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Graphic Novels at HMCPL

A guide to help navigate our extensive graphic novel collection, broken down my genre and format.

Upcoming Maintenance

The library has moved to a new catalog system is more intuitive and user friendly, unfortunately this means the migration will break all of the previous links in our libguides and blogs referencing links to books in our old system. Our team will be working to fix the issue as soon as possible, but in the meantime you may experience broken links while browsing, we apologize for the inconvenience.

New to the Collection!

Bad Dreams in the Night

Anthology, Horror (Modern)

Lore Olympus: Volume Six

Fantasy (Modern)

Zodiac

Biography (Graphic Novels)

This Guide

 

This guide is constantly being updated and features the complete adult graphics collection of the Downtown branch as well as highlights from several of our other branches that feature graphic novel collections, our entire catalog can be viewed at  http://catalog.hmcpl.org/.

Although a large variety of the titles present are acceptable for teens, each book summary will have an age range recommendation. The young adult overview of graphic novels at the Main Branch can be found here.

This guide is broken up into several genres and then into subsections, with the fiction titles broken down into modern graphics, vintage graphics, comic books and manga while the non-fiction titles are broken down by Dewey classifications. Fiction titles are arranged alphabetically by title and non-fiction titles numerically and alphabetically as they appear on the shelf. Many titles fall under multiple genres so they are listed in more than one section to be easily found and each title links to our catalog to check availability and the ability to place holds. On the left-hand side of each page you'll find a listing of complete series we have of that specific page's genre, with a master list of the adult graphics complete series on the "Read By Genre" page, Clicking the title of the series will bring you to it's respective catalog entry.

 

A Brief Overview

Terms

Comic books refer to single issue periodicals (typically monthly) while graphic novels generally refer to original material that has never before been serialized in comic book form. TPBs or trade paperbacks tend to refer to a collected storyarc of a comic book series. much like books these usually are released in hardcover form first and then softcover. Light Novels are short novellas that are commonly collections of serialized work or companion pieces to popular manga and anime. Manga referes to Japanese comics that are serialized in magazines, successful ones being printed in paperback which are commonly referred to as 'manga,' typically in black and white and read the reverse of Western comic, right to left.

Publishers

Boom Studios- Responsible for such titles as Lumberjanes, The Midas Flesh, Munchkin and others.

   Kaboom- Boom's all ages line of books with titles which have included Pixar and Disney properties in the past.

   Boom Box- Boom's teen-oriented line of titles like Backstagers.

Bongo - Typically all ages friendly, responsible for such titles as The Simpsons, Futurama and Spongebob Squarepants among others. No Longer Publishing

Dark Horse- Typically for teens and up, responsible for such titles as Conan the Barbarian, Hellboy, Goon and 1990's-200's Star Wars books among others.

DC- Responsible for such titles as Batman, Superman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman and others.

   Vertigo- DC's mature imprint made popular by such series as Sandman, Fables and Y the Last Man. Now Defunct

   Wildstorm- DC's mature imprint headed by Jim Lee featuring series such as The Authority, W.I.L.D.Cats. Now Defunct 

   Black Label- DC's new mature label imprint that previous works have been folded into. 

Dynamite- Responsible for such titles as Red Sonja, Game of Thrones, Lone Ranger and others.

IDW- Responsible for such titles as Transformers, Ghostbusters, G.I. Joe and more mature titles like 30 Days of Night among others.

Image- Typically for teens and up, responsible for such titles as Walking Dead, Invincible, Fatale and others.

    Shadowline- partner studio with titles like Bombqueen.

    Silverline- Shadowline's all ages imprint with titles like Dear Dracula. 

Marvel- Responsible for such titles as Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy and others.

   Ultimate- Marvel's updated universe with more diverse characters and more relatable stories for new generations of readers. Now Defunct

   Marvel MAX- Marvel's mature imprint featuring titles such as The Punisher, Cage, and Fury. 

Toykopop- Responsible for manga titles such as Kingdom Hearts.

Viz Media- Responsible for manga titles as well as popular magazines like Shonen Jump and Shojo Beat.

Yen Press- Responsible for manga titles such as Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? and others.

Graphic Novels at the Downtown Branch of HMCPL

At the Downtown Branch, the adult graphics section is located go the left as you enter the building in a nook next to the International Media Center. The fiction graphics are arranged alphabetically by title for easier browsing (i.e. looking for Batman? Frank Miller, Denny O'Neil, and Bob Kane are together in one place in the B's) and our nonfiction titles are shelved according to the Dewey Decimal System. Each branch has their own collection of Adult Graphics, consult with the desk at your local branch to see where their collection is located! We are always expanding our catalog and add new books monthly! We gladly accept patron suggetions, if you see a title or series that we don't have please put in a request. We also readily accept donations, please contact jschafle@hmcpl.org if you are interested in contributing to Downtown's collection or contact your local branch for donating to them. 

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