I thought it would be nice to have a thread where people can share their favourite comic. Be it manga, western comic, webtoon or anything else, you would like other people to read.
And I'm starting with this, one of my favourite webtoons of all time! Rarely was I so hooked from a story and it took me 3 days of constant reading to finish it. In my opinion it would make an awesome anime as well!
https://www.webtoons.com/en/fantasy/how-to-become-a-dragon/episode-1/viewer?title_no=1973&episode_no=1
And for those who need a good laugh, I have this one:
https://www.webtoons.com/en/comedy/teenage-dragon/ep-1-im-minji/viewer?title_no=4188&episode_no=1
For webtoons I enjoy I'm really picky but some favorites of mine are Purple Hyacinth, Brimstone and Roses, and Shiloh. Purple Hyacinth is unfortunately on an indefinite hiatus as it's a team of two working on it, the writer and the artist, and the artist is chronically ill and in the midst of trying to find a solution to their chronic pain. What's available so far is a really great mystery thriller set in a world inspired by victorian England. There is a minor romance subplot between the two leads, but it's super slow burn and very much not the central focus on the story.
Brimstone and Roses is a supernatural romance that follows a woman who needs a date to her sister's wedding that her ex is going to be at. She summons a demon to pose as her date and the story unfolds from there. It's got a plus sized bisexual fem mc, and an asexual male mc, as well as a bunch of other representation sprinkled through, it's really good.
Shiloh is also on hiatus but that's because the writers have another series they write for so they bounce between the two. Shiloh takes place in a society where the population treats jobs kind of as classes, so the police are middle to high class, while wardens and executioners are the upper class, etc. Humans have to live in these walled off cities because of demons and other supernatural entities that roam the wilds, and the ruling classes are doing their best to hide this fact from the rest of the populace. This changes when a murder is committed, except that the woman killed had been reported dead years ago. It's really good and I look forward to when it comes back.
For western comics pretty much anything X-men I'd recommend, but if you want to narrow it down, the Claremont run that started in the mid 70's and went until 1991 is peak x-men and has some of the most classic storylines, like the Dark Phoenix saga. Aside from that the New Mutants is good. It follows the younger team of mutants under professor Xavier but tends to cover darker topics. Excalibur is also good, as it's a team of mutants that deal more with the magic side of the Marvel universe, as well as other dimensions.
I'm also really fond of the original Spiderman 2099 run. It's not too long and Miguel O'Hara as a very morally gray Spiderman is really interesting.
The one manga that I can't recommend to people enough is Princess Jellyfish. It's a shojo that follows a group of otaku women, with the main girl accidentally befriending a man who likes to crossdress, he's not trans he just enjoys fashion. He slowly helps the girls come out of their shells, while slowly falling for the fem mc. It's super funny and sweet and I really love it.
The other manga I like is Norigami. It only ever got two anime seasons before being cancelled which sucks because the politics of the world revealed in later volumes is super interesting. It follows Hiyori, a teen girl whose hit by a car and her soul slips out of her body. It goes back in and she doesn't die, but it does slip out from time to time, making it look like she has narcolepsy. She meets a minor god, Yato, who promises that he can permanently fix her issue, and through their friendship she becomes involved in the politics of the Japanese pantheon of gods.
I could definitely post more, my minor I'm going to college for is in comic studies, but these are my all time favorites I thought I'd share.
For webtoons I enjoy I'm really picky but some favorites of mine are Purple Hyacinth, Brimstone and Roses, and Shiloh. Purple Hyacinth is unfortunately on an indefinite hiatus as it's a team of two working on it, the writer and the artist, and the artist is chronically ill and in the midst of trying to find a solution to their chronic pain. What's available so far is a really great mystery thriller set in a world inspired by victorian England. There is a minor romance subplot between the two leads, but it's super slow burn and very much not the central focus on the story.
Brimstone and Roses is a supernatural romance that follows a woman who needs a date to her sister's wedding that her ex is going to be at. She summons a demon to pose as her date and the story unfolds from there. It's got a plus sized bisexual fem mc, and an asexual male mc, as well as a bunch of other representation sprinkled through, it's really good.
