New ARLIS/NA Notable Graphic Novels Review 2024 Edition is Now Available!

 

Announicing the latest edition of the ARLIS/NA Notable Graphic Novels Review! This edition includes reviews for 10 titles that were published in 2024 (reviews were written in 2025), plus an appendix of nominations. All reviews can be downloaded as accessible PDFs from the NGNR Knowledge Commons and are also linked individually on their website pages.

We encourage you to use the Bookshop links within each review in order to purchase titles, as ARLIS/NA receives 10% commission on each purchase made through our bookshop.org links.

Special thanks to our reviewers for volunteering their time:

Elizabeth Brown, Instruction & Outreach Librarian, Kraemer Family Library, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs

Aurora Daniel, MA History and MS Library and Information Science Student, Simmons University

Matthew Garklavs, Electronic Resources Librarian, Pratt Institute Libraries

Anne Kavanagh, Librarian, Collections and Licensing Services, University of Windsor

Erin Murray, Library Project Cataloger, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

Lizzie Nagy, Library Assistant at National Art School, Sydney, Australia

Lauren Scanlon, Teaching & Learning Specialist, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Sarah Scarr, Arts Collections Curator, Virginia Commonwealth University

Mimosa Shah, Reference Librarian, Schlesinger Library, Harvard Radcliffe Institute

Taylor Strong, Research and Instruction Librarian, Savannah College of Art and Design

The primary objective of the Notable Graphic Novels Review is to acknowledge and celebrate the craft of sequential art from the last year by tapping into the experience and love of this medium from ARLIS/NA members. As a result, this annual publication can assist (art) library workers in improving their own institutional collections of graphic novels by providing summaries, critical evaluations, and informed recommendations.

Cheers!

Giana Ricci, giana.ricci@nyu.edu, co-editor

Tara Spies Smith, ts20@txstate.edu, co-editor

New 2023 Edition of the Notable Graphic Novels Review!

We are pleased to announce that the latest edition of the Notable Graphic Novels Review is available to read on the Notable Graphic Novels Review ARLIS/NA Knowledge Commons site: https://notablegraphicnovels.arlisna.hcommons.org/. This edition includes reviews for 10 titles that were published in 2023 (reviews were written in 2024), plus an appendix of nominations. Special thanks to our reviewers for volunteering their time:  

Isamar Abreu Gómez, Librarian, Colección de las Artes y Música, Sistema de Bibliotecas, Universidad de Puerto Rico, Recinto de Río Piedras

Eugénie Fortier, Storage and Retrieval Lead, Frick Art Research Library

Liza Hazelwood, Lead Collections Care Technician, Virginia Commonwealth University Libraries

Stephanie Jacobs, Librarian for The College of the Arts, University of South Florida Libraries

Beata Kozlowski, Research and Instruction Librarian, Savannah College of Art and Design

Kat Lewis, Special Projects Curator, University of Washington Libraries Special Collections

Maggie McDonald, MLS and MA Curatorship Candidate, Indiana University

Tannaz Motevalli, Information Literacy and Instructional Design Librarian, Decker Library, Maryland Institute College of Art

Lisa Rand, Reference and Instruction Librarian, Penn State Lehigh Valley

More information on the Notable Graphic Novels Review: The primary objective of this list is to acknowledge and celebrate the craft of sequential art from the previous year by tapping into the experience and love of this medium from ARLIS/NA members. As a result, this annual publication can assist (art) library workers in improving their own institutional collections of graphic novels by providing summaries, critical evaluations, and informed recommendations.

Cheers!

Tara Spies Smith, ts20@txstate.edu, co-editor

Giana Ricci, giana.ricci@nyu.edu, co-editor

Announcing the 2022 Edition of ARLIS/NA Notable Graphic Novels Review (NGNR)

 

We are pleased to announce that the latest edition of the Notable Graphic Novels Review (NGNR) is now available. With the help of ARLIS/NA members, a total of 21 graphic novels published in 2022 were nominated and the following 10 finalists were selected for review:

Dog Biscuits by Alex Graham
Reviewed by Frances Lilliston, Assistant Librarian, Cataloging, Museum of Modern Art

The High Desert: Black. Punk. Nowhere. by James Spooner
Reviewed by Ryan King, English Librarian, Vanderbilt University

Invisible Wounds: Graphic Journalism by Jess Ruliffson
Reviewed by Maggie Murphy, Art & Design Librarian, UNC Greensboro

Keeping Two by Jordan Crane
Reviewed by Jacob Lackner, Teaching and Learning Librarian, Oxford College of Emory University

Men I Trust by Tommi Parrish
Reviewed by Caroline Meyers, Research and Collections Specialist, VCU Special Collections and Archives

