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Comic Books & Graphic Novels

In some sense, comic books are the world's oldest form of literature. Cave paintings, Egyptian wall art, Greek murals—they're all essentially graphic novels, pictoral representations of real life, beliefs, and stories. The fact that so much of today's literati reject comics and graphic novels us "un-literary" simply indicates the supreme heights of snobbery to which an overabundance of education will lead you.

For the rest of us, stories with lots of pictures are pretty important. It's not because we live in the age of the image, or because we're all TV addicts, that this is true; it's true because the world is a place we see, and often to learn we need to see rather than just hear. Sure, there are plenty of comics that are worthless and garbage and bad literature; but there are plenty that help us understand ourselves and our world as much as any novel without pictures.

Technically, there's a difference between comic strips and graphic novels: comic strips are usually funny, while graphic novels tend to have more serious themes and are longer stories. Some of the earliest examples of the graphic novel, and among our favorite books, are the Tintin series by the Belgian artist Herge. Tintin is a young reporter who travels the world having adventures with his dog Snowy and a variety of colorful friends, and often his adventures reflect to some degree the political currents in Europe during the first half of the 20th-century.

Comic strips have been around longer, and collections of comic strips in book form are what led eventually to graphic novels. Some of the most beloved comics of all time are Charles Schulz's Peanuts strips, which offer (often sobering) reflections on life and growing up. Schulz's Christian worldview is clearly demonstrated throughout the series, as is his sometimes laugh-out-loud, sometimes more subtle sense of humor.

Then there's Calvin and Hobbes. That the kid and his stuffed tiger are named for the greatest theologian and one of the greatest philosophers in the Western tradition will come as no surprise once you read their wise and hilarious adventures. A newer comic we've come to love, and which chronicles the adventures of a young man surprisingly like Waterson's Calvin, is Frazz by Jef Mallett. Frazz works as a janitor at a school, and shares his offbeat thoughts and love of music with the kiddos.

