Archives for October 2008

I’m not including any art with this post, and the press release below the cut is totally SFW, so go ahead and read it, because it’s wicked funny. And thanks for the shout-out to us long-suffering Mac users, Simon!

COMIC AG DIGITAL NOW AVAILABLE ON DRIVETHRUCOMICS.COM
Website Promises Uncensored Hentai, Actually Delivers

Denver, Colorado, October 25th 2008 – Icarus Publishing, the largest purveyor of Japanese ero manga by weight in North America, has entered into an agreement with e-publishing pioneer DriveThruComics (drivethrucomics.com) to distribute Comic AG Digital, the online adult manga anthology.

“Icarus Publishing is always exploring fresh ways to deliver the best hentai to the English-speaking market, and DriveThruComics gives us a wonderful opportunity to expose ourselves to the greater mainstream,” says Executive Publisher Simon Jones. “We’ve conducted an exhaustive review of all e-comic distribution services, and it is my firm conclusion that DriveThruComics is the only site manly enough to handle our blistering catalog of sexy Japanese manga action™. All the other e-content sites are too wimpy to dare caress our hotness. Yeah, you know the ones I’m talking about.”

With the addition of Comic AG Digital to its online offerings, DriveThruComics gains instant credibility among the legion of online hentai fans. “Every issue of Comic AG Digital features work from the biggest names in the world of manga today. Creators such as Yamatogawa, Yumisuke Kotoyoshi, Yuzuki N’, Syowmaru… these guys are all well-known among scanlation downloaders, rippers, and scallywags of the high seas,” explains Second Assistant to Editor in Chief, Simon Jones. “By practically giving away such a superb magazine – surely, one would expect to pay $5, possibly even $10 dollars a month for a print periodical of comparable quality – DriveThruComics should see a huge surge in interest from the lucrative ‘college student with kickass broadband connection but allegedly little money to spend’ demographic. Which, according to our own scientific research, is 92.8% of the entire internet user base.”

Simon Jones, Associate Manager of Public Relations, adds: “We are enamored with DriveThruComics’ easy-to-use interface and secure, browser-based file transfer. Finally, this should put an end to all those whiny e-mails from Apple owners about not being able to use Bittorrent.”

The visibly distraught Jones continues, “damn those Mac users and their ultra-thin MacBook Airs integrating the latest hi-tech amenities such as powerful nVidia graphics, fast 802.11n Wi-Fi, and solid state hard drives with completely silent operation. They make me so angry.”

All issues of Comic AG Digital, including the latest issue #3, are immediately available at DriveThruComics.com for a trifling price of two quarters – or what a fighting game used to cost at the arcades a long, long time ago. Future issues will be released at DriveThruComics first, with a one-month exclusivity period.

Rod McKie takes a hard-boiled look at Billy Bat. It’s funny and he throws in lots of scans.

At Comics212, Christopher Butcher wonders what it means that Yen Press was folded into sci-fi imprint Orbit but notes that the Haruhi manga and Yen+ are selling well in his store.

Erica Friedman rounds up the week in yuri at Okazu.

John Thomas goes all out and comes up with 13 horror manga for Halloween at Mecha Mecha Media. And Lissa Pattillo has more spooky suggestions at Kuriousity.

Bill Randall is blogging at The Hooded Utilitarian now, and he’s already looking forward to Top Shelf’s English edition of the alternative manga anthology AX—and considering which manga should be included.

Tokyo Damage Report interviews the translators of Yokai Attack (via Same Hat).

