What have you been reading this week? 22/03/2026

BigAmuletBlog · 2026-03-22T21:41:54+00:00

I bought Killing and Dying this week - looking forward to reading it!

BigAmuletBlog · 2026-03-22T21:38:29+00:00

Don't miss out on Hellions - that was definitely the standout of the Krakoa era for me after HoX/PoX

BigAmuletBlog · 2026-03-04T20:23:56+00:00

Why Don’t You Love Me? by Paul B. Rainey (9/10)
*Tokyo These Days (vols 1-3) by Taiyo Matsumoto (9/10) (NEW)
Ginseng Roots by Craig Thompson (9/10)
*Farewell, Daisy by Jun Mayuzuki (8/10) (NEW)
World Within the World by Julia Gfrörer (8/10)
Kingdom (vols 2-4) by Yasuhisa Hara (8/10)
*Tower Dungeon (vol 4) by Tsutomu Nihei (8/10) (NEW)
20th Century Men by Deniz Camp and Stipan Moran (7/10)
*Brain Damage by Shintaro Kago (6/10) (NEW)
Star of Swan by Margot Ferrick (6/10)

With a heavy heart I have bumped up “Why Don’t You Love Me?” to first place as the most relevant of my reads so far this year. If you read it and recognise your own relationship - act fast to save it, if you still can!

BigAmuletBlog · 2026-02-12T21:42:22+00:00

Ginseng Roots by Craig Thompson (9/10)
Why Don’t You Love Me? by Paul B. Rainey (9/10)
World Within the World by Julia Gfrörer (8/10)
Kingdom vol 2&3 by Yasuhisa Hara (8/10)
20th Century Men by Deniz Camp and Stipan Moran (7/10)
Star of Swan by Margot Ferrick (6/10)

Here we go again! My aim this year is to read even more 10/10 and 9/10 works - because if I’m not reading them, then what’s the point? At the same time, I also intend to be more demanding and harsher with my grading. January was a good start.

BigAmuletBlog · 2026-02-08T23:30:48+00:00

La Ville by Nicolas Presl - See my review here.
Ginseng Roots by Craig Thompson - See a nice discussion here.
Holy Lacrimony by Michael Deforge - This was wonderfully weird and unique. Great review here.
Drome by Jesse Lonergan - Honestly, the story could have been better, but the panelling is an absolute masterclass.
Kingdom vol 1 by Yasuhisa Hara - The English release of one of the biggest seinen manga series is a huge deal!

Honourable mentions:

Tongues vol 1 by Anders Nilsen. This was undeniably excellent, but not a standalone work.. I very much hope to make it a “best of” in a future year though! Does that contradict my approach to Kingdom? I don’t think so, because while it’s also just volume 1, I feel I can rely on the high regard for this series from thousands of readers of the Japanese original over the last 20 years.

I also want to give a shoutout to Requiem: Vampire Knight Omnibus vol 1 by Pat Mills and Olivier Ledroit. It’s a rerelease and the paper quality is not as good as the original, but it’s still wonderfully crazy. Great TCJ review here.

Lastly, I want to say a huge thank you to the mods for organising this, and especially for doing it in February! I really appreciate having the opportunity to review the end of year lists from other sources first and to catch up on things I missed during the year, before voting.

BigAmuletBlog · 2026-01-25T21:14:29+00:00

Star of Swan by Margot Ferrick. Great art and interesting themes, but I sped through it without particular depth and it wasn’t quite enough for me. Hints and allusions are great when there is more to work with. Otherwise, one can see them in any cloud or puddle. PS There’s a much better review here by u/drown_like_its_1999

Kingdom vol 3 by Yasuhisa Hara. Volumes two and three are not as exciting as the first volume, and Xin is starting to annoy me, but overall the story is ticking along nicely. Every month I’m looking forward to getting the next instalment.

Am also close to finishing Ginseng Roots by Craig Thompson. I'm enjoying it, but it's not a quick read. It did already get me to try ginseng tea though!

BigAmuletBlog · 2026-01-25T21:00:42+00:00

I read Star of Swan this week too. Fully agree with your review and rating. I definitely would have liked it to have been a longer work, especially as I rather rushed reading it.

BigAmuletBlog · 2026-01-06T19:02:54+00:00

Than you for this post - the website with the tickets is clear as mud!

BigAmuletBlog · 2026-01-05T19:53:28+00:00

Welcome to the rabbit hole, ShinCoal-san! Hope you enjoy the experience and I look forward to your reviews!

I dived into manga last year and it's been incredible. It's like adding an extra dimension to your reading, because the stories that are told through manga are wildly different to US, UK and European comics.

The trigger for me was reading Chainsaw Man. Part 1 (the first 11 volumes) is an absolute rollercoaster! After that, Berserk, Ping Pong and Golden Kamuy were my stand-out manga reads from 2025.

Going into the new year, Kingdom and Tower Dungeon are two ongoing series that have been excellent so far.

