# What's the SECOND best graphic novel? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 26, 2009, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-second-best-graphic-novel/490879 "2009-03-26T16:52:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jharvey963](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/54ee81/32.png) [@jharvey963](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jharvey963)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-second-best-graphic-novel/490879/1 "2009-03-26T16:52:02Z")
Being a Certified Old Fart ™, I just finished reading my first (ever) graphic novel - Watchmen. Of course, this is an arguable point, but I had heard that Watchmen was “the best graphic novel ever.” I have to admit I enjoyed it and it whet my whistle to read the “second best graphic novel ever.” So, what IS the second greatest graphic novel ever? And why? thanks, J. ---
**Author:** ![Amp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Amp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amp)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-second-best-graphic-novel/490879/2 "2009-03-26T16:56:14Z")
Most people seem to think [Batman: The Dark KNight Returns](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dark_Knight_Returns) would fit the bill. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Batman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/22d042/32.png) [@The\_Batman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Batman)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-second-best-graphic-novel/490879/3 "2009-03-26T16:58:32Z")
It’s The Dark Knight Returns. It completely returned Batman to his darker roots. The writing is fantastic too, very much like a film noir. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-second-best-graphic-novel/490879/4 "2009-03-26T16:59:52Z")
I’ll vote for Starman: Sins of the Father. Beautifully rendered story about the son of a Golden-Age hero reluctant to get involved in his father’s “costumed silliness” but finding himself gaining an understanding of the life when said “silliness” forces itself on him. The first-person narration is an engaging stream-of-consciousness sort of thing, the family interactions and emotions feel painfully real, and we are introduced to the hero’s unique home city and some of the off-beat supporting characters we will become better acquainted with in future volumes. Pure awesome. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-second-best-graphic-novel/490879/5 "2009-03-26T17:02:00Z")
Thirded. If you want something written more recently, see if you can find a copy of “Superman: Secret Identity.” It is the story of a kid named Clark Kent in Kansas who is sick and tired of getting Superman gifts, and has never forgiven his parents for their sense of humor. Then one day… ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-second-best-graphic-novel/490879/6 "2009-03-26T17:03:11Z")
[Maus](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maus) won a Pulitzer Prize Special Citation. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-second-best-graphic-novel/490879/7 "2009-03-26T17:03:49Z")
I haven’t read enough GNs to really be a good judge, but of the ones I have read, _Watchmen_, _Dark Knight Returns_, and _Batman: Year One_ are definitely right up there as the top three. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-second-best-graphic-novel/490879/8 "2009-03-26T17:03:56Z")
My 2nd best is Top Ten v1 and v2, with Alan Moore writing. Imagine the old TV show Hill St. Blues but where _everyone_ is a super. Just amazing. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-second-best-graphic-novel/490879/9 "2009-03-26T17:05:00Z")
Oh, and any of the Astro City books. ---
**Author:** ![Promethea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Promethea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Promethea)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-second-best-graphic-novel/490879/10 "2009-03-26T17:06:15Z")
I’ll go with Alan Moore’s other masterpiece “From Hell”, a telling of the tale of the hunt for Jack The Ripper using Stephen Knight’s \*Jack the Ripper: the Final Solution \*as a jumping off point. Explores Victorian society as a whole, feminism, the role of the occult in the every day landmarks around us and some fascinating meditations on the nature of time itself. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-second-best-graphic-novel/490879/11 "2009-03-26T17:08:14Z")
I actually would give the top billing to The Dark Knight Returns—I enjoyed it much more than Watchmen. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-second-best-graphic-novel/490879/12 "2009-03-26T17:10:15Z")
I’m going to vote for Dan Clowes’ _Ghost World_. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-second-best-graphic-novel/490879/13 "2009-03-26T17:10:18Z")
**Maus** (actually, it’s number one). There is no greater graphic novel, if only because of the importance of the subject. I’d also pick any of Will Eisner’s graphic novels; **A Contract with God** is probably the best, but **Dropsie Avenue** is also a great one. Then would come **Watchman**. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-second-best-graphic-novel/490879/14 "2009-03-26T17:17:59Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > I haven’t read enough GNs to really be a good judge, but of the ones I have read, _Watchmen_, _Dark Knight Returns_, and _Batman: Year One_ are definitely right up there as the top three. I’d recommend these for you next also. I thought they were both better than the Watchmen. ---
**Author:** ![jharvey963](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/54ee81/32.png) [@jharvey963](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jharvey963)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-second-best-graphic-novel/490879/15 "2009-03-26T17:19:01Z")
What about any of Neil Gaiman’s graphic novels? Where do they fall in the hierarchy? Thanks, J. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-second-best-graphic-novel/490879/16 "2009-03-26T17:22:48Z")
I thought both _The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen_ (a rollicking adventure in Victorian Britain, with lots of clever literary allusions) and _V for Vendetta_ (a one-man resistance movement to a post-WWIII fascist British government) were quite good. Alan Moore’s words in each, but different artists, IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-second-best-graphic-novel/490879/17 "2009-03-26T17:30:06Z")
The idea that **Watchmen** is the _best_ graphic novel ever is mostly hype from the Hollywood machine promoting the movie. I’m not dissing the graphic novel, which I liked a lot, but best ever? No. It’s not as groundbreakingly artistic as “Maus”, not as iconoclastic or earth-shattering as “the Dark Knight”, not as intensely personal as “Ghost World”, and not not even all that original an idea. Superheroes becoming drunk with power and committing unspeakable atrocities? Been there, done that with the Dark Phoenix saga. And I know this is nitpicky, but strictly speaking “Watchmen” was not a graphic novel. It was a mini-series, meant to be read in monthly installments like a ‘regular’ comic book. It was collected into ‘novel’ format, but wasn’t originally published as a single volume. ---
**Author:** ![Scupper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Scupper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scupper)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-second-best-graphic-novel/490879/18 "2009-03-26T17:33:56Z")
The first couple volumes of Neil Gaiman’s **Sandman** are great. I also quite like **Kingdom Come** , though the art is better than the story. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-second-best-graphic-novel/490879/19 "2009-03-26T17:35:37Z")
> [@jharvey963](#): > > What about any of Neil Gaiman’s graphic novels? Where do they fall in the hierarchy? > > Thanks, > J. _Sandman_ certainly is right up there. Some of his other stuff is hit or miss tho. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Batman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/22d042/32.png) [@The\_Batman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Batman)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-second-best-graphic-novel/490879/20 "2009-03-26T17:37:33Z")
[QUOTE=The New and Improved Superman] And I know this is nitpicky, but strictly speaking “Watchmen” was not a graphic novel. It was a mini-series, meant to be read in monthly installments like a ‘regular’ comic book. It was collected into ‘novel’ format, but wasn’t originally published as a single volume. [/QUOTE] Neither was The Dark Knight Returns or Ghost World. And, The Watchmen has been declared one of the best comics ever long before the movie was even planned. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-second-best-graphic-novel/490879.md?page=2)