phrases. - The Official GlobalComix Blog

Ah, space, the final frontier! Space is so vast, exciting to explore for some, scary unknown worlds to others. Aliens, similar worlds to ours, mercenaries, and DINOSAURS?! This week's What's Trending explores 6 different comics that look to answer:

What's Out there?

1. The Adventures of Captain Orange, 144 pages - Published by Mrs. H, (cc/ @mrshilamma)

It's a scifi-adventure comic set in a futuristic Galaxy with planet-hopping ships. Characters Captain Orange travels through Space in his Güd Ship while doing odd jobs for astro-colonies on varying planets. Boldour-Fisk is the 'bot developed to ensure the safety and well-being of all crew members of...

In our last article, we covered some of the basics of Komawari and paneling for manga, such as reading direction, manga’s grid systems, sandangumi and yondangumi, gutters, the concept of rough and dense pages and misegoma, having one panel as the main focus of the page.

Today we are going to dig deeper into the less common aspects of paneling manga: the primary manga layouts, Oblique panels and Ma panels. None of these are “unique” to manga and can be used in western comics, however their use is more common in manga and can really help yours stand out from the crowd.

With that intro, let's dig in!

Basic Panel Layouts

Using the basic knowledge of the...

It's Monday and Robots have taken over GlobalComix! We've gathered some of the top Robot comics to please our new Overlords. Sync with the machine and read the latest titles in our Most Popular Last Week series:
 

1. The Blessed Machine, 135 pages - Published by Cave Pictures Publishing, (cc/ @mandi)

In the future, humanity lives underground. When Jacob is plagued by dreams that indicate the world above may be safe again, he and other insurgents search to uncover the truth, putting them in direct conflict with Djinn, the trusted machine meant to ensure their survival. Is the future of humanity in the cold, mechanical world underground? Or is there a lush...

Alright, ladies, it's our time to shine! March is Women's History Month, so for our first What's Trending article of the month, we are going to feature comics and manga with Leading Ladies. These women don't mess around!

With that, here are six titles to set Women's History Month off to a fantastic start!

1. Offtask, 490 pages - Published by Alin Laphel, (cc/ @alaphel)

Two friends are determined to make a graphic novel and fulfill a dream they had back in high school. Despite being determined, they often find themselves off task and doing an assortment of other things. Will they ever finish their story or is it just a far off dream to move on from?...

Monday is back with a vengeance with today's Most Popular Last Week! Zombies and other undead monsters fill out the list. Have you read them yet? If not, you should! Maybe it'll put their souls at ease and we can live to see another Monday!

Stay safe out there from the Undead and Unread!

1. Zombie Terrors, 135 pages - Published by Asylum Press, (cc/ @AsylumPress)

Frank Forte delivers Beheaded, a tale of a crazed hillbilly who takes trophies off of his zombie victims. In Feast, a gourmet chef is taken hostage by a greedy mob boss. In Hate, a recently turned zombie that still has some semblance of his humanity must confront what he's become.

Story and Art by Adauto...

The Arts are a part of society that tends to have its value overlooked or downplayed. If anything, the last few years have taught us how valuable they truly are to our lives. For today's What's Trending, we will be featuring comics and manga about the Arts! From painting to music to even the spiritual arts, we've got you covered!

The show must go on, so let's get right into our trending titles for this week:

1. Dead Beats, 335 pages - Published by A Wave Blue World, (cc/ @tyler)

The Dead Beats music shop is filled with deadly secrets. Run by the mysterious Shoppe Keeper, customers can browse through cursed records, evil sheet music, and instruments of the...

As we look forward to all that 2022 will bring us, one of our continued efforts is forging new bonds with creators and publishers the world over. Every new partnership means that we’re able to bring even more comics to fans around the world.

Today we are thrilled to welcome the team at Guerrilla Publishing to GlobalComix. Founded by Julio A. Guerra, Ben Miller, and Adam Farster, the trio seeks to bring underground comics to the mainstream. They publish books, comics, and graphic novels in a variety of genres that are sure to delight readers.

"We are beyond excited to join forces with Globalcomix. It is with this partnership that we are looking to expand our reach around...

Today we are excited to announce our largest update to the GlobalComix reading experience so far: Reader v4. We’re especially excited about this update because it’s heavily driven by discussions in the comics community about reading format preferences.

We have several major updates to the reader to unpack, so let’s get started.

Double-Page Reading Layout

At the heart of this update is a new reading experience on GlobalComix: Double-Page layout. This layout is especially delightful on widescreen devices like monitors, but is available to any type of device; large or small.

At times you might run into cases where the cover displays as a single page...

So what is Komawari?

Paneling for manga is done in the same spirit of western comics: creating a smooth experience for the reader. However, the thought process behind how it is done is a little different. “Koma” themselves are the panels. Komawari refers to the layout as a whole, and its flow.

