MISC. MANGA, *Lucky Penny

What most might dismiss as a gender flipped Scott Pilgrim, they would be surprised to discover it is a fresh take on the idea of a hapless loser in love. Lucky Penny by Yuko Ota and Ananth Hirsch is a gaggle of geek references and realistic shenanigans presented in a manga-styled graphic novel. The major difference between this and Scott Pilgrim is being a more tangible story showing the struggles of a youngster just trying to make a living despite their meager skills and education.

Penny is a lackadaisical young woman who gets fired from her failing retail job and loses her apartment at the exact same time. Her friend Helen helps her out by letting her live in her storage facility as well as getting a job at her family's laundromat singularly managed by her moody younger brother David. Penny charms a gym employee Walter so she can use the showers for free, but the two of them begin to bond over their love of tabletop games. Penny's notices their seems to be a conspiracy going on with a gang of wandering pre-teens grifting the neighborhood which leads to a seriously secret ending culminating into the comic's equivalent of a boss fight from a video game.

Lucky Penny isn't specifically geared towards otaku, but it is drawn and executed in the manner of mange storytelling. It's a straightforward slice of life comedy with larger than life characters and how embarrassing a budding young romance can be.