Our Fresh Friday Features returns dramatic, larger than life stories! Dart-throwing and crime probably aren't that safe of a mix, nor are the deep and deadly corners of space's Cosmic Drift. Then, we have an exorcist finds out the hard way that it's time to confront his past, and a playful schoolkid unleashes the cutest apocalypse ever after being late to school! There's no shortage of drama on this list!
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 - Double-Out: A Dart-Thrower with a dark past and mob affairs that comes back to haunt him.
- Graphic Novel - D.S.R Deep Space Rescue:Only the most daring souls venture into deep space to save the lost ones.
- Manga - Loksalt: A silver-haired boy and a mysterious, haunting village finally reveal their secrets.
- Webcomic - Nekobako: A mischievous child accidentally unleashes a CAT-tastrophe after being late to school (again)!
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!
Double-Out, 56 pages - Published by OP Comics, (cc/ @rhulcy)
Manga-influenced comic book about a down and out, struggling husband and father whose dream of being a professional darts player leads him down a dark path… Ultimately, losing his family and getting mixed up in mob affairs. The story revolves around this husband and father — Jin Suzuki — finding his way back from that dark place and rediscovering himself in an effort to not only win the match, but most importantly, win his family back.
Story and Art by OP Comics
Comments from @KeepingitGeekly:
Right off the rip, Double-Out brings dart throwing into a brand new light and perspective. We follow Jin Suzuki, who left his family years ago and is now trying to show them his new commitment and drive. He is stuck in a rock and a hard place as they beg for him back yet his ties with the mob forces his hand another way. One tournament is all it will take.
Hawkins took a sport next level with the aid of Maiaru and Marugo. The pencils and colors were a gorgeous combination, taking the game of darts beyond any wildest of imaginations!
2. D.S.R. Deep Space Rescue Volume no.1, 65 pages - Published by Njjstudio Comics, (cc/ @Njjstudio)
64 pages by Nate J. "Njjstudio" Vast, beautiful and dangerous; the space ways call to only the most adventurous and daring of souls. Zita a young and technologically brilliant girl is drawn to the stars by her turbulent past. While there is peace between the 3 races of space fairing mankind; dangers abound. Meteor showers, cosmic storms, exo-life forms, and cyber-pirates, mean ships are lost on a regular basis. Zita wants to change that with a new deep space rescue program: D.S.R. It's an undertaking that will push her and the crew of the Arcadia to the limit!
Story and Art by Njjstudio Comics
Comments from @KeepingitGeekly:
Our story begins long ago when mankind began space exploration and traveling the Galaxy. We witness a tragic beginning for one of our protagonist, Zita leading us to a flash forward of them examining a Course Dirft. The art and colors on this 2 page spread was just absolutely stunning, vast really went all out with the visuals of space.
Don’t let the gorgeous art work distract you through, underneath it is a new region of space, new dangers and the unexplained!! Vast created a universe that started off with a bang and surely will lead to many more surprises!
3. Loksalt, 45 pages - Published by scottyiscringe, (cc/ @scottyiscringe)
Lured into a small village that hold a great history, linked by blood, to his silver hair; Damien discovers a village of otherworldly beings and his not so great connection to them.
Story and Art by scottyiscringe
Comments from @ArtCrumbs:
Exorcisms are all in a days work, until one day, Damien finds himself on a case he never expected. The art is clean and well done, including backgrounds! Lush and full backgrounds and no mysterious white voids. As a lover of environments myself, it is so refreshing and lovely to see an immersive world within the paneling, and yet it didn't overshadow the characters at all. If anything, it added to the claustrophobic nature of a scary old hotel. I absolutely adore the covers here as well, and I simply cannot resist a good supernatural story.
On to the actual story, I appreciated the slower beginning, giving us time to see Damien's reaction to the strange offer and all of the people warning him about this strange Loksalt village. It helped make me curious to see what is up with that strange place, after all, a haunted hotel and an isolated village is bound to have interesting secrets. Damien bites off more than he can chew, and it quickly turns dangerous, but not in the way Damien expected.
I'm definitely very excited about the next update, and I'll be ready to read more! Highly recommended you keep up with this one! Keep up the great work, Scotty!
4. Nekobako-vertical, 96 pages - Published by orangeqoon, (cc/ @orangeqoon)
A schoolboy in space inadvertently destroys the world while cleaning it.
Story and Art by orangeqoon
Comments from @ArtCrumbs:
This has got to be one of my favorite comics to date on GlobalComix. I'm actually disappointed it took me so long to read it. The art is soft and playful, and incredibly vibrant, immediately I had some nostalgia for Tekkenokreet and Paprika. It's stylized and unique and full of details and bright colors. If you are a fan of individual panels that are works of art, this is definitely a comic to read simply based on the art's merit.
The story itself is as cute as it is simple. Iyo is late to school and it doesn't please her teacher after she literally crashes through the roof of the classroom! Sent off to help the custodian after a reprimand from Ms Oni, you get a glimpse into the beautiful and complex world these characters live in as Iyo travels there. However, after she starts her duties, she makes just a little mistake, opening a box that contains every cat that ever existed. A real CAT-tasrophe!
It's a concise story, beautifully drawn and fun to read. I've read it over a few times now just to look at all the details I missed the last time. Wonderful job, Orangeqoon! I can't wait to see what you do next.
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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