Heya!! Is anybody reading any manga?
Got any recommendations?
I'm constantly reading something, whether that be manga, manhwa or independent comics of some sort.
I'd love to just have a thread full of people talking about what they've loved reading recently or perhaps if there's an active serialized series still going strong.
As someone who's been reading One Piece since it first hit the shores of the US, it's difficult to find people who've actually bothered reading it up until the latest chapter just due to the sheer size of it all.
i read - and re-read! - a lot of manga. i have the shonen jump app on my ipad and it's been a rly comfy way to read in bed or anywhere that's not my desk, rly. they keep increasing the subscription price however so it's getting dangerously close to being unreasonable to me...
recently i've re-read and caught up with Kaiji (https://mangadex.org/title/805973c7-1c02-4cdd-a9c8-6a98dd0e203a/gambling-apocalypse-kaiji-kaiji-part-1) by Nobuyuki Fukumoto and i still love it to bits!! i used to be rly into the series somth like 13 years ago along with a group of online friends. it's always been a difficult serie to recommend - i think the artstyle itself puts a lot of people off. to me it has this... boldness to it, and it rly fits the theme of Fukumoto's stories. it's certainly a nerve-wracking/stress-inducing serie however, ahah.
i think the main appeal for me is that the payoffs are always huge and i'm always super curious to see how kaiji will get out (or not get out) of the very dire situations he ends up in. he is truly one of the characters of all time™. i want him to flourish and get over his gambling addiction so bad...!
on a more indie side of things, i'm excited to read more of a webcomic called Anniversary (https://anniversarycomic.neocities.org/) by Elle Shivers (https://elleshivers.com/), it only has the prologue out at the moment but i'm eager to know more, the window into the story made me super curious and it looks absolutely fantastic.
is there any genre you're partial to, since you're asking for recommendations?
i also love comics!!! im not a like super mega nerd like marvel stans or shounen buffs but the ones i like i really like.
my fav indie comic right now is Bark Bark Girl (https://michaelfurler.itch.io/bark-bark-girl) , it takes my favorite parts of digital art with the aggressively pixelated lines and retro textures, and combines it with interesting panel compositions. like it has INCREDIBLY strong creative voice.
(https://img.itch.zone/aW1hZ2UvMjY4NzM3OC8xNjAyMDUzNS5qcGc=/original/LR6hFW.jpg)
i actually own a hardcover copy! i won't spoil it more than the storepage already will, but the artstyle is extremely emotive, and the paneling decisions stay creative! it's not just some bog standard shit, this is a story created by somebody who lives on their computer and is going to think non-traditionally about the page layout! i also love the minimal pallet, the bright green pops of color give it just the right amount of silly to take the edge off of the plot. its a great read! he also has other comics on his itch.io page but for me nothing beats this one.
and a webcomic you absolutely must must read if u haven't already is kill six billion demons (https://killsixbilliondemons.com/comic/kill-six-billion-demons-chapter-1/), it's a long running epic that i think is close to wrapping up its final arc. if you love comics where theres ten bijillion things on the screen this is it this is where its at.
(https://killsixbilliondemons.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/ksbd33.jpg)
read about your average white college student spelunking through the spirit realm with her situationships. it also has a refreshingly eastern influence for a fantasy story that a lot of ppl should take a nod from, it doesn't always have to be swords and wizards and dragons sometimes its about fkn idk, cosmic dharma and some 99 palm karate bullshit. there will also be story-breaks where the author will share in universe parables which i find super fun and further explore the world in a unique way, and don't dodge the comment section! half the fun about reading this comic is reading some guy role-playing in the comments called "37 empty cups on a spinning top" write a haiku about how this is actually about like predetermination.
and while im literally fucking jumping in my seat to recommend homestuck im actually going to pull a fast one and recommend homestucks little sister comic problem sleuth (https://mspa.chadthundercock.com/problem-sleuth) , reading problem sleuth is like watching the first awkward fumbling of a newborn baby before it becomes fully sentient. theres much less reading but the sense of humor and general quantum entangled bullshit is still the same, you can knock it out in a few days and if you enjoy reading it,,,, THEN i'd say its worth reading homestuck LMAOOO.
real quick honorable mentions list of webcomics i've enjoyed over the years.
