Sandkings

Author: George R. R. Martin

George RR Martin, the guy in the Greek fisherman's cap who brought you Game of Thrones, got his start writing comic books. Well, writing to comic books, as his first published piece was a letter printed in an early issue of Fantastic Four when he was a youth. His Hugo and Nebula winning novelette Sandkings was adapted by writer Doug Moench for the DC series of Science Fiction Graphic Novels in the 1980s, and the result is endlessly readable. The story of an exotic pet collector who purchases bug-like creatures called Sandkings is like reading classic Ray Bradbury infused with the paranoia of the 1980s. The story is told with a sense of malaise and a near dystopian appeal that infuses every action. It's a story that feels as if it's saying that the state of the world is darker than we believe, and what the consequences of our modern choices are in reality. The art is incredibly 1980s. If you remember comics from those days, this'll take you back to those days. The artistic slant allows the story to play out so smartly, and the aspects of the science fictional world Martin created come through beautifully. Why it's on the list: A wonderful example of a graphic novel adaptation of an award-winning story.