Demons, vampires, hell kings, magic casters, and killer cults! This week's list is webtoon*-heavy and filled with bingeable titles that will keep you on the edge of your seat!
1. Svaha: The Sixth Finger by Jae-Hyun Jang on Manta (@MantaComics)
Premiering this past Wednesday, this new occult mystery-horror series is an adaptation of the popular South Korean film of the same name from award-winning director Jae-Hyun Jang. To celebrate, Manta is hosting a "Mystery and Thriller Weekend" campaign that started yesterday and will run until the 21st. It will feature Svaha: The Sixth Finger alongside six other titles that are typically only available with a subscription to the platform, so you'll get seven titles for free during this period. Today, we'll focus on the newly released Svaha but you should definitely take advantage of this great campaign and head on over to Manta's platform.
Woongjae Park is a self-proclaimed cult-hunting pastor with a spending problem and an immense level of greed. When a suspicious new religious center known as Deer Mount makes its presence known and seemingly has connections to a mysterious murder, Woongjae sees dollar signs and makes it his new mission to take down the newcomers and cash in on his "good deeds". The more he delves into the mystery, however, the more horrors he has to face that will shake his faith forever.
All twenty-five eps. are available on the Manta app right now and MAN is it creepy and intense. This is the perfect title for fans of modern horror legend Carnby Kim's works (Sweet Home, Shotgun Boy, Bastard), as well as the incredible wave of South Korean horror films like The Wailing that have risen in popularity, and the immensely unsettling story will grab your attention and refuse to let you close the app until you finish it. If you've been dying for a new title that will really burrow under your skin, definitely jump on this title while the series is free to read!
2. Dear Door by Pluto (@PlutoDX) on TappyToon (@Tappy_Toon)
As many of you who are familiar with my reviews know, I adore this phenomenal boys' love series, so seeing that "Finale" tag at the end of ep.130 this last Tuesday evening wrecked me. Though this fan-favorite series is available on Tapas and Lezhin, TappyToon is the most up-to-date, and the long-running webtoon title wrapped with an emotional and satisfying final episode (alongside a wickedly cruel and expertly cheeky "The End...?" note). For those of you who have not read the series, here's a short synopsis. Please be warned, this is an M-Rated title and the all-ages versions are still incredibly violent and sexual, reader discretion is advised.
Kyungjoon is a police officer dealing with the untimely death of his fiancé when he's suddenly greeted by a hulking trespasser in his apartment. This monstrous beast of a man is Cain, king of the legions of hell, and he's come looking for a new "door". Demons use the power of human souls to travel back and forth between earth and hell, and their methods of doing so are far from typical. Now, Kyungjoon finds himself thrust into the middle of a war between Cain and Satan himself, as cultists and demons begin to flood the streets of the very city he's sworn to protect. You can read my review of the series here.
The finale takes place a century after ep.129, giving a heartfelt exposition by Cain as he rules hell in the new world created in the wake of the war. We see snippets of the incredible cast's lives and the new lives they found after the brutal string of action-packed episodes that preceded it. Long-time fans of the series will be immensely satisfied and the author's note about special episodes returning in early September means our favorite chaotic crew will be back before we know it, giving newer readers a chance to catch up before the special eps. start dropping, too. This is a series I cannot recommend enough for fans of dark fantasy and steamy romance.
3. Lies Within by Lacey (@byelacey) on Lies Within
This long-running urban fantasy series is the debut webcomic for Lacey and features black and white artwork with brutal pops of red, a devilishly fun and diverse cast, and all of the supernatural shenanigans you love about the genre. This immensely bingeable series currently sits just shy of 300 total pages and will hook you within the first few moments.
Lysander is basically a bum and the only person who doesn't really care about his directionless life is himself. He's perfectly fine spending his time crashing at his sister's place, getting high, and flirting with his new neighbor, Simon. When an intruder breaks into Lys' apartment, Simon comes to his rescue and reveals that monsters, vampires, and spirits are real and tired of hiding in the shadows. Worse still, Lys seems to have gotten himself possessed and the wraith is hungry for blood.
This series is ridiculously fun, with exceptional world-building set between intense moments of action and honest conversations about love, life, and the hardships of trying to find purpose. The series was slated to return from hiatus yesterday but the break was extended out to next week, meaning you have plenty of time to binge this free-to-read webcomic and get as hooked as I did.
4. A Returner's Magic Should Be Special by Wookjakga and Usanon on TappyToon and Tapas (@tapas_app)
At this point, Yen Press is becoming known for taking bold and action-packed webcomics and webtoons and adapting them for print. So, naturally, I had to feature the digital version of their newest addition to their line-up on this list. The long-running series, A Returner's Magic Should be Special by Wookjakga, based on the original novel by Usanon, recently hit shelves with vol.1 and has seen a boom in new readers because of it. The series is nearing 200 episodes on TappyToon (and about 165 eps. on Tapas) so this is a great series available to read in several places if you're looking for something new to dive into that will keep you occupied for a long while.
For the last ten years, a prodigy named Desir and his party have been fighting through the desolate Shadow Labyrinth in an attempt to stave off the end of the world. With humanity nearing its end and his own unexpected death arriving in a flash, he's suddenly sent back in time thirteen years prior to his untimely end, back before catastrophe strikes. Seeing a chance at turning the tides and changing the future, Desir decides to take the chance and hone his skills to try and save humanity.
This is another in a long line of action-packed fantasy titles hitting the mainstream with print editions, and for good reason, too. The mixture of sci-fi and fantasy elements, incredible fight sequences, and lengthy episodes makes this a great series to pick up, one that is well worth the hype. It will definitely keep you occupied for a long time and new episodes will be arriving on both digital platforms in the coming weeks so you have plenty of time to get caught up before then.
*webtoon is the term used for scrolling digital comics from South Korea, not to be confused with WEBTOON, the app.
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