Graphic Novel Biographies and MemoirsLike this list

25 items

• Frida Kahlo

  Her Life, Her Work, Her Home

  Mora, Francisco de la,

  Add Frida Kahlo to your for later shelf

  Frida Kahlo, remembered as one of the most inspiring personalities of the 20th century, was a woman of two intertwined parts: she was both a charismatic and empowered artist exploring themes of resistance, authenticity, cruelty, and…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Life of Che

  An Impressionistic Biography

  Oesterheld, H. G. (Héctor Germán), 1919-1977,

  Add Life of Che to your for later shelf

  Originally released as part of a graphic biography series in January 1969, it came out in Argentina only a year after Ernesto "Che" Guevara had died and reached an audience beyond comics readers. In the 1970s, the military government…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Bodyguard Unit

  Edith Garrud, Women's Suffrage, and Jujitsu

  Xavier, Clément, 1981-

  Add The Bodyguard Unit to your for later shelf

  In the early 20th century, English suffragist group the Women's Social and Political Union formed an all-women security unit. Trained by Edith Garrud, these "jujitsuffragettes" fought against abuse and arrest while pursuing long overdue…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• I Am Stan

  a Graphic Biography of the Legendary Stan Lee

  Scioli, Tom,

  Add I Am Stan to your for later shelf

  The very first graphic novel biography of the legendary Stan Lee, co-creator of many of Marvel's beloved superheroes, from Eisner-nominated comics creator Tom Scioli.

• No Reason to Apologize

  the Resilient Legacy of Viola Desmond

  Liberman, W. L.,

  Add No Reason to Apologize to your for later shelf

  In 2018, Viola Desmond's likeness appeared on the Canadian ten-dollar bill, leading many people to wonder about her story. Who was she and why is she an important figure? Viola was a stubborn, entrepreneurial woman who stood up against…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Accidental Czar

  the Life and Lies of Vladimir Putin

  Weiss, Andrew S.,

  Add Accidental Czar to your for later shelf

  In this collective imagination, Vladimir Putin is a devious cartoon villain, constantly plotting and scheming to destroy his enemies around the globe. But how did an undistinguished mid-level KGB officer become one of the most powerful…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Banksy

  a Graphic Novel

  Matteuzzi, Francesco,

  Add Banksy to your for later shelf

  Banksy is arguably the most well-known street artist of all time. But we don't actually know who he is. This is just one of many contradictions that are addressed in this enormously compelling graphic biography. When two young Londoners…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Love Me Please

  the Story of Janis Joplin

  Finet, Nicholas

  Add Love Me Please to your for later shelf

  Love Me Please is a biography in comics of the amazing rock singer Janis Joplin, which recalls, respecting the chronology, the highlights of her journey from childhood, after the Second World War, to her abrupt death in late 1970. It is…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• They Called Us Enemy

  Takei, George, 1937-

  Add They Called Us Enemy to your for later shelf

  A stunning graphic memoir recounting actor/author/activist George Takei's childhood imprisoned within American concentration camps, as one of 120,000 Japanese Americans imprisoned by the U.S. government during World War II. Experience the…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Did You Hear What Eddie Gein Done?

  Schechter, Harold

  Add Did You Hear What Eddie Gein Done? to your for later shelf

  One of the greats in the field of true-crime literature, Harold Schechter (Deviant, The Serial Killer Files, Hell's Princess), teams with five-time Eisner Award-winning graphic novelist Eric Powell (The Goon, Big Man Plans, Hillbilly) to…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Banned Book Club

  Kim, Hyun Sook

  Add Banned Book Club to your for later shelf

  When Kim Hyun Sook started college in 1983 she was ready for her world to open up. After acing her exams and sort-of convincing her traditional mother that it was a good idea for a woman to go to college, she looked forward to soaking up…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• March. Book One

  Lewis, John, 1940-2020

  Add March. Book One to your for later shelf

  A first-hand account of the author's lifelong struggle for civil and human rights spans his youth in rural Alabama, his life-changing meeting with Martin Luther King, Jr., and the birth of the Nashville Student Movement.

• Gender Queer

  a Memoir

  Kobabe, Maia,

  Add Gender Queer to your for later shelf

  In 2014, Maia Kobabe, who uses e/em/eir pronouns, thought that a comic of reading statistics would be the last autobiographical comic e would ever write. At the time, it was the only thing e felt comfortable with strangers knowing about…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Ducks

  Two Years in the Oil Sands

  Beaton, Kate, 1983-

  Add Ducks to your for later shelf

  With the singular goal of paying off her student loans, Katie Beaton heads out west to take advantage of Alberta's oil rush--part of the long tradition of East Coasters who seek gainful employment elsewhere when they can't find it in their…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Louis Riel

  a Comic-strip Biography

  Brown, Chester, 1960-

  Add Louis Riel to your for later shelf

  Is this the future of comics? Respectably penning the dowdy pages of history? Don't be fooled. This is one of the hippest comics going and will be a controversial must-have in 2003. Legendary cartoonist Chester Brown reveals in the dusty…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Maus

  a Survivor's Tale. II, And Here My Troubles Began

  Spiegelman, Art

  Add Maus to your for later shelf

  This second volume, subtitled And Here My Troubles Began, moves us from the barracks of Auschwitz to the bungalows of the Catskills. Genuinely tragic and comic by turns, it attains a complexity of theme and a precision of thought new to…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Lighter Than My Shadow

  Green, Katie,

  Add Lighter Than My Shadow to your for later shelf

  A graphic memoir of eating disorders, abuse and recovery. Lighter Than My Shadow is a hand-drawn story of struggle and recovery, a trip into the black heart of a taboo illness; an exposure of those who are so weak as to prey on the weak,…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Messy Roots

  a Graphic Memoir of a Wuhanese-American

  Gao, Laura

  Add Messy Roots to your for later shelf

  Seamlessly toggling between past and present, this funny graphic memoir follows a queer Chinese American's immigration to Texas where she just wants to make the basketball team, escape Chinese school, and figure out why she is attracted to…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Gandhi

  a Manga Biography

  Ebine, Kazuki

  Add Gandhi to your for later shelf

  Depicts the life of Mahatma Gandhi and his nonviolent struggle against the British Raj in graphic novel format.

• The Best We Could Do

  An Illustrated Memoir

  Bui, Thi

  Add The Best We Could Do to your for later shelf

  Exploring the anguish of immigration and the lasting effects that displacement has on a child and her family, Bui documents the story of her family's daring escape after the fall of South Vietnam in the 1970s, and the difficulties they…Read moreRead more of this annotation