The Historical and Non-Fiction Genre
History buffs, rejoice! The world of comic books has something for you too. Dive into the fascinating realm of historical and non-fiction comics, where real-life events and figures are brought to life through captivating illustrations. From gripping tales of World War II to biographies of influential individuals, these comics offer a unique and engaging way to learn about the past. So, if you crave knowledge and enjoy being transported to different eras, grab a historical comic book and embark on a journey through time.
Top 25 Best-Selling Comic Series Titles Of The Historical and Non-Fiction Genre:
- “Maus” (Pantheon): Art Spiegelman’s Pulitzer Prize-winning account of his father’s experience during the Holocaust.
- “Persepolis” (Pantheon): Marjane Satrapi’s autobiographical account of her youth in Iran during and after the Islamic revolution.
- “March” trilogy (Top Shelf Productions): Congressman John Lewis’s account of his civil rights activism.
- “Safe Area Goražde” (Fantagraphics Books): Joe Sacco’s journalistic account of the Bosnian War.
- “Sapiens: A Graphic History” (HarperCollins): Adaptation of Yuval Noah Harari’s book detailing the history of humankind.
- “Logicomix” (Bloomsbury): A narrative about the life of the philosopher and logician Bertrand Russell and the history of logic.
- “The Photographer” (First Second): A journalistic account of Doctors Without Borders’ 1980s mission in Afghanistan.
- “The Complete Essex County” (Top Shelf Productions): Jeff Lemire’s tale of life in a rural Canadian county.
- “Berlin” (Drawn and Quarterly): Jason Lutes’s narrative set in Berlin during the Weimar Republic.
- “They Called Us Enemy” (Top Shelf Productions): George Takei’s memoir detailing his family’s time in an American internment camp during World War II.
- “The Best We Could Do” (Abrams ComicArts): Thi Bui’s personal account of her family’s escape from Vietnam in the 1970s.
- “My Friend Dahmer” (Abrams ComicArts): Derf Backderf’s account of his high school friendship with the infamous serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer.
- “Boxers & Saints” (First Second): Gene Luen Yang’s two-volume account of the Boxer Rebellion in China.
- “Paying the Land” (Metropolitan Books): Joe Sacco’s exploration of the indigenous Dené people in Canada’s Northwest Territories.
- “A Fire Story” (Abrams ComicArts): Brian Fies’s graphic memoir about losing his home in the California wildfires.
- “Rolling Blackouts” (Drawn and Quarterly): Sarah Glidden’s journalistic exploration of the aftermath of the Iraq War.
- “Duncan the Wonder Dog” (AdHouse Books): Adam Hines’s imaginative take on animal rights and human cruelty.
- “Trinity: A Graphic History of the First Atomic Bomb” (Hill and Wang): A history of the development of the atomic bomb by Jonathan Fetter-Vorm.
- “Hostage” (Drawn and Quarterly): Guy Delisle’s story about a hostage trapped in Chechnya.
- “Footnotes in Gaza” (Metropolitan Books): Joe Sacco’s examination of two forgotten massacres in Gaza.
- “Vietnamerica: A Family’s Journey” (Villard): GB Tran’s tale about his family’s history related to the Vietnam War.
- “Woman Rebel: The Margaret Sanger Story” (Drawn and Quarterly): Peter Bagge’s biography of the birth control activist.
- “Becoming Unbecoming” (Myriad Editions): Una’s exploration of misogyny set against the backdrop of the Yorkshire Ripper manhunt.
- “Red Rosa: A Graphic Biography of Rosa Luxemburg” (Verso): Kate Evans’s biography of the revolutionary socialist.
- “An Olympic Dream: The Story of Samia Yusuf Omar” (SelfMadeHero): Reinhard Kleist’s account of a Somali Olympian’s perilous migration journey.
Want to explore other comic genres? Check out our Choosing the right Comic Book Genre: Top 25 Best Titles of Each Genre To Get You Started page.