J's Challenge

My blog is Thinking About..., and I go by 'J'. I'm here to confess that I've never read a graphic novel, and haven't had much interest in them. But there's a film out right now, Persepolis, which the review in our newspaper said is so much like the graphic novel, you get pretty much the same experience by reading the book that you do watching the film. That kind of intruigued, me, and then I saw this challenge on Dewey's blog, so I decided to give it a shot. I'll try to see what this genre is about, and if I can get into it, and I'll read 6 graphic novels in 2008. Here are my choices, not particularly in any order:

I Killed Adolf Hitler, by Jason
A contract killer goes back in time to kill Hitler...and fails spectacularly. Recommended by Dewey herself.

Jimmy Corrigan: Or, the Smartest Kid on Earth, by Chris Ware
Ware's book is a semi-autobiographical account of his first contact with the father who abandoned his family. I get the feeling it didn't go very well.

Beowulf, by Gareth Hinds
I read Beowulf in High School, and talk about your epic tales! This is not like the recent movie version, I hope, but I'll let you know after I finish.

Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood, by Marjane Satrapi
This is the story that sucked me into this challenge, so you know I'm looking forward to reading this one. :)

Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return, by Marjane Satrapi
This is the continuation of Persepolis. The two stories together are about a young Iranian girl, whose family decides to stay in Iran after the revolution, but as she is not the kind of quiet, unassuming girl that can assimilate easily into society under the new regime, they decide to send her away to Europe for her own safety. The Story of a Return, I can only assume, is about her experiences when she is grown, and returns to Iran.

The Tale of One Bad Rat, by Bryan Talbot
This one is another that I found on Dewey's site, and it looks really interesting. It's the story of a girl, Helen, who is a runaway, and I think the victim of sexual abuse. The drawings are in the tradition of Beatrix Potter, and the character is named Helen Potter. I don't want to read more about it until I actually read it, so you'll have to wait and see what I have to say.