Miko #[nn]

Evi Nijs brings a lush, atmospheric world to life in this 2020 release from Hanabi Publishers, where a young woman in traditional shrine-maiden robes stands poised on an arched wooden bridge, staff in hand, while a figure reaches toward her from a dense bamboo grove. Looming over the scene is a sinuous golden dragon coiled around the bridge itself, its gaze fixed and watchful — making the tension between the human characters feel all the more charged. Nijs handles both writing and art duties here, with coloring by Jop Gillissen that bathes the misty green landscape in a warm, almost dreamlike light.