EX.Mag, Vol. 02

EX.Mag #2

by Peow Studio, Natasha Allegri (Contributor), Luis Yang (Contributor)

A genre-based comics anthology from Peow. This volume is Paranormal Romance.

Genres: Comics, Romance, Graphic Novels, Short Stories, Fantasy, Anthologies, Graphic Novels Comics

200 pages, Paperback

First published October 15, 2020

Reviews

[Keith Kavanagh · Rating 3 out of 5]

if this is a sequel to volume one, it'd be twilight
yuna and mikkel sommer's story is a clear highlight

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked almost all of the stories in here, but the two standouts for me were Jane Mai's Return to Sender and Michelle Kwon's Our House.

[Mercedes · Rating 4 out of 5]

I saw this on the shelf and couldn’t not buy it. Paranormal romances! Purple and pink art in gorgeous monochrome and duochrome colours, which is a favourite style of mine. I didn’t know anything about it, I’d never heard of EX.Mag before, but the concept of an anthology with a vampire on the front cover intrigued me immensely.

It starts out with story 1, the office fairy, which is about a production worker who is taken advantage of by her job, and an um… office fairy. The art was super cute but I just didn’t buy the romance aspect of this, it didn’t feel romantic at all. Not bad by any means but I wasn’t too invested.

Next is ex girlfriend, a fairly short story of a woman being haunted by her ex. This was a lot more morbid than I thought it was going to be and I found it a little upsetting, but the art! Simple in the best way and so fun at times.

A really strong story called return to sender came next, about a post-girl who finds a letter with no address. The romance in this was the best so far, really cute story about two people who love each other very much, separated by unfortunate circumstances. Really good art, really good story.

The fourth was a story called karate police written by 7 year old Yuna, and honestly I really appreciated it being in the middle here. I was big on writing as a kid and I love the ways kids write, so it was nice to have something amusing and simple that got straight down to business with the plot interspersed in this book.

Eros/Agape was a chapter of solely art, and it was gorgeous! Stunning to look at, I honestly can’t decide which page is my favourite. I wish more comics adopted the monochrome colouring style because it just looks fabulous.

Man in passing made me want to cry. It was so touching… it pulled on my heartstrings. It had such a unique art style and was a great combination of being cute and also kind of heartbreaking.

Lord. Occupational Hazard was an amazing story. I’m in awe. And also, I want more of it. Despite it being the longest story in the anthology, I am now addicted and need more. Kind of like our protagonist! Really interesting dynamics, cool monster designs and of course, gorgeous art being that it’s by Leslie Hung.

The penultimate story, our house, is by far the scariest. A house with a foot fetish doesn’t sound like something necessarily nightmare worthy but it definitely is. The art is funky and the story absolutely brings something new to the table where horror stories are concerned.

The last comic was a little 5 page story with no dialogue. Nice art though!

All in all I really enjoyed this. Occupational hazard was probably my favourite with return to sender coming in next. The art was really lovely in each and every story and now I want to get the other volumes!!!! That said. Very disappointed there were no vampire stories when there was a vampire on the cover :( vampires are top tier monsters.

[O.K. Stevens · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wanna own this one and I’m so sad PEOW is shutting down ;-; I loved all the stories and the various styles and it felt like, very true to the anthology form as a whole!

[Bug · Rating 5 out of 5]

i loved this one too :) the colours are so pretty !!! i honestly can’t pick a favourite this time they were all v good

[John Cherkas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely great stories throughout. The different styles of the artists each lend themselves so perfectly to each story. From jovial to haunting.

[Axolotl · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story about the mail carriers was annoying and I couldn't figure out if their postmaster was their boss or their mom, or both. Also I didn't find the plot of that one interesting. The first story with the man who becomes big with his poncho is good, I liked the romance in that one, though it was a little rushed. The story of the girl with the dead girlfriend who possesses another girl to get her back for running away from her ghostly form into a church was interesting, even if the moral was a little confusing. If there even was a moral, but either way I liked it. The story written by the 7 year old was adorable. Choo's artistic contributions were very good. The guy dating a ghost was fun, though the meaning was a little lost on me. It felt like it meant something. The horned girl who tries to possess a librarian but gets wrapped up in a mind-sexual thing was interesting, but the ending fell flat for me. I liked how the librarian just wanted to give her an experience, but it just felt a little rushed. At the end it mentioned their ease of conversation, but I never saw any of that, just mind-controlling, then sex, then the horned girl chatting with her friend about it. The one about the house that was in love with it's owner was interesting! I love the ambiguity of the shaman. The very last one meant nothing to me, way too short.

