Fresh Friday Features: Turning New Leaves

Embark on an inspiring journey of personal growth and transformation with this captivating collection of comics that celebrate the joy and resilience of turning over a new leaf. These four uplifting titles will fill your heart with hope and motivate you to make the best of every new phase in life. Our Fresh Friday Feature today reminds us that every new chapter is an opportunity for growth, strength, and embracing the extraordinary within ourselves.

This week, ArtCrumbs picked four titles that they feel deserve more reads! In our line-up this week, we've got one comic from each category to give you a varied list of must-reads for your weekend!

• Comic - Gods & Snakes: A young Sproutling searches for his lost brother after a mysterious storm fell upon them.
• Graphic Novel - Cat@NET: Iago the cat moves to a new place, and explores his new neighborhood. He's soon wrapped up in a mission to save cats from strange boxes owned by humans.
• Manga - Hagane Shoujo: Join the MMA club or be expelled - That's one strange agreement, but Akane takes it head on and enters the Iron Maiden competition! Fists will fly!
• Webcomic - Tropical Undercover: An isolated pacific island, a mysterious school, a secret cult, and a hidden princess, there's a lot of weird going on, and they've just moved to the island!
   

Gods & Snakes, 41 pages - Published by qekkon, (cc/ @qekkon)

Gods&Snakes follow the story of Liam, a young Sproutling who lost his brother, after a mysterious storm fell upon them. Now he's on the search for his twin brother with the help of his new, bizarre, friend; in a world unknown to him. (tw; sensitive topics & body horror)

Story and Art by qekkon

Comments from @ArtCrumbs:

Probably some of the most stunning art that I've seen on this platform so far. The art style alone is worth checking this out for. Our story starts out with some lore, something that I really enjoyed reading and sets the tone for the rest of the story. It's sad and tragic but visually stunning and really takes advantage of the vertical format well.

We meet a lonely god and learn of their misdeeds before moving on to the present day and two little "sproutlings" reading a story. But it's no ordinary day, it's their birthday! So they head out to collect seeds for someone named "Anna". Who is this "Anna", no ordinary person, no ordinary being. I won't spoil too much, but by the end of release #2, you'll have a better feel for this world. Full of magic, mystery, giant sunflowers, and two young boys. Based on the description though, I'm curious what goes wrong, so I'm eager to read more when it's available.

Thank you so much for sharing your work with us, Qekkon! I love this series already and can't wait for more!

Cat@NET, 68 pages - Published by Cat@NET, (cc/ @Cat-at-Net)

Join Iago and his cat-gang on their adventure to find out how the cats got into the internet...! :3

Story and Art by Cat@NET

Comments from @ArtCrumbs:

How can you NOT read this one?! CATS + INTERNET is always a winning combo and this graphic novel has been on my list since it was posted. I strongly advise anyone who likes books, movies, shows, that follow lives of our pets or animals in general to watch this. I found it humorous to follow Iago as he meets street cats and learns about the mysterious boxes that humans have in their homes, boxes filled with cats?!

It put the entire "cat memes" and "cat videos" thing into perspective with the stunning artwork, including beautiful backgrounds. There's some darker side to this story, so it's not just cuteness overload. I'm not going to spoil too much of it, but some unsavory fur-starts-flying baddies lurk in the shadows. If you liked things like The Secret Life of Pets, Warrior Cats, Secret of NIMH, or Over the Garden Wall, I think you'll like this too!

Fantastic work by Cat@NET!

Hagane Shoujo - Iron Maiden, 114 pages - Published by Luso Comics Ed., (cc/ @Katsuragihoujo)

Erika Houjo was once the strongest woman in Japan. After her death, Akane is left to live with her grandparents in the slums of Tokyo, partaking in underground fights in order to make by. After a scuffle in school, she is faced with the threat of expulsion, however, she is given another chance, but only if she agrees to join the school's MMA club. In her desperate need for money, she joins the club to compete in the all-female Iron Maiden Tournament. Will she follow in her mother's footsteps... or fall in the octagon?

Story and Art by Katsuragi Houjo

Comments from @ArtCrumbs:

Schools not very fun, but this school has a club like no other. Akane Houjo lives with her grandparents who are in failing health. Desperate for cash, she fights, and she fights a lot un underground rings. It's not enough, and it's stressful. After a fight at school, she's threatened with expulsion... unless she joins the MMA club!

Akane doesn't really seem super thrilled, but once she gets a chance to prove herself, she learns she's a bit over her head and out of her depth! Lots of great action sequences, dynamic perspectives, and a classic manga feel, this is a great battle manga. I've read the first two Chapters so far and with how the last one ended (no spoilers) I'm wondering what steps Akane will take now, as it didn't really end well for her. I think that's something we don't see a lot in manga, a protagonist who fails a lot in the beginning, so epically. I think it's a good way to introduce this world of fighting, as you will win some and lose some. Clearly, Akane has her work cut out for her!

Thanks for sharing your work with us, and I'll be ready for the next update!

Tropical Undercover, 93 pages - Published by Hammer, (cc/ @hammer)

Welcome to Hazel Island, a tropical paradise governed by a university that demands all its students live there. Because of its modern campus and breathtaking tropical attractions, Hazel University is known as a "boarding resort." Of course, such luxury has a price. The place is teeming with strange people and beings. There's always something odd going on. This, however, is common on Hazel Island. The daily mayhem that occurs on its grounds is only the surface of its hidden mysteries.

Story and Art by Hammer

Comments from @ArtCrumbs:

Immediately, it's clear that this island is no ordinary island. Hazel island's strange cult is hard at work to bring in new people, new members, but can't harm the tourists. The interesting art style definitely caught my attention. I've seen a lot of artists try to do 2D art for the characters and then photos or 3D models for the backgrounds, and sometimes it looks off. However, Tropical Undercover works with this very well. The perspectives are great, it takes the effort to match lighting and other shadows; in general I can see there has been a lot of care put into this! 

Getting back to the story, a mysterious school and a creepy, and I mean -creepy- guard at the gate was amusing and unnerving. Haha Clearly this guy knows more than he is letting on and I really enjoyed seeing that interaction as a way to set the tone if that secretive cult wasn't enough for you. We also catch a glimpse of a mysterious princess and some magical floating vials. I'm definitely going to be reading more, as I only read the first two episodes. It's a good read, with a unique visual style and I think you'll enjoy it too! Great job, Hammer!

That's all for now, but we'll have another set of Fresh Friday reading recommendations next week. If you're looking for more recommendations, make sure to opt-in for our weekly reading list email! You can find that in your User Profile Notification settings. You can also browse through our Featured Comics news section!

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