Shiloh is also on hiatus but that's because the writers have another series they write for so they bounce between the two. Shiloh takes place in a society where the population treats jobs kind of as classes, so the police are middle to high class, while wardens and executioners are the upper class, etc. Humans have to live in these walled off cities because of demons and other supernatural entities that roam the wilds, and the ruling classes are doing their best to hide this fact from the rest of the populace. This changes when a murder is committed, except that the woman killed had been reported dead years ago. It's really good and I look forward to when it comes back.
For western comics pretty much anything X-men I'd recommend, but if you want to narrow it down, the Claremont run that started in the mid 70's and went until 1991 is peak x-men and has some of the most classic storylines, like the Dark Phoenix saga. Aside from that the New Mutants is good. It follows the younger team of mutants under professor Xavier but tends to cover darker topics. Excalibur is also good, as it's a team of mutants that deal more with the magic side of the Marvel universe, as well as other dimensions.
I'm also really fond of the original Spiderman 2099 run. It's not too long and Miguel O'Hara as a very morally gray Spiderman is really interesting.
The one manga that I can't recommend to people enough is Princess Jellyfish. It's a shojo that follows a group of otaku women, with the main girl accidentally befriending a man who likes to crossdress, he's not trans he just enjoys fashion. He slowly helps the girls come out of their shells, while slowly falling for the fem mc. It's super funny and sweet and I really love it.
The other manga I like is Norigami. It only ever got two anime seasons before being cancelled which sucks because the politics of the world revealed in later volumes is super interesting. It follows Hiyori, a teen girl whose hit by a car and her soul slips out of her body. It goes back in and she doesn't die, but it does slip out from time to time, making it look like she has narcolepsy. She meets a minor god, Yato, who promises that he can permanently fix her issue, and through their friendship she becomes involved in the politics of the Japanese pantheon of gods.
I could definitely post more, my minor I'm going to college for is in comic studies, but these are my all time favorites I thought I'd share.
We're . REALLY bad at summaries sorry
Spreading
Aurora by Red (updates on mondays, wednesdays and fridays) propaganda because we're not normal about it ,,biggest webcomic fixation rn.. it's a fantasy comic about a group on a journey to prevent an eldritch entity from ending the world and to save a city god who was kidnapped by an anomalous mage ! red creates videos about analyzing tropes in media and you can really see how well she utilizes them . the paneling and therefore pacing is a little rough in the beginning since it's her first comic but it improves as it continues
The Interpretation of Shadows by Nyoomian (updates monthly on the 21st) is also really good !! just read the content warnings on the cover. the protag, daphnis, is capable of seeing people's actual thoughts and feelings in the form of entities he calls shadows, and is using this to be a private investigator ! he's currently on a case about a celebrity's missing niece
We're not a big webtoon person anymore, but we really like
Space Boy by Stephen McCranie (currently on hiatus, updates thursdays) and
Oblivion Tears by Livys (no set schedule for health reasons) !
Space Boy is a sci-fi mystery/romance centering Amy, a girl who was sent to earth via cryosleep. she has synesthesia, so to her, people's personalities, behavior, etc. appear as flavors. she eventually meets a boy named Oliver, who she finds peculiar because he doesn't have a flavor, and begins investigating the increasing oddities about him
Oblivion Tears is a post-apocalyptic fantasy/mystery about an amnesiac girl named Choko and Ryuza, her temporary bodyguard because he needs to die ! they have to travel through multiple worlds as all of them are being purged due to spiders, and the only way to survive the purges are to collect green gems called oblivion rocks . you learn more about the purge as choko slowly regains her memories ::]
We're . REALLY bad at summaries sorry
Spreading
Aurora by Red (updates on mondays, wednesdays and fridays) propaganda because we're not normal about it ,,biggest webcomic fixation rn.. it's a fantasy comic about a group on a journey to prevent an eldritch entity from ending the world and to save a city god who was kidnapped by an anomalous mage ! red creates videos about analyzing tropes in media and you can really see how well she utilizes them . the paneling and therefore pacing is a little rough in the beginning since it's her first comic but it improves as it continues
The Interpretation of Shadows by Nyoomian (updates monthly on the 21st) is also really good !! just read the content warnings on the cover. the protag, daphnis, is capable of seeing people's actual thoughts and feelings in the form of entities he calls shadows, and is using this to be a private investigator ! he's currently on a case about a celebrity's missing niece
We're not a big webtoon person anymore, but we really like
Space Boy by Stephen McCranie (currently on hiatus, updates thursdays) and
Oblivion Tears by Livys (no set schedule for health reasons) !
