So lets get some terminology out of the way. Antique Bakery made everyone sit up and take notice. Because however tightly you want to focus labels like yaoi, BL, ML, whatever, Antique Bakery was at the forefront of the then-exploding yaoi manga scene in 2005-2006, and Yoshinaga’s was the first book to cross over into mainstream comics and manga readership, and that makes it more notable and important than any series that could be considered a more authentic example of the genre. These people are, for my purposes, entirely wrong. Actually, a very good case could be made by hardcore fans that, despite being created by an author known for her immensely popular yaoi titles and having come up through the doujinshi circuit and having gotten her start in yaoi, Yoshinaga’s Antique Bakery isn’t yaoi at all just a male-centric shoujo romance story with a couple of gay characters. Much like Cardcaptor Sakura wasn’t the first shoujo title published in North America, nor the most popular, neither was Fumi Yoshinaga’s lovely, attractively-drawn episodic comedy/drama Antique Bakery the first yaoi title to make it to our shores or make it big. Published by Digital Manga Publishing, July 2005. Antique Bakery Volume 1, by Fumi Yoshinaga. There’s a lot of world-building (it’s set in a fantasy world), and it can also be quite philosophical at times.7. It’s pretty epic in scope, but is updated regularly, and the writing and art are both top-notch.Ĥ) Hero by Hwei. Another incredibly beautiful webcomic, though this one is much more introspective, and tells the story of a boy with no name who has lived for as long as he can remember in a small house on the beach, and his dearest wish is to see a city.

It follows the story of Pokémon White Version.ģ) Gunnerkrigg Court by Tom Siddell. The story of a girl called Annie, who attends a bizarre magical boarding school (& that may sound Harry Potter-ish, but it’s actually really, really not). I’ll admit that I actually follow quite a few Nuzlocke comics (they’re just so emotional!), but this is by far the best one I’ve come across, and the art is phenomenal.

It’s also complete, which is a bonus!Ģ) Myths of Unova by ky-nim. A Nuzlocke comic (which means it’s a novelisation of a Pokémon playthrough, but where pokémon die instead of fainting, and you can only catch the first pokémon you find in each area).

There are three different story arcs, each following a different couple (Josh & Metis, Charles & Jay, and Erik & Samuel), and while I personally like Josh & Metis’ arc the best, they’re all really well done. It’s been a while since my last Thematic Recs post, and since I’ve been reading a lot of comics and graphic novels lately, I thought I’d recommend a few of my favourite webcomics!ġ) Honeydew Syndrome by autobrig. A cute, geeky high school love story.