True North Country Comics presents the top 10 go-to comic books and graphic novels for James Davidge.

James is a teacher based in Calgary but he’s also the author of numerous graphic novels and prose novels including the Mathemagick series, the Driftwood Series, Thirteen Minutes, My Modern Panic and The Duchess Ranch of Old John Ware. James spoke about 1st Legion of Utopia last year at the Toronto Comic Arts Festival.

Here’s James Davidge’s top 10 go-to comic books and graphic novels:

Hard Traveling Heroes by Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams
“This series of Green Lantern/Green Arrow stories written by the late great Denny O’Neil awakened me to many social issues and to the power of comics to tell relevant stories. And Neal Adams’ art is amazing.”

March by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin and Nate Powell
“An important story told first hand by civil rights leader John Lewis.”


The 500 Years of Resistance Comic Book by Gord Hill
“Gord Hill’s book is straightforward and powerful.  Full of history from an Indigenous perspective that helped me better understand the reasoning behind the De-Colonialist Movement.”

Brought to Light by Alan Moore and Bill Sienkiewicz
“Back in the eighties Alan Moore and Bill Sienkiewicz depicted a drunken eagle sharing some of the seedier aspects of American globalism. Nuff said.”

Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
“A firsthand account from Marjane Satrapi of life as a young girl from Iran during the Islamic Revolution.  Brilliant and funny.”

Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass by Mariko Tamaki and Steve Pugh
“An excellent re-imaging by Mariko Tamaki and Steve Pugh that explores adolescence, drag-queen culture and activism while using classic DC comics characters.”

The Invisibles by Grant Morrison
“Reading Grant Morrison’s series as it came out felt like a monthly initiation into chaos magick and social (dis)order.”

Pogo by Walt Kelly
“Funny animals and social satire. What more do you need? Created over half a century ago by Walt Kelly and still worth a read.”

Sandman by Neil Gaiman and others
“Nothing more needs to be said about this seminal work written by Neil Gaiman but I always felt that the seven beings of the Endless were congruent to the seven siblings of the Glass family from the books of JD Salinger. Has anyone else ever felt that?”

Black Hammer by Jeff Lemire and Dean Ormston
“Jeff Lemire and Dean Ormston combine super-hero tropes with a rural setting that is both playful and serious.”

You can discover more about James on Twitter at @JamesDavidge and online at jamesdavidge.ca