Reviews: Joe McCulloch starts out our week with a lengthy review of Solanin at Jog – The Blog, and Christopher Butcher begs to differ at Comics212. Katherine Dacey reviews the deluxe hardcover edition of vol. 1 of Black Jack at Manga Recon. Kate also points us to Comic Book Club’s video reviews of Papillon and Genshiken. At Completely Futile, Adam Stephanides’ initial enthusiasm about Usumaru Furuya’s art book Flowers is dampened by the book itself, which is not what he expected. Johanna Draper Carlson reads Quest for the Missing Girl and posts short reviews of some new Del Rey manga at Comics Worth Reading. At ComicMix, Andrew Wheeler posts his take on three recent volume 2s: Kieli, Croquis Pop, and Shoulder-a-Coffin Kuro. Lissa Pattillo reviews vol. 5 of The Antique Gift Shop and vol. 3 of Dark Prince at Kuriousity. Clive Owen looks at vol. 2 of Gun Blaze West at Animanga Nation. Lori Henderson reviews vol. 4 of Yumekui Kenbun: Nightmare Inspector at Comics Village. Julie gives her take on Passionate Theory at MangaCast and vol. 9 of Beauty Pop and vol. 3 of The Yagyu Ninja Scrolls: Revenge of the Hori Clan at the Manga Maniac Cafe. D.M. Evans checks out vol. 3 of Zombie Loan and Snow Wildsmith reads A Love Song for the Miserable at Manga Jouhou. Greg McElhatton reviews Disappearance Diary at Read About Comics. Tangognat wasn’t bowled over by vol. 1 of Shinobi Life but she’s curious enough to want to read more. Erica Friedman reads something a little different, Bijine! Beat Punk Generation, at Okazu. Michelle Smith checks in with reviews of vols. 2, 3, 4, and 5 of Ghost Hunt at Soliloquy in Blue.

We mentioned earlier that the manga magazine Morning Two will be offering three issues online for free. It’s only in Japanese, but it gives overseas readers the opportunity to take a look at some ground-breaking manga for free. Yukari Shiina has been kind enough to translate the page linked to below, which includes information on the schedule and why they are doing this, so read on and enjoy!

Why do we give you an opportunity to read Morning Two for free?
http://kc.kodansha.co.jp/SEP/22226/01/free/index.html
Dear everyone,

It’s been two years since we launched Morning Two. It’s still just two years old, but it has been very well received more than we had imagined before we launched. We, however, have heard people’s complaints that it is difficult to find the magazine in bookstores or convenience stores where you can easily find many manga magazines here in Japan. In the meantime, the sales of the paperbacks (tankoubon) into which the series of Morning Two are compiled are dozens of times bigger than the circulation of the magazine itself.

We are proud of our manga in Morning Two and think that the magazine has a potential to reach people who haven’t read it. Therefore, we would like to give you an opportunity to read our magazine and enjoy it! We are afraid that the magazine is only in Japanese, but we hope that you enjoy it!

We also hope you read Morning Two for free and then use the money for other manga works. We think that there are tons of interesting manga out there. If you find good manga, enjoy it, and love it, we, the department of Morning Two, would be very happy!!

In the next three months, we will keep uploading Morning Two magazines for free.
Here is the schedule:

October 22nd, Morning Two #14
November 21st, Morning Two #15 (The issue #14 is taken away from our website.)
December 22nd, Morning Two #16 (The issue #15 is taken away from our website.)

Issues #14 and #16 include Peepo Choo, the manga created by an American artist, Felipe Smith!

In order for you to read our free magazine, you have first to install software (Crochet) on your computer. You can install it for free. To install the software, you click the word “Crochet” next to the orange square button.

Now that you are ready to enjoy our magazine, please click the orange button and read it!!

The big news of the day for Serious Manga Readers is that Top Shelf will be publishing AX, the alternative manga anthology. Same Hat has the details, along with a cover of the sampler they will be handing out at SPX. It sounds like lovers of gekiga are in for a treat!

ComicMix has more on the Yen/Orbit consolidation, pointing out that Yen hit the market with an ambitious publishing schedule right around the time that retailers started getting a bit more conservative, at least in terms of numbers. At Manga Widget, Alex Hoffman says that the consolidation may be a good sign for Yen fans. Tiamat’s Disciple will be happy as long as nothing changes.

Manga Recon has a cover gallery of this week’s new releases, and the MangaCast team posts the new release list and their recommendations.

Even if you don’t read Japanese, the news that Kodansha will post three entire issues of Morning2 magazine online is good news, because you will get to see the cool art, including Saint Young Men and Felipe Smith’s Peepo Choo. You have to download Crochet, a free comics reader, but the good news is that for once, it works for Macs as well as those other things, so I’ll actually be able to use it.

Adam Stephanides is excited about a new art book, Usamaru Furuya’s Flowers.

Graphic designers critique Peter Mendelsund’s cover designs for Dororo at Book Covers. (Via Journalista.) Bonus link: Mendelsund talks about working for Vertical:

Whereas the Knopf list is all literary gravitas (which is of course, fantastic in it’s own right), the Vertical list is all aliens, manga, j-horror, sex and derangement. It’s the perfect foil to the Knopf work. The two jobs complement each other perfectly.

