Comic Corner Roundup: August
Comic Corner Roundup is a bi-monthly segment that compiles mini-reviews of comics, graphic novels, and manga that I’ve read recently. Here are my reviews for August which includes otherworldly supernatural tales, horror enthusiast, and a fight against evil.
Tales of the Hundred Monsters Next Door Vol. 1 by Yoshiko Watanuki (2025)
One man’s life is forever altered when a late-night convenience store run leads him into the Yokai market. A supernatural manga series filled with ghosts, ghouls, demons, and more!
A man plagued by demons, Katagiri Jinpachi, and the curious yokai enthusiast known as “Ghost Sensei,” Harada Oriza. Bound by their connection to ‘the other side,’ their chronicle of eerie mysteries—both strange and chilling—begins here!
Review: I love supernatural themed stories and from the cover art alone this story gave me xxxHolic. That series follows a main character works a part-time job in a eerie wish-granting shop. While this series follows a book graphics designer who ends up ties to the Yokai world. Navigating his new life he struggles to learn about his new supernatural abilities while befriending the writer Oriza. The more the two work together they delve into weird mysteries filled with things lurking in the shadows.
The main plot is the stories of the ghosts featured in each tale (each one is different type of Yokai) some feel more uncanny than others, but the horror elements are done well. Not sure where this story will go going forward, but the world building and character setup are nice. I’m wondering if the characters will get more focus or if the series will just be spooky ghost stories. I think I’ll continue with this series.
Final Verdict:
Dead Girls by Beth Kubrick (Publishing Sept 2026)
In the cozy town of Clossdale, a serial killer rampages! Five girls missing in as many weeks! Bodies turning up on the forest floor! And all fingers point to one vile fiend: Ash Hargreeves.
Except Ash didn’t do it. She may be the daughter of the infamous Clossdale Killer, and these copycat killings aren’t exactly convincing proof of her innocence—and okay, she’s kind of a weirdo who has two friends total, but when the murders strike a little too close to home, Ash decides to take a stand.
With the help of her besties, Ash is going to hunt down the killer, clear her mother’s name, and stop there from being any more dead girls—now and forever. After all, WWJLCD: what would Jamie Lee Curtis do?
Review: Still in a Summerween mode, I still want some Summertime horror stories before switching into full Autumnal mode. Kubrick does a great job of playing up the tropes of a slasher horror story, but adds a lot of grit and ferocity through the main cast of characters. The story explores what makes a “final girl” and the layered meaning behind the term. This trope is usually the last remaining female character who survives the killer and lives to tell the tale. But also can be stereotyped negatively in media as she’s “not like other girls”. But Ash reclaims this term as her tenacity to solve the murders in town and to prove to herself that she is more than the victim the town labels her as.
Though terrifying at moments, and full of action packed thrills and fights, this horror story will make you laugh. It has many moments of self-awareness and tongue in cheek humor that makes the readers laugh. Though the content is darker, it’s validating to see how Ash’s learns to be more confident, rely on her found family, and fight for her future. The artwork is vibrant and matches much of the witty dialogue and nature of the characters (the foster sister and best friend were my favorite). The twists caught me off guard in the best way too! Dead Girls is entertaining and will appeal to horror fans that ask WWJLCD? (What Would Jamie Lee Curtis Do?).
Final Verdict:
The Girl Who Loved Monsters
The Girl Who Loved Monsters by Insha Fitzpatrick (July 2026)
When Charlotte Bissett discovers a creepy cool book in her school library called Liber de Monstrum, she can’t help but take it home to investigate. Horror has always brought her comfort—as long as it’s safely within the pages of a book.
That night she reads a few pages out loud before going to sleep. And the next day, some really weird things are going on in the small town of Devilfish Bay. There’s snow outside for the first time in years, Charlotte’s favorite teacher is missing, and the new substitute teacher, Miss Fell, is a little strange. She just might be a werewolf!
Charlotte’s worried she made a big mistake reading from the creepy book. She knows it’s up to her to make things right—but to do so, she’ll have to recruit her friends Molly and Griffin to help. But will they even believe her? And if they do, can this new crew of kid monster hunters actually defeat a real werewolf?
Review: If you are looking for a not-so-scary Halloween read, then The Girl Who Loved Monsters should be added to your TBR. I loved how this novel is a take on The Boy Who Cried Wolf in a sense. The main character, Charlotte, is a horror enthusiast who loves all things spooky. When she accidentally releases monsters from a mysterious book, no one believes her thinking it’s apart of her over-reactive imagination. In the process of hunting down monsters she also has to repair a broken friendship and save her town before it’s too late.
This graphic novel is a perfect cozy seasonal read for its middle grade audience and above. I love the Easter eggs of notable horror media references in the illustrations and the plot. It a story about overcoming obstacles with supernatural creatures, but also hearing from the past. Seeing Charlotte and her friends reconnect is endearing as they put on their amateur sleuth hats to hunt down a monster. The story is fast-packed, has comedic bits, and some cool action scenes that keep the story’s steady pace flowing. Most of all I loved the illustrations being so colorful and the attention to detail for the character designs and settings. It does a great job of balancing lighter moments with themes of grief, anxiety, and change. I am so looking forward to the next quest for the friends in the next Devilfish Bay book!
Final Verdict:
What comics, graphic novels or manga have you read lately? Share your thoughts in the comment section below. If you have any recommendations, feel free to share those as well.
FTC Disclaimer: Dead Girls was sent to me by Simon & Schuster Publishing and The Girl Who Loved Monsters by Penguin Random House in exchange for a fair and honest review.
