Happiest of Tuesdays, comics fans! And welcome back to RVA Magazine’s one-stop shop for everything comics in the river city. With GalaxyCon in the rear view mirror now, let’s settle in with some low-key favorites as we sit and pine for the next convention on our calendars.
This week is the first week of July, so naturally it feels like the hottest days of the year. Days like this I want something easy to dig into when I can’t keep my focus on much else. I figured this week while I was in a manga kind of place, we could take a step back and check out a not-so-little-known genre that doesn’t get nearly enough love and attention in comics circles anymore.
With that being said, here are the top five mangas that I am looking forward to being released in the next couple weeks.
Whenever Our Eyes Meet….: A Women’s Love Anthology, by ASCII Media Works
As we come off of Pride Month, here is a pick that keeps catching my eye. If you know nothing else about me, you should know that I love a good anthology. I love them in general, but especially when I’m sweating to death in my apartment, or if I’m baking away my vampire pallor on the beach. I love them because I can just pick them up, grab a story that catches my eye, and sling them back down. As for this one in particular: wholesome comics about girls falling in love? Let’s do it.
Tokyo Ghoul: re, Vol. 11, by Sui Ishida
Here’s a little horror for my fellow scary story nerds. Ever since I started picking back at Parasyte while on a nostalgia trip, friends of mine kept insisting that I need to check out Tokyo Ghoul. In a world where sometimes you need to fight ghosts and demons by becoming one? Sounds to me like if you love later seasons of Supernatural, this might be in your wheelhouse, too, friends.
The Promised Neverland, Vol. 9, by Kaiu Shirai and Posuka Demizu
I’ve been in a big Hayao Miyazaki place recently, and I was initially interested in this because the cover looked similar. Well, I wasn’t entirely wrong. Imagine if Miyazaki decided to go extremely dark. Children in an orphanage naturally wonder what life on the outside is like, but… will they get to see it? Alive?
Ouran High School Host Club, Vol. 1 (Anime Expo 2019 Limited Edition), by Bisco Hatori
Ouran High School Host Club is one of my favorite mangas of all time, and a prime example of what happens when the anime version is just as good as the manga. Seriously. When Haruhi accidentally breaks a vase that belongs to the Host Club, she must join to pay back her debt – as a boy. If you’re into cute, pop romance stories with gender-bent characters, then oh have I got one for you.
The Water Dragon’s Bride, Vol. 10, by Rei Toma
Like I said, I’ve been in a big Miyazaki place lately, and this pick is not that much different. Asahi goes from being a normal girl in her normal world (naturally), and gets sucked into the land of the Water Dragon. While lending her his powers so that she can fight evil, his entire being is threatened. Will he make it? Tune in next week.
Captain America Invaders Bahamas Triangle #1, by Roy Thomas and Jerry Ordway
Okay, so no this is not a manga, but did you really think I was going to skip giving you a Captain America recommendation, on this the eve of America’s Birthday? Come on, now. Picture it: March 1941. Captain America is assigned to protect President Roosevelt while on a fishing trip to the Bahamas. Naturally hijinks abound. Patriotic hijinks, of course!
That wraps up our very low-key, post-GalaxyCon edition of this week’s Manga… er, Comics X-Change, friends. What are your go to summer reads? Are you an anthology person or a graphic novel person?
Until next time!
