True North Country Comics presents Karl Keschl’s top 10 go-to comic books and graphic novels.

Karl has been drawing comics professionally since the age of eighteen. He has worked on a number of titles for Marvel and DC Comics, including Superman, The Flash, Deadpool, Spider-Man, Teen Titans and Wonder Woman and co-created the YA series Gotham Academy. His current work is the Eisner-Nominated fantasy-adventure series ISOLA, which he co-created with Brenden Fletcher and is published by Image Comics. His current Kickstarter project is to produce the next book for his Eisner Award winning webcomic The Abominable Charles Christopher.

Here are Karl Kersch’s top 10 go-to comic books and graphic novels:

1. The Nao of Brown by Glyn Dillon
“Probably the most overlooked graphic novel ever, Glyn Dillon writes and draws AND PAINTS what I believe is his first written work. It’s brilliant in every sense.”

2. This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki
“I love this quiet tale of two girls spending their (probably last) summer together as they transition into adulthood. Jillian Tamaki’s artwork and page design make me cry with envy.”


3. Skim by Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki
“More Tamakis! They’re so good! Skim is a masterwork in character acting; the heady high school setting and the teenage dialogue are honest and cutting. Give this book to every teenager you know.”

4. From Hell by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell
“Yeah, yeah, Alan Moore is great. Everybody knows that. But From Hell is my favourite thing he’s ever done because it is genuinely scary, mind-bending, and historically fascinating. Eddie Campbell really brings out the grisly viscera and it’s the perfect partnership.”


5. Nausicaä by Hayao Miyazaki
“What can I say? Hayao Miyazaki is a genius and while his films are adored his comics work is just as strong. Nausicaä is my favourite work of his in either medium. It also tells MUCH more story than what you see in the film.”


6. Elfquest by Wendy and Richard Pini
“The first Elfquest series (the ‘Original Quest’) was what got me into collecting comics. Wendy’s artwork and rich characters hooked me and I still marvel at them today. Elfquest has been collected into books so I think it absolutely counts as a graphic novel.”



7. Akira by Katsuhiro Otomo
“I don’t even know where to start with this. Every page is a jaw-dropping work of art and design that makes you doubt such a thing could ever be made, much less completed. But it was, and it lives up to every nice thing anyone’s ever said about it.”


8. The Complete Calvin & Hobbes by Bill Watterson
“Okay not technically a graphic novel, but the best cartooning the world has ever seen, all packaged up in nice, big books.”


9. Mr. Punch by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean
“Maybe my favourite Neil Gaiman story; it’s short, personal, and creepy. McKean is never not amazing but his terrifying puppet work here is on another level. I read this at least once every couple of years to remind myself what kind of storyteller I want to be.”


10. Weapon X by Barry Windsor-Smith
“Windsor-Smith’s first written work (to my knowledge) is so good that it became an integral part of the Wolverine mythos and is still the best take on the character in my humble opinion.”

You can discover more about Karl on Twitter at @karlkerschl and online at karlkerschl.com and abominable.cc