David Welsh and Simon Jones weigh in on Friday’s announcement that DC is investing in Flex Comics, a fairly new Japanese company that develops manga for online and cell phone as well as print distribution. Everyone thinks that DC’s interest is not so much in Flex’s properties (which include Galaxy Angel II) as in their online manga skillz. Coincidentally, Todd Allen at Comic Book Resources just wrote a column about Kwanza Johnson, DC’s online editor, in which he speculates that DC will roll out their online comics in the fourth quarter. (Via Journalista.) And what about the possibility that DC will use online marketing to push its comics in Japan? Matt Thorn comments at Precocious Curmudgeon:
Just as Americans are reluctant to watch foreign (non-English-language) films, Japanese are for the most part unwilling to read comics that are “backwards,” in which the text is horizontal rather than vertical, which have a large amount of per page, and which, well, aren’t manga.
Hmmm… sounds like U.S. readers ten years ago.
There was some other news. ICv2 reports that graphic novels sales were up in May, at least in comics stores, but manga got nudged out of the top ten in the GNs chart again. The latest Naruto makes it to number 19, just below the first Minx entry, The Plain Janes. Oh, the humiliation!
The Kyoto police identified the 13 manga confiscated last week, and ComiPress has the titles. Simon Jones, who should know, says they are pretty hardcore. But he still has some questions about the way things were done.
The sharp-eyed AoD sleuths pick up some possible new titles from Tokyopop, including Your and My Secret (recently dropped by ADV), New Petshop of Horrors, Mamotte Shugogetten, and Manga Sutra—Futari H, which raised a few eyebrows.
Christopher Butcher looks at this week’s comics, manga and otherwise, and starts off with an appreciation of Death Note.
At MangaCast, Ed has info on four new titles from Kitty Media.
At Same Hat! Same Hat!!, Ryan and Evan take a look at vol. 1 of MPD Psycho, vol. 6 of The Drifting Classroom, and The Art of Hideshi Hino. Comics-and-more gets a jump on Manga Monday with a look at vol. 12 of Death Note and vol. 7 of Hana-Kimi. Ariadne Roberts checks out vol. 1 of Nosatsu Junkie at Anime on DVD. At MangaCast, Mangamaniac Julie reviews vol. 4 of O-Parts Hunter.
oh, Your and My Secret is revived! Happy Day!
Now the financial quandary — buy the first volume again just to support the new edition with Tokyopop or not? I probably will just because I don’t buy much from Tokyopop these days but still. Tough decision (at least for someone who spends so much already on manga).
Quite the shocker about Futari H. I noticed the amazon.com price is 19.99 making me wonder if they are doing two-volumes-in-one-kinda-thing or if because the material is “sensitive” they are pricing it up to keep it out of the hands of teens.
How, I wonder, does DC plan to use their newly acquired online manga skillz? Did they just find technology they liked to distribute their own content? Will they try to get into the Japanese market? Could we see manga versions of DC characters in the future?
Oh man. Futari H is something I’ve been wanting for YEARS but thought I’d never see. That alone would have been a fine announcement, but coupled with Your and My Secret? It totally made my day. I was just wishing hard for Secret the other day, after I finished My Heavenly Hockey Club. Now all we need is for someone to finish Duck Prince.
New Pet Shop of Horrors isn’t a bad deal either, on top of the other two. I just ordered the first five volumes of the first series after having somehow forgotten about it for a number of years. It’ll be nice to follow it up with the new series.
Although I am happy that Futari Ecchi is finally being picked up by a US licenser after so many years, I don’t know if I am too thrilled with the price.
Unless it’s a two-volumes-in-one-kinda-thing, I might continue to buy the rest of the series, in the original Japanese, from Sasugabooks like I’ve been doing for the past few years.