OK, I’m starting to get back to normal. Yesterday was awesome. We had 926 people vote in my precinct, which is about a 75 percent turnout, and no major hassles. Everyone was in a good mood, and I got to see all my neighbors. Democracy is sweet!
OK, back to manga blogging. This week’s PWCW is chock full o’ manga news, and Davids Welsh and Taylor have already given their analysis, so I won’t have much to add. The was about Hachette’s new imprint and Diamond’s new kids’ division. David Welsh correctly predicted that I would be irked by the anonymous sources sniping at Kurt Hassler. Again, I repeat: This is not good journalism, and I expect better from Publisher’s Weekly. Much better is the article on MPD Psycho, a new seinen title from Dark Horse, which elicited cheers from the MangaCasters. PW’s top ten graphic novels list seems a bit premature, as it’s only the beginning of November, and a bit incomplete, as the only manga on it is Dragon Head. But everyone liked Johanna Draper Carlson’s interview with manga adaptor Kelly Sue DeConnick, who talks about the difficulty of adapting Japanese in to English and cites the editor’s mantra: “It boils down to this: if I’m doing my job well, my hand is invisible.”
Global manga roll call: At The Engine, global manga creators check in with their latest activities. Mostly they feel pretty good about their volume 2’s, but they’re already starting to think about moving on.
Lillian DP is asking readers to suggest questions for her Japanese counterpart. If you’ve ever wondered what it was like to be a Japanese manga editor, here’s your big chance.
After 14 years, Ranma 1/2 is coming to an end. Johanna parses the press release, and folks at the ANN boards say goodbye.
Amazon picks the top 10 graphic novels of 2006. I’m not sure what qualifies them to make this judgment, but it’s a decent list, with two manga, Abandon the Old in Tokyo and Ohikkoshi. Strange pair, that. (Via The Beat.)
Usually I don’t find the “Shouts and Murmurs” feature in the New Yorker very funny, but this one had me laughing out loud. Maybe it hit a bit too close to home.
