Our Fresh Friday Features returns with a set of professionals and has-beens with big goals and big dreams. Some are recovering from the past to return to former glory. Some are at the top only to fall. Each of these are professionals in their own right, or were, so what will become of them?
This week, Ben and Shane Comic Book Squares 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 - Prospects: What if two rival mad scientists discovered the secrets to immortality and forced it upon a small town … and everyone was excited about it?
- Graphic Novel - Arks: If you enjoy sci-fi like James S.A Cory’s “The Expanse” books or David Weber’s Safehold series, and the show “Raised by Wolves,” you’ll love “Arks.”
- Manga - Nobody's Business: Hana is a humble girl who just wants to help people. An orphan, she does her best, but it never seems to be good enough. She volunteers to pray at the dragon’s temple to ask for their blessing.
- Webcomic - Ebisu: Fishermen tell tall tales about their ventures and their catches. “It was this big, I swear!” Being someone who has fished a large majority of my life, “Ebisu” really brought up a lot of nostalgic feelings, at least until things got a little… mythical!
Now that we've met our four fresh picks, let's dig into each of them! Today, Ben and Shane Comic Book Squares and ArtCrumbs will provide comments about the comic and why you should read it too!
PROSPECTS, 81 pages - Published by Band of Bards Comics, (cc/ @BandofBards)
Maxwell Majernik and Jean Franco present: Prospects, a 9 issue mini-series! The town of Ridgeville has been stuck in the middle of a 150 year old battle between two mad scientists, and former colleagues, Edwin Grabowski and Victor Farsimov.
Story and Art by Band of Bards Comics
Comments from Ben @Comic Book Squares:
What if two rival mad scientists discovered the secrets to immortality and forced it upon a small town … and everyone was excited about it?
That’s the premise of “Prospects,” a nine-issue miniseries that follows two very different characters who have one thing in common – they both want the heck out of this crazy town! It’s Twilight Zone meets Adult Swim, with some families celebrating their loved ones going missing while other folks drink “brown Russians” (chocolate milk and vodka) in their grandma’s basement to escape their dystopian reality. And just when you think you know where the story is going, a mysterious figure arrives to challenge the status quo!
There’s a Cartoon Network aesthetic to the artwork, which definitely works here. It plays into the humor, but also allows for creepier scenes a la “Courage the Cowardly Dog.” They’re only three issues into the series, and I can’t wait to read more.
ARKS, 147 pages - Published by ARKS, (cc/ @ClickyW)
Arks is the story of two planetary engineers, Joseph and Lilith, who are booted by bacteria onto a terraformed world orbiting a distant star. To their horror, they discover that the process may have accidentally turned the entire planet into a bomb. As the last surviving humans, Arks, they have a terrible decision to make. Do they try to survive in this brutal world or do they do the unthinkable and euthanize the species?
Story and Art by ARKS
Comments from Ben @Comic Book Squares:
If you enjoy sci-fi like James S.A Cory’s “The Expanse” books or David Weber’s Safehold series, and the show “Raised by Wolves,” you’ll love “Arks.”
In the distant future, people have figured out how to encode bacteria with the DNA of animals, plants and humans. We use this technology to try to terraform and colonize distant “Goldilocks” planets. But when two scientists are awoken to see if everything is working, they find out things are NOT going according to plan.
Series writer R.J. Collins uses real-world theories and research to build the detailed science of this world, to the point where you ask yourself, “Why aren’t we already working on this?” But at the same time, he injects religious symbolism and mythology into the mix to address the frailty of the human mind, gender roles, and the ethics of colonization.
The artwork starts out more like Martin Simmonds’ work on “The Department of Truth” or Liam Sharpe’s work on “Starhenge” – both of which I love. By the third book, though, the artwork gets less dreamlike without losing any of its impact. There are some truly beautiful and grotesque images that I won’t soon forget. Don’t pass up this series!
Nobody's Business, 115 pages - Published by IlliacCrest, (cc/ @Illiaccrest)
A temple to an ancient dragon, a girl alone, a land corrupted, and learning how to keep living.
Story and Art by IlliacCrest
Comments from @ArtCrumbs:
From Orphan to Martial arts master, little Hana is surely to keep surprising us! Absolutely had a blast reading Nobody’s Business. The artwork is clean and easy to read. Its style is beautiful and great use of values. Not shy on the backgrounds either! Overall very well done.
Hana is a humble girl who just wants to help people. An orphan, she does her best, but it never seems to be good enough. She volunteers to pray at the dragon’s temple to ask for their blessing. She’s befriended by a mysterious ferret and a quiet ghost. Over the next 4 years, they train in martial arts and make the temple beautiful again.
One day mysterious masked men appear and life will never be the same for Hana, the “ferret” or our ghost. I won’t spoil too much, but it’s very much worth your read. I highly recommend this manga to anyone who loves anything supernatural. I got a little Inuyasha, Outlaw Star, and YuYu Hakusho type vibes from this story in very pleasant ways. It feel nostalgic and I eagerly await the next update! Keep up the great work, IlliacCrest!
Ebisu, 38 pages - Published by Miskae Comics, (cc/ @MiskaeCouriers)
Tomorrow's the twentieth anniversary of Good Fortune, a celebration in which the citizens of Akkarby are blessed with the short arrival of the sought-after rainbowfin tuna. Now struggling in his twilight years, Ebisu regales the story of how these fish originally came to be, after his terrifying and fateful encounter with a fabled white squid.
Story and Art by Miskae Comics
Comments from @ArtCrumbs:
Fishermen tell tall tales about their ventures and their catches. “It was this big, I swear!” Being someone who has fished a large majority of my life, “Ebisu” really brought up a lot of nostalgic feelings, at least until things got a little… mythical! Beautiful cover, fantastic coloring, and a good story. I read all the releases so far in one sitting, and I’m sure you’ll like it too! So what is Ebisu about?
We start with meeting an older Ebisu, sitting with a young Freya, trying to coax, and eventually bribe her to eat. Her mother is unwell, and it’s the eve of a very special day, the 20th anniversary of the day the Rainbow Tuna and White squid appeared! Ebisu offers to share the story of how the Rainbow Tuna appeared and his adventures with Freya’s grandfather, Njord.
I won’t spoil much more, but this is where the real story begins! The strife of a town after war, loss, poverty, and even hope, and Njord had sunk all his money into a new boat. Dragging experienced fisherman Ebisu along, things don’t quite go as planned. Release #14, the most recent upload at time of writing, is a real cliffhanger, and I’m eagerly waiting for the next update! Wonderful work, Miskae Courier Comics Team!
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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