Archives for February 2009

Well, I’m back home, eating pizza and contemplating a mountain of laundry, and NYCC is just a memory. But what a memory! Calvin Reid and Heidi MacDonald wrote the big-picture article on the con for PWCW, and I was on the kids’ beat.

Kai-Ming Cha, Ed Chavez, and Erin Finnegan have comprehensive coverage of all the manga events at PWCW, and Kai-Ming has a more personal take on her own blog. Casey Brienza has some thoughts as well. Deb Aoki rounds up the biggest stories and the juiciest quotes at About.com. Evan Minto reports on the Del Rey, Yen Press, and CMX panels and posts on the Vertical panel as well at Ani-Gamers.

Gia from Anime Vice got some updates from Bandai, including some possibilities for future manga licenses.

CMX didn’t have any new announcements, but the news for those who watch things closely is that they seem to be getting a little more love from parent company DC. First of all, they were there, and they had their own panel, althought that has happened before. The slide show was top-notch, with two samples of interior art for each title; a vp was sitting in the wings watching; and afterwards, their new CMX PR person came around and introduced himself to the bloggers. If you want to hear the presentation, CMX has posted a podcast on their site—another first, I believe. ANN has some cover art and a brief rundown.

The Del Rey folks always run an awesome panel, but sadly, I didn’t make it this time, due to a conflict with a meeting. ICv2 runs down the new titles they announced,

Viz’s announcements got people talking, with their interesting lineup of josei and seinen titles by known manga creators like Taiyo Matsumoto, Fumi Yoshinaga, and Inio Asano. ANN has the covers of the newly announced titles. Andrew Cunningham questions Viz’s choice of a Taiyu Matsumoto manga at Eastern Standard, but Chris Mautner is bullish on Inio Asano’s What A Wonderful World at Robot 6.

Here’s a quick look at some non-NYCC news. Being away from the internet for four days left me pretty backed up, but I’ll be back with more news and a roundup of con reports later today.

At Precocious Curmudgeon, David Welsh looks at the upcoming Previews.

Lissa Pattillo spots some new BL titles on Amaon, and ANN fills in with covers and more details.

At ComiPress, Chloe Ferguson muses on how the recession will affect manga, and Matt Blind posts the top-selling manga online for January.

Dave White analyzes the facial expressions in Nana—and comes to a belated realization.

Sean Michael Wilson posts a progress report on the AX anthology. (Via Scott Green’s Twitter feed.)

News from Japan: Banri Hidaka is bringing V.B. Rose to an end. Also coming to an end is Yasuhiro Nightow’s series Kekkai Sensen -Mafūgai Kessha, which runs in Jump Square, but the Stan Lee/Hiroyuki Takei manga Karakuridōji Ultimo started its regular run this month and the the next issue will include the first episode of Takeshi Konomi’s New Prince of Tennis.

Reviews

The Robot6 team has resurrected the I ♥ Comics column, just in time for Valentines Day. They launch with Faith Erin Hicks on her love of Naoki Urasawa’s Monster.

Dave Ferraro on Arkham Woods (Comics-and-More)
Michelle Smith on vols. 1, 2, and 3 of Astro Boy (Soliloquy in Blue)
Connie on vol. 5 of Banana Fish (Slightly Biased Manga)
Casey Brienza on Black Sun (ANN)
Connie on vol. 26 of Bleach (Slightly Biased Manga)
Carlo Santos on Castle of Dreams (ANN)
Lissa Pattillo on vol. 3 of Croquis Pop (Kuriousity)
Connie on vol. 21 of Fruits Basket (Slightly Biased Manga)
Michelle Smith on vol. 1 of Hissing (Soliloquy in Blue)
Tangognat on Orange, Pixie, and Luuna (Tangognat)
Dave Ferraro on vol. 1 of Otomen (Comics-and-More)
Michelle Smith on vol. 1 of Pluto (Manga Recon)
Carlo Santos on vol. 2 of Slam Dunk (ANN)
Sesho on vol. 6 of Sorcerer Hunters (Sesho’s Anime and Manga Reviews)
Lissa Pattillo on Tricky Prince (Kuriousity)
Lissa Pattillo on Where Has Love Gone? (Kuriousity)

The Viz folks announced a series of new licenses this morning, including some new works by tried-and-true creators.

