Five Graphic Novels For History Buffs.

Disclaimer: This site earns a small commission fee if you buy using any of the commercial links. This will not cost you anything extra, but helps me invest in the content I offer you free of charge. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Thank you for your patronage, it makes all the difference!

Graphic novels are far more than just 'comic books' and come in many genres and types. They manage to combine both image and story into a single art piece and deserve far more credit than we often give them.

So why not explore history today, by the means of graphic novels? Here is my selection of five graphic novels that anyone interested in modern history should read!

Maus, by Art Spiegelman

We've talked about Maus already on this blog, when we explored the world of banned books. The Pulitzer Prize-winning Maus tells the story of Vladek Spiegelman, a Jewish survivor of Hitler’s Europe, and his son, a cartoonist coming to terms with his father’s story. Both tales, woven into each other, are tragic and centered around guilt and survival .

Don't let the mice and cats fool you, Maus is a grisly black-and-white graphic novel that changed the genre forever.

Buy this book: https://amzn.to/3gSLzzc

Persepolis, by M. Satrapi

Another powerful black-and-white graphic novel that entwines the personal history of the author with larger historical events.

Satrapi tells the story of her life in Tehran from ages six to fourteen, years that saw the overthrow of the Shah’s regime, the triumph of the Islamic Revolution, and the devastating effects of war with Iraq.

The young and intelligent girl bears witness to one of her country's most volatile periods in its' history and gives insight into the current affairs in Iran today.

Buy this book: https://amzn.to/3gUfya5

Kiki de Montparnasse, by Catel & Bocquet

This graphic novel punches us in the turbulent Twenties in bohemian Paris. Fleeing poverty, Kiki de Montparnasse becomes one of the best known icons of the avant-garde scene and companion to Man Ray, the photographer.

Kiki is the story of one of the first emancipated women of the 20th century, putting her mark on the world in her own, free way.

A truly inspiring read about one of the forgotten heroines of the 20th century!

Buy this book: https://amzn.to/3Fv8jz3

Days of Sand, by Aimee De Jongh

United States, 1937. This terrific Great Depression-era story was inspired by the real-life work of photographers such as Dorothea Lange who were sent by the Farm Security Administration, a new U.S. federal agency, to document the privations of the Dust Bowl in the Midwest.

It is a beautiful, yet tragic story about a young photographer who witnesses the devastation of the Dust Bowl first hand, triggered to question his own role and responsibilities in this cataclysmic disaster.

Buy this book: https://amzn.to/3B1d3ty

Did You Hear What Eddie Gein Done?, by H. Schechter

Today, True Crime is everywhere, but this award-winning graphic novel might have been one of the first in the genre and explores the horrific tale of Ed Gein, one of the most notorious serial killers the US ever had.

This graphic novel is so much more than an exploration of a disturbed mind though: it is a snapshot of the 1950s US , the backdrop for these murders.

No wonder this is the story that inspired such films as Psycho, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Silence of the Lambs.

Buy this book: https://amzn.to/3gQHM5J