Jared started reading comics in earnest in late middle school/early high school when he found out that you could get collections of them at the library and read them for free. This was later compounded by learning that there was a comic book store called “Comicopia” near his high school that stocked superhero comics and indie books and manga and all sorts of neat stuff. Really, he had no choice but to commit himself to the medium then and there. He also like weird movies, semi-obscure music, and having too many hobbies at the same time, and if he let him he will tell you about all of it in appalling detail.
Act Age Vol. 1 by Tatsuya Matsuki & Shiro Usazaki (Translated by Camellia Nieh, lettered by Eve Grandt, and edited by John Bae)
Kei Yonagi is high school girl raising her two younger siblings while trying to break into the world of acting. While Kei has immense raw talent and a knack for tapping into her own experiences to inform her performances (i.e. method acting), her odd behavior makes her a difficult fit for Japan’s film industry. However, noted film director Sumiji Kuroyama see what she could be and takes her under his wing. Can Sumiji help Kei find success or will she prove too wild to make it in mainstream cinema? Act Age is a fascinating glimpse into the world of acting and Matsuki and Usazaki make the explanations of Kei’s acting both visually and dramatically interesting. This has been one of the sleeper hits in Shonen Jump for the past few years and is well worth picking up for its unique subject matter and interesting and funny character interactions.
Killadelphia Vol. 1: Sins of the Father by Rodney Barnes, Jason Shawn Alexander, Luis Nct, & Marshall Dillon
When James Sangster Jr. comes home to Philadelphia to bury his father, a cop who died while investigating a mysterious series of murders, he expects to attend the funeral and go home. He did not expect to read his father’s journal and learn that these killings appear to have been committed by a group of vampires living in Philadelphia and apparently led by John Adams, 2nd President of the United States and 1st President of Vampires. Bolstered by exceptional art from Alexander and Dillion, Killadelphia expertly weaves together a tale rooted in both the vampire lore we all know and love and the very real contemporary politics that black Americans face every day. Timely and fantastic and well worth every minute of your time.
Comicopia 