Recommend me some girl comics

[Eliseu Gouveia]

Thanks to free comic book day, I got my hands on a copy of this absolutely delightful comic called Amelia Rules and my niece (age 12) had a blast reading it.
So, and in the educational interest of further developing her english skills and introducing her to the wonderful world of comics, what other titles could you recommend me that could potentially interest her?

Bear in mind that she´s not too big on superheroes, big guys in tights punching each other somehow fails to captivate her attention every time. :tongue:

[dupont2005]

The Babysitters Club has one or two volumes through the Graphix imprint of Scholastic. I imagine it would be something a girl would like. Also Bone by Jeff Smith. Not really a girl comic but it's kid friendly, not a steroid injected testosterone comic, and a great story. The Rose graphic novel even has a female lead.

[Tenacious_AA]

My daughter, age 11, LOVES Batgirl with Bryan Q Miller, of course it's ending in August, but you can pick up the TPB. It might start her into superheros.

[Kitz 4 Katz]

Lend some support? I would greatly appreciate it if you helped push forward a new comic I have created. It can be seen on Facebook by searching for "Katz Comics" or clicing on this link: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Katz-Comics/190035491057405

I would greatly appreciate it if anyone would Like the page and spread the word to their friends. It is a new, up and coming page that will have new comics every week.

Many, many, many thanks my fellow comic lovers!!! :smile:

[christinereed]

My daughter really liked reading Spiderman Loves Mary Jane when she was 13. It's not really a superhero comic. It's a high school drama about Mary Jane and her friends. Her crush on Spiderman enters into the story at times and he's seen crashing in fighting a villian a few times. But, 85% of it is a story for teenage girls.

Also, "Breaking Up" by Friedman and Norrie is a great graphic novel about a group of four friends in high school. It deals with boyfriend issues, what it means to be a real friend, what are you willing to do to be popular, will follow your parents rules, etc.

[DubipR]

Zeu,

You can't beat some of the standards:
Betty
Betty & Veronica
Veronica

I also highly recommend Girl Genius (http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/) by Phil and Kaja Foglio. Like Amelia Rules, its an award winning comic. Definitely worth the read.
You can find on eBay Sarah Dyer's Action Girl Comics, which was a great anthology that was showcase of female comic creators. That's always good to show your niece that women do comics as well. I adored Evil & Malice by Jimmie Robinson; its about 2 12-year old girls who's parents are both superheroes and supervillians.

And one of the best, you can't beat Leave It To Chance by James Robinson & Paul Smith.

[Fesch_]

You can't go wrong with these:

http://www.amazon.com/Smurfs-1-Purple/dp/1597072060/ref=pd_sim_b_5

The Smurfs by Peyo are still one of the best children's comics ever made, as fresh and funny as the first day, and highly enjoyable by adults too.

[blackphoenix]

Akikko on the Planet Smoo was a Wizard of Oz like comic that came out a few years back. It involved a girl named Akikko on a wacky alien world. You can search out the trades online.

Speaking of OZ, You may want to introduce her to the Wizard of Oz comics from Marvel.

[Eliseu Gouveia]

Hey, guys,

thanks a lot for your suggestions, I showed them to my niece and she really liked SpiderMan Loves MaryJane, Evill and Malice and Betty and Veronica, so I´m gonna check those out, maybe get some TPBs.

[Julian Fine]

Korgi is really good, but it's silent so it won't be developing english literacy.
Smile by Raina Talgemier has been a really big hit, only read parts of it but they were very good.
Marvel's Oz books are beyond amazing and you could always use them as a stepping stone into Baum's books.
Mouse Guard can get violent, but I'd say it's apropriate for 12 years old. Very good fantasy, kind of a mix between Watership Down/Rats of NIHM and Lord of the Rings/Song of Ice and Fire (without the raping and pillaging).
Swallow Me Whole deals with family dysfunction and mental illness and might be a bit much for a 12 year old but in a few years it will definitely be worth it.
Mercury by Hope Larson is a good YA story for somebody starting high school.

[Julian Fine]

And there is always Jeff Smith's Bone

[G.I.JOSE]

Scott Pilgrim !

[dan bailey]

Trina Robbins' Go-Girl collections concern a superhero teen girl & her superhero mom; "big guys in tights punching each other" isn't a problem.

DC's various Minx graphic novels from late last decade should be solid candidates, too.

[snarkbunny]

I second the Minx suggestion, specifically The Re-Gifters as one to try. My friend's 13-year-old daughter enjoyed the recent Blue Beetle series as well.

[dupont2005]

You can't go wrong with these:

http://www.amazon.com/Smurfs-1-Purple/dp/1597072060/ref=pd_sim_b_5

The Smurfs by Peyo are still one of the best children's comics ever made, as fresh and funny as the first day, and highly enjoyable by adults too.

Agreed. I read King Smurf and was totally not expecting such a good comic.

[Fesch_]

Agreed. I read King Smurf and was totally not expecting such a good comic.

