If You Love Manga, There Is One Comics Publisher You Need to Check Out ASAP

Manga has been and continues to be in hot demand, with the best-selling manga of 2024 selling over 6 million copies as of September 2024. However, for manga readers interested in dipping a toe into the world of comics, BOOM! Studios is the perfect publisher for them.

Founded twenty years ago, BOOM! Studios is a major player in the independent comic scene, with some of BOOM! Studios' best-selling comics including the likes of Something Is Killing the Children by James Tynion IV and Werther Dell'Edera, BRZRKR by Matt Kindt, Keanu Reeves, and Ron Garney, and Magic by Jed MacKay and Ig Guara.

BOOM! Studios also has four imprints, including BOOM! Box, which targets a young adult demographic. BOOM! Box also features plenty of comics perfect for anime and manga fans, especially if they are sports anime fans or shojo fans.

BOOM! Box Has Haikyu!! and Yuri on Ice Fans Covered with Its Sports Comics

BOOM! Box Delivers on Sports Comics (as Well as LGBTQ+ Representation)

BOOM! Box has thrived in the sports genre. Fence by C.S. Pacat and Johanna the Mad is perhaps one of the biggest sports comics from BOOM! Box, and it is often advertised as the perfect comic for fans of the recently canceled anime series Yuri on Ice, a boys-love sports anime that took the anime world by storm when it debuted. Fence, however, is not about figure skating; it is a sports-romance about fencing.

Fence is not the only sports comic from BOOM! Box, as there are plenty more for anime fans, especially those looking for more LGBTQ+ representation. The Avant-Guards by Carly Usdin and Noah Hayes is about a basketball team at an all-woman's school that is more on the artsy side, but a new transfer student may be the hope this team has been looking for. The Avant-Guards is perfect for fans of team-focused anime like Free!, Slam Dunk, and Haikyu!!.

There are even sports comics that lean more in a genre direction. In S.I.R. by Fell Hound, for instance, a woman tries to win a second chance at love through underground motorcycle jousting. I Heart Skull-Crusher by Josie Campbell and Alessia Zonno is essentially Mad Max meets rollerblading. Though it takes place in an apocalyptic world, Skull-Crusher maintains the charm of most sports anime, especially with its manga-inspired art. It also emphasizes the importance of team spirit over hollow victories. These BOOM! Box series are perfect for sports anime fans, but there are plenty of other comics for manga readers, especially shojo fans.

From Magical Girls to Slice-of-Life, BOOM! Delivers Fantastic Shojo-Like Series

Flavor Girls, Heavy Vinyl, and Ghosted In L.A. Are Perfect Comics for Shojo Fans

Shojo anime and manga typically target a teen or young-adult female demographic, which can be applied to many different genres, like the magical girl genre. For Sailor Moon fans, their next magical girl dream team is here in BOOM! Studios' Flavor Girls by Loïc Locatelli-Kournwsky, in which the titular team fights off an alien invasion in a fantastical science-fiction world. For those looking for something a bit more grounded, though, they may prefer BOOM! Box's Heavy Vinyl by Usdin, Irene Flores, and Nina Vakueva, which is about several women who work at a record store and moonlight as a vigilante fight club.

While there is action and mystery, there are plenty of slice-of-life and romance elements to Heavy Vinyl. Same with Ghosted in L.A. by Sina Grace and Siobhan Keenan, a comic about a college-aged woman moving into a home haunted by several ghosts. BOOM! Box has plenty of slice-of-life comics that blend genre and romance, as well as some just straight forward slice-of-life comics that are perfect for any shojo anime and manga fan. Whether a manga fan is looking to American comics for the first time or just wants something outside traditional superhero fare, BOOM! Studios has them covered.

All mentioned BOOM! Studios titles are available now in a variety of editions, from single issues to collections.