M is for Monster by Talia Dutton 
Reviewed by Door Williams, Reference Librarian, Freeman Library/Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

Other Ever Afters: New Queer Fairy Tales by Melanie Gillman
Reviewed by Steph Noell, Special Collections Librarian, University of Texas at San Antonio

Welcome to St. Hell: My Trans Teen Misadventure by Lewis Hancox
Reviewed by Erin Carney, Arts Librarian for Drama, Theatre, and Performance Studies, Yale University

Voices That Count: A Comics Anthology by Women by Diana Lopez Varela, Maria Hesse, Leticia Dolera, Lola Garcia and Sandra Sabates
Reviewed by  June Bendich, Evening Access Services Coordinator, Pratt Institute Libraries

Wash Day Diaries by Jamila Rowser and Robyn Smith
Reviewed by Shandy Frey, Research and Instruction Librarian, Savannah College of Art and Design

Reviews for all 10 finalist titles can be found on the NGNR wordpress site along with the archive of past reviews back until 2016. Accessible PDF versions of the reviews are linked on each individual page as well as deposited in the ARLIS/NA Humanities Commons Core Repository. Additional 2022 nominations can be found here.

The primary objective of this NGNR is to acknowledge and celebrate the craft of sequential art from the last year by tapping into the experience and love of this medium from ARLIS/NA members. As a result, this annual publication can assist (art) library workers in improving their own institutional collections of graphic novels by providing summaries, critical evaluations, and informed recommendations.

Thank you to all of our nominators and authors! It has been a pleasure working on this year’s NGNR publication.

All the best,
Giana Ricci and Tara Spies-Smith
Co-Editors, NGNR

New 2021 Edition of the Notable Graphic Novels Review!

We are pleased to announce the latest edition of the Notable Graphic Novels Review is available to read on the Notable Graphic Novels Review ARLIS/NA Humanities Commons site: https://notablegraphicnovels.arlisna.hcommons.org/. This edition includes reviews for 10 titles that were published in 2021 (reviews were written in 2022). Special thanks to our reviewers for volunteering their time: Rebekah Scoggins, Dan McClure, James Sobczak, Nicole Lovenjak, Freyja Catton, Alex O’Keefe, Tammi Owens, Lauren Scanlon, Jerrold Shiroma, and Salima Appiah-Duffell. More information on the Notable Graphic Novels Review: The primary objective of this list is to acknowledge and celebrate the craft of sequential art from the last year by tapping into the experience and love of this medium from ARLIS/NA members. As a result, this annual publication can assist (art) library workers in improving their own institutional collections of graphic novels by providing summaries, critical evaluations, and informed recommendations.

Cheers!

Co-Editors: Tara Spies Smith, ts20@txstate.eduNicole Santiago, nicoledonnasantiago@gmail.com

New 2020 Edition of the Notable Graphic Novels Review on new ARLIS/NA Humanities Commons site!

 

We are pleased to announce the latest edition of the Notable Graphic Novels Review is available to read on the newly created Notable Graphic Novels Review ARLIS/NA Humanities Commons site: https://notablegraphicnovels.arlisna.hcommons.org/. This edition includes reviews for 11 titles that were published in 2020 (reviews were written in 2021), plus an appendix of nominations.

Thank you all for your patience as we were transitioning to the new ARLIS/NA Humanities Commons format and site. And special thanks to our reviewers for volunteering their time: Amelia Foster, Mimosa Shah, Giana Ricci, Claire Payne, Rebecca Bruner, Callie Cherry, Stephanie Kays, Katrina Spencer, Emily Decker-Bess, Alison Baitz, and Dai Newman.

Tara Spies Smith and Nicole Santiago,

Co-editors

Conversation with cartoonist Sacha Mardou @ Graphic Novels SIG meeting - May 4th

 

Please join us for the  ARLIS/at the virtual ARLIS/NA 49th Annual Conference on May 4^th from 2PM – 3PM EDT (1PM CDT).

See the email on the ARLIS/NA or Graphic Novels listserv for the zoom link to the meeting.

We are excited to announce St. Louis-based cartoonist Sacha Mardou as our special guest for the 2021 SIG meeting! Co-coordinators Caitlin McGurk and Tara Smith will interview Sacha Mardou for part of the SIG’s meeting.

Other items on the agenda will be a call for an additional co-coordinator for the SIG, the Notable Graphic Novels Review update, and any other agenda items members would like to discuss.

Thank you and we hope to see you there!

Tara Smith, Graphic Novels SIG creator and co-coordinator

Caitlin McGurk, Graphic Novels SIG co-coordinator