Lissa Pattillo

For many readers, the plot of Thermae Romae is more than enough to incite either a great curiosity or simply a brow arched in disbelief. This award-winning series follows Lucius, an ancient Roman bath architect who finds inspiration for his work from Japanese bathing technology and tradition via unexpected teleportation to modern day. The book […]

Known as one of the best of its kind in its native Japan, Girl Friends is the story of budding love between two female classmates. The slow burn of their relationship feels refreshing when so many love stories rush into romances with unbelievable haste. It’s a charming story of friendship, school life and social acceptance, […]

A lot can be lost when adapting from one form to another. Makoto Shinkai’s 5 Centimetres Per Second was a critically acclaimed film that took advantage of the animated medium to bring this love story to life. In turn, its comic adaptation shines in how little is lost in translation. While music is absent, the […]

Olympos is a visually engrossing graphic novel loosely inspired by Greek mythology. The narrative follows the god Apollo, here a youthful looking boy who finds his endless days full of tedium. He entertains himself by interacting with other Gods and making sport of harassing Ganymede, a beautiful young man held forever captive within an endless […]

Codename Sailor V is bound to be recognized as the precursor series to the popular Sailor Moon. The stories start off very similar—young Minako Aino meets a talking cat who gives her the ability to transform into the magic-powered Sailor V. Her mission is to defeat the forces of evil, from energy-stealing aliens to petty […]

As a genre of romanticized love between men drawn primarily by women for women, yaoi stories often lack much of a realistic stance. Only Serious About You is one of few seen in English that approaches the topic with such patience and honesty that its remaining tropes rarely distract from its merits. This first volume […]

Considered by many to be the precursor of shoujo (girls’ comics) manga today, Princess Knight is easily one of the most accessible of the late Osamu Tezuka’s work. It tells the story of a princess born with the heart of a boy and girl within her, and who is raised to be a prince in […]