Valentine’s Day is not usually a day to think of comic books, but considering it also falls on comic book Wednesday this year, here is a list of some great comic books to consider getting your loved one. If you’re single, get one for yourself and consider it a valentine from the gods of ink and dialogue. Comics are a great alternative to chocolate too, if you are still keeping to New Year’s resolutions or you’ve just given up sweets for Lent.
The first book on the list is Alex + Ada from Image Comics. It’s written by Jonathan Luna and Sara Vaughn with art by Jonathan Luna. The story is great for anyone that liked the 2013 film Her or fans of Sci-fi, robots, and/or robot love. Sure, that last bit is dismissive of the complexity of generalized Artificial Intelligence and how one would interact in a world of its creators, but there is some fun and adventure in Alex + Ada in addition to those deep philosophical questions of A.I. and Human social interaction.
Speaking of sci-fi and deep social interactions, pick up Saga if you haven’t yet (or have been living under a rock with the rest of the Fraggles). It’s kind of a family story, but love stories often end up with families as byproducts. Saga is also from Image comics and it’s written by Brian K. Vaughn with art by the marvelously talented Fiona Staples.
The Scott Pilgrim series is a story you can watch in a film, but why would you want to do that? Pick up Scott Pilgrim: Precious Little Life volume 1 by Bryan Lee O’Malley and published by Oni Press. In it, you can read up on all of Scott’s adventures with his love Ramona Flowers as they confront all of Ramonas ex’s. It’s crazy, hip, fun comic book action with some romance thrown in for good measure, what’s not to love?
The best is saved for last, or at least the best love story in this list is saved for last and that’s Blankets by Craig Thompson and printed by Top Shelf Productions. This graphic novel is a masterpiece of storytelling wherein Thompson weaves a story of first love. The story is from his youth, when he met a girl named Raina at a Christian winter camp. They fall in love and the fireworks and butterflies of young love burst through the pages and right into the readers heart. The emotion that leaps off the page is bittersweet. As with all young love there are peaks and valleys. This is not just one for Valentine’s day, but a Harvey Award winning graphic novel that should be on every comic book fans shelf.
Whatever your plans for the day, whether alone or with company, these books will see you through. Let’s all raise a glass to books and to love. What else is there?