In our Fresh Friday Features this week, these four indie comics illuminate the theme of fighting for the right to live life on your terms. We'll read about courageous characters who defy societal norms, challenge oppressive systems, and embrace the pursuit of personal freedom.
This week, @ArtCrumbs picked four titles that'll give you a peek into the ordinary lives that maybe aren't so ordinary anymore!
- Comic - Graveneye: Isla’s house has seen its share of blood, horror, and the depths of the human soul, cursed with sentience.
- Graphic Novel - Journee: Ex-SWAT officer Lyssa starts a new job in personal security where she is tasked with protecting a young girl... until Lyssa discovers the girl is actually a captive!
- Manga - Kitty Kitty Bang Bang: Kitty is just your average teenage girl, balancing school life with her personal life in sunny Orange County. Except there’s something different about her. Well, maybe two. The first is her cat ears and tail, all thanks to a family curse long thought to be a ruse.
- Webcomic - The Quarter Circle: Xue Lai is the heir to a multi-million dollar conglomerate. To ensure he becomes a worthy successor he must study diligently. Or at least he would... If he actually felt like it.
Graveneye, 171 pages - Published by TKO Studios, (cc/ @MeganChristopher)
Isla’s house has seen its share of blood, horror, and the depths of the human soul. Cursed with sentience, it is destined to observe the horrors that lurk inside each and every one of us. What if a haunted house was not the horror -- but the people who dwell within it…
Story and Art by Anna Bowles and Sloane Leong
Watching the slow spiral of a loved one is one of the most difficult things that you can go through. There is a sense of helplessness that you experience that's just torture. The unique perspective of the house in this story was a really intriguing read. The House's view is the same as the reader's view in most ways, other than the house being privy to information that we, as the reader, are not.
Spot color (or limited color), is one of my favorite formats, so I'm all for this. When it's red in particular, it's the best in my opinion, the stories this house has, the stories it can tell... That's what this comic is about. Some of them were quite sad, some horrific, it makes me wonder what my house would tell about me! The art itself is harsh but soft at the same time, its watercolor texturing with the loose inking style fits perfectly. The panels are often rough and edges unclean, it adds to the horror of the stories the house narrates. Almost as if the voice of the house is scared too!
Each story is unique, and there's so many of them! It's a real joy to read. I've only read the first two, and I have it bookmarked for some weekend reading, all nearly 200 pages! It's a hefty horror book, great work team!
Journee, 86 pages - Published by Nobody Archives, (cc/ @NobodyArchives)
Ex-SWAT officer Lyssa starts a new job in personal security where she is tasked with protecting a young girl. When Lyssa discovers the girl is actually a captive, she puts her job and life on the line to help her escape. Little does Lyssa know the girl has a secret that could change everything.
Story and Art by Adam Hodge and Luke Horsman
What if you could wake up one day smarter than before? Or maybe you'd be unlucky enough to wake up less intelligent? I love the premise immediately from the first issue, as well as the limited color. It's a fascinating concept, as just in the first issue, expectation and reality have been turned upside down. I love the character design, the clean black and white art with the occasional spot of color. I'm excited to continue reading the other 2 issues that are up at time of posting this.
Nice work team! I can't wait to see what trouble "Girl" gets into next!
Kitty Kitty Bang Bang, 58 pages - Published by MoeAlmighty, (cc/ @moealmighty)
Kitty is just your average teenage girl, balancing school life with her personal life in sunny Orange County. Except there’s something different about her. Well, maybe two. The first is her cat ears and tail, all thanks to a family curse long thought to be a ruse. The other is her job as a Bounty Killer, a freelance hunter of men. KKBB follows the action pack adventures of out cat eared heroine as she faces against hordes of criminals, doing whatever it takes to get a hefty reward.
Story and Art by MoeAlmighty
An absolute hidden gem of the platform. It's wild and fun and chaotic energy mixed with fur-flying comedic action! Kitty is a wonderful main character and I love her energy. The artwork itself is wonderful as well, combined with dynamic lettering it's a fantastic manga. I really enjoyed reading the battle in the first chapter. It evolved enough along the way that it didn't feel tired, lots of unexpected surprises too!
The other thing that was a nice touch was the reality of fighting being brought to light. Characters don't usually have to deal with the consequences of their fights, especially the damage done around them. It's great to see that, even if it's a more subtle detail. I love seeing it.
I can't wait to read the story of the second bounty and those to come!
The Quarter Circle, 144 pages - Published by DyanomicArts, (cc/ @Dyanomic)
Xue Lai is the heir to a multi-million dollar conglomerate. To ensure he becomes a worthy successor he must study diligently. Or at least he would... If he actually felt like it. After getting kicked out for being a disappointment, he decides to take a detour to the local seedy casino where he plays fighting games for the first time in a long time and others with the same interest. Now all he can think about is winning
Story and Art by DyanomicArts
Beginners luck, everyone experiences it at some point, either on the winner's or losers, end. Can you imagine it changing your life, though? Stepping into a gaming arena with no experience and winning against one of the best players in the country? Our hero Xue Lai throws everything away to live his own life as he sees fit and happens upon a game, a single round that changes his life.
The vertical format is very dynamic and flows well! Vertical is a tougher format for me to read personally, but I had no trouble at all with this one. I love how the artwork style changes for in game to make it very clear what's reality and what is game. Additionally, the actions and SFX of each character's player is color coded to make it clearer to the reader who is doing what and when. That's a great solution!
The snark and energy of the main character is palpable and I'm curious to see where his new "career" takes him! Awesome work DyanomicArts!
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!
Check out more amazing stuff from @ArtCrumbs below.
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