Top 5 Wednesday is a great feature created by GingerReadsLainey and hosted by ThoughtsonTomes. To find out more about Top 5 Wednesday and the upcoming topics, check out its Goodreads page. This week it’s all about your favourite non-traditional written books, so graphic novels, comics, manga, audiobooks and so on and so forth. So, this week I’m writing about my favourite graphic novels/trade paper backs (because I don’t live near a comic store so it’s easier to read the volumes) and by pure chance they are all from different publishers. In no particular order they are…

March by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin and Nate Powell
This graphic novel trilogy was pretty much the first thing I read this year and it’s my new favourite thing ever. It’s all about the Civil Rights Movement in America and it’s told through John Lewis’s eyes, what protests he was involved in, who he knew and all the hardships and successes. It is such a powerful and important graphic novel series, the sort of thing everyone should read.

 

 

Five Ghosts by Frank J. Barbiere and Chris Mooneyham
Five Ghosts has a very Indiana Jones feel, especially as the main character is an archaeologist who searches for weird mystical artefacts. Oh, and he also happens to have a stone stuck in his chest that gives him the power of five different ghosts. The thing about Five Ghosts I really love is the art style, it’s like those old pulp fiction stories and it can be creepy and dynamic, especially when the ghosts make an appearance.

 

The Losers by Andy Diggle and Jock
The Losers is all about a team of former special forces agents who are going after the Agency who tried to kill them. It’s exciting, funny and the character dynamics are the best. I watched (and loved) the film adaptation of The Losers before I read the graphic novel and I got to say, after reading the source material it’s one of the best book-to-film adaptations I’ve seen. So if you like the film, check out the graphic novel and if you’re worried about the film ruining the graphic novel, don’t be.

 

DC’s Bombshells by Marguerite Bennett and Marguerite Sauvage
If you like interesting female characters, superheroes or not, and you like stories set in World War Two then you really should check out Bombshells. My knowledge of DC characters isn’t great but you don’t need to know everything about these women, it’s an accessible comic no matter what your knowledge or lack thereof is, and it’s a lot of fun. One of my favourite things about this series (besides the badass ladies and copious amount of female friendships) is the costumes these heroines wear. They’re similar to their traditional costumes (if you know them) but they fit the time period and they are all pretty practical clothes to save the world in.

Secret Avengers by Ales Kot and Michael Walsh
This story arc is my favourite Marvel comic series I’ve read (so far). It’s got an eclectic mix of characters, it explains who everyone is really well so you don’t feel like you must know a character’s entire backstory, it’s witty and full of intrigue. I adore the art style in this series, it’s full of bright colours and the expressions on the characters faces (especially Hawkeye’s) are spot on. It’s such a fun book yet it still has a mystery and characters have secrets from each other and the reader. Just honestly, my favourite Marvel book and it makes me laugh and tugs at my emotions.

Those are my five favourite non-written books, what are yours?