Archives for November 2008

Vertical Editorial Director Ioannis Mentzas has released a statement on the rumors that his company has hit choppy financial waters. Here it is:

Vertical didn’t lay off “a number of people.” We’ve had to laid off just one. It’s true that we’re seeking new financing, but it’s news to me that without it we’ll be “the next company to hit the skids.” The situation is tight but I don’t think we’re unique there, and Vertical has been through worse. Black Jack becoming a national bestseller would definitely help, though!

Hey, everyone, sorry about the lack of posting yesterday. Paying work and family demands kept me busy all day. Moving along, entries are now closed for the Black Jack contest, and we will be doing the random drawing on Thursday evening. Thank you to everyone who posted, and to the founders of the feast, the fine folks at Vertical.

On with the news!

At PWCW, Kai-Ming Cha chats with Sean Michael Wilson, the editor of the American edition of the alternative manga anthology AX. Also, it’s not manga but you should totally check out my interview with Hereville creator Barry Deutsch, also at PWCW. Hereville rules!

ICv2 has word of two new josei series from Aurora. Ed Chavez is pleased.

I give up on trying to follow the Chip Kidd Bat-Manga controversy any longer. Leigh Walton has a good roundup on his blog, though. I haven’t seen the book yet, so I don’t really have an opinion.

I’m hoping this isn’t true, but it’s popping up here and there: In his Lying in the Gutters column at CBR, Rich Johnston says things aren’t looking too good at Vertical these days, although he gives this a yellow light, so maybe it’s overblown. Simon Jones (NSFW) suggests we support Vertical by buying their books. Update: Vertical posts a reassuring note on their blog.

Ed Chavez looks forward to January with a list of the manga in this month’s Diamond Previews. And Lissa Pattillo scouts the Amazon listings and finds some possible new titles.

Jen Lee Quick, creator of Off*Beat (one of my favorite global manga) talks about her self-published comic Renascence, her earlier work, and how she has evolved as a cartoonist at Comic Book Resources.

Scott VonSchilling files an entertaining con report from MangaNEXT.

Deb Aoki observes Veterans Day by highlighting nine military-themed manga.

News from Japan: MangaCast has the weekly manga rankings from Taiyosha. The publisher Shogakukan has agreed to pay artist Makoto Raiku 2.55 million yen (about $26,000 according to the financial wizards at ANN) and apologize for losing his original artwork from Zatch Bell.

Reviews: Adam Stephanides finds vol. 1 of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya to be disappointing compared to the anime, but he’s looking forward to the light novels. It’s time for more Manga Minis at Manga Recon. At Comics Village, Charles Tan reviews vol. 8 of Hayate the Combat Butler and Dan Polley takes a peek at vol. 1 of Mao-Chan. D.M. Evans checks out vol. 1 of Classical Medley at Manga Jouhou. Deb Aoki formulates the first rule of shoujo manga (“the bigger the eyes, the younger the target audience”) in her review of St. Dragon Girl at About.com. Edward Zacharias reviews vol. 1 of Naruto (Collectors Edition) at Animanga Nation. Greg McElhatton checks out vol. 1 of Black Jack at Read About Comics. David Welsh goes for the medical manga as well with reviews of Black Jack and Monster in his latest Flipped column. At Manic About Manga, Kris reviews vol. 1 of We Were There, Love Bus Stop, Feverish, Vampire’s Portrait, vol. 2 of A Gentleman’s Kiss, and Waru. Alex Hoffman reads Haridama: Magic Cram School and vol. 1 of The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service at Manga Widget. Ferdinand enjoys vol. 1 of Yumekui Kenbun Nightmare Inspector at Prospero’s Manga. Tangognat isn’t bowled over by Afro Samurai. Raymond Cummings reviews Yoshihiro Tatsumi’s Good-Bye at the Metro Times (via Journalista).

Osamu Tezuka’s Black Jack is exactly the sort of manga that got me hooked on the whole medium. It’s the twisted story of an outlaw doctor who performs bizarre operations on patients with unheard-of conditions. Brain transplants, face transplants, assembling bits and pieces into a real girl—all in a days’ work for the good doctor. His operations are always successful, but seldom in the way you would think.

Vertical is publishing a new, high-quality edition of Black Jack in hardcover and paperback, and each volume of the hardcover edition features an extra story from a group that were withheld from publication in the U.S. and Japan. And now it can be yours!

Over the next few days, MangaBlog will be giving away three sets of volumes 1 and 2 of the hardcover edition of Black Jack and one set of all three volumes—volume 3 won’t be published until January, so the lucky winner will have to wait a bit for that one.