The big announcement of the session came right at the end: Viz and Shogakukan will be publishing Rumiko Takahashi’s new series in the U.S. sometime in 2009.

Here’s a quick rundown of new titles for fall:

GoGoMonster, by Tekkonkinkreet creator Taiyo Matsumoto, $24.99, out in November.

All My Darling Daughters, a josei manga by Fumi Yoshinaga, out in January 2010, $12.99, rated T+.

What a Wonderful World, by Solanin creator Inio Asano. Vols. 1 and 2 will both be out in October. $12.99, rated T+.

Not Simple, by Natsume Ono, a seinen creator—from the cover, this one should have some unusual art. Out in January 2010, $14.99, rated M.

Natsume’s Book of Friends, by Yuki Midorikawa, out in January, $8.99, rated T

Butterflies, Flowers, an office romance by Yuku Yoshihara, due out in December, $8.99, rated M.

Jormungand, by Keitaro Takahashi. Tagline: “Death is their business, and business is good.” In Japan, this one runs in the same magazine as Black Lagoon, so expect a similar tone. Due out in November, $12.99, rated M.

Beast Master, by Kyousuke Motomi, due out in November, $8.99, rated T+

YuGiOh! R, story and art by Akira Ito, vol. 1 out October 2009 and subsequent volumes released quarterly. $7.99, rated T. Every volume will have trading cards.

Boys Over Flowers Jewelry Box—really volume 37 of the long-running series, this picks up the story one year after the end of the main story. Due out in October, $9.99, rated T.

The Gentlemen’s Alliance Cross: Arina Tanemura Illustrations, an art book (including two exclusive pieces of art) with author commentary to be released in November. $19.99.

OK, I finally figured out how to tweet. I’ll be updating from the floor at http://twitter.com/BrigidAlverson

Yen Press has just announced that they have picked up the license for volume 6 of Yotsuba&! Volume 6 will be released in September 2009. Check back for more details later.

ETA: To be clear, Yen has picked up the license for the series going forward and will be releasing subsequent volumes every few months. I believe the series is up to vol. 9 in Japan. Yen Press honcho Kurt Hassler said that they would be looking to pick up the license for the older volumes as well.

The manga action doesn’t really start until today, with the Del Rey, Yen Press, and CMX panels, but we did make it to the Vertical panel yesterday and chatted with Steven Padnick of Tor Books, which is Seven Seas’ partner.

The news at Vertical was that they plan no new manga in the immediate future, but they will be releasing more volumes of Black Jack, along with a slew of interesting Japanese craft books, sudoku books, and cookbooks. Vertical head Ioannis Mentzas did reveal that they recently formed a relationship with a Japanese company that would provide both cash and influence in licensing negotiations while allowing them to remain independent. Gia liveblogged the panel here, if you would like more details. Oh, and full disclosure: I won the first two volumes of Black Jack in hardcover in the drawing.

Over at the Tor booth, I asked Padnick what was up with Seven Seas, which seems to have been rather quiet lately. He reassured me that they have had steady and good sales for the past year, although he allowed he was a bit worried about the Diamond minimums, which may affect some of their titles, although the bookstore channel remains robust. While the transition to the Tor partnership took Seven Seas off the market for three or four months last year, that is behind them, and the company will be announcing new licenses at San Diego Comic-Con in July. Previously announced books that are in the works include omnibus editions of Destiny’s Hand and Hollow Fields, and the second omnibus volume of Amazing Agent Luna.

Also, Tokyopop announced yesterday that it will be publishinga Domo-kun manga.

ANN has a full report up of the ICv2 graphic novel white paper.

And if you’re here and can’t figure out what to do, Deb Aoki has today’s manga and anime highlights at her blog.