Meanwhile
Written and Illustrated by
Jason Shiga
Amulet Books, 2010
Meanwhile is a unique science fiction graphic novel. The central conceit is that this is a non-linear story -- a cross between a choose-you-own-adventure story and time loop.
In order to read the story, you have to follow the line -- a meandering tube connecting the panels in a haphazard fashion. This line travels chaotically across the page, occasionally branching, giving you choice and splitting the storyline. At intermittent intervals the path darts off the page, pointing to a tab on another page; you flip to that tab, and start the random walk again. This is used to great effect, with mazes, loops, and false paths interspersed among the pages.
The story follows young Jimmy K. through a very unusual day. It starts when he orders of some bad ice cream, and has to make an emergency trip to the nearest bathroom. The nearest bathroom happens to be in the laboratory of a mad scientist, and this mad scientist happens to be perfectly willing to share all of his mad devices -- a memory transference device, a time machine, and a Killitron. (The Killitron was designed to kill everybody on Earth, but was found to have other uses). Madcap hijinks ensue.
This is a pretty good science fiction story, with surprise twists, well-thought out time travel, and a good mix of humor and dark undercurrents. It is also a good graphic novel. Although it is written in Shiga's cartoony style, the art, layout, and color scheme fit together very well, and build something that could not be accomplished as well through any other format (although, I admit, it wouldn't do half bad as a computer game).
I would strongly recommend that you clear about 1-2 hours and try to read it in one sitting. Leaving it and coming back to it is likely to be confusing (and the matter is made worse because with multiple storylines twisting across each page, a bookmark isn't very useful). I found it useful to have a few post-it notes and a piece of scrap paper on hand so that I didn't accidently go down certain loops more than once, and to keep track of a few hidden pass codes. It is a bit complicated, but it is worth it, and as long as you enjoy twisty stories and aren't intimidated by quantum mechanics as a plot point, this book is likely to be enjoyable regardless of whether or not you are a fan of graphic novels in general.