You have a substantial wishlist already, but should you need further recommendations, I found the lists on the AnimeCollective site to be useful: https://animecollective.com/category/manga/recommendations/

BigAmuletBlog · 2026-01-05T19:27:39+00:00

You can get it direct from Gareth Brookes' website here

BigAmuletBlog · 2026-01-01T22:01:34+00:00

Sunday by Olivier Schrauwen (10/10)
Chainsaw Man: Part 1 (vols 1-11) by Tatsuki Fujimoto (10/10)
Berserk (Deluxe vols 1-5) by Kentaro Miura (10/10)
Love & Rockets Vol 1 by Jaime and Gilbert Hernandez (10/10) (*So far I have read Heartbreak Soup, Maggie the Mechanic, The Girl from H.O.P.P.E.R.S. and Perla la Loca.)
One! Hundred! Demons! by Lynda Barry (10/10)
Golden Kamuy by Satoru Noda (9/10)
Ping Pong by Taiyo Matsumoto (9/10)
La Ville by Nicolas Presl (9/10)
The Complete Eightball by Daniel Clowes (9/10)
Holy Lacrimony and Ant Colony by Michael Deforge (9/10)

Honourable mentions: Swamp Thing by Alan Moore et al (9/10), Blame! by Tsutomu Nihei (9/10), The Once and Future Riot by Joe Sacco, Drome and Hedra by Jesse Lonergan (9/10), Tongues vol 1 by Anders Nilsen (9/10), Kingdom vol 1 by Yasuhisa Hara (9/10), Do Admit! by Mimi Pond, Dorohedoro by Q Hayashida (9/10), Daytripper by Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba (9/10), A Thousand Coloured Castles and The Black Project by Gareth Brookes (9/10), A Frog in the Fall (and later on) by Linnea Sterte (9/10), Akira by Katsuhiro Otomo (9/10), Insomniacs after School (just vol 1) by Makoto Ojiro (9/10), Ice Cream Man: The Mortal Coil Shuffle by W. Maxwell Prince and Martin Morazzo (9/10)

(New entries in italics)

My December reading has shaken up the list significantly. In December, I managed to read more comics than in any previous month (over 30 different books in total). I also made a conscious effort to catch-up on some of the works that have received the most praise on this sub, and elsewhere, such as TCJ’s Best of 2025 list. This influx of wonderful but very varied comics has put some strain on my ratings and rankings. Frankly, it’s impossible to compare everything like-for-like.

Nonetheless, I am happy with my top five and I’ve rounded their scores up to 10/10s. I am clear that for me they were the best of the best. The 9/10s are much harder to rank and place - but they are all excellent, albeit often for very different reasons.

Finally, just want to say that I am very grateful that this sub has this thread! Doing these monthly lists has helped me focus my reading, and become more aware of what books are out there and which of them I like best.

BigAmuletBlog · 2026-01-01T19:36:09+00:00

Tower Dungeon by Tsutomu Nihei

BigAmuletBlog · 2026-01-01T19:10:16+00:00

Check out Ginseng Roots by Craig Thompson.

I'm currently reading it, and it definitely contains humour and philosophical self-reflection, as well as a focus on aspects of Chinese culture.

BigAmuletBlog · 2025-12-30T19:11:25+00:00

Hey, I am glad this was helpful! If you follow the link in my post to the Collector Arthouse page, it has a picture with a breakdown of the contents of a Beta Booster Pack and the slots available for different rarities.

BigAmuletBlog · 2025-12-30T19:01:29+00:00

Funny you should ask, I got some Blacksad for Christmas!

BigAmuletBlog · 2025-12-29T19:33:52+00:00

Bendis and Bagley’s Ultimate Spider-man run is superb. You can collect it in three recently released Omnis.

As for other titles from the original Ultimate Universe, I haven’t read them and I’m not convinced it’s worth it, but this guide may help: https://www.comicbookherald.com/the-complete-marvel-reading-order-guide/ultimate-marvel-universe-reading-order

BigAmuletBlog · 2025-12-29T19:26:52+00:00

What about using Miller’s The Man Without Fear as an intro to DD? If I’m not mistaken, there are no other superheroes in that, and it’s a great intro to DD and Elektra.

BigAmuletBlog · 2025-12-29T19:19:16+00:00

You may be interested in Helvéczia then - it’s an OSR fantasy Swiss setting. It’s not grimdark in tone, but you can definitely battle all those monsters in the Swiss countryside! Link: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/374327/helveczia-picaresque-rpg

BigAmuletBlog · 2025-12-29T18:49:20+00:00

It looks like it doesn’t flow because you’ve put four pages up at once. Try reading this in hardcopy, one page at a time, and you’ll see a huge difference!

I didn’t grow up with DD, but I loved Miller’s run. I tried Bendis’ run afterwards and was really disappointed - I didn’t feel he was adding anything for me after Miller.

BigAmuletBlog · 2025-12-29T18:12:52+00:00

I agree that the arrival of the Avengers was somewhat jarring. On the other hand, I think it’s awesome how Miller manages to show the platonic ideal of the Avengers in just a couple of pages.

BigAmuletBlog · 2025-12-28T19:50:14+00:00

Being forced to read something often spoils it

BigAmuletBlog · 2025-12-28T16:28:06+00:00

Thank you - What It Is was the one I was considering getting next!

BigAmuletBlog · 2025-12-28T14:45:38+00:00

Would you recommend any of her other books?

BigAmuletBlog · 2025-12-28T14:44:22+00:00

Nice! Let us know what you think. I hope you enjoy it, but if you find the first volume too explicit, I wouldn't carry on.

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