Sorry for the radio silence—I went to NYCC, and the two weeks after a con always seem to turn into a black hole as I write up a ton of different articles. It will take me a few days to catch up on all the news, but here’s the highlights:
Deb Aoki has written a comprehensive roundup of all the NYCC manga news, including appearances by Lone Wolf and Cub manga-ka Kazuo Koike and announcements by Kodansha Comics, Yen Press, and Vertical.
Tierney Sneed did a super article on women in comics, and the fact that a big portion of the fandom is female but publishers and con organizers do little to acknowledge that, for U.S. News & World Report. The story includes a short interview with me about the changes wrought by manga.
Erica Friedman of Okazu, who arrived home from Japan on the first day of NYCC, nonetheless managed to make it to the con and talked to Robert McGuire of GEN Manga and One Peace Books about One Peace’s new yuri acquisition, Whispered Words.
Lori Henderson discusses the NYCC news in her latest Manga Dome podcast at Manga Xanadu.
Business Insider took a look at Attack on Titan cosplay at NYCC.
In non-NYCC news…
The Manga Bookshelf team looks over this week’s new releases and discusses their Pick of the Week.
Erica Friedman explains why publishers sometimes can’t license a series, no matter how much the fans want them to. This is a great explanation of the two sides of manga licensing and should be required reading for anyone who posts on manga forums about what they want to see.
Connie C. takes a look at Junji Ito’s horror manga.
News from Japan: Yuki Urushibara will return to Mushishi with a two-chapter special in the January and February issues of Afternoon. Flame of Recca creator Nobuyuki Anzai and Lone Wolf and Cub manga-ka Kazuo Koike are both launching new series.
Reviews: Tom Gill writes about Yoshihiro Tatsumi’s Midnight Fishermen, which has not been published in the U.S., at The Hooded Utilitarian. Ash Brown looks back on a week’s worth of manga reading at Experiments in Manga. And the Manga Bookshelf team files this week’s Bookshelf Briefs.
Alice Vernon on vol. 1 of Attack on Titan (Girls Like Comics)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 8 of Attack on Titan (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Kate O’Neil on vol. 6 of The Betrayal Knows My Name (The Fandom Post)
John Rose on vol. 14 of Black Butler (The Fandom Post)
Ken H on vols. 2 and 3 of The Flowers of Evil (Comics Should Be Good)
Matthew Alexander on vol. 2 of Sankarea (The Fandom Post)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of Sherlock Bones (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Kristin on vol. 16 of Toriko (Comic Attack)