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

Amirak is a comic artist and illustrator based in Canada. Comics, illustration and storytelling have been her passion since a young age. At the age of 19, Amirak made the decision to move out from home to study fine arts in Montreal and become a comic book artist. She claims it has been a bumpy ride to get to where she is today as a self-employed artist. She has self-published two graphic novels AD INFINITUM and WORDS AND SAND plus she’s collaborated with writers on a variety of projects. 

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

1. The Adventures of Tintin by Hergé
“It’s a classic and one of the first comics I read as a kid. I’m a big fan of Herge’s line art and style and it definitely influenced my own work.”

2. Habibi by Craig Thompson
“I was introduced to Thomson’s work after reading Blankets, but Habibi is truly his masterpiece (in my opinion). It is a poetic tale about love with beautiful line art. I felt like I was reading One Thousand and One Nights.”  


3.  Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
“Gritty, funny, authentic and a tear-jerker. I felt very moved by the story and couldn’t wait to turn the page to read the next one to see what happens next.” 

4. The Sandman by Neil Gaiman and others
“My favourite epic tale. Gaiman is a master at making characters 3-dimensional but also interesting. Fascinating mythology and the story has a peculiar ominence in its atmosphere.” 

5. The Arab of the Future by Riad Sattouf
“An auto-biographical story about growing up as a kid in Syria, Libya and France. A beautiful tale about childhood and family.” 

6. The Origin by Marc by Antoine Mathieu
“A kafkaesque story with surrealist and absurd moments. Each page is a gem to look at and the genius storyline completes the art perfectly.”

7. Carnet de Voyage by Craig Thompson
“A short comic that Thomson did a few years before Habibi. It’s autobiographical, kind of like an introspective travel journal. I read it before my first backpacking trip to Europe – it’s a delightful read, not complicated or dramatic, but the perfect book to bring on a trip.” 

8. Maus by Art Spiegelman 
“A classic that must be a mandatory read for every school, in my opinion.”  

9. American Vampire by Scott Snyder and Rafael Albuquerque
“Terrifying, gritty, with breathtaking art by Rafael Albuquerque and… badass vampires.”


10. The Fadeout by Ed Brubaker and Sean Philips
“This comic was actually a gift from a friend but I ended up loving the story so much! It really checks off all the boxes: there’s a mystery, characters with unclear intent, a crime and you have no idea how the story will end.” 

You can discover more about Amirak on Twitter and Instagram at @AmirakDelat and online at AmirakDelat.com