Best of April 2025

All comics below are read from Right to Left.

Going forwards, highlights will be split up by the week they were published. Without any pre-fluff, let’s begin:

Week 1: Blue Box Chapter 191

Blue Box has begun the next part of its story. I was a little bitter that Eimei’s loss in the national quarterfinals happened off panel, but it did at least help set us up for yet another touching moment between Chinatsu and Taiki. As this chapter comes to a close, we see Taiki making a solo journey to the Gym; Chinatsu is a year above him, and this was her last chance to shine at Nationals for basketball. Turn to the next page however, and we can see that Chinatsu is there in the gym waiting for him, and despite the loss, she seems more content than the last time her team had lost, and wishes Taiki well.

There’s a lot that Blue Box does very right when it comes to depicting a wholesome relationship. There are obstacles that the two face. I can see the distance between Chinatsu and Taiki being the next test in the relationship; but I have a feeling this story is one where the author wants to depict them sticking with it, with the same honest optimism you may see in an action story where nothing shakes the main character’s resolve. Blue Box may not be what you’d picture as a typical shonen, but it secretly hits all the same beats.

Week 2: #DRCL Volume 4

Shin’ichi Sakamoto would make the list every time a volume of #DRCL released if all I was looking for was amazing high quality panels and consistency of quality on every page. That’s not the reason it gets a mention this month; Volume 4 focuses on the wheelchair bound student Jonathan Harker visiting Dracula, he is a student of law, but was injured to the extent of being incapable of walking (An injury given to him by his own peers). The chapter starts with his journey to the Count’s castle on the hill, a place where Dracula insists that entry must be of Jonathan’s own free will.

I should interject before going much further that I haven’t actually read Bram Stoker’s original telling, but it has given me reason to add it to the bucket list once this series is complete. I mention this, just in case it comes across as odd that I don’t mention anything about a moment's future relevance beyond the basic knowledge I have of Vampire tropes and what this series has covered so far; I also have no idea how much this story differs beyond some very basic knowledge.

This book had me glued to multiple pages and panels, from the vicious cycle that a mobius strip can represent, to the perception-altering face that is readable no matter the 180 degree rotation. Everything is both beautiful and unsettling in ways that maintain a visual poetry for every turn of the page. Dialogue is definitely doing some of the work here, but the images ensure that what isn’t possible to say, is very easy to feel as we read along.

Jonathan’s desperate charge into Dracula’s castle sees him tumble down a spiral staircase until the very sensation of up and down flips in conjunction with the prior metaphor, and so begins a journey in which escape seems impossible. I've been exceptionally careful in my choice of imagery, and have kept these mentions safe for work, but before we move on, I have to make it known that this series of books isn’t one for reading in public places or work environments. There are many scenes that while not in bad taste, depict very mature themes that are better experienced in the privacy of your own home.

Week 3: Nice Prison Chapter 1

This is the first week where I only ended up with a single entry to pick from. Most weeks I have a handful of choices and it’s genuinely tricky to choose one over another. Nice Prison doesn’t fill me with any promise that it will survive cancellation, but I at least found myself enjoying this two page, birdseye view, spread. It’s definitely something I associate more with western comics, but I do love the dioramic nature of this layout. The only critique I’d give it, is that the prisoner on the wall is supposed to be a Cicada man, and possibly due to how things are translated, it took a later comment on his behaviour for that to be in anyway clear as to what he was supposed to be other than a random guy climbing the wall.

Week 4: The Marshall King Chapter 10

Boiichi has this insane ability when it comes to detail and dynamism that I absolutely admire. The pages themselves, while they wouldn’t be possible without making full use of a digital medium, are likely inspiring the future of Shonen Jump’s publication with an equally appealing approach that respects tradition; His iconic style blends a more painted look and partial colour with striking figures, better seen in the additional spread below (and in my initial blog post on the series debut).

It’s great to see these moments enhanced, by the choice of being more traditional with the impact, yet more modern with the background treatment. The action pops out. I really do feel like we’re seeing a moment similar to that of when Toriyama made his style known to the world with Slump and Dragonball, and that we are also scratching the surface of something intensely fascinating as each chapter releases.

Final Thoughts:

I’m finally satisfied with how I approach picking noteworthy entries for these highlights. I wrote a few in advance of publication, but haven’t been very well lately, so in typical fashion I’m still publishing the round up a couple days later than I’d like. The video I’m working on for the blog is delayed, but this time it’s for potentially good news, so it’s still on the way, and is a bit more ambitious than it originally was (not to say that it wasn’t before). Either way, the video won’t be finished until July now, and I promise to talk more about why as we get closer to that date.