Dororo was the first job I did for Vertical—it’s three books actually, all by manga granddaddy Osamu Tezuka. And, well, being able to use Tezuka’s artwork was the biggest plus for me. That and the fact that the Vertical people weren’t squeamish at all about covering the book in internal organs and viscera.

Former Vertical cover designer Chip Kidd talks about Bat-Manga.

Here’s an art break: Sho Murase posts some pages from the upcoming vol. 16 of Nancy Drew.

Manga makes it into the New York Times yet again, in this story about a librarian who gets maybe a bit too enthusiastic about promoting his daughter’s book, one of Wiley’s Shakespeare manga titles.

Mark your calendar: Kensuke Okabayashi, author of Manga for Dummies, will be at the Kinokuniya bookstore at 1073 6th Ave. in New York at 3 p.m. tomorrow.

News from Japan: Switch is coming to an end. And Berserk creator Kentarou Miura will draw an alternate cover for an upcoming volume of March Comes in Like a Lion, by Honey and Clover creator Chika Umino. Umino recently drew a cover for Berserk.

Reviews: Alex Hoffman takes a look at vol. 1 of Zombie Powder at Manga Widget. Carlo Santos checks out vols. 7-8 of Love*Com at ANN. Julie gets a bit ahead in that series with a look at vol. 9 of Love*Com at the Manga Maniac Cafe. Lissa Pattillo enjoys vol. 3 of Tokyo Pet Shop of Horrors at Kuriousity. At Comics Worth Reading, Ed Sizemore is not as enthusiastic as I was about vol. 1 of Astral Project. Don MacPherson reviews vol. 1 of XS Hybrid at Eye on Comics (via Journalista). Ken Haley reads Blood: The Last Vampire 2002 at Manga Recon. Midori Matsuzawa writes about the series Kaze Hikaru at the Daily Yomiuri. John Thomas takes a look at vols. 1 and 2 of Astro Boy at Comics Village. Win Wiacek says the starter pack of vols. 1-6 of Dark Edge is a good deal at British blog Now Read This! Michelle Smith has some good things to say about vol. 1 of Ghost Hunt at Soliloquy In Blue. Erica Friedman checks out vol. 2 of Lady Snowblood at Okazu. Emily’s latest find is Joousama no Tamago at Emily’s Random Shoujo Manga Page. Deb Aoki reads vol. 1 of Hitohira and vol. 1 of Papillon at About.com. Dick McVengeance reviews vol. 1 of Black Lagoon at Japanator. Kris checks out Alley of First Love, vol. 1 of Passion, and Play Boy Blues at Manic About Manga. Snow Wildsmith reviews Ruff Love at Fujoshi Librarian.

It looks like there is some consolidation going on down at Hachette Book Group, where two newish imprints, Yen Press and the sci-fi/fantasy line Orbit, are being combined into a single division, to be known as Orbit. I don’t understand the thinking here, given that Yen has an entire magazine named after their imprint, but times are tough all over. At the same time, it was announced that Yen co-publisher Rich Johnson will be departing at the end of the month, leaving Kurt Hassler to run things on his own. Read on for more.

Hachette Book Group Creates New Publishing Division

Hachette Book Group is to create a new publishing division, comprising two new imprints it launched last year: Orbit, its Science Fiction and Fantasy imprint; and Yen Press, its Manga and Graphic Novel imprint. The new division will take the Orbit name, and will strategically strengthen HBG’s presence in these increasingly vital segments of the book buying market.

Tim Holman, who relocated from London to New York in 2006 to help set up Orbit, has been appointed VP and Publisher of the new division, reporting to CEO and Chairman David Young. Reporting to Tim Holman will be Kurt Hassler, Publishing Director of Yen Press. Kurt will be assuming responsibilities previously shared with co-Publishing Director Rich Johnson, who will be leaving the company at the end of October. Alex Lencicki has been appointed Marketing and Publicity Director for the new division.

David Young commented: “This new publishing division gives us the perfect platform for building our business in two genres that have significant potential for future growth. Tim has grown Orbit to be the market-leading imprint in the UK, and his publishing experience is perfectly suited to the opportunities presented by both Orbit and Yen Press in the US market. We are of course sorry that Rich Johnson will be leaving the company, however as the Yen business has evolved it has become clear that a single Publishing Director for the imprint is most appropriate. The establishment of this new division reflects not only our belief that it makes publishing sense for Orbit and Yen Press to be more closely connected within the company, but also our commitment to the genres in which they publish.”

