If you’re looking for something that is “non-genre”, I just purchased from Amazon Persepolis, which is a graphic novel about a young girl growing up in Iran. I discovered it when I was doing a general graphic novel search on Amazon.
I’m also interested in Art Spiegelman’s works (Maus, Maus II, In the Shadow of No Towers) but haven’t checked them out yet.
Anyone else have any other type of non-SF/F graphic novels to recommend?
The Blue Monday books by Chynna Clugston-Major, from Oni Press.
Very sharp, fun art, razor sharp wit. A clear vision of what high school really was.
I loved Persepolis, and strongly recommend trying Epileptic, which IMHO is one of the artistic high points of the medium.
Others to try would include:
Box Office Poison (slice of life)
Blankets (slice of life)
The Queen & Country series (espionage)
The Brian Michael Bendis crime noir books: Jinx, Goldfish, and Torso
Whiteout (detective story set in the Antarctic)
Blacksad (detective noir. Yes, it features anthropomorphic animals, but no, it’s not a fantasy book. Trust me on this)
Clan Apis (the life cycle of bees - really terrific stuff)
Garlands of Moonlight (horror)
Nobody (horror)
Hellblazer: All His Engines (horror)
The comedy books of Kyle Baker: I Die at Midnight, Why I Hate Saturn, and You Are Here
Nowheresville (noir)
Skinwalker (horror)
I forgot to mention this in my first post, but I second everything Ultraviolet said. Maus is stunning.
Jeez, I wish I were home so I could look through the titles on my bookshelf. So many good recommendations so far.
I don’t think anyone’s mentioned Persepolis and Palestine, which are both very good, but not exactly graphic “novels” since they’re real life stories.
I’ll have to post again after looking at my bookshelf (assuming no one’s posted everything I’ve read by then).
I loved Persepolis, and strongly recommend trying Epileptic, which IMHO is one of the artistic high points of the medium.
Others to try would include:
Box Office Poison (slice of life)
Blankets (slice of life)
The Queen & Country series (espionage)
The Brian Michael Bendis crime noir books: Jinx, Goldfish, and Torso
Whiteout (detective story set in the Antarctic)
Blacksad (detective noir. Yes, it features anthropomorphic animals, but no, it’s not a fantasy book. Trust me on this)
Clan Apis (the life cycle of bees - really terrific stuff)
Garlands of Moonlight (horror)
Nobody (horror)
Hellblazer: All His Engines (horror)
The comedy books of Kyle Baker: I Die at Midnight, Why I Hate Saturn, and You Are Here
Nowheresville (noir)
Skinwalker (horror)
Green Lantern: Emerald Dawn: This was the first comic I ever read. About 9 months ago I said to myself “I like that John Stewart fellow from Justice League. Green Lantern powers are awesome!” So I dug up some of my older brother’s comics I found Emerald Dawn. I loved it, but I maybe a little biased.
My favorite Green Lantern arc is The Power of Ion. One Green Lantern gains the full power of the entire corps and essentially becomes a god. It also includes an amazing John Stewart story. My second favorite is Circle of Fire. A monster appears and makes the big guns of the JLA disappear. Kyle Rayner, a bunch of second stringers, and bunch of GLs have to save the day. Hijinx and drama ensue. Unfortunately you might need to be familiar with the Green Lantern story post-Hal Jordan to appreciate them.
On another tack, how about manga? Its’ not all giant boobs, even gianter robots, and other fan-service. I currently read Rurouni Kenshin (Former assassin attempts to live the rest of his life protecting the weak without taking anymore lives.) and Fullmetal Alchemist (Two brothers travel the land looking for the philosopher’s stone. Hijinx, drama, and ass kicking ensue.).
I don’t think anyone’s mentioned Kyle Barker yet. Check out The Cowboy Wally Show or Why I Hate Saturn if you’re looking for some really good non-super-hero graphic novels.
Another Maus lover here. I’ll add the Cartoon History of the Universe.
Outside of the traditional superhero genres, I’ll second the recommendations for Greg Rucka and Steve Lieber’s Whiteout and Rucka’s Queen & Country. Whiteout’s complete in one volume with a sequel (Whiteout: Melt) in an second. They’re great – the first is a murder mystery set on Antarctica and Lieber does a tremendous job imparting the truly alien environment. Q&C is an ongoing series about the British Secret Service focused on Minder Tara Chace. There are about seven TPB’s so far (including one of the spin-off series Queen & Country: Declassified, which is really part of the main Q&C narrative). IMO, the first volume is not representative of the series’ regular quality, so push through, especially if you liked Whiteout, which you should read first. All of this stuff is published by Oni Press.
Oni also publishes the funniest comics ever written, the Barry Ween series by Judd Winnick. So far there are four thin TPB’s chronicling the adventures of Barry, a 12 year old genius, and his friend Jeremy. I challenge anyone to read Barry Ween and drink a glass of milk at the same time without shooting any of it out your nose.
From Top Shelf, there’s Andy Runton’s Owly, which is the most adorable thing ever. There are two OGN’s so far, with a third coming out sometime this year.
–Cliffy
Many thanks to all who contributed.
That gives a me a lot to work with. 
Selkie, thank you thank you. I’m going to go look a bunch of those up to see what tickles my fancy.
Just wanted to throw out another vote for God Loves, Man Kills. Still relevant after all these years.
And anything with the word Astro City in the title is a must must MUST buy, IMO.
Someone mentioned Blankets, by Craig Thompson. It’s really good, and the artwork is stunning.
Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life is really good; part two just came out.
Thank you for reminding me of this book. Volume II was what? 10 years ago? Just searched Amazon and there’s a Vol. III. WOO-HOO!