The news that rocked the manga world this week was that Tokyopop laid off their senior editors Lillian Diaz-Pryzybl and Troy Lewter, as well as newer hire Asako Suzuki (formerly of CMX) and several others. I wrote about Tokyopop CEO Stu Levy’s pattern of doing this at Robot 6, and at The Beat, Heidi asked “Is Stuart Levy the Charlie Sheen of comics?” Daniella Orihuela-Gruber, who is a freelance editor for Tokyopop, has a more personal perspective on the loss of her mentor. Johanna Draper Carlson tries to figure out who’s left and sums up the situation neatly:
I used to work for a guy who, whenever he read a business book, we all avoided him, because he would change the entire company focus based on whatever idea he’d just been introduced to. Does Levy have similar company focus ADD?
Tony Yao watches Stu’s Greatest American Otaku show at Manga Therapy.
Melinda Beasi reports from inside the Digital Manga Guild on last week’s teleconference with Digital president Hikaru Sasahara, in which many of the details of the program were laid out, including timing and payments.
David Welsh looks at this week’s new manga, and he reaches the letter E in his josei alphabet at The Manga Curmudgeon.
Melinda Beasi, Danielle Leigh, and Michelle Smith continue their roundtable discussion of Nana in part 9 of the NANA project. And Melinda and Michelle discuss a trio of Harlequin manga in their latest Off the Shelf column.
The first handful of nominations for the Great Graphic Novels for Teens list is up, and Joy Kim, who chairs the selection committee this year, invites everyone to nominate their favorite books.
Viz is having a special promotion of its iPad app: All volume 1s are 99 cents for the month of March. The app is nicely designed, and they are loading it up fast with lots of volumes (over 100 in March) so if you have an iPad, give it a whirl.
News from Japan: At Manga Therapy, Tony Yao looks at why One Piece is so popular with adults in Japan. Neon Genesis Evangelion will return from hiatus in the April issue of Young Ace magazine. Chinese creator Liu Chong has a series in Monthly Big Comic Spirits; Chong is one of the few non-Japanese creators in the profession and he seems to have stirred a bit of comment. And ANN has the latest Japanese comics rankings.
Reviews
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 34 of Bleach (The Comic Book Bin)
Anna on vol. 1 of Butterfly (Manga Report)
Lori Henderson on vols. 3 and 4 of Chi’s Sweet Home (Manga Xanadu)
Sean Gaffney on vols. 7 and 8 of Higurashi: When They Cry (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
David Welsh on vol. 5 of Kimi ni Todoke (The Manga Curmudgeon)
Erica Friedman on Kyoumei Suru Echo (Okazu)
Lori Henderson on vol. 56 of One Piece (Comic Attack)
Julie Opipari on vol. 7 of Rasetsu (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Lori Henderson on vol. 5 of Rin-Ne (Manga Xanadu)
Greg McElhatton on vol. 5 of Rin-ne (Read About Comics)
Michelle Smith on vol. 2 of The Story of Saiunkoku (Soliloquy in Blue)