True North Country Comics presents Keenan Poloncsak’s top 10 go-to comic book and graphic novel list.

Keenan is a multidisciplinary artist specializing in comic and children’s book illustrations. All his books are self-published and often bound by himself. Keenan works full time in the bookbinding trade at The Bookbinder’s Daughter, a traditional bookbindery located south-central Montreal that he took over this year. He’s also the creator of The Complete Squid-Gee Octology that was nominated for Best Self-Published Comic at the Joe Shuster – Gene Day Award as well as the winner of Expozine’s Best Comic Award for 2019.

Here is the top 10 go-to comic book and graphic novel list from Keenan Poloncsak.

10. Hemp for Victory (Starhead comix) by Art Penn
“I really appreciated this adaptation of the U.S.D.A’s WWII film since it changed my outlook history. I had no idea that in 1943 the U.S. government loved hemp that much.”

9. Tales from the Crypt by Williams Gaines and Al Feldstein
“These comics were great inspiration for me, I have always been a fan of horror genre.”


8. Mad Magazine by The Usual Gang of Idiots
“Although not quite a comic, there are many comics in Mad that have inspired me greatly, especially Sergio Aragonés. Making fun of everything is always important.”

7. Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud
“This comic really did help me understand comics, I only wish I had read sooner. Scott McCloud really took one for the team and I appreciate that.”

6. The Far Side by Gary Larson
“As far as I can remember, the first time I saw this comic was in the newspaper, I now have all the books including Larson’s children’s book. Far Side has deeply influenced my humour style.”

5. Dark Dominion (Defiant comics) by Jim Shooter and Steve Ditko
“This was a formative comic for me, I read the series when I was in grade school.  The symbolic of the story and the artwork really touched a chord.”

4. No Comment by Ivan Brun
“When I discovered this comic around ten years ago at a New Year’s Eve party, I read the whole thing and was impressed by the amount of detailed story it told without any words. I used this comic as a model when trying to simplify my own comics and make them more accessible to a broader audience.”

3. Addicted to War by Joel Andreas
“This comic is a must read. I’ve always been into history, and I also like to read history from different perspectives since we all know governments cannot be trusted to tell it.”

2. Book of Bud by Nadim Mahi-Bahi
“This book is fairly recent and absolutely hilarious. The drawing style is cool and the calligraphy is trippy. It really speaks to me as well because it takes place in Montréal and makes fun of everything.”

1. Everything is Super by Dietrich Rosteck
“Another recent comic, the black metal styled logo coupled with the fluorescent background and not so black metal character on the cover was an instant hit for me. The drawings where amazing, story was well thought out and had gloaky-ness that I had not quite seen yet and have not seen since.” 

You can discover more about Keenan on Instagram @keenanpoloncsak and online at pro-can.org