Julia is a professional nerd who can be spotted in the wild lounging with books in the park in Brooklyn, NY. She has a BA in International Studies from the University of Chicago and an MA in Media Studies from Pratt Institute. She loves fandom, theater, cheese, and Edith Piaf. Find her at juliarittenberg.com.
One year out of high school–and one year into sobriety–Forrest Molson works as assistant groundskeeper with her father at Athanasia Cemetery, the final resting place of Venture City's fallen superheroes. At her lowest point, Forrest discovers Athanasia's darkest secret. At night, the soil bleeds a spectacular substance created from the ooze of rotting superheroes. It becomes Forrest's new drug -- and she's intent on using her unpredictable new powers to be judge, jury, and executioner of Venture City's evil citizens. As she loses her mind to her new addiction, she inches closer to becoming the most evil of all.
The release of Watchmen as a comic series, and eventual graphic novel collection, dropped like a bomb in the comics world. Alan Moore developed a bunch of new characters in order to write the story he wanted to write. It was set in the 1980s, but with an alternate history in which the United States won the Vietnam War. Superheroes are either publicly reviled or working with the government. The whole narrative upends and questions what superheroes mean to us. Comics-wise, the form was cinematic and distinct from what people came to expect in regular panel storytelling.
Graphic novels like Watchmen fall into a few different categories: innovation with the form of comics, playing with superhero narratives, and achieving iconic status on their own. Exploring the history of graphic novels takes us back to the exciting releases, the impact on art, and the narratives that continue to shape comics creators.
Inventing New Forms
In the Shadow of No Towers by Art Spiegelman
After experiencing the shock of 9/11 with his family on the Lower East Side, Art Spiegelman was in a constant state of anxiety. To cope, he produced a comic strip of everything from abstract to realist vignettes. It was eventually collected in an oversized board book. The images are arresting in this format, and it feels like something truly different in your hands.
Blue is the Warmest Color by Jul Maroh, translated by Ivanka Hahnenberger
Though this comic is probably best known through its movie adaptation, it was a hugely important release in France. It’s a gentle story about growing up and finding yourself. Clementine is young and relatively unremarkable, and then her life starts to change radically when she falls for the blue-haired Emma. All the way up to the popularity of Heartstopper, comics are a classic place for queer stories of becoming.
Playing with the Superhero Narratives
Ms. Marvel Vol. 1 by G. Willow Wilson and Adrian Alphona
Kamala Khan was so relatable and exciting to comics fans because she herself was a fan of the superheroes that comics fans also loved. Within her universe, Kamala is a major fan of Captain Marvel. After unlocking her powers, she even tries to transform into her. But as Kamala becomes a crime-fighting superhero in her own right, she learns to embrace herself.
SuperMutant Magic Academy by Jillian Tamaki
The academy for those with special abilities is a well-known entity in comics, but Jillian Tamaki’s version is both funny and touching. The school is full of mutants and witches, but they’re still teenagers, so all of the drama is filtered through hormones enhanced by magic and mutant abilities.
Generally Iconic
Lumberjanes by N.D. Stevenson, Shannon Watters, Grace Ellis, et al.
If you were very On Tumblr in the early 2010s, watching the rise of N.D. Stevenson felt like a collective effort. I remember the beginnings of Lumberjanes, and it’s so exciting to see how much people still love it. Five best friends take on various magical challenges at their summer camp.
Monstress by Marjorie Liu, illustrated by Sana Takeda
This comic series numbers among the life-changing ones for me. Like Watchmen, it takes place in an alternate timeline with a tweak: women have all the power. It still takes place in the past, and our main perspective character is a young girl with a magical connection to a monster. The steampunk aesthetic and artwork have been majorly influential in comics.
When thinking about the legacy of Watchmen, questions about the importance of comics and what superheroes, legends, and myth even mean are ever-present. To keep the comics momentum going, you can also read more on these influential superhero comics and comic books in general.
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