Don't let these pretty faces fool you, our Fresh Friday Features contain women who know how to break bones and hearts! These warrior women know what they want and will mow down anyone in their way.
- Comic - Briar: What if Sleeping Beauty never got her happily ever after… and instead had to save herself?
- Graphic Novel - Dark Mists: Kyoto, Japan. 1936. While a shroud of impending unrest hangs over Europe, in Japan the number of Yakuza members is close to outnumbering the Japanese army.
- Manga - Circuit Champ: Grace is ready to join the world of mech combat with her homemade bot, Sydney.
- Webcomic - Kinsetsu - Kintsukuroi no Densetsu: In the Eastern Kingdom ruled by Dragons, the Kintsukuroi is a Wall that separates Peace from the darkness of the Shadowlands dominated by the Oni. Four unlikely Adventurers - Syntaris, Gun’Ghaol, Froggit, and Yuzuki - must embark on an adventure to save the Kingdom.
Briar, 137 pages - Published by BOOM! Studios, (cc/ @GCpartnerships)
What if Sleeping Beauty never got her happily ever after… and instead had to save herself? Set in a brutal fantasy world that time forgot, this isn’t the fairy tale you know!
Story and Art by Alex Lins, Christopher Cantwell, Germán García
What if Briar Rose never got her happy after? I've had this one on my reading list for some time, and I'm adding it to my pull list upon my next visit to my local shop. It's a wonderful comic with stellar art, environments, and lettering. Keeping true to an old-english feel, but still easily readable, all sorts of new creatures and species. It's a fun twist on a classic story. It's hands down my favorite comic from BOOM! Studios right now. Well done!
Dark Mists, 230 pages - Published by Markosia Enterprises, (cc/ @Markosia)
Kyoto, Japan. 1936. While a shroud of impending unrest hangs over Europe, in Japan the number of Yakuza members is close to outnumbering the Japanese army. In a government experiment, a group of geisha ladies are recruited to inform on the conversations they observe between the murderers and politicians.
Story and Art by Annika Eade, Babisu Kourtis, Lee Garbett, Yishan Li
Nobody would ever suspect such beautiful entertainers to be spies in disguise! I really adored how this artwork felt like it was screencaps from a television show mixed with clean cut ukiyo-e prints or a retro anime. I always love a good drama or mystery, and there was certainly a lot of that here. It is a tragic snapshot of some tense history, but I'll be looking forward to reading volume two over the weekend.
Circuit Champ, 23 pages - Published by Wild Hare Comics, (cc/ @WildHareComics)
Grace is ready to join the world of mech combat with her homemade bot Sydney, but she has a lot to learn if she's going to be the next champion of the Mechanized Combat Circuit.
Story and Art by Brendan Albetski, Christa Harader, John Sollitto
A gearhead with something to prove, I think Grace could be inspirational to a lot of women out there. There's something about women who take on non-traditional careers and interests especially interesting themselves. I have to wonder what got her into this sort of path, and I'm curious to see how her robot will perform. The artwork is of course wonderful, by the ever amazing Brendan Albetski, a favorite artist of mine. Between the oddball character and stellar artwork, I just had to read this one!
Kinsetsu - Kintsukuroi no Densetsu, 55 pages - Published by Kaili Comics, (cc/ @Kaili)
In the Eastern Kingdom ruled by Dragons, the Kintsukuroi is a Wall that separates Peace from the darkness of the Shadowlands dominated by the Oni. Four unlikely Adventurers - Syntaris, Gun’Ghaol, Froggit, and Yuzuki - must embark on an adventure to save the Kingdom from the corruptive and destructive power of Mahou and the mysterious threat behind it. The balance of the Kintsukuroi is at risk, the last defense against the menaces of the Shadowlands. The beginning of an epic adventure!
Story and Art by Kaili Comics
I've been following along with Kinsetsu as it has come out over the first few releases, and it always fills me with joy when I see an update in my GC notifications or a new post in the GC subreddit. The artwork is amazing and flows incredibly well in the vertical format. Based on a Pathfinder campaign, it's got an unusual origin story, but that's only more appeal for me! It's got a fun blend of cultural elements with lots of fantasy. If you like stories around campaigns, please check it out!
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 and add them to your Library for future reading!
Check out more amazing stuff from @ArtCrumbs below.
Did you get a chance to check out any of these fresh picks? If you enjoy any of these stories, don't forget to add them to your library, and share your thoughts in the comments below! You can also join our Discord server to talk with other readers and creators.