Tite Kubo
Bleach
Kurosaki Ichigo is a normal 15-year-old high school student, with the ability to see spirits. Given the powers of a death god by Rukia Byakuya, he and his friends Inuoe Orihime, Sado “Chad” Yasutora, and Uryu Ishida must travel to the Soul Society to save her from execution. Along the way, they must learn more about soul society, its 13 extremely powerful squad captains and the dark plots that lurk in its background. An exciting boy’s manga, Bleach is one of the most popular manga titles in both Japan and the United States. It will appeal to those who love a good story and exciting action. Extremely suitable for those who enjoy Dragonball Z and wish to try something new.
-- Benn, Central
Chris Oliveros, ed
Drawn and quarterly showcase three 
This is the third volume in a series of books from perhaps the most important comics publisher in the english-speaking world, Drawn and Quarterly. In these volumes they present who they consider to be some of the most interesting young cartoonists around today.
The first story is a very pretty Marcel Dzama-esque story by Genevleve Castree about a girl, an elephant, a yeti and snow covered mountains, with a little Tintin in Tibet referencing going on. The last story, by Matt Boersma is fairly slight, but for me the most exciting thing in here is Sammy Harkham's tale of two teenage girls and the banal things they do as the end of high school looms. It is like Harkham's take on Clowes 'Ghost World', and, although the latter is my favorite cartoonist I'd have to say this story does it better. Harkham will be the cartoonist to watch in the future, but if you want to read more, try the excellent Kramer's Ergot (of which he is the editor) for his great semi-autobiographical strip.
-- Tim, Central
Sean McKeever and Takeshi Mikawa
Spider-Man loves Mary Jane
 Younger female fans of Spider-Man will totally love this cute little manga-style comic book series, set in high school and told from the point of view of Peter Parker’s love interest Mary Jane Watson, foxy redhead. She has a pretty typical teen life, with the usual dramas (will Harry get his grades up in time to take MJ to Homecoming?!), until a certain red-suited webslinger starts turning up all over the place and making her go all crushy. Spider-Man loves Mary Jane is lots of fun, with plenty of romance, dramatics and angst to keep you reading.
-- Elisabeth, Central
Bryan Lee O'Malley
Scott Pilgrim, vol 1-3
 This is a really cute and fun little comic book, about the “precious little life” of 23 year old Canadian Scott Pilgrim, a slacker, bass player (in his band Sex Bob-Omb) and wannabe rockstar. He’s in love with Ramona Flowers, an American delivery girl for Amazon.ca - however, she has seven evil ex boyfriends, who he must defeat. It’s kind of a tribute to teen manga comics like Ranma 1/2, it’s got that little manga format and the fights are pretty obviously influenced by the genre. Plus there’s tonnes of awesome video game references – Scott’s band name for a start, as well as other bands such as ‘Sonic and Knuckles’ and ‘the Clash at Demonhead’. So far there’s three books in the series, but there will be seven – one for every evil ex.
-- Elisabeth, Central
Christophe Blain
Isaac the pirate
 I'm not the biggest fan of pirate stories but then Isaac, the hero in question, is not a pirate at all. Rather he is a 19th century painter of seascapes who is lured aboard a pirates' vessel to be the official artist of their exploits. His adventures do start out in typical pirate fashion, sailing the sunny Caribbean, raiding rival ships etc. but when the captain decides to set sail towards the South Pole, in the name of exploration not riches, things start becoming a lot more interesting.
Blain himself draws with the skill of a 19th century master, without ever overwhelming the story, and in French fashion always remains intelligent and literate. This is a good one, even for indy-comics fans who might otherwise avoid genre stories.
-- Tim, Central
Gilbert Hernandez
Sloth
I was excited to see Gilbert Hernandez (of Love and rockets fame) had written a new non-Palomar graphic novel. As much as I love the Palomar stories, I was actually starting to get a bit tired of Luba and company. In Sloth, Hernandez portrays the effects of small town life on teenagers perfectly, with a backdrop of urban legends, haunted lemon orchids and ghostly goatmen. It starts by showing that when parents move away from the city hoping for a safer life for their children, they tend to end up bored and self-destructive teenagers. The main character in Sloth, Miguel, has supposedly willed himself into a coma and a year later wills himself out of it, the only side effect being that he now moves a lot slower and that he’s become somewhat of an urban legend. It’s creepy and engrossing and leaves you feeling very weird.
