All throughout July we’re crowdsourcing an Extra Eisners Reading List from comics journalists and critics. Each weekday throughout the month, we’ll post a new pick we would have liked to have seen nominated for an Eisner. There are so many great comics, it’s impossible for the Eisners to recognize them all. This list is to honor and diversify the pool of work praised by the industry.

Today’s pick comes from Avery Kaplan, features editor at The Beat…enjoy!

Castle Swimmer by Wendy Lian Martin is sure to take your breath away, and not just because it’s set in an underwater world: from the incredibly expressive characters to the incredible colors to the gorgeous seascape settings, this Webtoon series offers readers the opportunity to fully immerse themselves.

One layer of the story is about destiny: Beacon, the golden-scaled mer who is the subject of ancient prophesy, is (literally and bodily) yanked from one site to the next by the call of fate. However, Beacon isn’t so lucky as to find release from the  restrictive tether of fate once he’s fulfilled the prophesy: thanks to the fact that every fish kingdom under the sea seems to have their own prophesy, all of them involving the Beacon, he’s soon being yanked to his next “destiny.”

So by the time Beacon is dragged to the Shark Kingdom, he’s pretty tired of fulfilling prophesies. But the citizens of the Shark Kingdom are desperate: their kingdom has long been cursed, and the majority of them are covered in the wounds and scars to prove it. According to their prophecy, the only way to end their people’s suffering is with the blood of the Beacon, and their prince must be the one to draw it.

But fulfillment of the prophecy may not be so simple, as when Prince Siren and the Beacon lock eyes for the first time, the two young mermen immediately fall in love.

Castle Swimmer is a beautiful, gorgeous comic, filled with laugh out loud dialogue and characters that will inevitably win the reader over in just a few panels. But perhaps the most significant accomplishment of the series is the fully realized underwater world. 

Both conceptually and visually, Martin has constructed arresting aquatic kingdoms that you must see for yourself. Oceanic inspiration is perfectly paired with the scrolling motion that defines the Webtoon format to create the suggestion of movement, giving the reader the sense that they’re swimming through the underwater landscape alongside the characters.

Castle Swimmer is the sort of comic that will occasionally cause you to gasp out loud, which can garner unwanted attention when reading in public. But after reading a few episodes of this irresistible Webtoon, any concern will sink away: let people stare all they want, this fish stuff is simply too good to care. -Avery Kaplan

Avery Kaplan is the features editor for The Beat.

Castle Swimmer
Writer/Artist: Wendy Lian Martin
What happens when your entire life is ruled by a prophecy – your future foretold by people you’ve never met, who died long before you were born. Such is the story of two young sea creatures. One believed to be a guiding light for his people, a Beacon who will lead them to a bright, prosperous future. The other is a teenage prince for who’s destiny is to KILL the Beacon so that HIS own people might thrive. When both reject the course set for them, it leads to a raucous adventure as big and unpredictable as the ocean itself – and a romance that nobody could have predicted.
Read It Online: Castle Swimmer on Webtoons

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