Hey, everyone! It’s 8-01, a number that roughly translates to “yaoi” in Japanese, and that makes today Yaoi Day! Thanks to Otaku Champloo for pointing it out.
Kai-Ming Cha wraps up all the manga parts of SDCC at PWCW and snags an interview with manga-ka Arina Tanemura.
At MangaCast, Ed Chavez has some more followup, with commentary on the CLAMP/Dark Horse deal, the Yen Press panel, and the new titles from Fanfare and CMX.
Librarian and Eisner judge Robin Brenner had a great time at the con, and Shaenon Garrity reflects in leisure now that it’s over.
Moving right along, David Welsh looks at this week’s new comics. And when John Jakala starts thinking about manga that would make good musicals, David joins right in.
ComiPress has a juicy scoop about the demise of the Japanese manga magazine Comic Bom Bom: a manga-ka who worked with them said the editors were out of touch with the readers. There is a slight whiff of sour grapes about it, however.
The New York Magazine culture blog has a preview of Alive, a new title from Del Rey.
Julie checks out the August Previews at Manga Maniac Cafe.
ICv2 has articles up about Del Rey’s new titles and the Arina Tanemura manga that Viz just announced. They also have a brief article about the Viz Big line of omnibus manga.
Reviews: Malcolm Jones reviews Apollo’s Song for Newsweek. At Okazu, Erica Friedman reviews the classic yuri manga Claudine. Johanna Draper Carlson finds vol. 2 of Sorcerers and Secretaries doesn’t quite meet her expectations at Comics Worth Reading. At the BasuGasuBakuhatsu Anime Blog, Hung checks out vol. 1 of Junk: Record of the Last Hero. Michael Aronson reviews vol. 1 of Pretty Face at Manga Life. Phil Theobald reviews vol. 1 of Kingdom Hearts II for Newtype USA. At Prospero’s Manga, Miranda reviews vol. 2 of Good Luck and brings us up to date on vols. 4-6 of The Drifting Classroom. Firedog reviews vol. 1 of June at Manganews. At Slightly Biased Manga, Connie checks out vol. 19 of Get Backers. At his blog, Warren Peace Sings the Blues, Matt Brady enjoys vol. 4 of The Drifting Classroom and vol. 1 of Parasyte.