# A good graphic novel for a 10 year old boy?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-good-graphic-novel-for-a-10-year-old-boy/604495
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [November 29, 2011, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-good-graphic-novel-for-a-10-year-old-boy/604495 "2011-11-29T20:43:01Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Ceejaytee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ceejaytee)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2011, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-good-graphic-novel-for-a-10-year-old-boy/604495/1 "2011-11-29T20:43:01Z")
My 10 year old loves graphic novels and comic books. A few years ago the Dope turned us on to the Marvel Adventures series, which was great. He reads things like [Missile Mouse](http://missilemouse.blogspot.com/) and [Lunch Lady](http://www.amazon.com/Lunch-Cyborg-Substitute-Jarrett-Krosoczka/dp/0375846832) and I’m looking for more of them to read. He likes fantasy (he’s currently reading Harry Potter and the Percy Jackson series), and loves mythology (Greek and Norse so far) and superheroes. Anything else good out there?
---
### Author:  [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2011, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-good-graphic-novel-for-a-10-year-old-boy/604495/2 "2011-11-29T20:52:05Z")
[Amulet](http://www.boltcity.com/amulet/) is something my 9 year old boy absolutely loved!
[Knights of the Lunch Table](http://www.scholastic.ca/titles/knightsofthelunchtable/) is a charming retelling of the Arthurian legends set in a modern elementary school.
He loved [Bone](http://www.scholastic.ca/titles/bone/books.htm), but he seemed to lose interest after the 7th issue. I may have to buy that one on my own to find out how it ends.
---
### Author:  [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2011, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-good-graphic-novel-for-a-10-year-old-boy/604495/3 "2011-11-29T21:03:24Z")
Stan Sakai’s [Usagi Yojimbo](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usagi_Yojimbo) series rocks all kind of socks: Japanese myth and history retold with uncutesy animals, and drawn with an astonishing level of painstaking felicity. And ninjas. My boy devoured them.
eta Missile Mouse is very heavily derivative of UY, but lacks the narrative depth.
---
### Author:  [@CutterJohn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CutterJohn)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2011, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-good-graphic-novel-for-a-10-year-old-boy/604495/4 "2011-11-29T21:08:35Z")
I was reading stephen king when I was 10. Those are pretty graphic!
What?
---
### Author:  [@Ceejaytee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ceejaytee)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2011, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-good-graphic-novel-for-a-10-year-old-boy/604495/5 "2011-11-29T21:21:04Z")
We’ve tried Bone. My 7 year old likes it but I only liked Big Johnson Bones Tall Tales. Amulet and Usagi Yojimbo look very interesting. He’s really into Avatar right now too.
We have the first volume of Knights of the Lunch Table; I keep forgetting about it. I just saw it last night in his room. Maybe we should get some more.
I think Stephen King is definitely out. He’s too scary for _me_.
---
### Author:  [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2011, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-good-graphic-novel-for-a-10-year-old-boy/604495/6 "2011-11-29T21:28:49Z")
How about Asterix?
---
### Author:  [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2011, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-good-graphic-novel-for-a-10-year-old-boy/604495/7 "2011-11-29T21:59:33Z")
And Tintin.
---
### Author:  [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2011, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-good-graphic-novel-for-a-10-year-old-boy/604495/8 "2011-11-29T22:03:37Z")
If he’s into Greek myths there are a few at Amazon like:
[Zeus](http://www.amazon.com/Zeus-King-Olympians-George-OConnor/dp/B0057DBW34/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1322604012&sr=1-1)
[Athena](http://www.amazon.com/Athena-Grey-Eyed-Olympians-George-OConnor/dp/B005EP26AS/ref=pd_sim_b_1)
[Hera](http://www.amazon.com/Hera-Goddess-her-Glory-Olympians/dp/1596434333/ref=pd_sim_b_2)
My boys of 8 and 10 like them, as do I.
---
### Author:  [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)
#### Post date: [November 30, 2011, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-good-graphic-novel-for-a-10-year-old-boy/604495/9 "2011-11-30T00:43:39Z")
My 10 year old is reading (my copy of) _Watchmen_… but, errmmm… I’m not sure I can actually recommend that… 🙂
OTOH he’s read through and really enjoyed all of my wife’s _Elfquest_ graphic novels; they might be a bit more what you’re looking for.
