Our Fresh Friday Features continue, and these stories keep you on the edge! A crime noir, a mind-shattering discovery, mysterious new powers, and never-ending battles with monsters. It's almost too much angst to handle!
Each week, KeepingitGeekly and ArtCrumbs have picked out 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 - Espresso Detective Comic: A freshly brewed Crime Nior with hints of urban fantasy.
- Graphic Novel - Plato's Cave: A classic metaphor in comic form, with strikingly colorful art.
- Manga - Amara: A girl who doesn't like the sea ends up with magical powers after an encounter with a mysterious pearl.
- Webcomic - Wandead: Wiz Wandersson meets Ursa, a delivery worker. Together, they fight back against supernatural horrors while seeking out Wiz's lost wizard colleagues.
Now that we've met our four fresh picks, let's dig into each of them! KeepingitGeekly and ArtCrumbs will provide comments about the comic and why you should read it too!
Espresso Detective Comic, 100 pages - Published by Eric Erdek - Espresso Detective Comic, (cc/ @EspressoDetective)
Sexy Noir Urban Fantasy Comic with a Kick! Detective Sanchez is back to battle depression, slavers & Lovecraftian horrors with style & espresso fueled powers
Story and Art by Eric Erdek - Espresso Detective Comic
Comments from @KeepingitGeekly:
Espresso Detective Comic starts off with a blazing introduction to Sanchez, a Private Eye from Los Angeles who has a hard time balancing giving details you want to hear and those that are a bit too deep. Right from the start, the colors and interior artwork is so visually striking it was hard not to get lost exploring the panels.
This Urban Fantasy Noir offers a twist after a trip for a simple cup of Espresso Coffee ends up with a gun pointed at Sanchez’s neck. It’s here we see Erdek’s talents as a writer pay off with Sanchez’s cool composure and swift execution of movements made to look easy, but all is not as it appears.
A hostage is killed, and Sanchez isn’t out of harm’s way quite yet! Come follow this gripping Detective Noir story over 34 pages where the action gets hotter and hotter with every bullet shot!
Plato's Cave, 14 pages - Published by Cave Pictures Publishing, (cc/ @mandi)
An adaptation of Plato's allegory of the Cave. A man chained in a cave is miraculously released and discovers that the shadows he has always thought were reality, are just a reflection of a deeper truth.
Story and Art by Jason Brubaker
Comments from @KeepingitGeekly:
Coming from Cave Pictures Publishing, Plato’s Cave is an adaptation of Plato’s “Allegory of the cave” in Graphic Novel form! Brubaker does a remarkable job with color scheme and portraying emotion within our protagonist. For being stuck within a cave, you feel every emotion show and the pains of learning the truth compared to what you’ve grown up believing.
As wild as it may sound, the pain and discomfort gets to a boiling point, in which the protagonist begs to go back to his chains to be in the darkness with his friends. The metaphors and depth hidden within this was just the icing on the cake as Brubaker takes us from the darkness into the light. Always remember, sometimes you just have to give your eyes time to adjust!
3. AMARA, 61 pages - Published by Kristan Comics, (cc/ @kristancomics)
A girl who is afraid of the sea... Gets mermaid abilities...
Story and Art by Kristan Comics
Comments from @ArtCrumbs:
Amara has a crush on Hudson, but there's one problem. He's a surfer and she's afraid of the sea! Surely he'd never fall for her? Stuck in a "forever paradise", Amara longs to travel and see a true winter and new places. Having lived in Florida and Los Angeles, I can relate to Amara on some level. I'm originally from Colorado and have lived in lots of new places, so Amara is on to something there!
The style of the artwork is nostalgic for some of my favorite Shoujo artwork, and it's so refreshing to see a manga like this. One of the other striking features of this manga is the high number of panels without borders. I think this works beautifully with the backgrounds, creative use of water and bubbles in a lot of the artwork. Another thing that caught my attention is the wonderfully diverse cast of characters. Can we have more like this, please!
As the story progresses, we see Amara at a bonfire party where she has a scary encounter with a sea monster! A mysterious pearl appears and now, her life will never be the same. I won't spoil it, but if you are a fan of a particular magical girl who loves the moon, this series is for you! I've gotta see what happens next and if Amara will ever get to talk to Hudson! Keep up the fantastic work, Kristan!
4. WANDEAD, 409 pages - Published by CoverSan, (cc/ @CoverSan)
Undead Mage Wiz Wandersson travels the post-historic world of Zodiac looking for a way to bring himself back to life. Joining him on his abnormal adventure include a social media-obsessed delivery girl, a tomboy kickass princess, and a lazy cat-kid prodigy. They encounter demons, cults, vampires, and many other fantastic threats on their journey.
Story and Art by CoverSan
Comments from @ArtCrumbs:
Job interviews are nobody's version of a good time, but Wiz Wandersson doesn't seem to mind! I fell in love immediately with this character's design and needed to know more about them. They've certainly got an interesting list of past jobs and when trouble arose wasn't afraid to step into action, and even literally leap into hell! This part of the character really intrigues me, if it's relevant to the plot or their powers.
What's even better is the reveal of the main character's true nature, which I'm not going to spoil! It's a supernatural, magic fun fest with all kinds of creatures, a well-thought-out magic system, and a deeper plot running underneathe with more magical characters foreshadowed. It's a world you can get lost in, and I look forward to exploring it.
The style is simple but effective. I love all the gradients to soften the art. The humor is witty, there are so many small easter eggs hidden in the artwork. It's so much fun, and I loved reading it over the course of this week. Can't wait to see more work from you CoverSan!
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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