Again, there are plenty of comics we wouldn't touch with a ten-foot pole, which is largely the reason we don't carry many titles. We're looking to expand our collection, but we want to handpick good series, not just bring in whatever's popular to fill the shelves. Comics are supposed to be fun, but even our fun needs to honor the Lord; we think the books we carry are prime candidates for encouraging the right kind of enjoyment.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.
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53 Items found Print
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Active Filters: 8th grade (Ages 13-14), In-Stock Books & Materials
9/11 Report: A Graphic Adaptation
by Sid Jacobson and Ernie Colon
from Hill and Wang
for 6th-12th grade
in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC)
$8.50 (1 in stock)
Adventures of Herge
by Michael Farr
from Last Gasp
for 4th-10th grade
in Adventures of Tintin (Location: COM-TIN)
$29.95
Ain't Burned All the Bright
by Jason Reynolds, illustrated by Jason Griffin
from Atheneum
for 5th-Adult
2023 Caldecott Honor Book
in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC)
$19.99
Alamo All Stars
Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales #6
by Nathan Hale
from Amulet Books
for 3rd-8th grade
in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC)
$14.99
Attack of the Deranged Mutant Killer Monster Snow Goons
by Bill Watterson
from Andrews McMeel
for 5th-9th grade
in Calvin and Hobbes (Location: COM-CAL)
$16.99
Authoritative Calvin and Hobbes
by Bill Watterson
Unknown from Andrews McMeel
for 5th-9th grade
in Calvin and Hobbes (Location: COM-CAL)
$18.99
Beowulf - A Graphic Novel Adaptation
by Gareth Hinds
from Candlewick Press
for 5th-9th grade
in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC)
$14.99
Big Bad Ironclad!
Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales #2
by Nathan Hale
from Amulet Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC)
$14.99 $9.00 (1 in stock)
Blades of Freedom
Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales #10
by Nathan Hale
from Amulet Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC)
$14.99
Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse
by Charlie Mackesy
from HarperOne
for 6th-Adult
in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC)
$11.50 (1 in stock)
Calvin & Hobbes Collection
by Bill Watterson
from Andrews McMeel
for 5th-9th grade
in Calvin and Hobbes (Location: COM-CAL)
$159.69
Calvin and Hobbes
by Bill Watterson
from Andrews McMeel
for 5th-9th grade
in Calvin and Hobbes (Location: COM-CAL)
$16.99
Calvin and Hobbes Lazy Sunday Book
by Bill Watterson
from Andrews McMeel
for 5th-9th grade
in Calvin and Hobbes (Location: COM-CAL)
$16.99
Catherine's War
by Julia Billet and Claire Fauvel, translated by Ivanka Hahnenberger
from Harperalley
for 7th-8th grade
in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC)
$12.99
Days Are Just Packed
by Bill Watterson
from Andrews McMeel
for 5th-9th grade
in Calvin and Hobbes (Location: COM-CAL)
$18.99
Donner Dinner Party
Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales #3
by Nathan Hale
from Amulet Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC)
$14.99
Essential Calvin and Hobbes
by Bill Watterson
from Andrews McMeel
for 5th-9th grade
in Calvin and Hobbes (Location: COM-CAL)
$19.99
Faint of Heart
by Kerilynn Wilson
from Greenwillow Books
for 3rd-Adult
in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC)
$26.99
Faithful Spy
by John Hendrix
from Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
for 8th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$18.99
Homicidal Psycho Jungle Cat
by Bill Watterson
from Andrews McMeel
for 5th-9th grade
in Calvin and Hobbes (Location: COM-CAL)
$18.99
Houdini: The Handcuff King
by Jason Lutes & Nick Bertozzi, Introduction by Glen David Gold
from Little, Brown & Company
for 5th-8th grade
in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC)
$12.99
How To Draw Comics The Marvel Way
by Stan Lee, John Buscema
Reprint from Touchstone
for 5th-Adult
in Advanced Drawing Instruction (Location: ELE-ARTDRAD)
$17.99
Iliad Graphic Novel
by Homer, adapted by Gareth Hinds
from Candlewick Press
for 3rd-8th grade
in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC)
$17.99 $12.00 (1 in stock)
It's a Magical World
by Bill Watterson
from Andrews McMeel
for 5th-9th grade
in Calvin and Hobbes (Location: COM-CAL)
$19.99
Lafayette!
Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales #8
by Nathan Hale
from Amulet Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC)
$14.99
Major Impossible
Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales #9
by Nathan Hale
from Amulet Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC)
$14.99
March (Book One)
by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin
from Top Shelf Productions
for 5th-9th grade
Robert F. Kennedy Book Award Winner, Coretta Scott King Honor Book
in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
March (Book Two)
by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin
from Top Shelf Productions
for 5th-9th grade
Robert F. Kennedy Book Award Winner, Coretta Scott King Honor Book
in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
March - Boxed Set
by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin
from Top Shelf Productions
for 5th-9th grade
Robert F. Kennedy Book Award Winner, Coretta Scott King Honor Book
in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC)
$24.00 (1 in stock)
Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales - 12 Book Set
by Nathan Hale
from Amulet Books
for 6th-8th grade
in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC)
$144.68
New Kid
by Jerry Craft
from HarperCollins
for 4th-8th grade
in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC)
$12.99
Night of the Crash-Test Dummies
by Gary Larson
from Andrews McMeel
for 4th-Adult
in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC)
$2.50 (1 in stock)
Official Book of Homeschooling Cartoons Volume 3
by Todd Wilson
from Family Man Ministries
for All Ages
in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC)
$7.99
One Dead Spy
Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales #1
by Nathan Hale
from Amulet Books
for 3rd-8th grade
in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC)
$14.99
Prince Valiant and the Golden Princess - Book 5
Prince Valiant Book 5
by Hal Foster, text adapted by Max Trell
from Nostalgia Press
for 6th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
Prince Valiant In the New World - Book 6
Prince Valiant Book 6
by Hal Foster
from Nostalgia Press
for 6th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Raid of No Return
Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales #7
by Nathan Hale
from Amulet Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC)
$14.99
Revenge of the Baby-Sat
by Bill Watterson
from Andrews McMeel
for 5th-9th grade
in Calvin and Hobbes (Location: COM-CAL)
$14.99
Scientific Progress Goes "Boink"
by Bill Watterson
from Andrews McMeel
for 5th-9th grade
in Calvin and Hobbes (Location: COM-CAL)
$14.99
Something Under the Bed is Drooling
by Bill Watterson
from Andrews McMeel
for 5th-9th grade
in Calvin and Hobbes (Location: COM-CAL)
$16.99
There's Treasure Everywhere
by Bill Watterson
from Andrews McMeel
for 5th-9th grade
in Calvin and Hobbes (Location: COM-CAL)
$18.99
They Called Us Enemy
by George Takei, Justin Eisinger, Steven Scott, illustrated by Harmony Becker
from Top Shelf Productions
for 6th-12th grade
in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC)
$8.00 (2 in stock)
Tintin and Alph-Art
by Herge
from Little, Brown & Company
for 5th-8th grade
in Adventures of Tintin (Location: COM-TIN)
$13.99
Tintin in the Congo
Adventures of Tintin
by Herge
2016 Printing from Casterman Editions
Comic Book for 4th-10th grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$35.00
Treaties, Trenches, Mud, and Blood
Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales #4
by Nathan Hale
from Amulet Books
for 3rd-8th grade
in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC)
$14.99
Underground Abductor
Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales #5
by Nathan Hale
from Amulet Books
for 3rd-8th grade
in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC)
$14.99
Vietnam War: A Graphic History
by Dwight Jon Zimmerman, art by Wayne Vansant
First Printing from Hill and Wang
for 6th-12th grade
in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Watership Down Graphic Novel
by Richard Adams, adapted and illustrated by Joe Sutphin
from Ten Speed Press
for 4th-8th grade
in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC)
$35.00
Watership Down Graphic Novel
by Richard Adams, adapted and illustrated by Joe Sutphin
from Ten Speed Press
for 5th-8th grade
in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC)
$26.99
We Hereby Refuse
from Chin Music Press
for 6th-12th grade
in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Weirdos from Another Planet!
by Bill Watterson
from Andrews McMeel
for 5th-9th grade
in Calvin and Hobbes (Location: COM-CAL)
$14.99
Wrinkle in Time Graphic Novel
by Madeleine L'Engle, Adapted and Illustrated by Hope Larson
from Square Fish Publishing
for 2nd-8th grade
in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC)
$16.99
Yukon Ho!
by Bill Watterson
from Andrews McMeel
for 5th-9th grade
in Calvin and Hobbes (Location: COM-CAL)
$14.99
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