Hey all! Sorry about the extended internet silence—I didn’t disappear, but I spent the weekend at C2E2 and the past few days writing up all my panel reports, so it has been a busy time. If you want to know how it went, check out my C2E2 con report at Graphic Novel Reporter, my overview of the kids’ and teen’s comics scene at PWCW, and my writeup of the State of the Comicsphere panel at CBR. And I took some pictures, too.
The big manga news of the weekend, of course, was the return of Sailor Moon, and the Manga Bookshelf bloggers (and frequent guest Michelle Smith) devoted a roundtable to why that is so awesome. They also took some time out to discuss their candidates for Pick of the Week.
David Welsh, The Manga Curmudgeon, asks his readers who are their favorite hard-working manga characters, and he also checks out this week’s new manga and reaches the letter H in his Josei Alphabet.
Sean Gaffney also takes a look at the week’s new releases as well as Kodansha’s September lineup.
Melinda Beasi reports from inside the Digital Manga Guild, where things have been quiet except for the announcement that DMP has signed 487 books for the fan-translation service, although they would not reveal any of the titles.
Reviews: Melanie checks out an interesting selection of recent releases at About Heroes. Kate Dacey posts short takes on her recent reading at The Manga Critic. Ash Brown files the weekly manga report at Experiments in Manga. Other reviews of note:
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of Aqua (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Anna on vol. 1 of Beast Master (Manga Report)
Ken Haley on vol. 1 of The Beautiful Skies of Houhou High (Sequential Ink)
David Welsh on vol. 1 of Blue Exorcist (The Manga Curmudgeon)
Snow Wildsmith on vol. 1 of Butterfly (ICv2)
Clive Owen on vol. 7 of Detroit Metal City (Animanga Nation)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 1 of Eensy Weensy Monster (I Reads You)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 2 of Eensy Weensy Monster (The Comic Book Bin)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 19 of Excel Saga (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Connie on vol. 1 of Firefighter! Daigo of Fire Company M (Slightly Biased Manga)
Sesho on vol. 18 of Fullmetal Alchemist (Sesho’s Anime and Manga Reviews)
Sean Gaffney on vols. 9 and 10 of Higurashi When They Cry (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Julie Opipari on vol. 2 of Library Wars: Love and War (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Connie on vol. 1 of March Story (Slightly Biased Manga)
Julie Opipari on Marriage at a Price (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Kristin on My Bad and vol. 3 of Kabuki (Comic Attack)
Connie on vol. 1 of Peepo Choo (Slightly Biased Manga)
Leroy Douresseaux on Pokemon: Arceus and the Jewel of Life (The Comic Book Bin)
James Fleenor on vol. 1 of The Witch of Artemis (Anime Sentinel)