Graphic novels are no longer a niche entertainment/management format but a powerful storytelling, cultural and artistic medium. They explore complex topics like identity, trauma, and social transformation with complicated plots and gorgeous imagery, and in many cases, they are so compellingly huge that they actually rival traditional texts.
In this article, the top ten most influential graphic novels of all time are ranked based on how innovative the story is, whether it appeals to the culture, and how much they made a lasting impact on the medium and society. Each record consists of the author, publication date, a summary and an examination of its cultural meaning.
Maus by Art Spiegelman, the Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece that reshaped the creative possibilities of the format to focus on serious historical narratives, is arguably the most powerful graphic novel.
1. Maus by Art Spiegelman (1980-1991)
Author: Art Spiegelman
Year: 1980-1991
Summary: Maus is a two-volume graphic memoir where Spiegelman describes the events during the Holocaust of his father, Vladek, a Polish Jew. The book is narrated back and forth between the life of Vladek surviving the Nazi concentration camps and interviews with his father in contemporary times about intergenerational trauma. The dehumanisation is very clearly shown through the use of Jews as mice, Nazis as cats and other groups where other animals were supplied. The novel explores the theme of survival, guilt and long-term trauma.
Influence on culture: The genre of graphic novel became an accepted form of serious literature after Maus was the first graphic novel to win a Pulitzer Prize (1992). The graphic memoir and the historic accounts were suggested together with the pictorial approach to the story of the holocaust, the denial that comics were kid stuff, and its alternatives. The horrors were rendered accessible while simultaneously being profound because of the animal allegory, which affected publications such as Persepolis. It continues to influence the standard school curriculum and the language of history, memory and ethics. Maus is a universally acclaimed book that has sold millions of copies and has been translated into over 30 languages. Snippet: Maus contributed to turning graphic novels into a highly respected genre of literature, proving that comics have the ability to treat the gravest human situations and situations with the highest level of seriousness.
2. Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons (1986–1987)
Author: Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons
Year: 1986–1987
Summary: Watchmen takes place in an alternate 1980s where superheroes exist, and follows the investigations of a group of flawed retired vigilantes investigating the murder of a comrade amidst the Cold War tensions. The fragmented storyline explores good and bad, power, and the psychological complexity of the main characters, including the nihilist Rorschach and the godlike Dr. Manhattan.
Cultural Influence: The heroic genre was transformed by Watchmen, and this makes it considerably less morally right and less of a hero. Its multiplex narrative and the additional texts brought the graphic novels to the next level of literary works. Turned into a 2009 film and an HBO series in 2019, it has inspired modern superhero genres, including a more pessimistic filmic successor to Marvel. It has updated its approach to ethical issues and thus appears on the Time 100 Best Novels list. Snippet: Watchmen had broken all laws of the comic hero, which is to subsume the banal by the abstract, and had, in that way, reformulated the successive story.
3. Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi (2000–2003)
Author: Marjane Satrapi
Year: 2000-2003
Summary: This is an autobiographical graphic novel which traces the life of Satrapi as a child and teenager in Iran during and after the Islamic Revolution. It depicts the disorder of the war, the cultural change and self-development of the person through the eyes of a young girl and the appalling impact on her life is also enriched by brutal black and white art.
Cultural Influence: Persepolis introduced the world to the art of graphic memoirs, specifically non-Western ones. Through its feminist and political insights, as well as humour that everyone could relate to, it became a cultural touchstone, adapted into a 2007 animated film, and an acclaimed one at that. It is a popular school text because of the knowledge it provides about Iranian history and identity, similar to Fun Home. This increased the exposure of graphic novels, especially among young adults, due to their readability. Snippet: Persepolis is another bowel-moving coming of age movie that has led the graphic memoirs to the temporary name all over the world since everyone can relate to it, regardless of where they are in the world, since it is universal.
4. The Sandman by Neil Gaiman (1989–1996)
Author: Harper Collins Publishers
Year: 1989-1996
Summary: The Sandman is a sequel to the book Dream, one of the Endless who explores his realm of dreams after 70 years of imprisonment. The mythological/horror/fantasy series can answer questions of fate, identity, and redemption through a variety of tales, both ancient and modern.
Cultural Impact: The series surpassed the graphic novels in terms of literary merit and the cross-genre narration that Gaiman infused throughout it. The LGBTQ+ representation of non-heterosexual characters, along with their complex plots, became the catalyst for the comics’ modern era, culminating in a Netflix adaptation in 2022. The Sandman pushed the artistic limits of the medium and garnered critical and popular acclaim, selling over 7 million copies. Snippet: The Sandman blended mythology and modernity into an innovative epic, challenging graphic novels by taking them to new artistic heights.
5. V for Vendetta Alan Moore and David Lloyd (1982-1989)
Author: Alan Moore, David Lloyd
Year: 1982-1989
Summary: V for Vendetta is set in a dystopian Britain controlled by fascism, and it follows the life of V, a masked anarchist, as he stages a revolt against tyranny. V encourages a young woman, Evey, to rebel against the regime through theatrical acts of resistance, and the movie explores the issues of free and authoritarian societies.
Cultural Impact: The Guy Fawkes mask in the graphic novel became a mask of protest that other movements around the world used, including Anonymous. Its sociopolitical discussion of surveillance and struggle is readable, and was also discussed at length in a film adaptation in 2005. V for Vendetta had a significant political impact and is a graphic novel that addresses real-world issues. Snippet: V for Vendetta is a popular culture symbol whose graphic novel was adapted into a movie and whose mask has been used as a protest symbol in other contexts.
