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

Tania is a Montreal based illustrator and comic artist. She is the creator of Ponto, a bilingual webcomic about a young road barrel who decides to follow his dream of working in Montreal; a big city where potholes and roadworks are a daily struggle. With his legendary optimism, Ponto will do his best to ensure the safety of Montrealers, but he will soon discover that life in Montreal won’t be an easy one and that many adventures await in his quest to improve the city. Ponto has become an unofficial mascot for the city of Montreal but the cute road barrel also has fans from all over the world.

Here are Tania Mignacca’s top 10 go-to comic books and graphic novels.

1. Yoko Tsuno by Roger Leloup
“One of the first comic series I read as a child. At the time there weren’t many comics starring strong female characters in adventure stories I also really enjoy Leloup’s delicate pen work and colours.”

2. Sailormoon by Naoko Takeuchi
“I basically learned how to draw in a manga style copying Takeuchi’s illustration. I always liked the amount of details, whimsy and emotions she puts into her work.” 

3. Clumsy Manga Laboratories by Akira Toriyama
“Probably the first ‘How to draw manga book’. All the subjects are covered from storytelling, penciling, toning and colouring. It’s fun that it’s presented as a comic with humour from Dr. Slump and early Dragonball era.”

4. Scott Pilgrim versus the world by Bryan Lee O’Malley
“Best manga inspired comic I’ve read and plus it’s Canadian. The story is solid! It’s fun to see familiar places and references!”

5. Understanding Comics – The Invisible Art by Scott McCloud
“A must read for all comic artists and comic lovers. This book really taught me so much I didn’t know about the science of comics and it had a huge influence when I created Ponto.”

6. 20th Century Boys by Naoki Urasawa
“A friend of mine lent me this series. I was a bit reluctant since I wasn’t much into shounen manga at the time but I was hooked from Volume 1. The story is just crazy and there are a lot of parallels to be made with the era we currently live in.”

7. Boumeries by Boum
“Boum is one of my friends and a comic artist I look up to. She started Boumeries as a webcomic and it gave me the courage to  start my own. Everyone can find something to relate to in her comic strips; from daily life, motherhood, video games and my favourite, convention table stories!” 

8. Rues de Montréal  by Montreal Comic Arts Festival
“This is a gem if you want to learn about Montreal and discover local comic artists: Each story is unique and colourful and showcases a different artist such as Cab, Obom and Jeik Dion to name a few.”

9. Midnight dinner by Yaro Abe
“Short stories about different characters visiting a late-night diner in Tokyo. Sometimes funny and touching this is Japanese contemplative style at its finest. Warning: Don’t read on an empty stomach!”

10. U-Town by Cab
“This is Montreal based comic artist Cab’s latest webcomic. You follow the lives of a group of misfits living in the Milton building. This comics explores themes that are dear to me such as gentrification and young adulthood. Also Cab as an awesome drawing style! You should definitely check it out:
https://www.utowncomic.com/“

You can discover more about Tania on Twitter @Ponto_mtl and online at pontomontreal.com. Ponto merchandise is available on https://www.etsy.com/shop/minyaka