-- Elisabeth, Central
Frank Miller
300
 Possibly better known for his Sin city graphic novels (especially after the movie), Frank Miller had a burning urge to create 300 after having seen the movie 300 Spartans as a youth. 300 was created around the same time as much of Sin city, and has its same uncompromising style. The format is extra wide, around A3 landscape, giving grand sweeping shots with bold and sometimes moody colour choices. It’s not hard to see how this ended up as a shot for shot movie.
The story itself is fairly straight forward, a retelling of the Battle of Thermopylae. King Leonidas faces the might of the Persian army with a force of 300 men. Cut into five volumes, it tracks the story in a well paced manner. It’s really the boldness of this graphic novel that I like, as well as its size format. Where Sin city is almost devoid of colour, 300 is not so much rich with it, but its palette is well selected. A must for any graphic novel fan, or anyone who checks out the movie to be released next week!
-- Tama, Central
Stan Sakai
Usagi Yojimbo: Glimpses of death 
Set in the comparatively more peaceful Edo period of Japanese history, rather than the civil war period, Usagi Yojimbo follows the travels of a masterless samurai. Don’t let the cute animal characters put you off what are perfectly crafted one off stories, or longer epics all steeped in well researched history. The period in which it is set draws out tales of intrigue and honour, rather than the constant war and betrayal of other samurai graphic novels. The latest bound volume of this series (which has been going for over 20 years now!) follows Usagi as he parts company with his son. Be sure to also check out the Art of Usagi Yojimbo, which follows the development of the comics distinct black and white style over the years.
-- Tama, Central
Daniel Way
Wolverine: origins and endings
/SC.GIF&client=elgar&type=hw7) The origins of Wolverine have always been a bit of a mystery, especially to him. Now he has unlocked his memories and he is on a path of revenge. Travelling the world, he will face some of his oldest enemies. The memories that drive him are dark and mysterious and will lead him to face his past. An enjoyable read, with a complete storyline that can be read on its own rather than following another graphic novel in the X-Men universe.
-- Erika, Central
David B.
The epileptic
Historical warriors, mythical beasts, family ghosts, and other visual metaphors rub shoulders with the cartoonist's own family in this story of his childhood and adolescence in France.
From the young David's perspective the story becomes a kind of autobiographical fairy-tale (of the grim, old-fashioned type). The central thread of this story is David's brother's epilepsy, the effects this illness has on his family, and the lengths they go to to find relief from his affliction. This may indeed sound quite grim, and it can be at times , but the inky beauty of the drawings, the plainness of the text, and the fantasy elements combine to create a book that is a pleasure to read.
-- Tim, Central
Marjane Satrapi
Persepolis
This graphic memoir covers the author’s childhood in Tehran, as it transitioned from a secular society to an Islamic state. It was a confusing and terrifying time - with the revolution, the overthrow of the Shah, the rising power of the Fundamentalists, and the war with Iraq. All the while, Marjane Sartapi, is a normal teenager, struggling with the harsh restrictions placed on her, but still getting a chance to rebel, listening to tapes of Kim Wilde and Iron Maiden, smuggled in by her parents from Europe. As her teenage rebellion gets more severe and starts getting her in trouble at school, Marjane’s parents decide it would be best for her to attend school in Vienna, where as an immigrant she discovers both new friends and new hardships. Stark and powerful, this story is told effectively through simple black and white comic strip images.
-- Annie, Central
Mike Mignola
Hellboy/SC.GIF&client=elgar&type=hw7)
One only needs to read the first few pages of any Hellboy trade paperback to see some of Mike Mignola’s strong influences. It’s a carefully crafted world drawn from a selective palette, straight from the likes of Poe and Lovecraft, where things lie sleeping and dormant. When they wake, the inhabitants barely question their existence, only lending a further mystique to this beautifully forged series.
Hellboy follows the exploits of a demon summoned by Nazi’s in secretive World War II occult activities. Deciding that doing evil is not his thing, (naturally) he joins up with a Bureau that investigates beings similar to his own. The dialogue is short and punchy, and the humour is equally so, dry like the old bones Hellboy so commonly sifts through. Action sequences more often than not burst into golds and whites, where usually only Hellboy stands out in stark red among long shadows.
Not only an attractive read, but filled with beautifully crafted stories also. Check it out for either, but definitely check it out.