From san-dangumi to wakusen there's a lot to cover. With our intro out of the way, let's get started!

Reading direction

The most notable difference between the two is the reading Direction.

Most manga does read right to left, traditionally. However, there is a movement of “Manga-inspired comics” that are in a manga style, but read left to right like...

Monday is back, like a hero dealing with a villain who won't quit. Hopefully, you aren't struggling through it. Don't you worry though, we've got a new list of features for you in today's Most Popular Last Week! This list of superheroes will save you from your Monday Blues!

Without any further delay, take a break and enjoy some Super-comics!

1. Steamroller Man, 38 pages - Published by Matthew Schofield, (cc/ @MattSchofield)

Steamroller Man is a superhero comedy about a gung-ho, happy-go-lucky hero with a huge head! Fans of The Tick, Venture Bros and the 1966 Batman TV show will enjoy this hilarious all-ages adventure, created by animation veteran...

Welcome back everyone to another What's Trending! Earlier this week we featured some hits from our Romance genre. This time, we'll be looking into comics that feature characters and stories of the LGBTQA+ communities. Love is Love, and identities of all sorts are valid.

I, Artcrumbs, am myself Aro/Non-Binary, and I want to be sure we give a voice to these comics that often get neglected throughout the comics community at large. As a Creator here and a Community Staff member, I thank the team here for ensuring that those of us in the community and our works don't get left out. I'm proud to be part of this team!

Without further delay, please give these creators and...

Is it hot in here, or is it just us? Welcome back to another Most Popular Last Week featuring, of course, the Romance genre! We've got a wonderful selection today covering all sorts of love. From wholesome fluff to pillow talk and bedroom fun, we've got you covered! Show these creators some love as thanks on this Valentine's Day!

Without any more delay, fall in love with these Romance titles!

1. BDSM Boys, 195 pages - Published by Animefanka, (cc/ @Animefanka)

Marcus hasn't been the luckiest when it comes to his love life. That is until meeting this one guy at his friend's party... Alex is cute and funny, and nice, and totally into him, and would like to see...

As Valentine's Day nears, what better way to enjoy a relaxing weekend than by gifting that special someone a full year of unlimited reading access to all comics, graphic novels, and manga on GlobalComix? For a limited time, save $20 on all GlobalComix Gold Gift Card purchases, bringing the price down to $69.99 ($89.99) for an entire year of GlobalComix Gold.

The promotion starts today, February 11th, 2022 at 12 PM EST and runs through February 15th, 2022 at 3 AM EST. Whether you're shopping for your significant other, a friend you know that loves comics, or yourself, this is a great time to get a full year of GlobalComix Gold.

To go along with the...

Who is ready for an adventure!? Steampunk is its own magical little niche in comics, and today it gets the attention it deserves! Gear heads, fine ladies and proper gents, take a peek into the mysterious and fascinating steampunk worlds we've selected for you today! Some are more dangerous than others, so watch your step!

Time's up for the intro, get lost in the world of Steampunk with these great features!

1. The Ring of the Seven Worlds, 252 pages - Published by Humanoids, (cc/ @BrunoHumanoids)

Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Action/Adventure and Manga all blend into this Steampunk saga about interconnected worlds at the mercy of an invasion. Seven planets linked to one another by...

In our last Creator Tips and Tricks article, we talked about the basics of paneling and flow. This week, we are going to dig a little deeper into this flow idea. Understanding gutters, panel layouts, and how to make your pages easier to read. A confusing page could cost you a reader, and nobody wants that!

With that introduction, let's dig into Gutters and Panel Layouts!

Looking at a standard comic page as a reader, you might not know that these pages are very carefully crafted to keep you reading. As a creator, you might know the pages take some time to plan and create. Now that we have some understanding of comic flow from our last article, visual narrative, and margins...

Our Most Popular Last Week series returns with our Teen genre! The good 'ole days of nostalgia, or is it? Teens can have just as much variety in experiences as adults. Complex and complicated moments are part of everyday life and figuring out who and what we are. Here are some of the most popular teen stories for the week of February 7th!

Take a load off and dive into the teenage nostalgia with these Teen Comics!

1. Found Faith, 115 pages - Published by Merry Fox Comics, (cc/ @bassdrumdreams)

Teen sees a ghost and goes on his spiritual journey.

Story and Art by Merry Fox Comics

2. E-Ratic, 125 pages - Published by AWA Studios, (cc/ @WillGra...

In addition to our weekly Most Popular series, we'll also be covering titles that are trending each week. Get ready for all the excitement you can handle! A mechanic dealing with demons, a criminal postman, a dark collection, the legendary sasquatch, a killer artist, and a long-dead sailor will keep you wanting more!