It is one of the best albums, perhaps the very best: you were lucky with your choice. :smile: I'd say that the 10 first albums are all extraordinary, then they are no longer as good, and after Peyo's death they aren't worth it. But the core of the series is one of the best representatives of French BD for children that does not lose any of its charm when read as an adult. A masterpiece.

And then there's Johan and Peewit, a favourite of mine (and Peyo's favourite creation too). Simply wonderful.

[dupersuper]

Off the top of my head: Supergirl (at least until September), Tiny Titans, Bone and Leave it to Chance.

[RawShark]

Gunnerkrigg Court by Tom Siddell. (maybe just one `d`)
Girl Genius by Phil Foglio.
My 13 y/o niece love these and has gotten all her friends to read it, and it is a constant subject of her conversations with her favorite (...alright, her only) uncle :-)

Both are available free as online comics, but the printed versions are really nice.

[dan bailey]

Ted Naifeh's various Courtney Crumrin books & Polly & the Pirates are obvious picks, too. Ditto for J. Torres' Alison Dare minis.

A trilogy that Naifeh's doing with Holly Black, Good Neighbors, is coming out from Scholastic; I think the first 2 are out, & I've got the first one, which not surprisingly is quite good.

I've read only one Richard Sala graphic novel, because it happened to be in the public library, but I'm interested in checking more of his stuff out if Black Cat Burglar is in any way typical of his work, as I suspect is the case.

Another likely candidate that I also happened to come across in the library -- Susan Kim & Lawrence Klavan's very nicely done City of Spies, set in NYC during WWII.

Jen Van Meter's Hopeless Savages & Chynna Clugston's Blue Monday might well be up her alley as well.

And of course, considering your starting point, I'm sure you already know to keep an eye out for the various Amelia Rules collections. Series creator Jimmy Gownley gave up on individual issues awhile back & has gone to graphic novels only; a new one, The Meaning of Life ... & Other Stuff is due out in a couple of months.

[The Beast Of Yucca Flats]

Seconds on Bone.

And Brian Vaughan & Adrian Alphona's run on Runaways. Sure, it's the Marvel U, and as such, it does interact occasionally with members of their be-spandexed crowd. But the main characters themselves are pretty short on actual spandex, and the series in general has a somewhat more offbeat take when it comes to dealing with superhero stuff. Think of it almost like a YA Starman.

[Julian Fine]

Richard Sala might be a bit mature for 12 don't you think Dan?

[dan bailey]

Richard Sala might be a bit mature for 12 don't you think Dan?

Not with Black Cat Burglar, I don't think ... though of course at the time I wasn't reading it with that in mind (& for that matter I don't have kids & haven't been 12 in, well, a long time -- I mean, Nixon was still in his first term). And as noted, that's the only thing of his I've read, so I have no idea if it's in any way typical of his oeuvre.

[Foon4000]

The first volume of Persepolis would probably go down really well with a 12 year old- maybe not the second part so much. I really liked Tin-tin when I was younger.

[MartinRedmond]

Swans in Space is kinda funny at 2AM or after a day of work:

http://www.mangaforkids.com/preview-swans.php

The colors and artwork are great too. Basically this control freak miss popularity named Corrona, takes it upon herself to make a nerd nromal but things don't work out with her limited world view. :/

[Francis Dawson]

I think Little Lulu is one of the most delightful works of children's literature in any medium. It certainly gets my daughter giggling. I lent Calvin and Hobbes to a friend's daughter recently and it went down awfully well.

[Julian Fine]

Wow, I completely blanked on more classic selections. John Stanley's library is really fun stuff, I'm guessing Sequential Fart was referencing his version of Lulu moreso than Marge's (also very awesome but a bit more New Yorker). Dr. Seuss' Heiji is a nice adventure comic if you can track it down. Little Nemo in Slumberland is ornate and beautiful but McCay's handwriting is impossible to read at anything less than broadsheet dimensions and the Sunday Press books are expensive. The Kin-der-Kids and Wee Willy Winkie's World are both in the same vein and have more affordable reprints. From the Franco-Belgians: Yoko Tsuno might be a good choice, kind of like a female Tintin with lots more science fiction. Adele Blanc-Sec is another one that might be worth looking into, I'm not as familiar with it so I don't know how age appropriate it is but I don't remember anything in the first book that set off any red flags.

[Julian Fine]

The first volume of Persepolis would probably go down really well with a 12 year old- maybe not the second part so much. I really liked Tin-tin when I was younger.

I was going to say that Persepolis is definitely a must read for a teenage girl but I'd probably wait a year or two.

[the4thpip]

Leave it to Chance.

[MartinRedmond]

The John Stanley books are pretty fun. I love them.

[emb021]

John Stanley's Little Lulu and Tubby (reprinted by Dark Horse) and Nancy & maybe Melvin Monster (from Drawn & Quarterly).

Might enjoy Tintin and maybe Asterix.

[Francis Dawson]

I think a 12 yr old would be likely to enjoy Stanley's Thirteen Going on Eighteen too (I certainly do).