-- Tama, Central
John Porcellino
Perfect example
Porcellino's comics are in the autobiographical tradition of cartooning and in this book he collects together some diaristic vignettes of his teenage years in 1980's Illinois (originally published in his really great comicbook series King Cat). Young Porcellino does a lot of typical teenage things I guess - he skateboards with his friends, listens to Husker Du, goes shopping for second hand clothes, finds a girlfriend... but the beautifully spare drawing style and the slow contemplative tone of the writing easily avoids triteness. Porcellino makes drawing comics look so easy and fun that if even you don't draw them now, after reading this book, you might want to try it yourself.
-- Tim
Julie Doucet
My most secret desire
Julie Doucet’s comics are really unsettling and really hilarious at the same time, making her my favourite comix author. My most secret desire is a collection with the author as the main character, mostly featuring dream comics and other bits and pieces from her Dirty plotte comics. Her drawings are dense and heavily inked, with lots of lines and detail – they somewhat resemble woodcut prints, which is the other form of art Doucet experiments with. The dreams are bizarre nightmarish stuff; there are sex changes (followed by a homosexual encounter with Mickey from the Monkees) and various other musing on what it would be like if Julie was a man, pregnancies with babies that are part cat, clones and strange trust exercises at a Nick Cave concert. It also includes my favourite story, A day in Julie Doucet’s life. This book is often quite gross, so don’t get it out if you can’t handle blood or private parts.
-- Elisabeth
Alison Bechdel
Fun home: a family tragicomic
I was completely blown away by this graphic novel – I was already a fan of Alison Bechdel, thanks to her Dykes to watch out for series, but Fun home is a masterpiece and I’d consider it one of the best graphic novels I’ve ever read, full stop. Fun home is a autobiographical “family tragicomic” about Bechdel’s childhood, coming out and emotionally distant family life in a funeral home (nicknamed the “fun home” by her and her brothers), focusing around her father and his death, which was probably a suicide. The tone is deeply reflective, uncomfortably honest and analytical, as Bechdel ponders over her father’s death and his strange, sometimes very disturbing life; excerpts from letters and childhood diaries give an accurate depiction of the sometimes-blurry memories of growing up. Overall, Fun home is engrossing, perfectly paced, very sad, but wryly funny, as you would expect from Alison Bechdel.
-- Elisabeth
Ron Rege Jr
The awake field 
"Ron Rege Jr. is probably the greatest 'new' cartoonist ... His apparently simple yet beautifully complex little line drawings seem to spring from the very essence of 'the form'; they're warm, funny, sad, smart, stupid--and, best of all, alive.'" So says Chris Ware, one of the leading figures of the American comics world.
This book is a slight volume- more of a poem than a narrative- but it really is quite unlike any other comic around, so totally worth reading- if you don't mind Rege's new found obsession with peace and love.
- Tim
Charles Burns
Black hole
There is a cliché that sometimes happens to be true - that teenagers feel like freaks and outsiders. This graphic novel takes that cliché and turns it into a 'horrifying reality'. The setting is 1970's suburban U.S.A.. The characters are high school teenagers, who, due to a mysterious virus, are becoming disfigured so that they resemble monsters from some B-grade movie. These kids are rejected by society, nobody understands them etc. They form a kind of family of their own, living in the woods outside of town. However, there is a killer lurking in the woods...
Charles Burns has always used elements from B-Grade movies, and in Black hole he reanimates them in a patchwork of violence and desperate romance that is actually quite heartbreaking. Using his trademark obsessive inking technique (some might say stoner-ish) to perfectly evoke the era and mood Burns has made a book that rewards rereading.
-- Tim
Frank Miller
Sin city
Sin city is a graphic novel often criticised for its overt and frequent violence, but given that it is strongly film-noir in style, one could argue that it is merely a depiction of noir in light of today’s sensibilities. Set in the fictional Basin City, Frank Miller tells a series of stories that are noir to the core, whether it be close-to-retiring police officers, or burnt out no-hopers rescuing modern day damsels. Albeit very dark in nature, there is something truly poignant about Miller’s work, who casts his leads in a truly sympathetic light despite their shortcomings. Also perhaps one of the most unique art styles I’ve seen to date; stark black and white with just a splash a colour, a style matched perfectly in the recent movie adaptation.
-- Tama
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