I came to the somewhat funny, pretty coincidental and still pretty intriguing realization that both of my two heroes when it comes to art and comics are Canadian. While their two styles and audiences are completely different (probably because they each belong to two very different publishers,) in the work I have yet to scan (I'm working on it, watchers!) I draw an amazing amount of influence from the charm and plain old FUN that their books exude. I'm just going to say a little about them here. (In order of how recently I found something of theirs, that is.)

PART ONE: Bryan Lee O'Malley
He does some of the funniest, freshest and most naturally-charming stuff I've ever read. The "Scott Pilgrim" series is one of my favorites and I'm sad that it's going to end in the next book. I find myself constantly identifying with 'mind-blowing, dangerously fashionable' Ramona as I follow Scott's epic, platforming game-styled odyssey for love and musical success.
I love Scott's lack of good comebacks and his not-very-well-planned ways. I love Wallace Wells with all my heart too (Crash and the Boys: "This song is for the guy who keeps yelling at us- 'We Hate You, Please Die'!" (a very drunken)Wallace: "Sweet! A song for me!"), even if the feeling will never be mutual. Ramona's use of subspace highways and storage are preposterous, baffling and glorious. When the movie (which stars Michael Cera! Holy shit!) comes out next year (probably), I plan to cosplay her, star-emblazoned bag, rollerblades (if they're allowed in the theater) and all, to the midnight showing.
Just this afternoon I read "Lost At Sea", which is by virtue of mood and tone a stark contrast to Scott Pilgrim's indie humor. What I had picked up at the library mainly because Scott Pilgrim had been checked out turned out to be one of my favorite graphic novels of all time. Raleigh's search for answers, along with a cat who may or may not have her soul, is one that, as the book reached its climax, I realized is one that I'm taking as I awkwardly late-bloom into the summer of adulthood.
The way Raleigh presents her thoughts is rambling and mile-a-minute, which I find immensely endearing and I relate to so well; it's exactly how each and every one of my generation thinks. As the book reached its close, and Raleigh opens the floodgate of what's been on her mind for the whole book, the thoughts that leave that high-water mark on the levy are ones that I myself think every day. Just as it says on the back cover, "Raleigh's 18 and doesn't know what she's doing. If you've ever been 18, or confused, or maybe both, then you should read this book."