In today’s ever-changing comics industry, there are two universal truths. The first one is dog man Still the defining comic of our time. The second is that more people are reading comics and online comics (also known as vertical comics) than ever before. So, we at Comics Beat are continuing our Beat’s amazing adventures. Each week we ask three authors to recommend some of their favorite books and series from Japan, Korea, and elsewhere. This week we have everyone’s favorite spy family, another tricky Alice in Wonderland retelling, and of course Yuri.
spy x family
Writer/Artist: Endo Tatsuya
Translator: Kathy Lowe
Modification Art and Lettering: Lina Mapa
design: Jimmy Pressler
edit: Amy Yu
Publisher: Visualization area
The Forges looked like an ordinary family. Ludd Fogg was the hospital’s psychiatrist. Joel Fogg works at City Hall. Their adorable pink-haired daughter Anya, with strange horns on her head, attends the prestigious Eden Academy. It’s just that each of them has a secret. Luyd is a powerful spy named Twilight, whose mission is to maintain peace between the East and the West through Operation Strix. Yul is an assassin named Princess of Thorns who possesses super strength. Anya can read thoughts. Only Anya knows everything.
Volume 1 spy x family Rated as one of the top comics that fans would like to see adapted into animation. Who can blame them? It has the perfect formula: humor, action, mystery and heart. Lloyd, Yul and Anya were all very lonely before they met. Anya underwent the experiment for who knows how long. Even though Yor has her very, very lovable brother by her side, she still finds herself questioning her purpose as an assassin. Becoming a family freed the three of them from their other selves. It helps them see the possibility of happiness with other people you care about.
I have some issues with the pacing; for example, when will Loid realize that Yor is not only incredibly powerful but might be hiding something? But I do love slice of life, and thankfully the slice of life genre is becoming more and more popular spy x family. Endo Tatsuya All the while steadily weaving an arc that moves the story forward. By interspersing slice-of-life chapters with more plot-driven chapters, it’s hard to predict what will happen next. The latest chapter is spy x family109, dropped one of the most random reveals about a key character. Since it’s published every two weeks, the wait will be excruciating. — Liang Haoying
A is for Alice
Story and Art: dark kit kat
platform: webcomics
This option popped into my head after I was talking to a friend about a new role entering the public sphere in 2025. A is for Alicethe WEBTOON CANVAS series created by dark kit kat. this took Alice in Wonderland The story begins in the present day, with Alice investigating her parents’ murder. Her search leads her to her father’s mirror.
I won’t spoil the story from there, but it blends the murder mystery genre with the fantasy elements one would expect. Alice in Wonderland story. Not that dark though American McGeeversion of the story, A is for Alice It’s equally fascinating.
PitchBlackKitKat relies on clean line art and inks with weathered textures. When paired with slightly desaturated colors, the artist depicts the other side and wonderland with dark visual tones. different from others AliceThe series also has some very creative character designs inspired by the medium, especially the humanized counterparts to the animal characters, such as the blue caterpillar and the distinctly Cheshire Cat.
My personal favorite is the humanized design of the blue caterpillar, her segmented, layered dress paired with her long blue hair, divided into large round braids, like the caterpillar’s segments. It’s subtle, but easily reinforces the characters in the book. PitchBlackKitKat also has a unique approach to text dialogue in this series, using borderless bubbles and fonts not typically used in comics. it reminds me how Rachel Smith Write her dialogue as legend of olympusbut it works well here because it matches PitchBlackKitKat’s art style.
If you like this series, you can read it on WEBTOON CANVAS. It is updated regularly and has been updated continuously since 2022. Step into another wonderland today. — Justin Guerrero
moon on rainy night
Writer/Artist: Katsushiro
Translator: Kevin Steinbach
Engraving: Jamil Stewart
edit: Andres Oliver
Publisher: Kodansha
From the moment Saki met her beautiful and mysterious classmate Ka Yin on the way to practice piano, she wanted to know more about her. But it wasn’t easy for Cuaron to do that. She’s smart, but hard of hearing, and has reason to doubt that anyone outside of her family might bother to understand her. Every day that Saki devotes herself to Karon makes her realize how much of her life she takes for granted. But she persists, and sooner or later the two of them start to change.
moon on rainy night It is a slow-paced Yuri love story with music as the theme. It’s also a story about living with a disability. Crucially, Katsushiro They aim higher than just asking “What does it feel like to be deaf?” Canon’s condition is a social turning point that complicates all of her relationships, from her abled siblings to her middle school classmates for whom she fights She did everything to escape her problems. Navigating these ever-changing trends can be as challenging as having a group conversation in a crowded restaurant, without your colleagues realizing you’re experiencing difficulty.
Katsushiro draws attractive characters but otherwise fails to stand out as an artist. Their real strength is the meticulous character work. Saki and Kanon have grown together in an incredible way throughout the series. Other characters who were initially introduced as villains were given their own specific challenges to deal with without taking away from their sharp personalities. There’s even an adult character with his own storyline, which you can’t always take for granted in a comic about high school students
Already six volumes in, I’m curious to see where the series will go next. Saki’s “kindness” hides the pain of unrequited love, and this selfishness enriches her character. Meanwhile, Cuaron herself began asking what Saki meant to her. Which of them will confess first? Regardless of the outcome, I’d say the comic more than justified its fan-favorite status. — Adam Westcott
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