Salon.com lists the best new graphic novels.
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1. A Sickness in the Family

2. The Guild

3. The Little Prince

4. Picture This

5. Adventures of Unemployed Man

6. Blacksad

7. The Hunting of the Snark

8. Wilson

9. Parker: The Outfit

The Exile: An Outlander Graphic Novel by Diana Gabaldon

May's Review: So the growing trend these days is to take a highly popular work of literature and adapt to the graphic novel/manga format. We have already seen a number of this year with Sherrilyn Kenyon's urban fantasy/romance novels, Patterson's Maximum Ride books, and Meyer's Twilight series. I suppose these graphic novels/manga are done to appeal mainly to the author's fans because in some cases, I don't necessarily find the new adaptions to be as interesting as the original.

Mind you, I have to have read the original which brings up the whole Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. Romance blog readers will know that I am largely a historical romance reader while some of my close friends, like JC, also know that I also happen to like my romances set in Scotland. But for some unexplainable reason, I have never managed to read Outlander, the first book in Gabaldon's hugely popular romance series. The book which won the 1991 RITA award for Best Romance novel, centers on a nurse, Claire Randall, who is vacationing with her husband in Scotland sometime in 1940s. While exploring, Claire inadvertently is transported back in time to 18th century Scotland where she meets our red-headed hero, Jamie Fraser, a fugitive with a complicated past. The rest of the story basically involves Claire trying to get back to her own time while trying to fight her immense physical attraction to Jamie.

The graphic novel picks up this complicated storyline by telling it from Jamie's prospective. I suppose that this was a new way to retell the familiar story but I admit that I wished it had told it from Claire's point of view instead. I felt Jamie's characterization wasn't quite as well developed and had difficulty following the rather convoluted plot at times. I assume that Claire develops very strong feelings for Jamie prior to being forced to marry him in the book because in the graphic novel, she just grudgingly seems to "go along" with everything and as a result, I don't find her all that compelling at times. It probably doesn't help that the illustrator likes to focus on Claire's buxom figure especially in the later half the of the novel making Claire more of a 1950s pin-up model rather than the intelligent and highly-compassionate heroine she is suppose to be portraying.

Fans of the series will likely flock to this graphic novel and fall in love with the series again. As for me, I just thought this novelization ranked a "Meh". Kinda mediocre as far as I'm concerned.

Two Generals by Scott Chantler

May's Review: I first heard about this graphic novel when I was checking out the CBC website a couple weeks back and was very eager to read it. Mainly because of the story but also because I enjoyed Chantler's previous graphic novel, The Annotated Northwest Pasage (click here to read my 2007 review of the book).

This graphic novel is tribute to "two generals"--Scott's grandfather, Reginald Law Chantler, and his friend, John Hartwell Chrysler, who both served in Canada’s Highland Light Infantry and fought in WWII. Based on actual diaries, letters and photographs, Scott's story focuses on the friendship between the men as they struggle through basic training in England and then trying to stay alive after landing on the beaches of Normandy. This is not a book about the futility of war but rather, a wonderful and poignant reminder about the sacrifices made by our Canadian veterans. In fact, I dare anyone to read this graphic novel and not come away with a sense of pride of what these men accomplished during the war or shed a tear when you realize that not everyone was coming home safe and sound.

This was easily one of my favorite graphic novels of 2010 and I highly recommend you read it.

Superman Earth One by J. Michael Straczynski

Summary: J. Michael Straczynski, the creator of Babylon 5, joins forces with rising star artist Shane Davis to create this original graphic novel that gives new insight into Clark Kent’s transformation into Superman and his first year as The Man of Steel. This is the first in a new wave of original DC Universe graphic novels, featuring top writers’ and illustrators’ unique takes on DC characters.

Stephen King's N by Stephen King and Marc Guggenheim

Summary: There is something unearthly and mysterious deep in Acherman's Field in rural Maine. There is a Stonehenge-like arrangement of seven stones with a horrifying EYE in the center. And whatever dwells there in that strange, windswept setting may have brought about the suicide of one man...and harbor death for the OCD afflicted "N.," whose visits to the field have passed beyond compulsion into the realm of obsession.

Foiled by Jane Yolen

Summary: Aliera Carstairs just doesn’t fit in. She’s always front and center at the fencing studio, but at school she’s invisible. And she’s fine with that . . . until Avery Castle walks into her first period biology class. Avery may seem perfect now, but will he end up becoming her Prince Charming or just a toad?

May's Review: When asked by a staff member if I liked this graphic novel, all I could say was "Meh." I liked the concept and the artwork but for some reason, I just couldn't connect to the story. I think part of the problem maybe lies in the fact I might enjoyed the realistic elements--e.g. Aliera being a fencer and dealing with adolescence. Throw in this fantasy element with attacking flying pigs and ogre-troll/Prince Charming and the story just gets bogged down. The story's ending seems somewhat incomplete making me wonder if there is a sequel planned. Hopefully so or else readers are going to be left scratching their heads for quite awhile.

This should not come as a huge surprise but the hugely popular Percy Jackson series has now been adapted into a graphic novel and the library has the first volume!

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan and Robert Venditti (adapter)

Summary: Mythological monsters and the gods of Mount Olympus seem to be walking out of the pages of twelve-year-old Percy Jackson's textbooks and into his life. And worse, he's angered a few of them. Zeus's master lightning bolt has been stolen, and Percy is the prime suspect. Now, he and his friends have just ten days to find and return Zeus's stolen property and bring peace to a warring Mount Olympus.