Archives for September 2006

Queenie Chan has a great livejournal post about anthologies and how they could succeed. In the process, she discusses e-readers (a possible medium for manga anthologies) and explains why the iPod succeeded where a lot of e-media failed. She includes anecdotes of her family’s reactions to technology that I have to say correspond pretty well with mine. Go check it out.

Geez, I go away for a day and Jack turns the place into a porn-fest. Good thing I locked the liquor cabinet before I left!

There are still a few hours left in Talk Like a Pirate Day, so put yer sails to the wind and head over to ComiPress, which is talking like a pirate just for today. And while you’re there, check out the interview with the artist of Kochi-Kame

MangaCast has the new comics list, and be sure to check out the comments thread for the hottest new accessories coming to a con near you.

At Love Manga, David Taylor takes apart the manga chart. Interesting sidelights: Star Trek: The Manga makes it to number three, and a new book I really liked, Vampire Doll, debuts at number 50.

As always, ChunHyang72 finds tons of stuff worth reading on the Tokyopop blogs.

At her blog, Tokyopop editor Lillian Diaz-Pryzbyl talks about a new manga, 12 Days, which sounds interesting despite its plot:

I think the description on our website says something about a woman drinking the ashes of her dead lover in the form of smoothies, to which most readers go, “WTF?! GROSS!” And yet…it works.

Put me in the “most readers” category, but now I’m curious to see how they will pull it off.

John Jakala liked discussing Bleach with David Welsh so much that he put up some images to match the conversation.

ICv2 has some very generic comments from Viz on the recent controversy about edits to volume 8 of Fullmetal Alchemist. Tom Spurgeon critiques the response.

Blogcritics likes Mitsukazu Mihara’s Beautiful People and Oh!great’s Air Gear, and Lyle hearts Yakitate!! Ja-Pan.

Global yaoi manga publisher Yaoi Press introduces young adult yaoi.

PW Comics Week doesn’t have much on manga today, so I’ll save you the trouble of clicking and reproduce the one bit they do have:

Korean comics publisher Netcomics is launching three new online manhwa series simultaneously in English (Netcomics.com) and in Korean through eComiX.co.kr, Netcomics’ Korean afiliate. The online manhwa are June, a sci-fi thriller by Youngran Lee; 100% Perfect Girl, a romantic series by Wann; and Roureville, a fantasy drama with shonen-ai undertones by E.Hae. The online series will all launch in September. June will be available in bookstores in October and 100% Perfect Girl and Roureville will be available in bookstores in early 2007.

I won’t be around for most of tomorrow, as I’ll be working at the polls for the state primary. And if you’re a Massachusetts resident, don’t hang around reading blogs all day—go vote! As it happens, our primary day falls on September 19, which is Talk Like a Pirate Day, opening up some interesting possibilities: “Put yer mark right there, ye scurvy dog! Aaar!”

In the meantime, here are a few links to keep you going.

David Welsh devotes this week’s Flipped column to a dialogue with John Jakala about Bleach. And check David’s blog, Precocious Curmudgeon, for his review of Secret Comics Japan.

And at Sporadic Sequential, Jakala takes a page from Christopher Butcher’s book and writes an open letter to Dark Horse, chiding them for letting their schedule slip so badly.

Buzzscope gives Omukae Desu a so-so review, while Erin reads some manga for smart people.

At Icarus Comics (NSFW and damn proud of it), Simon Jones bemoans the lack of ero-manga on the Diamond top 300 and puts in his two cents on the anthology question.

New on the blogroll: Deutsche Mangaka, a blog in English about the German global manga scene, featuring translations of manga and articles. Go check it out!

And don’t forget to vote.

If you love manwha, are fluent in English and Korean, and have mad proofreading skillz—and are willing to work in Jersey City—then Netcomics has a job for you. (Via ComiPress.)

Today’s interesting AoD forum thread: Can men translate yaoi?

It’s Manga Monday at Comics-and-more, and this week Dave is reading Blood Alone and looking at two new series in Shojo Beat.

News from Go! Comi: Two new series, After School Nightmare and Night of the Beasts, are starting up at the end of September. In the meantime, if the muse strikes, check out their Cantarella-themed Poison Pen Poetry Contest. And if you like swag, subscribe to the newsletter, as they have another contest to win a Japanese Her Majesty’s Dog tote.

ICv2 looks at the three different versions of Train Man coming out this fall.

We’ve seen articles on this before, but this story about three manga that are 30 years old includes cover art and more detail about the stories themselves.

Sweatdrop Studios has two new how-to-draw-manga books coming out: Draw Manga, by the members of the studio, and Drawing Manga, by Selina Dean.

A high school reporter goes to Otakon and puts other papers to shame in an unusually well written article that includes interviews with anime and cosplay fans.

Here’s another one of those teens flock back to the library stories that mentions manga as a factor. In this case, teen attendance went up 40 percent. I like what this library, in central Pennsylvania, did, which is to set up a teen advisory board. I also think it’s interesting how often manga and graphic novels get credit for bringing kids to the library.

ComiPress has a new Backstage feature up on MangaCast, and there’s much to enjoy: Lots of background information, a handy timeline, and interviews with Ed, Jarred, and the rest of the crew. We even get a photo of Jack!

If you haven’t been to MangaCast before, you’re missing out! Check out the latest Manga Curry no Maki, the original manga talk show. (And admire their new layout.)

They might be, depending on your question. In her latest Buzzscope column, Tania del Rio looks at several problems that anthologies might solve. One is a byproduct of manga creep: There are so many titles out now that anyone with a finite income has to pick and choose, and that often means not taking a chance on a new series. Anthologies would allow the customer to sample different series before making a commitment.

Another problem is the lenthy time between releases of global manga volumes. Most manga-kas working in English take about a year to produce a volume, because they work without assistants. That slow pace keeps fans waiting and dims the excitement somewhat. Anthologies would allow them to release their work a chapter at a time.

And finally, there’s the Tokyopop “online exclusives,” which are no longer online exclusives. Tokyopop felt these books weren’t finding an audience through the traditional channels, which is a polite way to say they weren’t selling. If they were mixed into an anthology with more popular works, they might find that audience, and Tokyopop would be spared the expense of doing tankoubons for which there is no demand.

I agree with Tania. I’d like to see more manga in anthology form. And I’ll add that the fact that we get Shojo Beat has not stopped us from buying the tanks when they come out; as I correctly predicted a year ago, Viz has found a way to sell us the same book twice. As Dave Carter demonstrated earlier this week, Tokyopop seems to be releasing more low-numbered volumes per month than Viz, and thus is perceived as flooding the market. But they don’t really promote the titles much, so they’re sinking under their own weight. A proper anthology would help build an audience for them.