Tim Holman commented: “Orbit and Yen Press will continue to develop independently. However, as a single division, we’ll be able to combine our efforts in a number of key areas to great effect. Both Orbit and Yen Press are publishing in genres that can no longer be considered marginal. It is almost impossible to imagine popular culture today without them. Our challenge is to embrace this change, to be creative and forward-thinking, and to engage with the new audiences that we know are out there. I believe that we have the right publishing vision and the right publishing team, and I’m greatly looking forward to working with Kurt, Alex, and colleagues throughout the company to make the new Orbit division a great success.”

About Hachette Book Group:
Hachette Book Group is a leading trade publisher based in New York and a division of Hachette Livre, the second-largest publisher in the world. Hachette Book Group’s product lines include adult, illustrated, religious, children’s, and audio books under the imprints Little, Brown and Company, Little Brown Books for Young Readers, Grand Central Publishing, FaithWords, Center Street, Orbit, and Hachette Audio. Its bestselling authors include Ansel Adams, Sherman Alexie, James Bradley, Marc Brown, David Baldacci, Jimmy Buffett, Stephen Colbert, Michael Connelly, Ted Dekker, Nelson DeMille, Emily Dickinson, Malcolm Gladwell, Lisi Harrison, Mary Ann Hoberman, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Robert Kiyosaki, Nelson Mandela, Patrick McDonnell, Brad Meltzer, Joyce Meyer, Stephenie Meyer, Todd Parr, James Patterson, David Sedaris, Anita Shreve, Anne Rivers Siddons, Nicholas Sparks, Jon Stewart, Trenton Lee Stewart, and Cecily von Ziegesar.

David Welsh fights deja vu while looking over this week’s new manga, but he manages to come up with a recommendation: Solanin, which sounds like a strong pick. And at Sporadic Sequential, John Jakala is pleased to discover another firefighter manga.

Erin Finnegan looks at the Goth novel and manga at PWCW.

Jake Forbes reports that vol. 3 of Return to Labyrinth has been delayed until May 2009. On the bright side, he says that Tokyopop is committed to completing the four-volume series.

Gia talks to Yaoi Generation president Thuy Duong, following up on her first interview.

At the Forbidden Planet blog, Rod McKie compares Japanese manga magazines to the British comics of bygone days and finds that the business model impacts the content quite a bit. Interesting reading (even more so for me, as I’m a longtime fan of British comics).

For those who are new to manga, Liviana offers some starter titles at In Bed With Books.

Gottsu-Iiyan gets the second chapter of Naoki Urasawa’s Billy Bat and shares some pictures and commentary.

Lori Henderson dreams of opening a manga lounge in her hometown.

Reviews: At The Comic Book Bin, Leroy Douresseaux takes a look at vol. 1 of The 9 Lives, a new title from Tokyopop, and states

The 9 Lives is probably the most teen-safe boys’ love title currently in print.

Actually, Zesty is even tamer, but I’m pretty certain that The 9 Lives is the most teen-safe furry title currently in print.

At Comics Should Be Good, Danielle Leigh reads vols. 1 and 2 of Three In Love, the first manga by Crossroad creator Shioko Mizuki, and enjoys it despite the fact that it’s obviously a first manga. Snow Wildsmith reads The President’s Time at Manga Jouhou. Lovelyduckie discovers Yen Plus, and she’s glad she did. Win Wiacek checks out vol. 1 of Chibi Vampire at Now Read This! Dan Polley enjoys vol. 1 of Papillon at Comics Village. Christopher Mautner reviews vol. 1 of Papillon and vol. 1 of Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney at Blog@Newsarama. Sakurapassion has a brief writeup of vol. 4 of I Shall Never Return at The Yaoi Review. Oyceter checks out vol. 1 of Love*Com at Sakura of DOOM. Dick McVengeance reads vol. 1 of S.S. Astro at Japanator. At Prospero’s Manga, Ferdinand has no trouble containing his enthusiasm about vol. 1 of Gun Blaze West. Lissa Pattillo reviews vol. 3 of Incubus at Kuriousity.