---
### Author:  [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)
#### Post date: [November 30, 2011, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-good-graphic-novel-for-a-10-year-old-boy/604495/10 "2011-11-30T10:57:27Z")
I really liked [Night Owls](http://www.amazon.com/Night-Owls-Vol-Peter-Timony/dp/1401226736) by the Timony Twins. There is some scary content (vampires and mummies and a villain who snatches faces), and there is implied premarital sex (one woman is shown in her boyfriend’s bed, and is apparently naked under the sheet, but all the viewer sees is naked head, arms, and legs). However, the art is VERY good, and there are a couple of fairy tale references, and the whole comic is pretty funny.
The comic is set mostly in 1920s New York, though there’s a flashback to about a decade earlier. You’d probably have to explain what a speakeasy was, and bootleggers.
I also have the graphic novel version of \*The Colour of Magic \*and _The Light Fantastic_ (the first two novels of Pratchett’s Discworld series). This could lead to the youngster wanting to read the non-graphic versions, and then the rest of the series.
---
### Author:  [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)
#### Post date: [November 30, 2011, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-good-graphic-novel-for-a-10-year-old-boy/604495/11 "2011-11-30T12:08:46Z")
I think my son read _Maus_ by Art Spiegelman at roughly that age. [Here](http://www.cool-reads.co.uk/review.asp?ID=1499) is a review at a nice site where all the books are reviewed by 10 - 15 year olds.
---
### Author:  [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)
#### Post date: [November 30, 2011, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-good-graphic-novel-for-a-10-year-old-boy/604495/12 "2011-11-30T12:20:30Z")
Antoher vote for the originally French Asterix and TinTin. Both are quite educational. Also, the comics based on Karl May’s Western books. A big hit with kids here has been for fourty years Suske and Wiske, translated into English as [Willy and Wanda.](http://suskeenwiske.ophetwww.net/albums/engels/ww.php)
---
### Author:  [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)
#### Post date: [November 30, 2011, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-good-graphic-novel-for-a-10-year-old-boy/604495/13 "2011-11-30T12:33:40Z")
I heartily recommend [Thor the Mighty Avenger](http://www.amazon.com/Thor-Mighty-Avenger-Vol-Earth/dp/0785141219), volumes 1 and 2, by Roger Landridge and Chris Samnee. It’s geared for younger readers without talking down to them, sort of an uncluttered take on Thor’s first few weeks as a modern superhero, with his first meetings (i.e. fights) with Iron Man, Namor and others at the dawn of the Marvel age. It’s a lot of fun and a visual delight.
Another possibility–if your son isn’t averse to female protagonists-- is [Leave It to Chance](http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_18?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=leave+it+to+chance+james+robinson&sprefix=leave+it+to+chance) by James Robinson and Paul Smith. Chance is the 10-year-old daughter of a Dr. Strange-type magician, who’d rather she stayed at home and steered clear of the family business. Not gonna happen. This is exactly as fun (and as well-drawn) as the Thor book mentioned earlier. It’s collected in three volumes.
The “Marvel Essentials” line is cheap, black-and-white reprint of comics from the 60s and 70s. He might dig the earliest Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, or either iteration of Uncanny X-Men.
I just bought the collected [Wednesday Comics](http://www.amazon.com/Wednesday-Comics-Neil-Gaiman/dp/1401227473) from DC; the writing is generally good and the art is excellent. This was designed to get younger readers interested in DC Comics, from the most popular characters to some fairly obscure ones (Kamandi, Metal Men, Adam Strange, etc.) in a classic Sunday Funnies format, with each strip taking up a full-sized (tabloid) newspaper page. It’s about fifty bucks, but worth it, IMO. Kamandi is drawn in a “Prince Valiant” style by Ryan Sook, an odd combination that works surprisingly well.
---
### Author:  [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)
#### Post date: [November 30, 2011, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-good-graphic-novel-for-a-10-year-old-boy/604495/14 "2011-11-30T13:14:48Z")
The comic book store in our neighbourhood, The Beguiling, just opened a second store especially for young readers, called Little Island. Turns out they have a [web page and a blog](http://www.littleislandcomics.com/)…
It has been fantastic to walk there, with the kids and the dog, where the kids get to talk to an impossibly cool 20ish person who totally gets books and comic books, and enthusiastically talks about what the kids are reading. My daughter didn’t really need much encouragement, but it has been tremendous for my son.
---
### Author:  [@phreesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phreesh)
#### Post date: [November 30, 2011, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-good-graphic-novel-for-a-10-year-old-boy/604495/15 "2011-11-30T16:47:20Z")
[Runaways](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Runaways_(comics)) is quite good, but there is some killing.
Superman is great for kids.