To enter, simply comment to this post. To make it interesting, tell me what was your favorite new manga of 2008 and what you liked about it; I’ll compile those answers in a separate post. The deadline for entering is midnight on November 10, after which I will pick the winners by a random drawing.

Black Jack is kinda heavy stuff, so I won’t be sending these to anyone under 18. Also, overseas shipping is out, so you have to live in the U.S., Canada, or Mexico to be eligible to win. So send in those comments!

Bat-Manga is certainly attracting plenty of attention; Geoff Boucher blogs about it at the LA Times and is clearly taken by it, although he notes the controversy surrounding the decision not to credit Jiro Kuwata on the cover. Meanwhile, Chip Kidd tells his side of things at Blog@Newsarama, and Christopher Butcher defends him at Comics 212. Hipster Dad is not convinced (via Comics Worth Reading), but I think John Jakala has the most measured and sensible take on the whole thing.

From Batman to men with bats: Alex Woolfson shows off the pencils for the first 12 pages of his planned yaoi manga Tough at Yaoi 911.

The Manga Recon team post a cover gallery of this week’s new manga, plus their picks of the week.

Erica Friedman rounds up the week’s yuri news at Okazu. Plus: Entertain Erica and win a copy of vol 1 of Hayate X Blade.

At Mania.com, Nadia Oxford starts a countdown of her favorite Tezuka manga.

Erin Finnegan posts her reports on the New York Anime Fest at Manga Recon, including notes on the show and coverage of the State of the Manga Industry, State of the Anime Industry, Del Rey, and Media Blasters panels.

I spotted this a while ago but forgot to link it: Undertown creator Jake Myler was surprised to learn that his manga has been translated into Japanese and converted to an e-book.

Reviews: Lisa Katayama picks four favorite Black Jack episodes at io9. Khursten takes a look at the oddball food manga Kishoku Hunter and Mangamaniac Julie reviews You Make My Head Spin at MangaCast. Back at the Manga Maniac Cafe, Julie gives her take on vol. 1 of Shinobi Life and vol. 2 of Parasyte. At Comics Village—which, don’t forget, is looking for new reviewers—Lissa Pattillo checks out vol. 1 of Future Lovers and Katherine Farmar reads vol. 1 of A Gentleman’s Kiss. Ai Kano reads vol. 3 of One Pound Gospel at Animanga Nation. Jason Yadao has a pithy review of Black Jack at the Honolulu Star-Bulletin.

I’m puzzled about this because it could just be a glitch, but everyone’s linking to it, so here you go: According to ANN, both Amazon and Simon & Schuster (the distributor for Viz manga) are listing 11 volumes of Naruto to be released in February, March, and April 2009. Does this mean a new Naruto blitz? Maybe. It might also mean default dates were left in the computer too long. I’m looking into it, but in the meantime, Lori Henderson expresses dismay at Manga Xanadu, noting that two much-anticipated Naoki Urasawa series, 20th Century Boys and Pluto, are slated to launch in February, and this could depress their sales.

Sakurapassion looks at some upcoming yaoi releases at The Yaoi Review.

Something old: This was posted a few weeks ago, but I’m cleaning out my in-box and it’s too good to resist: A Dream to Have in Heaven, by Maki Sasaki, a short manga from the 1967 issue of the alternative magazine Garo. It’s a series of dreamlike, only vaguely connected images and it’s almost wordless so the lack of translation won’t bother you much.

Another thing I missed when it first went up: Vertical hosts a roundtable on The Guin Saga. This discussion begins with Vertical’s editorial director, Yani Mentzas, admitting they didn’t do a good job with the format and marketing of the first Guin Saga novels, which is an unusual opening gambit, and continues with an interesting and frank discussion.

Who is the actual creator of Bat-Manga? It’s Jiro Kuwata, not Chip Kidd, but as Laura Hudson and others note, it’s Kidd’s name that is placed prominently on the cover.

John Thomas posts more on the challenges of translation at Mecha Mecha Media.

PictureBox posts some original art by New Engineering and Travel creator Yuichi Yokoyama. (Via Same Hat! Same Hat!)

James Fleenor posts a preview of Dog Eaters at Anime Sentinel.

At Comics Should Be Good, Brian Cronin goes all Snopes on the story about Death Note inspiring actual murders in Belgium. And he gives it the green light!

Manga Recon writer Ken Haley introduces himself.

It’s a little early yet, but to get you into the holiday spirit, Manga Punk is having a Fat & Jolly Holiday Contest in which readers are asked to create a comic in which Santa slips in for a cameo appearance. I’m looking forward to seeing what people come up with.

