Fred Schodt, e-manga, and a movable feast

51ysqhkI29LAt PWCW, Kai-Ming Cha talks to author and translator Fred Schodt. There’s lots of interesting commentary here, including Schodt’s take on unflipped manga:

It preserves the idea of original manga but disturbs the flow of the reading. Because it is in a hybrid, unorthodox format, it’s harder to get people not in the manga scene or part of the fandom to read it. This will probably be solved by a virtual or e-reader where people can read manga page by page on the computer.

Schodt’s current projects include translating Pluto. Also at PWCW: Michael Fitzpatrick looks at the popularity of manga on e-books in Japan.

David Welsh, Gia Manry, and Brad Rice look over this week’s new manga. Ryan Sands goes over some recent purchases at Same Hat! Same Hat!

Deb Aoki notes that the Twilight graphic novel shot into Amazon’s top ten—not just graphic novel, top ten bestselling books, period—on the strength of preorders alone.

Kristy Valenti concludes her analysis of Fruits Basket at comiXology.

Manga Curmudgeon David Welsh will be organizing the first round of the Manga Moveable Feast: During the week of Feb. 8, a bunch of us manga bloggers will be reviewing Sexy Voice and Robo. David will track the posts and even host reviewer who don’t have a blog of their own.

Same Hat! Same Hat! has some comics and covers to look at (some are quite NSFW): Desert Eyeball, by Maki Sasaki (in Japanese), more Shintaro Kago gag cartoons, and the covers to vols. 1-4 of Kazuo Umezu’s My Name is Shingo.

Deb Aoki posts the results of her best manga of 2009 polls at About.com. Deb, Jason Thompson, and JD Banks also discuss manga and comics in the latest Anime 3000 podcast.

Manga University will debut a new online manga next week, based on the game StepMania.

ANN sums up a Mainichi interview with Tetsuya Chiba, the creator of Ashita no Joe.

Hey, someone wrote a book about yaoi manga!

At Rocket Bomber, Matt Blind has the graphic novel rankings (online sales) for the week of Jan. 10, as well as a report on new releases and preorders.

Blogging about blogging: Coffeeandink accuses the bloggers and commenters at The Hooded Utilitarian of sexism; Noah Berlatsky responds.

Matt Blind has some tips for would-be podcasters.

20100126c01-05c1News from Japan: Big news: Yuu Watase has ended Sakura-Gari and resumed work on Fushigi Yûgi Genbu Kaiden, which she had set aside in 2008. The last chapter of Tsukihime has been delayed, and the creator of Kōshokuaika Moto Volleyboys has put that series on hold while he recuperates from cancer surgery. On a lighter note, Michio Ueyama, the creator of Zoids, has posted a Doraemon/Loveplus crossover comic. According to Asiajin, the first manga has arrived for Kindle. At MangaCast, Ed Chavez posts Taiyosha’s manga rankings for last week and this week.

Reviews: The Ninja Consultants devote their latest podcast to Black Lagoon.

Sean Gaffney on All My Darling Daughters (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Greg McElhatton on All My Darling Daughters (Read About Comics)
Julie on The Apartment (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Julie on vol. 1 of Black Butler (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Danielle Leigh on vol. 1 of Black Butler (Comics Should Be Good)
Amy Grockl on vol. 1 of Happy Cafe (Comics Village)
Chris Zimmerman on Haridama: Magic Cram School and vol. 1 of X-Men: Misfits (cbs4.com)
Rebecca Bundy on vol. 18 of Hikaru no Go (ANN)
Lori Henderson on vol. 1 of Jack Frost (Manga Xanadu)
Eric Robinson on vol. 2 of Maximum Ride (Manga Jouhou)
Danica Davidson on Only One Wish (About.com)
Julie on vol. 1 of Portrait of M & N (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Lissa Pattillo on vol. 2 of Rin-ne (Kuriousity)
Michelle Smith on vol. 2 of Rin-ne (Soliloquy in Blue)
Kinukitty on Sense & Sexuality (The Hooded Utilitarian)
Oyceter on vols. 1 and 2 of Shitsuren Chocolatier (Sakura of DOOM)
Johanna Draper Carlson on Solfege (Comics Worth Reading)
Julie on vol. 1 of Stolen Hearts (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Lorena Nava Ruggero on vol. 1 of Stolen Hearts (MangaCast)
Ng Suat Tong on Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms (The Hooded Utilitarian)
Carlo Santos on vol. 25 of Tsubasa (ANN)
Erica Friedman on vol. 1 of Ultimo (About.com)
Brenda Gregson on vol. 1 of Venus Capriccio (Animanga Nation)

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