True North Country Comics presents Thom Blais-LeBlanc’s top 10 go-to comic books and graphic novels.

Thom is a cartoonist born in Montreal with a Master’s degree from the University of Quebec. His previous work VII won the Réal-Fillion award in 2018. His current project is Casa Rodeo which as been described as Thom channeling the “chaotic yet precise slapstick of Chuck Jones’ Looney Tunes while infusing it with a subtle sense of existential dread. Casa Rodeo is about finding one’s place in the world, both literally and figuratively.”

Here’s Thom Blais-LeBlanc’s top 10 go-to comic books and graphic novels:

1. Octopus Pie by Meredith Gran
“This webcomic is a coming-of-age story about young adults living in New York. I love the characters and how they end up completely changed by the end of the series. It’s a great story about trying to understand how you can function in this world.”

2. Hellboy in Hell by Mike Mignola
“The Hellboy in Hell series are my favorite of Mignola’s. I think it’s all because of the world- building. It’s a new world that Mignola introduces to us and the way he does it is almost all done by visuals and little details in the background.”

3. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind by Hayao Miyazaki
“It’s a much longer story than the movie’s and it goes deeper into the world. I love this comic mainly for the characters. I love to follow them and see how everyone of them end up changing through a war between nations and nature.”

4. Sunny Sunny Ann by Miki Yamamoto
“It’s about a woman living in a car driving freely through the country and meeting different kinds of people. It’s a heavy story that left an impression.”

5) La rubrique à brac by Gotlib
“I laugh out loud when I read this comic. The physical humor, dialogues and facial expressions are awesome.”

6) Le concombre masqué by Mandryka
“A masked cucumber is living in a ‘cactus-blokhaus’ somewhere in a desert. He is constantly driven to morale fatigue by elephants playing bowling in his attic or by an insomniac sun that keeps everyone awake at 3 A.M. There you go.”

7) L’histoire du corbac aux baskets by Fred
“One day, a man wakes up as a giant crow and goes to his therapist to understand what’s happening to him. This is one of the comics that made me realize that I could talk about heavy subjects and themes by using visual metaphors and humor.”

8) La Guerre des Arts / Art Wars by Alexandre Fontaine Rousseau and Francis Desharnais
“Aliens have come to steal Earth’s artists to use their art as a weapon. This is probably one of the funniest comics I’ve read. It is dialogue driven with a great sense of comedic timing.”

9) Les petits garçons / Lonely Boys by Sophie Bédard
“Nana comes back to her old roommates in Montréal after disappearing from their lives for a year. It’s a sad story about troubled and broken friendships. It makes you think about the meaning you give to friendship.”

10. Ping-Pong by Zviane
“An essay or a journal on creativity. It’s a great trip of exploration. You end up thinking a lot more about how your environnement influences you. It gave me a sense of freedom about my own work.”

You can discover more about Thom on Instagram at instagram.com/thom_illustrations