- Paranatural (https://www.paranatural.net/comic/chapter-1) - imagine jujutsu kaisen but at mildly underfunded suburban middle school(?) where the teacher was reigen arataka instead. it has some great slapstick comedy, down to earth character writing, and what goes from someones soulful first steps to a polished and super cute artstyle! ...that we unfortunately don't get to see as often these days as the creator has mostly needed to switch to a storybook w/illustrations format due to ongoing health issues. but the story is great!
- Stand Still Stay Silent (https://sssscomic.com/comic.php?page=1) - goop zombies have infected the entire world and the only places that have remains unscathed are like, upper europe because its cold as all hell there. some years in the future a team goes on an expedition into goop zombie land to start make sense of it all. horror, mystery, a good amount of spiritualism that i usually don't see in zombie media. and it's 100% completed if thats a factor for you!
- Ava's Demon (https://avasdemon.com/pages.php#0001) - 1 page 1 panel style webcomic with occasional 'flash animations' that are now youtube embeds. about just your average depressed teenage girl whose bonded to the ghost of a galactic warlord baddie, and then they go on a space adventure due to several shenanigans. i haven't kept up with the plot in a good long while but the character designs in it are a banger.
- Romantically Apocalyptic (https://tapas.io/episode/817808) - a sort of photo-bashed comic about this guy who meets his manic-pixie-nuclear-fallout-survivor-bff . it's been so long i remember absolutely fucking nothing about the plot but i remember really enjoying it. it used to be on a self hosted site which you can still find on internet archive but it looks like they've since moved to hosting on tapas and webtoons.
- Superpose (https://superpose.superposecomic.com/comic/arc-i-prologue-01/) - this comic has good background art and a great sense of vibes, im going to be completely transparent its mostly about queers in stem crashing out and then going 2 the beach to crash out, and then theres like a sideplot of quantum level bullshit science but its mostly about the crashing out. the artist has since made separate projects like the solar system (https://superpose.itch.io/the-solar-system) and birth of the sun (https://birthofthesun.mov/bots/?pg=1#showComic/) which i think look GREAT. and they also do a-lot of great queer leather drawings that i will need in my house @ some point.
a great way in general to learn about different indie comic artists is through the shortbox comics fair (https://www.shortboxcomicsfair.com/) that happens every year in october, i forgot to buy the comics i wanted to get last year and it literally haunts me every month because theres no way to purchase them ever again most of the time!!! i also found a lot of longrunning comics through hiveworks (https://hiveworkscomics.com/hiatus) (like stand still stay silent & paranatural) but most of my favs are either finished or havent been updated in ten thousand years.
as to normal comics, one i always come back to is beauty (https://nbmpub.com/products/beauty), a classic monkeys paw kind of story that follows our main protaganist as she proceeds to girl-flop her way up the plot. its deff a mature story but its got a good sense of drama and comedy; not to mention the art is super clean. the artist also worked on two other comics 'beautiful darkness' and 'satania' (which is impossible to get a copy of i swear to god!!!) that i really enjoyed. its a great light read that i've gone over a few times, and i had one of the panels as my phone wallpaper at a certain point LMAO.
and manga-wise one you should absolutely one hundo percent read is golden kamuy (https://www.viz.com/shonenjump/chapters/golden-kamuy), (it's where c's signature is from!) the artstyle is great and has so many funny expressions, and the artist does a lot of research into ainu culture, and thereby educating a lot of people who i think wouldn't have known anything about the topic otherwise. myself included! (i'm actually hoping 2 make a DIY golden kamuy zine focusing on the ainu @ some point, but thats a project for future kringle)Quote from: krzchn「c」 on Mar 11, 2026, 02:07 PMon a more indie side of things, i'm excited to read more of a webcomic called Anniversary (https://anniversarycomic.neocities.org/) by Elle Shivers (https://elleshivers.com/), it only has the prologue out at the moment but i'm eager to know more, the window into the story made me super curious and it looks absolutely fantastic.
oooo i'm checking this out right now and i super dig the vibe!! consider me alert and interested. my gander-orbs are gandering!!
edit: upon meditation it's not really indie but you should also read hellboy if you haven't read the main hellboy series yet, please its worth it for hellboy in hell hellboy in hell is so GOOD
Hello I am also loves webcomics. Sorry ashanti i know you wanted to talk about manga. i think ive already told you you should read Mob Psycho 100. its the only manga i care about. but what if webcomics?
