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I'm not sure how "memey" graphic novels are, but I feel like we should give them some love. I mean, they may seem like pretentious comic books to some, or a sad attempt at pandering to non-geeks with comics to others, but there really are some treasures out there.

So yeah, let's discuss. Here's some questions to get started:
-Have you heard about graphic novels, and if so, what's your impression of them as a medium?
-Are graphic novels and comics the same medium, or are they just different subsets of the same medium?
-Have you read any graphic novels? What were they, and what did you think of them?

If you've never heard of graphic novels before, or never read one before but are intrested, here's a few suggestions. OTHERWISE, FEEL FREE TO STOP READING HERE :) .

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Here's some examples:

• Barefoot Gen- A book about a boy in WWII Japan. Sounds like an action-packed manga right? Wrong. It's a historical tragedy. In the first book, the kid sees most of his family die under a burning house while he struggles (and fails) to pull them out, after abuse from the fellow community for being "traitors" because they weren't enthusiastic about the war. The only person who treats his starving family is a Korean guy who is hated because he is Korean. And, oh yeah, did I forget there's also a scene where the infamous nuclear bomb is dropped and it depicts people literally melting around the main character, who only survived because he just so happened to tie his shoes behind a large post?

• Incognegro- a 1/8 black (and 7/8 Caucasian) reporter, which, back in the early 30's was enough for most to consider you "black" even though most people wouldn't guess that you weren't white unless you told them, "infiltrates" mobs that lynch blacks. There's a lot of interesting things it brings up, like how the black community was sort of divided into factions based on how they dealt with whites, or how the main (Caucasian) antagonist was almost lynched after a (false) rumor spread that he was a "ni***r".

• Maus- About WWII, but this time from the author's Jewish father's perspective, and how he escaped to America during the Holocaust , and the long-term effects it had on him. Pretty much everyone in his family dies. And I guess it technically features Nazi furries, since the Nazis are cats, the jews are mice, the Americans are dogs, the one gypsy is a moth, and there's a few elks that are Sweedish or something. That said, the furry aspect is much more used as a tool to help instantly identify what side everyone is on, rather than just for fun.

I'll stop here, but two other series I can think of are Bones (which is kind of like a classic fairytale if it was written by someone from today) and Understanding Comics (which is awesome if you like comics, stories, or just learning in general).

Graphic Novels are just usually a collected version of a comic. Although some definitions I have seen are that a graphic novel is not individual issues but instead essentially a full book and another one is that it is a full story.

A lot of people just use the term because they are scared of ridicule by calling them comics or want to sound more sophisticated, but really they are comics.

I can vouch Maus is great. I highly recommend it to anyone who can handle the subjects in WWII. It's a great real story that will really make you think and feel quite a bit.

As for my recommendation of "Graphic Novels"

Watchmen – You've almost certainly heard of it. The story may seem cliche now but for the time it really wasn't. Even just read it for the stunning art and beautiful colouring.

The Dark Knight Returns – An essential Batman story. Like Watchmen you may think you seen it all before, but really most of what makes Batman today has taken influence and traits/ideas from this Frank Miller adaptation. Bonus if you plan on watching Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice, it takes a ton from this book even from just seeing the trailers.

Bone – Just a great adventure story for all ages. 3 cousins, Fone Bone, Phoney Bone and Smiley Bone are kicked out of Boneville, and explore an open world, they eventually are chased by rat creatures intoacross a valley/village and there they plan on carrying on with their wacky schemes and adventures. However, there is evil afoot in the land.

Sin City – Great Noire stories. If you like that genre or are interested pick it up.

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Marvels: This is essentially a story of realism, a story of humanity's perspective of Marvel's superheroes, villains and the events they're part of. Phil Sheldon is the narrator, and, complementing what was mentioned earlier, we follow the path of a normal guy who witnesses the impossible in front of his eyes.

Ruins: Its motto refers to "everything that can go wrong will go wrong", which means that it presents a chaotic look of Marvel's heroes and villains, literally all of them in a situation where they can cross with death at any moment. The delicate fiber of life at its finest. The story is told through the POV of a journalist (who happens to be the same protagonist as Marvels) as he tries to figure out… well, what went wrong with everyone.

The Killing Joke: One of the strongest tales ever told within the Batman world. You could say, and you couldn't say (it's also valid, don't worry), that this has a big fat IF regarding the origin story of The Joker. The whole situation focuses around the theme that anyone can go insane after having one bad day. A study of madness, a study of mirrored characters facing off.

Arkham Asylum: I mean, there's no doubts that this inspired the game of the same name, but this graphic novel has a far more grim connotation. The clown, of course, being the star of the show, unveils the purity of insanity from the bowels of the asylum, stretching from his super disturbing jokes to the hidden past of the asylum's founder, Amadeus Arkham. In the end, this is simply a journey where you'll see plenty of villains, nearly all of them ravaged hard by the things from which they came to be.

Graphic novels are really cool. They're pretty much a combination of comic books and novels. They got lots of the cool imagery of a comic book while having the complexities and themes of a novel.
While comics are more associated with comedy, I do consider graphic novels as comics due to the imagery.
I've only read three graphic novels, so I'll just talk about them here:

Frankenstein: This was my first experience with Mary Shelley's novel. Fitting as well since our teacher made us read this around Halloween (and I had something to read when Superstorm Sandy hit us). Really liked the story, and Frankenstein's monster looked great in this adaptation.

Persepolis: I only read the first part, but I'm planning on reading the second part and watching the movie. I like how Satrapi incorporates humor into such a serious topic, especially given how her life was deeply affected by the Iranian riots.

To be honest, I don't really have much of an opinion on Frankenstein and Persepolis because I read them three years ago, so i don't remember too much other than the fact that I liked them.

Watchmen: Someone did mention Watchmen here, but I'll give my own thoughts on it. I like the deconstruction of the superhero genre. I actually wrote an essay describing the evolution of the superhero genre for my film class, and I used Watchmen as an example of the revision phase (yes, I used the film version, but that's because I like how the film is an almost-accurate adaptation of the book). I'll just paraphrase that part of the essay: I like the aspect of corruption, outlawing superheros, and even the fact that both the heroes and villain lose in the end. This book/movie really stuck out to me among all the superhero media I've seen.

As a french, i'm still confused about the term. European comics take various forms and it's sometime hard to make difference between the well-made album and more originals works.

Persepolis Marjane Satrapi's major work. I always loved the minimalist drawings and the humor, but also the viewpoint of an "normal person with nomals problems"

Blast It's hard to explain the story of this one so here a link to a full review:

In fact, i just recommend Manu Larcenet entire work (especially ordinary victories)

Blankets by Craig Thompson. An autobiography, where the author describe his childhood in a catholic family and his first love story. Also, take a look at Habibi

Anybody ever heard of Cerebus? It's a 300 issue independent series about an aardvark, written over the course of 25 years by Dave Sim. Starts off as a parody of Conan the Barbarian-esque fantasy, but turns into a political satire around issue 25, then a religious satire at 50, and so on. All the story arcs were released as huge graphic novels, sometimes called "phonebooks." A lot of people start at volume two, High Society, because that's when things start getting interesting, but I think volume one has its moments. Eventually, Sim went crazy and started turning the series into a a misogynist mouthpiece, complete with an essay about how feminists killed Jesus, among other things. Everything before that is worth reading.

How about Saya No Uta?
Winner of the most fucked up game of all time award
Here, have a screen shot

That green haired girl is Cthulu, by the way, who the player character literally fucks

Saya No Uta Best VN!