serene, as the backdrop is formed by the unrest in the valley.
The story sheds light on the conflict in the land through the eyes of a child, who grows up to become a cartoonist. I thought it was a brilliant move on the author’s part to depict Kashmiris as hangul (the Kashmiri stag – an important symbol and the valley’s animal).
Fun Home ~ Alison Bechdel
The cover says it’s “a family tragicomic” so expect to shed some tears and guffaw at dark jokes. Fun home stands for funeral home, by the way. Read the graphic novel to find out more.
Anyhoo, Alison tackles her childhood and her memories of growing up with a father who was a closeted, gay man married to her mother, an actress. The author also compares her own coming out experience to her father’s.
Because it comes from someone who knew him so intimately, it comes across a wholistic portrait of the man, rather than reducing him to his sexual orientation, mental health struggles etc.
To give you a one-liner about “Fun Home”: “It chronicles the author’s childhood and youth in rural Pennsylvania, United States, focusing on her complex relationship with her father.”
“Fun Home” is the graphic novel I finished reading most recently and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. The next one I am planning to read is called “Habibi” by Craig Thompson.
Also, I’ve been meaning to read “The Sandman” by Neil Gaiman, but haven’t managed to achieve that just yet. Tell me in the comments which are some of the other graphic novels you would recommend reading…