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Top Science Fiction graphic novels
By Tina Sena | Source: examiner.com
Sometimes the best form of entertainment is a really good graphic novel. I have nothing against books. I love books. But when movies fail to excite and television shows come and go before their storylines get off the ground, sometimes a graphic novel is heaven sent.
There was a time I couldn't find any good horror films to enjoy, and so I started reading THE WALKING DEAD. I'm glad I did. I found more scares in the pages of those volumes than most of the horror films that came out in the last few years.
As for WANTED, Mark Millar hit epic sci-fi gold when he created a world where real heroes have been forgotten and villains rule supreme. The movie did nothing to elevate the story, because let's face it, they didn't even bother to tell the story. But I will always have the graphic novel, so there is some reprieve.
Summer is fast approaching and life get's busy in the warmer months. Those days of lazing in a hammock and reading giant tomes are long gone, but sitting on the red/orange line, with the AC pumping, reading a graphic novel is just as good. Maybe even better.
Here are eight titles to keep you busy this summer. Enjoy.
THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN:
Hands down, one of the best series ever. Follow the great Captain Nemo, Mina Harker, Allan Quartermain (my fictional character crush), Dr. Jekyll and Hawley Griffin (the Invisible Man). Written by the great Alan Moore, the League is like DC's Justic League...in the Victorian Era. There are so many sci-fi elements packed into every volume, it's a pleasure to see what adventures this team hasn't pursued.
V FOR VENDETTA:
Another Alan Moore title, because really, the man is a genius. Set sometime in the near future, after a nuclear holocaust, the anarchist only known as "V", takes on the MAN, dressed as Guy Fawkes. If you've seen the movie, you should know that's not the entire story. You're better off picking up this book and enjoying it in all its dystopian glory.
Y THE LAST MAN:
Brian K. Vaughan owns three quarters of my soul and it has everything to do with this series. You would think a book fulfilling the fantasy of just about every male in the world wouldn't appeal to a female, but you're so wrong.
Yorick Brown is the only male human left, and along with the only other male mammal--- a monkey named Ampersand---he discovers a world where women rule and things aren't all peaches and cream.
Like Margaret Thatcher famously said, " If you think the world would be better off if women were in charge, than you don't remember High School." One of the best comic book series ever.
TRANSMETROPOLITAN:
Written by the awesomeness that is WARREN ELLIS and perhaps inspired by Hunter S. Thompson, Transmetropolitan follows the life and times of gonzo reporter Spider Jerusalem, in a dystopic future. It's totally cyberpunk and full-on paranoia with incredible artwork.
WE3:
Imagine being part of a horrible experiment to turn you and your friends into supersoldiers.
Imagine the day comes when you aren't needed anymore, and so your destruction is imminent, until you are set free in a world where cybernetic animals don't exist.
This is the story of WE3. Three animals, Dog "Bander", Cat "Tinker" and Rabbit "Pirate" are encased in robotic armor, originally trained as "animal" weapons, and then set free by their trainer.
This series, only 3 issues long, is like THE FOX AND THE HOUND. You'll sympathize with them and then you'll want them to get even. The artwork isn't too shabby either.
PLANETARY:
"Intergalactic, Planetary...planetary, inter-ga-lactic." Written by Warren Ellis and illustrated by my personal fave, John Cassaday (Astonishing X-Men), Planetary is the X-Files, if Scully, Mulder and Skinner were Superhumans.
There's archaeology, warped mythology, the Supernatural and a smorgasbord of other weird topics that make Planetary one of my all-time favorites.
EX MACHINA:
One must never doubt the brilliance of Brian K. Vaughan. Never. Ever. This is the story of Mitchell Hundred (a.k.a., The Great Machine), the only existing Superhero who becomes Mayor of New York City after 9/11.
The Great Machine has the power to communicate with any and all machines, thanks to the explosion of an Alien device found at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge. Vaughan's distaste for the political climate at the time is why this book exists. Only two words can describe it: "Epic awesome."
ALL STAR SUPERMAN:
I confess, as a comic book fan I was never, ever into Superman. Something about him was too contrarian for me. I always preferred Batman and Wonder Woman. But, All Star Superman is without a doubt, my ultimate favorite.
From beginning to end. Grant Morrison's vision of Kal-El is far better than any other Superman story before or since. To pick up this book is to pick up on that feeling of truly having read something original. If you read only one book on this list, make it this one.
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 The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen which includes such luminaries as Captain Nemo, Allan Quartermain, and Dr. Jekyll (along with, quite naturally, Mr. Hyde), among others--must escape their own personal demons before they will be able to successfully battle an evil mastermind determined to destroy London.
Y: The Last Man Yorick Brown, an unemployed and unmotivated slacker discovers he is the only male left in the world after a plague instantly kills everyone with a Y chromosome. Accompanied by his mischievous monkey and the mysterious Agent 355, he embarks on a transcontinental journey to find his girlfriend and to discover why he is the last man in earth.
WE3 Adorable cuddly animals are thrust into an arena of brutal carnage in this full-color graphic novel that takes animal experimentation to a whole new level. Once beloved household pets--a dog, a cat, and a rabbit--have been modified by the government into WE3, a team of fully armed, cybernetically enhanced assassins.
Hearing plans to scrap WE3, the three animals manage to escape. With the army and more animal assassins after them, WE3 must respond as they've been trained even as they desperately search for the homes that they only dimly remember.
Article Author Tina Sena - Tina is a Freelance writer (Science Fiction writer wannabe), and proud geek for all things SciFi. She is a Boston native and you can find her at various science fiction and comic book conventions.
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