Busy Monday

I have two new interviews up on webcomics sites today: At Comix Talk, I interview rem, the winner of Kodansha’s international manga competition, and Eijiro Shimada, the editor of Morning 2, which sponsored the competition and published the manga. (rem is also the artist of Tokyopop’s Vampire Kisses.) And at Digital Strips, I talk to Scott Yoshinaga and Audra Furuichi, the creators of the super-cute webcomic nemu*nemu.

And great minds think alike, apparently, as Kanta Ishida of The Star of Malaysia also interviewed rem and Mr. Shimada about the Morning 2 competition, as well as runner-up Lim Hwei Lin and some promising local talent.

Yaoi Press is sponsoring a contest at Yaoi Suki: Guess the name of the new YP line, and you could win five of their new books.

David Welsh notices a good translation and wonders if there is an index of translators and adaptors on the web.

At the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Jason Yadao looks at two new publishers, Aurora and Yen Press, and samples their new releases.

Purity Brown draws a line in the sand: If it isn’t Japanese, it isn’t manga. I don’t agree with her, but her arguments are well reasoned and well written, and they provide some food for thought.

You know how comics and manga are supposed to be good for reluctant readers? Manga Mom finds that fansubs work pretty well too. Also: Prioritizing the manga list.

Apparently thinking “If the Japanese can do it, we can too,” China is trying to take Angouleme by storm, with their own pavilion and a dedicated “China day.” The linked article has some interesting background on manhua. (Via ComiPress.)

ComiPress also has the latest from Japan: Toranoana’s Top 200 books of 2007 and new magazines from Kodansha and Ichijinsha. Apparently the market for 4-koma manga is boundless. Who knew?

Culinary corner: One Potato Two sings the praises of natto.

Your manga oddity of the day: Courtesy of Same Hat! Same Hat!!, stripe-loving horror manga-ka Kazuo Umezu gets his glitz on and channels Paul Anka.

Reviews: Johanna Draper Carlson has a good critique of vol. 1 of Hell Girlf up at Comics Worth Reading. At the MangaCast, Ed has an audio review of vol. 1 of Appleseed and vol. 11 of Nodame Cantabile, BrianP reviews Blue Spring and Mangamaniac checks out King of Debt. Back at the Manga Maniac Cafe, Julie reads vol. 9 of Tail of the Moon, vol. 3 of Muhyo & Roji’s Bureau of Supernatural Investigation, and vol. 1 of The Knockout Makers. Lissa Pattillo finds vol. 1 of Twin Signal a bit blah for older readers at Kuriosity, and at Manga Jouhou she reviews Ordinary Crush. Connie reviews vol. 9 of Boys Be…, Demon Ororon: Complete Collection, vol. 6 of Elemental Gelade, vol. 5 of Skip Beat, and vol. 4 of Moon Child at Slightly Biased Manga. Tangognat enjoys the Arina Tanemura one-shot I.O.N. Billy Aguiar reviews vol. 1 of Dark Metro at CBGXtra. Michelle reads vol. 1 of Maison Ikkoku, vol. 22 of Bleach, and vol. 1 of Skip Beat! at Soliloquy in Blue. Deb Aoki does the math but finds Y Square lacks the chemistry at About.com. Erica Friedman gives a standing ovation to vol. 4 of Applause at Okazu. How does Holly Ellingwood do it? She has four reviews up at Active Anime today: Family Complex, Love Share, The King of Debt, and the novel The Dark Wars: The Tale of Meiji Dracula. Matthew Brady checks out vol. 5 of Monster at Warren Peace Sings the Blues. At Comic Mix, Andrew Wheeler reviews three tales of sex and death: vol. 1 of Sundome, vol. 1 of Y Square, and vol. 1 of Hell Girl. (Via Journalista.) Tiamat’s Disciple looks at vols. 1 and 2 of Imadoki. At Blogcritics, Katie McNeill reviews vol. 1 of Doors of Chaos. Sarah of Nakama Britannica reviews Del Rey’s new titles. At The Star of Malaysia, Kitty Sensei reviews vol. 1 of Noise and Pauline Wong checks out vol. 1 of Zig*Zag.

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