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So I read a lot of comics across July and August - like a lot a lot. For some reason I got out of control and went through my giant recommendations spreadsheets I’ve been keeping since 2022 and grabbed every comic I could find at the library that was on the list. Then because most of them were long series every time I finished a volume I would immediately check out the next entry in the series. This resulted in me reading 184 comics and graphic novels from the library between June 21st and September 2nd. While I haven’t finished most of these series, I have gotten enough of a taste for them that I have a good sense of my opinion. I’m going to dole out my thoughts on as many of these comics as I can over a series of blog posts of which this is the first. Here goes!

(note - as all of these comics are manga, remember to read the text on any images right to left)

1. Blue Period



If you checked out my mini-zine I sent around in August you saw that I did a little blurb about this manga series - it’s one of my favorite discoveries from this deep dive and I can’t recommend it enough. The manga is written and illustrated by Tsubasa Yamaguchi and tells the story of a high school student who’s smart but struggles with feeling directionless. There’s a sense of someone who works hard for good grades to avoid parental disappointment but has no intrinsic motivation for schoolwork. At the start of the series this changes when he finds his attention captured by an enormous painting done by a high school senior of an angel. Like a bolt of lightning this focuses him, and he finds himself in an art class excited by what he’s working on for the first time.

The manga follows him taking art seriously for the first time, interacting with his teacher, other students, learning about technique and how to apply himself. This leads to a confrontation with the idea of pursuing art into higher education. This aspect, the story of a talented young person choosing to follow their passion when parents and guidance counselors are skeptical and recommend a more conventional path, is a key part of the manga’s appeal to me. I remember myself as a high schooler with good grades across the board but an electric pull towards writing and media. In my case I went another direction, getting a Bachelor of Science that felt like the safe path with better job prospects at the end of the road. The choice paid off (through a circuitous path). I have a good job and relative financial stability. But my passion struggled to find an outlet – this blog is part of rekindling the fire. This is a story about making the opposite choice, to stand up for passion and for the voice in your soul – and the story doesn’t sugar-coat the risk!



For our protagonist the path to art school is narrow and full of danger. His parents don’t have money, so his only way in is to succeed in the brutal exams for Tokyo’s only public art university, something that talented artists can attempt for years without success. To prepare for this exam he attends prep school (a thing I’ve heard about almost exclusively through manga – seems to be a common thing in Asia but as a kid seemed nightmarish to me – having to go to more school after school?!?! Although this art prep school seems more up my alley – I guess if it’s something you like it’s different). The art prep school forces our protagonist to think about his work from new perspectives. He confronts questions like “what is creativity”, “where do ideas come from”, “how much of great art is technique vs idea vs something else”. While these questions are all presented through the lens of a high schooler trying to stand out in a competitive exam, they weave a treatise on art and creativity itself. As someone who feels a drive to create, answering the question of what you are trying to express and how you can best communicate that ends up being more important than the technical skills beginners and non-artists fixate on. The manga takes the reader on a journey towards understanding that alongside the protagonist.



Anyway – the art is expressive and technically extremely cool. The characters are well written, have memorable designs, and provide a wide range of personalities and opinions for the protagonist to bounce off of. Side characters are regularly given that little bit of extra characterization that makes the world feel big and real without detracting from the overall story. As both the wish fulfillment of a chance to do it over again and follow your dreams, and a treatise on creativity, self-expression, and development of artistic technique, I wholeheartedly recommend Tsubasa Yamaguchi’s Blue Period.

2. Vinland Saga



Makoto Yukimura’s Vinland Saga is an action adventure epic set in the Age of Vikings. When young Thorfinn’s father is killed by mercenaries, rather than returning home to peace in Iceland, he joins up with the mercenaries to one day gain a chance to slay his father’s killer and take revenge. It’s a celebrated manga, having won many awards and it’s extremely obvious why after reading only a few chapters. The manga has incredibly detailed and expressive art with a high level of realism but also a ton of character and personality.

It’s historical fiction set in a European era of incredible violence and upheaval. Yukimura treads a fine line by showing the excitement and sensation of brutal violence but also not shying away from the grim realities of this world – slavery, sexual violence, and mass executions are all part of the life of the viking raider, and the story doesn’t sugarcoat these things (I have it on good authority that the later part of the comic is about the grown Thorfinn becoming horrified by the costs of his life as a viking and trying to find a place where people can live in peace [Vinland]).



Having read the first two volumes I can say that the extremely impressive art makes a great first impression, but the real strength of the manga is the story, both its world and its characters. Vinland Saga puts us in the time period by frequently switching viewpoints between the boisterous and war-loving Vikings and the everyday people who live in fear of their arrival. While the manga doesn’t shy away from exciting and gory violence, it doesn’t let us forget the horror of living in a world where this violence is everyday. The story is grounded in a materialist world of agriculture, commerce, and slavery and the story makes clear that Viking raiders are one piece in an elaborate context of competing forces and desires. This context makes Vinland Saga feel like it gives the reader a view into a real historical place and time instead of being just another adventure story using the past as a playground. Yukimura is a master storyteller, and he uses the historical setting to make us think about the past as a real place and what it must have been like to live there, from a range of perspectives. Big recommend from me.

3. Master Keaton

Master Keaton is a manga series illustrated by Naoki Urasawa with writing by Hokusei Katsushika, Naoki Urasawa, and Takashi Nagasaki. It tells the story of an under-employed professor of archeology who makes ends meet by acting as an expert Insurance Investigator for Lloyds of London. Sort of a combination of Sherlock Holmes and Indiana Jones (or even James Bond), the main character Taichi Hiraga-Keaton is the son of a Japanese father and English mother, and stories move back and forth between England, Japan, and the wider world as Keaton puts his archeological chops to work solving mysteries and fraud cases anywhere Lloyd’s feels his special set of skills are relevant. He deals with ex-military thugs in Greece, survives being stranded in the desert in Tunisia, and solves the mystery surrounding a respected military trainer turned suspected drug smuggler in London. He does all of this while slowly revealing details about a secret other life, where he was a top trainee in the SAS, with skills in hand-to-hand combat, improvised weaponry, and battlefield tactics. A bit of a throwback to the pulp heroes of yore in terms of skillset, Keaton breaks the mold by being emotionally vulnerable and having mixed success in his relationships. We meet his teen daughter, who he tries to connect with to mixed results, we meet his father, who he tries unsuccessfully to shame out of his womanizing, and we hear him frequently reflect on how he should call his ex-wife.



All of this is a recipe for a great series of episodic adventures – with Keaton’s wide ranging skillset the writers can jump from murder mystery to crime thriller to wilderness survival story all at the drop of a hat and Keaton never feels out of place. The stories are polished, fun, and extremely varied – you never know what kind of story you’ll find yourself in. Though other writers are involved I think this series is a great introduction to Naoki Urasawa, a cultural treasure in Japan who has written some of the most respected manga of the last 40 years. His knack for intriguing mystery plots and compelling characters stands among the best of anyone working in comics today – he’s so strong on the fundamentals of writing, reading his work reminds me a lot of the better stories of manga all time legend Osamu Tezuka (unsurprising considering I first discovered Urasawa reading his adaptation of Tezuka’s classic Astro Boy story, Pluto). Highly recommend giving these a look – the episodic nature means they are very easy to pick up and put down and so even if you only have a later volume available at your library I’d recommend just picking it up and giving it a try.



The End!!

I’ll do a part 2 for this later probably when I feel like it (maybe I’ll even drop some american comics in there) but this should tide you over for now. One last reminder that I read all these comics through my local library, and hopefully you can too.