I 100% second Kringle's rec for Kill Six Billion Demons. incredible art incredible story. added bonus its an isekai so basically you have to read it now.
Paranatural is also one of my big favorites!!! Been reading it since at least 2014. I unfortunately fell off when it switched formats because the long pages were too much to read at a glance, but it still holds a special place in my heart.
As for my own favorites... oh boy.
- Snarlbear (https://www.snarlbear.com/index.php?id=1) - ISEKAI AGAIN!! Girl falls into a silly magical world and becomes an overpowered monster killing machine. but what if... killing monsters.... makes her a monster......... This one is finished (rare) and i find the story and the message to be very charming.
- Tiger Tiger (https://www.tigertigercomic.com/) - Can't praise this one enough. Beautiful hand inked pages. Weird girl obsessed with sea sponges steals her brother's ship, discovers lesbianism, wins the heart of her brother's crush, and keeps an ancient apocalyptic deity as a pet.
- Kings Of Sorts (https://kingsofsorts.com/comic/episode-13-page-15/?sid=128) - Sprawling magical adventure where the protagonists are all traumatized as hell but trying to be nicies anyways. Really cool blend of sci-fi and fantasy elements.
- Vainglorious (https://www.vaingloriouscomic.com/) - Breathtaking art from page one. Naughty dragon gets turned human for his hubris and collects friends on a quest to regain his...dragonmanity?
- Soil That Binds Us (https://soilthatbindsus.com/)- A really cool comic with a very unique art style! The veil between life and death is torn and it turns kids into freaks! thank god they have a very humane facility to put the children in. (it is not humane)
Also I am maybe biased because they host my comic, but SpiderForest (https://www.spiderforest.com/) is a comics collective that hosts lots more cool and up and coming webcomics! I've found a lot of my new favorites there. But then I started reading like 20 comics at once and got overwhelmed and stopped reading almost everything... oops.
Quote from: jude on Mar 16, 2026, 02:27 AMHello I am also loves webcomics. Sorry ashanti i know you wanted to talk about manga.
Webcomics work too! I love those as well.
I need to go through these and reply properly, I've been way too busy the last few days.
Quote from: krzchn「c」 on Mar 11, 2026, 02:07 PMrecently i've re-read and caught up with Kaiji (https://mangadex.org/title/805973c7-1c02-4cdd-a9c8-6a98dd0e203a/gambling-apocalypse-kaiji-kaiji-part-1) by Nobuyuki Fukumoto
Was Kaiji the manga where the first chapter is the mc going into a gambling hall and plays mahjong? I think I've read a little bit of that before, but the mangaka's art style is just iconic. I feel like those I'd love to read in physical form over online, sort of like how I prefer reading the manga Lone Wolf and Cub (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lone_Wolf_and_Cub) over online.
Quote from: krzchn「c」 on Mar 11, 2026, 02:07 PMon a more indie side of things, i'm excited to read more of a webcomic called Anniversary (https://anniversarycomic.neocities.org/) by Elle Shivers (https://elleshivers.com/),
This looks art looks delectable, I'll definitely give this a read in the morning.
Honestly as for genres, I read pretty much anything and everything. The issue is that most of the manga I've been seeing lately have been isekais and it's been difficult finding a lot of good gems in media. I've explored a little of the independent comic book scene through image, topcow and so on, but even my exposure to webtoons are usually dungeon related or video games.
I really love fantasy, but slice of life with more adult themes are always a yes please, like Real Clothes (https://myanimelist.net/manga/14700/Real_Clothes).
Quote from: kringle on Mar 12, 2026, 05:48 AMand a webcomic you absolutely must must read if u haven't already is kill six billion demons (https://killsixbilliondemons.com/comic/kill-six-billion-demons-chapter-1/), it's a long running epic that i think is close to wrapping up its final arc. if you love comics where theres ten bijillion things on the screen this is it this is where its at.
Funny you should recommend this.
Take a look what I have in my shelf.
I'll definitely binge through those webtoons, thank you! I feel like a lot of the really juicy comics out there are usually hidden away on obscure websites that only those in the artist's fan base would know about. Like I remember seeing that cute gamer cat webcomic that would come out periodically, but since I never knew the name of it, I'd only ever see it if there was a strip popular enough to invade my feed.