Space Boy is a sci-fi mystery/romance centering Amy, a girl who was sent to earth via cryosleep. she has synesthesia, so to her, people's personalities, behavior, etc. appear as flavors. she eventually meets a boy named Oliver, who she finds peculiar because he doesn't have a flavor, and begins investigating the increasing oddities about him
Oblivion Tears is a post-apocalyptic fantasy/mystery about an amnesiac girl named Choko and Ryuza, her temporary bodyguard because he needs to die ! they have to travel through multiple worlds as all of them are being purged due to spiders, and the only way to survive the purges are to collect green gems called oblivion rocks . you learn more about the purge as choko slowly regains her memories ::]
I’ve been reading a lot of webcomics lately to fill in the time, but one that I have to absolutely recommend is
Castle Swimmer on Webtoons! To put it simply, it’s about gay mermaids trying to stop a prophecy. It’s on a post-season hiatus for right now, but it’ll be back.
I can also vouch for
Aurora by Red! I binged that in my spare time over summer vacation. The frequent updates are a huge plus for me.
Mono and Mochi is something like a gag-a-day comic, detailing the misadventures of owning a cat. It’s gotten a few chuckles and smiles out of me so far.
And in terms of big-name comics, I really like
Batman: Wayne Family Adventures despite coming in with very little knowledge of Batman himself. It’s currently in a long multi-episode arc. I’ve discovered that the
Avatar: The Last Airbender comic has been getting a mirror onto Webtoons as well, so I’m reading that as far as they’ll let me for free haha.
I’ve been reading a lot of webcomics lately to fill in the time, but one that I have to absolutely recommend is
Castle Swimmer on Webtoons! To put it simply, it’s about gay mermaids trying to stop a prophecy. It’s on a post-season hiatus for right now, but it’ll be back.
I can also vouch for
Aurora by Red! I binged that in my spare time over summer vacation. The frequent updates are a huge plus for me.
Mono and Mochi is something like a gag-a-day comic, detailing the misadventures of owning a cat. It’s gotten a few chuckles and smiles out of me so far.
And in terms of big-name comics, I really like
Batman: Wayne Family Adventures despite coming in with very little knowledge of Batman himself. It’s currently in a long multi-episode arc. I’ve discovered that the
Avatar: The Last Airbender comic has been getting a mirror onto Webtoons as well, so I’m reading that as far as they’ll let me for free haha.
seconding the Aurora recc, I'm not caught up but my partner is and absolutely adores it. when I have time I'm definitely going to binge it.
I also really adore Golden Shrike and Jet And Harley, both written by Ratt. warning; both tackle some pretty heavy subjects, most notably on-screen character death, which is why I'm not including links. Golden Shrike is a hero fantasy story about deer who are trying to save deerkind, there's some really cool world building going on and the characters are absolutely precious. Jet And Harley is a found family story about cats surviving in a post-apocalyptic world, it has only just started to really get going but it's already absolutely precious.
I Hope So by Cat and RJ is another favorite of mine, again no link and content warning bc heavy subject matter; be aware that this comic depicts an abusive home situation, especially in the earlier chapters. it's a gay lion love story and an adventure story about finding your place in the world. currently it's in the middle of a Situation which I find very interesting and I'm really looking forward to seeing how the characters will get out of this.