Tokyopop UK won the NEO award for best manga publisher/distributor, and their title Welcome to the NHK also won the award for best manga.

Dark Horse has recalled vol. 4 of Blood Plus due to a misprint.

This is not specific to manga, but it’s an opportunity for creators: Megan Rose Gedris is accepting submissions for Rosalarian Publishing.

News from Germany: Jonathan posts the November manga releases.

News from Japan: Artists pay tribute to Osamu Tezuka by re-drawing his characters in different styles in a show at a department store in Shibuya. Upcoming issues of Morning magazine will feature two new manga series: Tokyo Kaido, by Dragon Head creator Minetaro Mochizuki, and Rakia: Shin Mokushiroku (Rakia: The New Book of Revelation), by Masao Yajima and Boichi. The movie Crows Zero is going to be made into a manga. And while it’s not manga, the fact that a Japanese designer has created a bra to raise awareness of the lay jury system does indeed say something about their culture, although I’m sure there’s someone in the U.S. right now going “Damn! I wish I had thought of that!”

Reviews: Casey Brienza reviews vol. 1 of Papillon at ANN. Ed Sizemore enjoys vols. 1 and 2 of Rosario + Vampire but is dissatisfied with vol. 3 of Manga Sutra, while Johanna Draper Carlson recommends vol. 11 of Nana, at Comics Worth Reading. At The Star of Malaysia, Pauline Wong reads vol. 1 of Kasumi. Kat reviews vol. 18 of X1999 for the Cornell Japanese American Society. Danielle Leigh recommends vols. 1 and 2 of Kieli and has a more nuanced reaction to vol. 1 of Wild Animals at Comics Should Be Good! Leroy Douresseauz reads vol. 1 of Speed Grapher at The Comic Book Bin. Ken Haley reviews Bat-Man: Death Mask at Manga Recon. Sakurapassion checks out vol. 2 of Mister Mistress at The Yaoi Review. Oyceter has lots to say about vols. 1-8 of Claymore, and so do her readers at Sakura of DOOM. Cyn reads vol. 2 of Pathos, Falling Into Love, and You Make My Head Spin at Boys Next Door. Sesho has an audio review up of vol. 1 of Ghost Slayers. Erica Friedman checks out vol. 1 of Maka-Maka at Okazu. Lissa Pattillo judges The Judged and finds it wanting at Kuriousity.

It looks like Udon has yet another string of Street Fighter manga ready to debut early next year. I don’t play video games at all, and I have never read the Street Fighter manga, but I know the fans are out there. And I really like the fact that the cast of “hot new characters” includes an amnesiac brawler. Maybe it’s time to pick these up. More info below.

A NEW GENERATION OF FIGHTERS JOINS UDON’S STREET FIGHTER® COMIC UNIVERSE
Street Fighter® IV Comic Series Launches in February

Toronto, ON – Nov 7, 2008 – Coming from UDON in February 2009, a new cast of World Warriors takes center stage in the Street Fighter® IV comic series. Based on quite possibly the most anticipated fighting game ever, the 4-issue Street Fighter IV mini-series puts the spotlight on hot new characters like the enigmatic Crimson Viper, amnesiac brawler Abel, spicy Mexican wrestler El Fuerte, and chubby kung-fu fighter Rufus.

The series will explore a new mystery, as top fighters from all around the world begin to disappear. With the world’s focus set squarely on the Street Fighter® II Tournament, few have noticed the unexplained disappearances. But when Street Fighter mainstays like Sakura, Dan and more get mixed up in the plot, you can be sure they’ll be busting some kidnapper chops before too long! Plus fans will get an in-depth look at the back-stories of some of the new Street Fighter IV cast, including the brand new boss character Seth and his connections to Street Fighter’s big baddie M.Bison.

Written by Ken Siu-Chong with art by Joe Ng (Soul Calibur IV, Transformers) the new Street Fighter IV mini-series will delay the previously announced Street Fighter® III comic series by the same creative team. But, fans of Alex, Ibuki, Oro and the gang will still be able to get their fix, as future issues of UDON’s core series Street Fighter® II Turbo will include all-new Street Fighter III bonus stories. Turbo issues #8-10 will each feature a 4-page backup about a different Street Fighter III character. These join the already announced Street Fighter IV backup stories in Turbo #2-5.

Street Fighter IV #1 arrives in comic shops February 2009 with 2 covers by Arnold Tsang and by series artist Joe Ng. For more updates stay tuned to capcomcomics.com.