A lot of people experience some trepidation about diving into the world of graphic novels; there is an intimidatingly huge selection, and it can be tricky for the uninitiated just to deal with the broadest labels (graphic novel, comic, omnibus, book). It's silly to classify graphic novels as a genre though, because there is such a breadth of variety among them, much like traditional novels. It would seem strange today to describe your reading habits with the statement, "I like novels," because yes, of course, but what kind of novels? Graphic novels should be approached in the same way-- you will like some more than others, and you will probably most enjoy those that closely resemble the traditional novels you like.
Alison Bechdel is a very literary graphic novelist, and I debated whether or not to include her in the "ReadWomen2014: Non-Fiction" or "Books on Books" categories, because her two published graphic novels could be classified either way. Fun Home and Are You My Mother? are the two volumes of Bechdel's graphic memoir, portraying her fraught relationships with her mother and father as well as her own coming-of-age/out of the closet experience. Bechdel's father was gay, a secret he kept through the end of his life, which was abrupt and potentially/ambiguously suicidal. Her relationship with her mother was cold and distant but in the wake of her father's death, Bechdel tried to cope with the loss through her mother, finally asking her mother the questions that had been instrumental to her own development. Both are truly excellent, enjoyable reads, and I especially admired the incredible narrative complexity. Both are fraught with very loaded literary references, as books played a huge role in Bechdel's coming of age, as well as in her relationships with her parents.
Bechdel authored a long-running comic "Dykes to Watch Out For," that can be found in collected volumes, although I haven't check those out yet. One of these strips was the source of the much-discussed feminist film litmus, the "Bechdel Test." A film that passes the Bechdel Test is one in which two female characters have a conversation with one another that is NOT about a male character. It sounds simple but it is surprisingly difficult to find movies that meet this criteria. Alison Bechdel herself never intended on creating think-piece journalism fodder, and it's quickly become one of those lightning rods for Internet conversation, much like the "manic pixie dream girl." I felt I couldn't write about Bechdel without mentioning it, because now it's an indelible part of her cultural significance, but it feels like a bit of a distraction from her truly fantastic and touching memoirs, which would make an excellent first foray into the graphic novel world.