6. The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore and Charlie Adlard (2003-2019)
Author: Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore, Charlie Adlard
Year: 2003-2019
Summary: It is a black and white show about a zombie apocalypse that follows Rick Grimes and the survivors, centred around human tribalism and survival. The book focuses more on the character drama than on the zombie horror and examines themes of morality and society in the decadent world.
Cultural Impact: The Walking Dead popularised non-superhero graphic novels and spawned a massively successful AMC series that 17 million people at its peak saw. Its success led to versions based on other graphic novels, such as Preacher, and increased the popularity of the genre, selling more than 50 million copies. It transformed horror comics by focusing on human conflict. Snippet: The Walking Dead took graphic novels mainstream and helped to demonstrate that gritty human interest stories could be created via graphic novels.
7. Fun Home by Alison Bechdel (2006)
Author: Alison Bechdel
Year: 2006
Summary: This autobiographical comic novel is the story of Bechdel growing up in a funeral home, her discovery that she is a lesbian, and her father being a closeted homosexual. Along with mixing family secrets and identity, it uses intricate layouts to ponder on memory and queerness.
Cultural Impact: Fun Home became the first queer graphic novel to have a significant cultural impact by creating a more inclusive medium. It mainstreamed graphic memoirs as it was adapted into a Tony-winning Broadway musical. One of Bechdel’s previous works led to the Bechdel Test, a score of gender representation in media. It was a literary masterpiece and was studied in most universities worldwide. Extending the graphic memoir genre into a new realm, Snippet: Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home transformed the representation of queerness and family, ushering in a new era of anti-discriminatory work.
8. Batman: The Killing Joke by Alan Moore and Brian Bolland (1988)
Author: Alan Moore, Brian Bolland
Year: 1988
Summary: This is a one-shot that explores the origin of the Joker as a failed comedian who becomes a mastermind of a criminal gang, and how Batman confronts his determination when the Joker takes Commissioner Gordon hostage. The novel explores the psychology of trauma and the border between sanity and insanity.
Cultural Impact: The Killing Joke also provided an amazing Joker back story, which made its way into films like Joker (2019). It was quite pessimistic by nature, relegating Batman stories to the back seat, and its treatment of Barbara Gordon was controversial regarding gender in comic books. The psychological extent and art of the graphic novel are iconic, and millions of copies have been sold. A creepy mythology surrounding the Joker and its impact on new superhero storytelling is questionable. Snippet: The Killing Joke, a Factoid, created such a mythology.
9. American Born Chinese (2006) by Gene Luen Yang
Author: Gene Luen Yang
Year: 2006
Summary: This graphic novel combines three stories: the identity crisis of a Chinese-American boy, the Monkey King’s journey to godhood, and a sitcom about a boy who feels ashamed of his Chinese cousin. The stories intersect to touch upon race, assimilation and self-acceptance.
Cultural Impact: American Born Chinese was not only nominated for the National Book Award, but it also won the Eisner Award. Its treatment of Asian-American identity reached far and wide, touching the various voices in comics. This allowed it to become a staple of YA literature, selling more than 1 million copies. Snippet: American Born Chinese was the first to bring the different graphic novels, laced with humour and heart, answering the question of who you are and where you belong.
10. Akira by Katsuhiro Otomo (1982-1990)
Author: Katsuhiro Otomo
Year: 1982-1990
Summary: Akira is set in the post-apocalyptic Neo-Tokyo and follows the biker Tetsuo, who awakens to his psychic abilities, threatening the city. It is a large sci-fi epic that combines cyberpunk, political corruption, and existentialism and has complex artwork.
Cultural Influence: Akira introduced the West to a new form of manga, with the style becoming as popular as the 1988 adaptation of the story in anime form. Through its themes of power and alienation, it influenced the media of cyberpunk (The Matrix, Blade Runner, etc.). It has sold more than 10 million copies to date, and continues to be considered a gold standard of manga. Snippet: Akira has opened manga to the world, and it has shaped the way sci-fi media covers the world with a view of cyberspace.
FAQs
What is the most well-known graphic novel?
Art Spiegelman’s Maus is arguably the most famous, as it has won a Pulitzer Prize and is studied in schools, but Watchmen and The Sandman are both of massively significant cultural influence.
What is powerful about a graphic novel?
The latter can be considered as sources of influence, such as narrative innovation, cultural resonance, critical or medium/society impact, such as the invention of new genres, adaptation influence or discussion precipitation.
Do graphic novels just deal with superheroes?
Nope, along with superheroes, graphic novels explore such genres as memoir (Persepolis, Fun Home), horror (The Walking Dead), sci-fi (Akira), and fantasy (The Sandman), and feature a variety of stories.
What effect have graphic novels had on popular culture?
They have affected movies, television programs, and political parties (e.g. the mask of V for Vendetta), made literature more inclusive, and fueled the growth of publishing, sales more than doubling since 2019.
So what is the point of teaching graphic novels in school?
The students will need to think because their graphic novel will help them get familiar with the subject matter of such complex topics as history (Maus), identity (Persepolis), and morality (Watchmen), and make it fun.
Conclusion
These ten graphic novels have impacted the evolution of the medium and have shown the potential to tackle profound subject matter and appeal to a diverse audience. It has rediscovered the art of the story, and Maus and Akira have the historical gravity and the worldwide reverberation to transform the world of literature and culture forever.