The Carl Barks Uncle Scrooge stuff is amazing, but might be too ‘young’ for your kid.
---
### Author:  [@Ceejaytee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ceejaytee)
#### Post date: [November 30, 2011, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-good-graphic-novel-for-a-10-year-old-boy/604495/16 "2011-11-30T17:02:34Z")
Wow, these are great. **Grey** , we have all of those books and they _are_ great. I hadn’t even thought of Asterix and Tintin.
Neither of my kids like very scary things so I’ll have to look into those you’ve called scary. Thanks so much for the recommendations! I have a lot to look at.
**Le Ministre de l’au-delà** , i wish I lived near that store. It looks amazing.
---
### Author:  [@Ceejaytee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ceejaytee)
#### Post date: [November 30, 2011, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-good-graphic-novel-for-a-10-year-old-boy/604495/17 "2011-11-30T17:10:42Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#):
>
> I think my son read _Maus_ by Art Spiegelman at roughly that age. [Here](http://www.cool-reads.co.uk/review.asp?ID=1499) is a review at a nice site where all the books are reviewed by 10 - 15 year olds.
We have Maus and its sequel, but I don’t know if he’s ready for that yet. We just saw the children’s exhibit at the Holocaust Museum and that might be his limit at the moment. Thanks for the book review site; that looks like an excellent resource.
---
### Author:  [@Lasciel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lasciel)
#### Post date: [November 30, 2011, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-good-graphic-novel-for-a-10-year-old-boy/604495/18 "2011-11-30T18:05:21Z")
Just thought of these, they’re doing up the Orson Scott Card [Ender’s Game and Ender’s Shadow](http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=ender%27s+game+graphic+novel) series in graphic novel form. Really good work so far, and they’ve got several books into it so far.
---
### Author:  [@constanze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/constanze)
#### Post date: [November 30, 2011, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-good-graphic-novel-for-a-10-year-old-boy/604495/19 "2011-11-30T18:22:05Z")
If you can get:
[Thorgal -](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thorgal) a fantasy story taking place loosely among the Vikings
[XIII](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XIII_%28comics%29)(Treize = Thirteen) - a conspiracy story taking place in an alternate US (seen through the eyes of French-Belgians - you might find their take on the US interesting). The first events are mirroring the JFK assasination, the Rosenberg trials and similar.
[Yoko Tsuno](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoko_Tsuno) - a female Japanese electronic engineer who knows Karate and has adventures in space and on Earth.
[Blake and Mortimer](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blake_and_Mortimer) - a very interesting series because it has the look and feel of the 1920s or so: two English gentlemen, one an Army officer, the other a doctor, have weird adventures.
[Valerian and Veronique](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Val%C3%A9rian_and_Laureline) - space time traveller agents to keep things good.
Those are all serious stories with good art. Some funny ones:
[Colonel Clifton](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clifton_%28comics%29) - British secret service written by the French as loving parody.
[Boule et Bill](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boule_et_Bill) - not really albums, but single-page jokes of a boy and his dog
[Gaston](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaston_%28comics%29) - M’Enfin! (What?!) officially an errand boy for a comic publisher (yes, it’s a bit meta), he’s mainly busy with sleeping, making horrible music, inventing weird stuff, cooking and wooing his secret love. Cooking and inventing regularly result in stuff blowing up. This one is probably funny for adults who work in an office of any kind, too.
I’m sure I’ve forgotten several of my favourites…
[Zompist](http://www.zompist.com/) has many reviews of comics - not all suited for 10-year olds, naturally, but some apply, and some could be interesting later.
If Mangas inspire many teens to learn japanese, maybe the Franco-Belgians inspire your kid to learn French?
---
### Author:  [@constanze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/constanze)
#### Post date: [November 30, 2011, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-good-graphic-novel-for-a-10-year-old-boy/604495/20 "2011-11-30T18:25:54Z")
Oh yes, [Lucky Luke](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucky_Luke) of course! The lonesome cowboy, written by French-belgian Morris - though he had spent time in the US and done research.
Done in comic cartoon style, but with serious history as background (Calamity Jane, Judge Roy, The Emperor of San Francisco, …)
The dumbest dog of the Wild West, [Rantaplan](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rantanplan), is a spin-off from that.
Another funny animal, though in South America, is of course the[Marsupilami](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marsupilami), also a spin-off, this case from [Spiriou and Fantasio](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirou_et_Fantasio).
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-good-graphic-novel-for-a-10-year-old-boy/604495.md?page=2)