Anime has only been getting bigger in recent years and a big reason for that in many cases is the source material that kicked many of the franchises off, manga. To no one’s surprise, 2024 made for a great year for manga and choosing a winner was no easy feat for ComicBook.com’s Anime Team. My Hero Academia and Jujutsu Kaisen both ended their stories this year while old manga veterans like Berserk and One Piece continued their quest to put a bow on their series. Newcomer Kagurabachi has also made a name for itself as a torch bearer for the next generation. Luckily, we were able to come to a consensus on which manga series was able to score a victory in this year’s Golden Issue Awards.
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And the winner for the 2024 ComicBook.com Golden Issue Award for Best Manga Series is…
Berserk!
Following the tragic passing of creator Kentaro Miura, it fell upon the artist’s friends in writer Kouji Mori and the artists at Studio Gaga. While the other manga series released on this list dropped on an almost weekly basis, the same certainly cannot be said for the story of Guts and the Band of the Hawk. Despite this fact, the storytelling and artwork that is inherent in Berserk shows why it takes time to forge the future of this bleak world.
At present, Berserk’s manga is neck deep in the “Eastern Exile Arc,” a storyline that sees Guts and his band of adventurers brought into the nation of Kushan. While the armies of this empire were formerly enemies of our manga heroes, all parties involved have found themselves uniting under the banner of eradicating Griffith and his new twisted take on the Band of the Hawk. Unfortunately for our heroes, the White Hawk is well aware of what is taking place within Kushan and has planned accordingly with an onslaught of demons that are making landfall in an effort to wipe the country off the map.
It wasn’t an easy choice to choose Berserk in the face of Jujutsu Kaisen and My Hero Academia’s endings, but the work of Kentaro Miura’s friends simply cannot be denied here. Using the notes and discussions they had with Miura before his untimely passing, the new creative team has been improving with each passing chapter and the latest installments have felt right at home standing amongst some of Kentaro’s best works. This fact is especially impressive considering the number of chapters are few and far between in comparison to UA Academy, Jujutsu Tech, and the Grand Line.
We would be remiss if we didn’t take the opportunity to specifically point at the artistic stylings of Studio Gaga, the artists that had previously worked with Kentaro Miura. When Berserk’s resurrection first began following the passing of the creator, Gaga had a far more “clean” and “stylish” interpretation of the manga series. In time, they have seemed to gain more confidence in bringing the Band of the Hawk’s world to life, adding some exceptional detail into the humans, demons, and their surroundings. The sheer breadth and scope of Kushan, for example, is a feast for the eyes and should be studied when it comes to how to create gorgeous surroundings in a manga.
On the writing side of the equation, the same parallels can be made for Kouji Mori. Having an overview of where Kentaro Miura wanted to go in Berserk’s future, Mori has been growing more confident in his take on this world. Guts’ current emotional crisis for example has plenty of silent air hanging across panels and Mori has been working in far more dialogue into recent chapters than the new creative team’s introduction.
Choosing Berserk here might be seen as a controversial choice in the face of the big finales of Jujutsu Kaisen and My Hero Academia but recent installments have proven why the Band of the Hawk still reigns supreme in the manga world.
The nominees for the 2024 ComicBook.com Golden Issue Award for Best Manga Series are…
- Berserk – WINNER
- Jujutsu Kaisen
- Kagurabachi
- My Hero Academia
- One Piece