Africa and CHAKRA by Arven are also really fun. CHAKRA is finished, Africa is still ongoing. once again, no link and content warning for on-screen death. Africa is about a leopard surviving and finding her place in the world, while CHAKRA is a fantasy-adventure story about magic wolves, inspired by Okami. the characters carry the story in both cases, because both stories are very character-focused, even if CHAKRA is a bit heavy on the lore at times.
and finally, I have to give a quick shoutout to Deadly Syns and its sequel Atmospheric Pressure by Dingo. again, no link and content warning for on-screen death. I'm sensing a theme. anyway, Deadly Syns is a Nuzlocke comic series about a girl named Syn who... without going into spoilers, Syn is a bit of an oddity, and the story is about her figuring out what her deal actually is and making friends along the way. if you think you know Nuzlocke comics once you've read one, think again, this comic will make you reconsider.
seconding the Aurora recc, I'm not caught up but my partner is and absolutely adores it. when I have time I'm definitely going to binge it.
I also really adore Golden Shrike and Jet And Harley, both written by Ratt. warning; both tackle some pretty heavy subjects, most notably on-screen character death, which is why I'm not including links. Golden Shrike is a hero fantasy story about deer who are trying to save deerkind, there's some really cool world building going on and the characters are absolutely precious. Jet And Harley is a found family story about cats surviving in a post-apocalyptic world, it has only just started to really get going but it's already absolutely precious.
I Hope So by Cat and RJ is another favorite of mine, again no link and content warning bc heavy subject matter; be aware that this comic depicts an abusive home situation, especially in the earlier chapters. it's a gay lion love story and an adventure story about finding your place in the world. currently it's in the middle of a Situation which I find very interesting and I'm really looking forward to seeing how the characters will get out of this.
Africa and CHAKRA by Arven are also really fun. CHAKRA is finished, Africa is still ongoing. once again, no link and content warning for on-screen death. Africa is about a leopard surviving and finding her place in the world, while CHAKRA is a fantasy-adventure story about magic wolves, inspired by Okami. the characters carry the story in both cases, because both stories are very character-focused, even if CHAKRA is a bit heavy on the lore at times.
and finally, I have to give a quick shoutout to Deadly Syns and its sequel Atmospheric Pressure by Dingo. again, no link and content warning for on-screen death. I'm sensing a theme. anyway, Deadly Syns is a Nuzlocke comic series about a girl named Syn who... without going into spoilers, Syn is a bit of an oddity, and the story is about her figuring out what her deal actually is and making friends along the way. if you think you know Nuzlocke comics once you've read one, think again, this comic will make you reconsider.
I’m not awake and can’t organize my thoughts, there’s so many… for now I’ll just recommend checking out the
ShortBox Comics Fair when it opens in October! I always end up buying so many lol, there’s always a lot of amazing work! (Disclaimer stuff is frequently for adults + may have difficult themes!)
Otherwise I loved
Lavender Jack when I read the first season but I’m actually way behind ha. And The Nice House on the Lake from DC is great horror/scifi
I’m not awake and can’t organize my thoughts, there’s so many… for now I’ll just recommend checking out the
ShortBox Comics Fair when it opens in October! I always end up buying so many lol, there’s always a lot of amazing work! (Disclaimer stuff is frequently for adults + may have difficult themes!)
Otherwise I loved
Lavender Jack when I read the first season but I’m actually way behind ha. And The Nice House on the Lake from DC is great horror/scifi
Omg I have so many manga recommendations I could write a book, but I'll try to keep the list short! Sorry for the bad summaries, I'm not great at summarizing things haha
D. Gray-Man by Katsura Hoshino is my all time favorite series, I'm on my fourth reread of it right now, I have Japanese volumes coming in, it's a whole thing. It's about Allen Walker, an exorcist who is trying to find these things called "innocence" before the Millenium Earl and the Clan of Noah do - they destroy the innocence and plan to destroy the world as well. Without getting too spoiler-y, Allen learns some things about himself that makes this task much harder than it appears!
Steel of the Celestial Shadows by Daruma Matsuura is also AMAZING, it's about a man who was born with the inability to touch steel of any sort. He marries a woman named Tsuki, who soon after their marriage gets kidnapped because of her gift. The story revolves around the main character trying to get her back and figure out why they want her to begin with. The art is amazing and the story is very compelling even though there are only 3 volumes out!
Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You by JINUSHI is an amazing romance about an office worker and a supermarket cashier who meet each other and smoke behind the supermarket and kind of just chat it up - my summary doesn't do it justice but as someone who normally hates romance stories this is the only one I have ever rabidly recommended to people haha. Did I mention the cashier tricks him into thinking she's a totally different person??
Ayashimon by Yuji Kaku is only 3 volumes long because it got cancelled (which I am so upset about), but it's a youkai yakuza story about a kid who has superhuman strength and joins a youkai yakuza gang to try and help retake a city from a big boss youkai who has been harming most of the youkai living there and making them live in fear. It's the same author/artist who did Hell's Paradise (another fantastic one I highly recommend for anyone interested) and his art style is very gritty which really helps with his story telling.
Laughing Under the Clouds by KARAKARAKEMURI is a 6 volume long story about 3 brothers who take care of a shrine and own a prison in the middle of a lake and make sure that the legendary story of Orochi doesn't come about again - unfortunately it does start again and the legend states that Orochi will possess someone from the shrine's family... The art for this series is absolutely gorgeous, and KARAKARAKEMURI has a gorgeous art book as well out there somewhere that I'd love to get my hands on, but alas I have not haha
I'll end it there but I could go on to list so many more! Those are just my top 5 that I don't think many people have heard of or haven't given a shot! Please try one of these out if you haven't, they're all really good (and look up better summaries if you can too bc I definitely didn't do them justice!!)
Omg I have so many manga recommendations I could write a book, but I'll try to keep the list short! Sorry for the bad summaries, I'm not great at summarizing things haha
D. Gray-Man by Katsura Hoshino is my all time favorite series, I'm on my fourth reread of it right now, I have Japanese volumes coming in, it's a whole thing. It's about Allen Walker, an exorcist who is trying to find these things called "innocence" before the Millenium Earl and the Clan of Noah do - they destroy the innocence and plan to destroy the world as well. Without getting too spoiler-y, Allen learns some things about himself that makes this task much harder than it appears!
Steel of the Celestial Shadows by Daruma Matsuura is also AMAZING, it's about a man who was born with the inability to touch steel of any sort. He marries a woman named Tsuki, who soon after their marriage gets kidnapped because of her gift. The story revolves around the main character trying to get her back and figure out why they want her to begin with. The art is amazing and the story is very compelling even though there are only 3 volumes out!
Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You by JINUSHI is an amazing romance about an office worker and a supermarket cashier who meet each other and smoke behind the supermarket and kind of just chat it up - my summary doesn't do it justice but as someone who normally hates romance stories this is the only one I have ever rabidly recommended to people haha. Did I mention the cashier tricks him into thinking she's a totally different person??
Ayashimon by Yuji Kaku is only 3 volumes long because it got cancelled (which I am so upset about), but it's a youkai yakuza story about a kid who has superhuman strength and joins a youkai yakuza gang to try and help retake a city from a big boss youkai who has been harming most of the youkai living there and making them live in fear. It's the same author/artist who did Hell's Paradise (another fantastic one I highly recommend for anyone interested) and his art style is very gritty which really helps with his story telling.
Laughing Under the Clouds by KARAKARAKEMURI is a 6 volume long story about 3 brothers who take care of a shrine and own a prison in the middle of a lake and make sure that the legendary story of Orochi doesn't come about again - unfortunately it does start again and the legend states that Orochi will possess someone from the shrine's family... The art for this series is absolutely gorgeous, and KARAKARAKEMURI has a gorgeous art book as well out there somewhere that I'd love to get my hands on, but alas I have not haha
I'll end it there but I could go on to list so many more! Those are just my top 5 that I don't think many people have heard of or haven't given a shot! Please try one of these out if you haven't, they're all really good (and look up better summaries if you can too bc I definitely didn't do them justice!!)
Kagura | She/Her | Fox Enthusiast | Mythology Lover | Artist