Without any more delay, here's what's trending for the week of February 3rd, 2022:

The Sentinel, 90 pages - Published by Renaissance Comics, (cc/ @GreenMan968)

The Sentinel tells the story of Chris Conlin, a young mechanic from Vancouver. Although Chris is known for his warm heart, he is secretly tormented by the traumas of his past. After a freak...

Another Monday, another week to read some more comics! Our Most Popular Last Week series moves forward with 6 comics featuring our Comedy Genre! Peeping walls, a devious game hall, cursed board games, space hijinks and more will help you relax and have a good laugh.

Lighten the mood on your Monday with laughs from our Comedy Comics and Manga!
 

1. Yuri Wall, 162 pages - Published by MediBang Inc., (cc/ @MediBang)

“As an outsider, I want to silently protect and watch over the love between women…,” said a Yuri fanatic that got hit by a car and reincarnated as a wall in a certain apartment! And for some reason, the residents of the apartment room are...

In addition to our weekly Most Popular series, we'll also be covering titles that are trending each week. Today we're bracing ourselves for the Action genre. Vengeful mothers, apocalyptic fights, galaxy queens, a creepy tower, missing relatives, and more stack this list with fistfuls of action.

With that intro, here's what's trending for the week of January 27th, 2022:

Omen, 30 pages - Published by Juan Muniz, (cc/ @jmuniz)

The world has changed. A set of twin moons hang in the night sky. A sinister tower looms over the city. And a cruel organization tasked with taking care of monsters known as the Omen atop it all. But for Selene, none of that compared to...

At the end of October, we had the privilege of Frank Forte participating in our Halloween content series as a guest contributor. We had an opportunity to learn more about Frank and his publishing company, Asylum Press, and we immediately knew that our community would love their comics and graphic novels.

Today we’re excited to welcome Asylum Press to GlobalComix. Founded in 1999, Frank and his team create a wide variety of titles within the horror, science fiction, and action genres, and you can read many of them right now on GlobalComix.

"I'm very excited to be working with GlobalComix to carry the Asylum Press titles. We recently came back to print publishing and...

Whether you're looking for work yourself, or building a team for your next comic or manga project, the GlobalComix Talent Marketplace is an invaluable resource to make it easier to get into the fun of creating a title. Skip the long search by utilizing its features to land role-specific jobs, or list your project to find your perfect team members.

If you want to learn more, GlobalComix's @EricTapper put together a handy video that walks you through every step of the process and options available to take your search to the next level. You can watch the video on the GlobalComix YouTube channel, or simply hit the play button below.

No matter the format we use to tell our stories, be it comics, manga, comic strips or koma, we need to understand the flow of a page. By flow, I mean panel to panel, bubble to bubble, and eventually, page to page. A good flow is very important, as it keeps the reader reading. Any type of disruption in that flow can knock the reader out of the experience and possibly cause them to stop reading. That's obviously the last thing that we want.

With that flow we need slower times and faster times, this is called pacing, or timing. You don’t want to speed through a moment that needs to be slower, but you don’t want to drag out something that isn’t interesting or...

Is it Friday yet? Yesterday was only Monday?! Let's take a break from our reality! Our Most Popular Last Week series continues with 6 comics from our Slice of Life genre! Manga makers, after school clubs, and finding that perfect burger are just some realities on this list!

Take a break from your life and take a peek into the lives of these characters!

Offtask, 463 pages - Published by Alin Laphel, (cc/ @alaphel)

Two friends are determined to make a graphic novel and fulfill a dream they had back in high school. Despite being determined, they often find themselves off task and doing an assortment of other things. Will they ever finish their story or is it just a far off...

In addition to our weekly Most Popular series, we'll also be covering titles that are trending each week. Today we've got a fresh batch of trending comics containing aliens, mercenaries, gods and the uninhabitable planets of faraway galaxies.

Blast off into some great titles with what's trending for the week of January 16th, 2022:

1. They Fell from the Sky, 136 pages - Published by Mad Cave Studios, (cc/ @chrisfernandez)

Tommy Murphy is just an ordinary kid. He goes to school, hangs out with his friends, and fanboys over his favorite TV show. But when a chance encounter in the woods thrusts him into an unlikely friendship with an otherworldly creature, he...

When we reflect on 2021, some of our fondest memories are about the new partnerships we’ve built with publishers and creators. Digital comics help break down so many barriers for both the creator and the reader. International shipping and regional distribution costs become a thing of the past, empowering creators to focus on what they do best: making amazing stories.

That’s why we’re excited to announce that Mad Cave Studios is bringing their entire catalog to GlobalComix. You’ve already seen some of their titles – like Crime’s most popular of 2021, Nottingham, and sci-fi’s hit Midnight: Task Force – but now there are even more stories...