When life gives you lemons, just make lemonade! For our Fresh Friday Features, we've got a wonderful selection of comics showcasing that mindset is everything! You can be bitter, or you can be better. Our choices, thoughts, and feelings can affect the outcomes of our lives, and sometimes, all it takes is a little optimism.
These characters go through those difficult and sweet times of life, and they all take on those challenges, a little differently. We hope you'll find them inspiring and even wholesome!
This week, @ArtCrumbs picked four titles with deliciously sweet and sour storylines!
- Comic - Phineus: Teen Wizard: Phineus and friends in magic school. The 80s were magical! Phin and his friends in Fourier College have a game of D&D interrupted by a hoard of undead rats and other things.
- Graphic Novel - The Burning Black: Some say the beast is a demon dog, eight-feet tall when on all-fours, with fur as black as tar. Others say its eyes burn with the white-hot flames of hell!
- Manga - HEARTLESS: A small group of people are trapped in a destroyed city surrounded by enormous crystals. The only way for them to get rations is the "packages" that are dropped by planes, rarely flying over the city.
- Webcomic - Sweet Lemon (GL): Joana isn’t that good at her job and is a little clumsy… to say the least.
Phineus: Teen Wizard, 92 pages - Published by Piffle Productions, (cc/ @Phinmagic)
Phineus and friends in magic school. The 80s were magical!
Story and Art by Piffle Productions
It hit me right in the nostalgia! It's familiar in all sorts of ways, and I just adore this type of art style! Add in paranormal creatures, an entire world to explore, and D&D?? Sign me up!
There's already plenty to read with an episodic feel as we get to know all of our characters better throughout the comic. Also, where can I get Phin's shirt? I want one. lol If you want a new edition of the old school, this is a comic for you. To be honest, I'd really love to see a trade or GN of this on my shelf someday.
Thank you for posting with us, Piffle! I really enjoyed #1, and I'm looking forward to reading the rest over the weekend!
The Burning Black, 88 pages - Published by Renegade Arts Entertainment, (cc/ @Renegade)
Some say the beast is a demon dog, eight-feet tall when on all-fours, with fur as black as tar. Others say its eyes burn with the white hot flames of hell i One of England’s most famous folk stories introduces readers to the terrifying Black Shuck, the mythic beast that inspired Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic Sherlock Holmes story, The Hound of the Baskervilles. Written by Mark Allard-Will, art by Ryan Howe and Elaine M. Will.
Story and Art by Renegade Arts Entertainment
Gotta love a good mythic beast mystery! The color scheme used at the beginning was an amazing set of colors, and introduces us to the shadowy Black Shuck. I liked seeing both the "how it came to be", some terrifying tales and stories about running into the Black Shuck. I loved how brutal it was, but I especially appreciated the history lesson in comic form at the end! I always love learning more about history and mythology!
HEARTLESS, 76 pages - Published by Petar Chakarov, (cc/ @pvchakarov)
A small group of people are trapped in a destroyed city surrounded by enormous crystals. The only way for them to get rations is the "packages" that are dropped by planes, rarely flying over the city. This wouldn't be a problem if they were the only ones that wanted to get them... Akira is a doctor trying his hardest to keep everybody alive. He and his son Ray are dead set on surviving this harsh world and one day finding a way out of this nightmare.
Story and Art by Petar Chakarov
Gritty and mysterious, this manga has a lot of potential! I was a little surprised to find that it was the creator's first attempt at a manga. I can definitely see some influence from their favorite creator, which they mentioned. Getting to know the characters in advance before all the action starts I think was a nice way to start. We see a lot of manga that jump right in immediately. This Chapter 1 has just enough to keep it exciting but isn't too overwhelming with action right away.
The art is also nice, and there's no shortage of nice backgrounds and perspective too. I think you're off to a great start Petar. Keep up the great work!
Sweet Lemon (GL), 1106 pages - Published by Red and Purple Pill, (cc/ @RED-PURPLE)
Joana isn’t that good at her job and is a little clumsy… to say the least. Now she has to work with Isabel, the most effective and professional person on the team. [Updates every Thursday]
Story and Art by Red and Purple Pill
Loving what you do, but not being very good at it has to be one of the most frustrating things. As creators, we all experience feelings of inadequacy sometimes. We've all been a Joana and have our Isabel that we aspire to be. Calm, collected, on time and seemingly perfect.
The dynamic between these two characters is subtle at first, and it's nice to slowly see trust and friendship starting between them. It's clear that Isabel inspires Joana to do better, and Isabel is giving her the space to learn. I'm curious to see how their relationship will start to get more serious, but I really like the pace so far, it's reasonable and realistic.
One other really noticeable thing, is how Joana's fear, anxiety, and disassociation is handled visually. I absolutely love that this is being shown so well visually. That's something that always is better to show than tell, and it's being done in a really easy to understand way that's a very creative solution. It's also something that I personally struggle with in my own day to day, so it's relatable. Definitely something that I can appreciate.
Great work team!
That's all for now, but we'll have another set of Fresh Friday reading recommendations next week. You can also browse through our Featured Comics news section!
Check out more amazing stuff from @ArtCrumbs below.
ArtCrumbs