Graphic Novels To Die For

Plenty of games owe a debt to comic books and graphic novels, which provide a regular source of new ideas and inspiration for game designers and artists. The time when comic books were just for kids is long past and many games have been influenced by, or based on, ideas and adaptations drawn from comic books. Graphic novels have played a big role in the success of the comic format in recent years. This is, in part, due to the quality of graphic novels that have appealed to teenage and adult audiences. It is, perhaps, also linked to the way in which graphic novels seem to make comic formats more ‘cinematic’.

In recent years graphic novels have allowed comic artists to demonstrate how the combination of artwork, composition and good writing can offer just as much entertainment as a book or a movie. The choice of graphic novels is now so large, and the range of tastes within that choice so varied, that it isn’t really practical to select a straightforward ‘Best of’ collection. Instead we’ve found ten graphic novels, which make an immediate impact in terms of design, artwork and plot. In many cases, the titles we’re going to recommend have influenced or shaped developments in other media. We’ll start posting our choices over the next couple of days.