True North Country Comics presents Angela O’Hara’s top 10 go-to comic books and graphic novels.

Angela is a freelance fantasy artist and illustrator based in London, Ontario. She also works as a Lead Artist in the game industry with experience creating concept and production art for casual games, as well as cover art credits on tabletop roleplaying games and books. Angela created her original fantasy comic The Moonstone Diadem following a very successful Kickstarter campaign. One of her favourite pastimes is painting beautiful fantasy characters and environments in luminous, bright colours, with her main inspiration being the video game World of Warcraft.

Here are Angela O’Hara’s top 10 go-to comic books and graphic novels:

1. Please Save My Earth by Saki Hiwatari
“My favourite comic, an 80’s-90’s shoujo manga that was a major sensation when it was published. A group of young people awaken to memories of their past lives together, memories in which they were scientists from an alien civilization studying the earth from the moon.”  

2. Swan by Ariyoshi Kyoko
“Classic 70’s shoujo manga about the competitive world of ballet. Swan skillfully deconstructs typical panel layouts in favour of flowing, surreal collages of movement and emotion. Whenever anyone asks for an example of how good comics can be at depicting motion and feeling, I point them towards Swan.”

3. Bride’s Story by Kaoru Mori
“The story of young women living along the Silk Road in the nineteenth century. I love how the texture and feel of the setting comes to life in ink.”

4. Emma by Kaoru Mori
“Mori’s earlier work, a love story between a maid and a rich gentleman. The artist’s attention to the details of the setting really sets this apart from other historical fiction comics.”

5. The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen
“This artist’s beautiful, exquisite linework has long been an inspiration for me. The Magic Fish combines fairy tales with a lovely coming-out story that blends fantasy and slice of life skillfully.”
 

6. Motor Crush by Babs Tarr, Brendan Fletcher, and Cameron Stewart
“I’m a big fan of Babs Tarr’s work, and her skills are on full display here. I especially love the use of colour, with hot pink and cyan giving the pages an electric quality.”


7. Blackbird by Sam Humphries and Jen Bartel
“Bartel is one of my favourite illustrators, and I’m happy to see her find success with this stylish adventure story about a young woman who discovers a legacy of magic within her.”

8. Yotsuba&! by Kiyohiko Azuma
“A comedy/slice of life story that lets you see through the eyes of a small child and experience wonder and joy in ordinary things.” 

9. Ciri, The Child of Destiny by Hikaru Yagi
“A fan comic of astonishing quality illustrating key moments from the Witcher saga of books by Andrzej Sapkowski.”


10. Lies Within by Lacey
“A modern-day supernatural story set in Toronto, by a Toronto artist, I always recommend this comic to people who are looking to support local and who enjoy queer stories!”

You can discover more about Angela on Twitter at @Fellminagames and online at artbyangela.ca and fellmina.bigcartel.com