[Ruz El · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5

I blind bought this one due to it looking absolutely adorable on the shelf. I'll judge a book by the cover, I don't give a shit. That it was an anthology was a bonus. I love anthologies and they seem few and far between these days. Anyways, like all anthologies this one is a mixed bag, and some wander pretty far from the "paranormal romance" expectations you may have. That said, all the stories are pretty good. There's a large manga influence in style amongst the artists despite them being from all over the world. I like manga though so I wasn't bothered. Overall I had fun with this. I'll probably grab another volume if I spot one out in the wild.

[Rick Ray · Rating 2 out of 5]

The second volume of Peow Studio's anthology series is themed around "Paranormal Romance", with contributions from a talented array of artists. Unfortunately, most of the stories here didn't really click with me outside of a few standouts like "Man in Passing" by Yon Lee, "Occupational Hazard" by Leslie Hung and "Our House" by Michelle Kwon. The riso printing does make the artwork feel suitably pleasing, but I don't think all of the cartoonists make use of the printing style as much as they could have. Anthologies can always be a mixed bag, but I felt mostly bored by the stories in this volume.

[Jerlyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved this one sO MUCH!! the purple and pink art was so sweet and perfectly suited towards all the stories. My favourites have to be Our House (amazing. maximum wowsers never read anything like that before. I am terrified and need more immediately.) and Man in Passing (so sweet so gentle so lonely) but all of them were so wonderful and brought you to different places each time. too many talented people in this world !!! not to mention.... the abundance of queer love stories 🤩🤩🤩🤩 I love when gays do art.

[Carly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Paranormal Love is my favourite genre out of the Ex Mag series. I really like the manga fanzine style in this anthology. Though I feel that it could get a bit more creepy/scary in resonance with the theme ‘paranormal’ instead of mostly writing about being lovey dovey with a ghost.

My favourite stories are:
1) Ex Girlfriend by Luis Yang
2) Man in Passing by Yon Lee
3) Occupational Hazard by Leslie Hung
4) Our House by Michelle Kwon

[Rusteen Honardoost · Rating 2 out of 5]

For an anthology about paranormal romance, it’s not nearly horny enough. Good stories in here but you read Leslie Hung’s lesbian monster library and just want to stay in that world forever. Very excited to read in the back that she plans up explore this more.

[t · Rating 3 out of 5]

this was more queer than i thought it'd be. not all of the stories landed but i appreciated the creator lineup and the interview cards at the end (everyone's handwriting and sketches are gorgeous?). already a fan of choo's art, and found some new follows through this anthology, too.

[Cailyn Talamonti · Rating 5 out of 5]

GREAT comic anthology by some real heavy-hitters. Natasha Allegri, Yon Lee, and Michelle Kwon's were probably my favorites. Our House actually scared me and now I'm not sure if I should ever buy a house.

[Brenna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome little collection that I bought completely on impulse cuz I’ve gotten into Choo and Loic’s art lately

That haunted house story was C H I L L I N G though

[Rita · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was so much fun, so many of my favorite artists were featured!

[Mollie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5 Would've been a 3/5 but Leslie Hung came through

[frankie · Rating 4 out of 5]

i overall enjoyed this one more than the first one! michelle kwon's story was my fav

[Erik Wirfs-Brock · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kickstarted-still a lot of good cartoonists doing pretty good stories, but nothing really blew me away this issue.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

My faves were Return to Sender (Jane Mai) and Occupational Hazard (Leslie Hung) although as a whole I enjoyed them more than volume 1.

[Julian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Standouts: Natasha Allegri's The Office Fairy (weird and wonderful), Yon Lee's Man in Passing (poignant and sweet), Michelle Kwon's Our House (horrifying!!!)

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another PEOW banger.

[Mal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Silly sexy fun

[Confrog · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun, and heartbreaking. I expected romance but got heartbreak and honestly that was just as good. The monster library cut right into my brain and turned me inside out.

[Bebopally · Rating 5 out of 5]

me and who *reads next story* me and who *reads next story* me and who *reads next story* me and who *reads next story* me and who *reads next st-

[Viktorija B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A gorgeous collection of beautiful stories, although compared to the first collection in the series Vol. 02 left me wanting more in terms of variation. "The Office Fairy" was my favorite story!