Deku wants nothing more than to be a superhero, but in a world where 80% of the population have powers, he's got nothing. But when his childhood idol offers Deku the chance to continue his legacy, he finds himself enrolled in a school for heroes, a Hero Academia! This is an all-ages Japanese comic serialized in Shounen Jump, but it has a better grasp on dynamic action, memorable characters, and themes of legacy and perseverance than most superhero comics from the US. Now that the second season of the TV show is airing, it's a great time to catch up.
John Allison is the single best writer of British teens trading witticisms on the US comics scene. Giant Days unites his formidable talents with artists Lissa Treiman and (later) Max Sarin, telling the tale of three college students. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll wince in sympathy, probably. Those who enjoy might appreciate Allison's earlier webcomic, "Bad Machinery."
What is Steve Erickson's Shadowbahn? Black and white. Two towers, two parties divided. A playlist for the apocalypse. Children without a country, abandoned twins, an alternate dystopian future of our current dystopic United States. This is one of those books that aims in its three hundred odd pages to tackle the largest and most treacherous fault lines underlying the country. I can't say I understand every part of it, or that I think every scene works. But if you are what some would call a "dangerous reader" I would recommend this as a particularly dangerous book.
