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"If you've arrived looking for a great selection of graphic novels you've come to the right place ... this is the site for finding deals and offers" - James C
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Recent updates:

- Green Lantern graphic novels resource created
- Batman graphic novels resource created
- Star Wars comic book resource created
- Sin City resource page created

Looking for a graphic novel

Welcome to Graphic-novels.org.uk.

With the recent launch of films such as Dark Knight, Hell Boy and Watchmen graphic novels and comic books have never been so popular. Whether you're a newbie to the comic scene or an avid, life long collector you'll find all the necessary information, advice and offers on this site.

We have spent months endlessly searching the web to find you the best deals on comic book collections, graphic novels, trade paper backs and reference books from various online stockists including Forbidden Planet, Ebay and Amazon.

We’ve found deals from many publishers such as DC, Image, Fantagraphics, IDW, Dark Horse, Tokyopop, Manga and many more ... giving you more time to go out and read!

As you'll discover we have split available graphic novels into the various publishers and from there you can choose to search for a title by its name or by the current most popular novels. In addition we have created special pages dedicated to the most famous and award winning comics and novels.

Example publishers:

marvel
dark horse comics
dc comics
image
drawn and quarterly
idw graphic novels
top cow

Please note that graphic-novels is affiliated to various stockists and as such does not sell directly to our visitors. We are simply here to provide information and advice.

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What is a graphic novel?

As it name implies a graphic novel is a type of comic book, with a lengthy storyline similar to that of a novel. Coming up with a true definition can be a fairly contentious topic. Over the last few decades the ‘graphic novel’ has evolved and by using this term it implies:

1/ There is a full story i.e. a beginning, middle and end in contrast to a comic book which tends to be an ongoing series.

2/ It is bound in more durable formats than your typical comic book and sold in bookstores rather than newsagents.

Debatable differences between graphic novels and comic books include ...

a) some readers believe there is a greater artistic quality with a graphic novel over a standard comic book.

b) graphic novels tend to focus on more mature content.

Both above points can be argued however there will always be comics and graphic novels that will fall into the different areas ... so it can never be clear cut.

Graphic novels are produced globally and in an abundance of languages (you are able to get translated novels). Certain countries have their own recognizable style and design; noticeable especially with the Asian novels and publishing houses such as Tokyopp.

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History of graphic novels

It’s been suggested that the Western artist who first interlocked writing with specific images was William Blake who created books in which story and pictures were inseparable. During the 1920’s and ‘30s the concept of a graphic novel became more recognisable including American Milt Gross' ‘He Done Her Wrong’ which was a comic published as a hardcover book.

In the 40’s ‘Classics Illustrated’ was launched. They were a comic book series that adapted well known novels into comic books. In 1950 ‘St. John Publications’ produced an adult-oriented "picture novel and by the 1960’s American comic book creators were becoming a lot more creative. It’s argued that it was Stan Lee and Steve Ditko's ‘Doctor Strange’ story that was the first American graphic novel.

During the 60’s and 70’s in Europe comic strips like of Asterix and Tintin grew in popularity. Also in the early 70’s came ‘Detail from Blackmark’(US) which used the term ‘graphic novel’ and consisted of over 100 pages of comic-book art published as a book. During the late 70’s came Raymond Briggs from the UK who produced best sellers such as ‘The Snowman’ and ‘When the Wind Blows’.

The expression ‘graphic novel’ grew in popularity in the 1980s when Marvel began to publish their series of paperbacks. In the UK Titan Books began reprinting the likes of Swamp Thing and Judge Dredd. DC also joined in the action during the 80’s producing the likes of ‘The Dark Knight Returns’ and  ‘Watchmen’ ... by the 1990’s the term "comics aren't just for kids anymore" became mainstream. Now-a-days there are literally hundreds of graphic novels produced yearly from a huge range of publisher houses.

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Award winning

The following have all won awards and thus are highly recommended reads:

Pulitzer award -
Maus (Art Spiegelman)

Hugo Boss award -
Watchmen (Alan Moore)

World Fantasy award -
Dream Country (Neil Gaiman)

Ignatz award -
Black Hole (Charles Burns), Diary of a Mosquito Abatement Man (John Porcellino), Tricked (Alex Robinson), Cages (Dave McKean), Ghost World (Daniel Clowes), It's a Good Life, If You Don't Weaken (Seth), Persepolis 2 (Marjane Satrapi), Blankets (Craig Thompson), Three Fingers (Rich Koslowski), From Hell (Alan Moore)

Kirby award -
The Dark Knight Returns (DC).Beowulf (First Comics), The Rocketeer (Eclipse Comics)

Eisner award-
Acme Novelty Library (Chris Ware), Batman: The Killing Joke (Alan Moore), Ed the Happy Clown (Chester Brown), Elektra Lives Again (Frank Miller), Superman: Peace on Earth (Paul Dini), To the Heart of the Storm (Will Eisner), Understanding Comics (Scott McCloud), Why I Hate Saturn (Kyle Baker), You Are Here (Kyle Baker), Fairy Tales of Oscar Wilde Vol. 2 (Oscar Wilde), Fax from Sarajevo (Joe Kubert), The Golem's Mighty Swing (James Sturm), Last Day in Vietnam (Will Eisner), The Name of the Game (Will Eisner), One! Hundred! Demons! ( Lynda Barry), The Originals (Dave Gibbons), Our Cancer Year (Harvey Pekar), Safe Area Goražde (Joe Sacco), Signal to Noise (Neil Gaiman), A Small Killing (Alan Moore), Stuck Rubber Baby (Howard Cruse), Batman: War on Crime (Paul Dini), Batman & Superman Adventures (Paul Dini), Blankets (Craig Thompson), The Cartoon History of the Universe III (Larry Gonick)