The ten best graphic novels

For The Observer, Rachel Cooke came up with a list of the ten best graphic novels, including:

The Castafiore Emerald
Hergé (1963)

This is Tintin’s 21st adventure, and one of only two in which he doesn’t travel abroad (Hergé, his creator, was by now tiring of his boy reporter and wished to experiment with a narrative low on villains and guns but high on misunderstandings and red herrings). Not a great deal happens: a soprano’s jewels are stolen and then recovered. No rocket to the moon, no spooky sarcophagi, no choppy seas. It’s my favourite Tintin story. I love the claustrophobia, our cast carefully gathered at Marlinspike Hall, as if in some Hercule Poirot mystery; and I love Bianca Castafiore herself – a diva to end all divas

Read about the other books on the list.

Also see Lev Grossman's top ten graphic novels list, Danny Fingeroth's top 10 list of graphic novels, and Malorie Blackman's top ten list of graphic novels for teenagers.

--Marshal Zeringue