Zainab Akhtar

Has Scarlett Johansson’s Ghost in the Shell made you manga curious? For the uninitiated, here are absolutely crucial titles from the Japanese-comics movement that you need to dig into. Plus, if you’re looking for the New York City's top comics shops, we’ve got you covered, too.  Cross Game (2005–10)         Despite all its futuristic trappings that come with the art form, manga excels at capturing unaffected wholesomeness. Mitsuru Adachi’s masterpiece follows the relationship between an aspiring young baseball player and four sisters who run the local batting cages. The first book has a killer 360-degree plot twist we swear you won’t see coming. Helter Skelter (1995–96)   You’ll be hard-pressed to find a more cutting critique of the intense social regimentation of women’s appearances than Kyoko Okazaki’s tale of a supermodel prepared to go to extreme lengths to preserve her success. Note the sharp, angular lines, which parallel themes of beauty and pain throughout the series.  Parasyte (1988–95)   In Hitoshi Iwaaki’s epic, a stealth alien takeover is underway on Earth, and things go awry when one of the parasitic creatures designed to take host in a human’s brain instead resides in high schooler Shinichi Izumi’s arm. High jinks ensue as the two are forced to get along in this contemplative tale, which builds to a surprising denouement. Pluto (2003–09)   Naoki Urasawa is considered a manga god, with a keen ability to pair exemplary cartooning with heart-wrenching explorati