PR: Yen Press to publish Clique manga

Posted on September 17, 2009 by Brigid Alverson

Lissa Pattillo caught word of this the other day, and it’s now official: Yen Press will be publishing a manga version of the first volume of the YA novel series The Clique. For those who are hearing about this for the first time, the Clique books are gossipy books filled with intrigue and brand names, one of the series that invoked a massive explosion of tut-tutting from Naomi Wolf in the New York Times a couple of years ago.* My daughter describes it thus: “It’s about a girl who moves to Westchester and tries to fit in with the rich snotty girls there.” Sounds like a natural for manga, eh? **cough cough Boys Over Flowers cough cough**

Anyway, read on for the full PR.

YEN PRESS TO PUBLISH MANGA ADAPTATION OF #1 NYT BESTSELLING AUTHOR LISI HARRISON’S THE CLIQUE

NEW YORK, September 17 – Yen Press announced today that it will publish a manga adaptation of the first book in Lisi Harrison’s #1 New York Times bestselling series, THE CLIQUE, published by the Poppy imprint of Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. Yen’s visualization will be released in July 2010 as a trade paperback and is illustrated by manga artist Yishan Li.

With nearly 8 million copies sold and a popular feature film from Warner Bros. and Executive Producer Tyra Banks out on DVD, THE CLIQUE (called “Sartre with lip gloss” by Time magazine), is set at Westchester County’s most exclusive girls’ private middle school, and it exactly captures the super-pressured environment in which today’s teenagers compete in every way to be the “best”. Through these endlessly entertaining stories readers live vicariously (and often, hilariously) through the lives of the memorable “Pretty Committee” where the only thing harder than getting in is staying in.

Kurt Hassler, Publishing Director of Yen Press, says “THE CLIQUE has been an absolute phenomenon in the young adult publishing world, and Yen Press is extremely grateful to be able to work on this visual adaptation of Lisi’s story. It’s exciting to be able to work on a project like this that has such amazing potential to introduce a new generation of young female readers to the medium of comics.”
Yen Press’s manga visualization of the story will be the perfect companion for legions of existing fans of THE CLIQUE as well as an ideal introduction to the series for the ever-expanding number of manga enthusiasts, particularly in the area of shojo manga which specifically targets female readers between the ages of 10 and 18.

Artist Yishan Li was born in Tianjin, China but currently resides in Edinburgh, Scotland. One of her best known projects was “The Adventures of CG!”, a monthly manga strip which appeared in the pages of CosmoGirl magazine to which she contributed from August 2007 to April 2008.

While living in New York City, Lisi Harrison created and developed shows for MTV. She now resides in Laguna Beach, CA, where she is at work on her next novel in THE CLIQUE series. Visit her online at www.lisiharrison.com, and for more information on THE CLIQUE, join The Clique at www.jointheclique.com, or www.pickapoppy.com.

*As the mother of two teenagers, I view New York Times articles about the terrible things teens do/are exposed to with a pretty jaundiced eye. Trust me, they have no clue.

Posted in Mangablog | 3 Comments

Jason gives away his manga, JuYoun explains Yotsuba&! changes

Posted on September 17, 2009 by Brigid Alverson

Lori Henderson rounds up this week’s all-ages comics and manga at Good Comics for Kids.

Jason Thompson is kicking off 365 Days of Manga, his online continuation of Manga: The Complete Guide with a review of Muhyo & Roji’s Bureau of Supernatural Investigation, and he’s giving away free manga as well!

Yen Press editor JuYoun Lee talks to Deb Aoki about Yen’s new translations of Yotsuba&!

Anime Vice has an interesting piece on the differences between U.S. superhero comics and manga.

News from Japan: ANN has the most recent Japanese comics rankings. They also report that the publisher Shueisha has apologized for a scene in the school comedy Sket Dance in which characters inhale helium.

Reviews: The Manga Recon team is On the Shojo Beat with reviews of recent releases from that Viz imprint. David Welsh rounds up other reviewers’ reactions to Sand Chronicles at Precocious Curmudgeon. Park and Barb Cooper kick off Manga Chat, in which they discuss a heap of manga in a short time, at Manga Life.

Tangognat on vol. 2 of Animal Academy and vol. 2 of Takeru (Tangognat)
Michael May on vol. 2 of Anne Freaks (Robot 6)
Melinda Beasi on vol. 2 of Detroit Metal City (There it is, Plain as Daylight)
Danielle Leigh on vols. 2 and 3 of Gestalt (Comics Should Be Good!)
Oyceter on vols. 10 and 11 of High School Debut (Sakura of DOOM)
James Fleenor on vol. 1 of KimiKiss (Anime Sentinel)
Lissa Pattillo on Legend of Zelda: Four Swords (Part One) (Kuriousity)
Julie on Love Code (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Holly van Winckel on vol. 1 of Maria Holic (Sequential Tart)
Alex Hoffman on vol. 1 of Nabari no Ou (Comics Village)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 3 of Otomen (Comics Worth Reading)
Melinda Beasi on vols. 3 and 4 of St. Dragon Girl (There it is, Plain as Daylight)
Holly von Winckel on vol. 4 of St. Dragon Girl (Sequential Tart)
Wolfen Moondaughter on vol. 6 of Slam Dunk (Sequential Tart)
Joy Kim on vol. 1 of Sugar Princess: Skating to Win (Joy Kim)
Ken Haley on vol. 1 of Tegami Bachi: Letter Bee (Manga Recon)
Sheena McNeil on vol. 11 of Trinity Blood (Sequential Tart)

Posted in Mangablog | 2 Comments

Where’s Naruto?

Posted on September 16, 2009 by Brigid Alverson

ICv2 reports that comics sales were up in August but graphic novel sales were down. They also post Diamond’s list of the top 300 graphic novels, and the top-ranking manga is The Legend of Zelda, at number 25.

At Comics Reporter, David Welsh reviews the status of several manga series that have been on hiatus or in limbo for a while.

It looks like Yen Press has a manga version of The Clique in the works. Does the world really need this?

Yen Plus Info has another side-by-side comparison of the ADV and Yen Press editions of Yotsuba&!

Sadie Mattox ponders the question of the manga canon, and whether Americans should make one at all, at Extremely Graphic.

All Yaoi Press graphic novels—even artbooks—are on sale for five bucks each at EverythingYaoi.com.

News from Japan: This is odd: Crayon Shinchan manga-ka Yoshito Usui has apparently been missing since last Friday. Cataracts have forced Barefoot Gen creator Keiji Nakazawa to abandon plans to draw a sequel to his manga about a child’s experiences during the bombing of Hiroshima. Morning 2 has canceled the yuri series Gunjō, and Hakusensha is launching a new anthology, Rakuen.

Reviews: It’s not manga, but a trio of good reads nonetheless: I review three history webcomics in my latest Unbound column at Robot 6. At Manga Life, Park Cooper fills us in on what he has been reading lately. David E. Ford, Jr., looks at three sci-fi manga, Swallowing the Earth, They Were Eleven, and Ooku – The Inner Chamber, at Are You A Serious Comic Book Reader? Other reviews of note:

Deb Aoki on vols. 1 and 2 of Animal Academy (About.com)
James Fleenor on vol. 1 of Animal Academy (Anime Sentinel)
Lorena Nava Ruggero on vol. 3 of Crimson Hero (i heart manga)
Julie on vol. 11 of High School Debut (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Connie on vol. 2 of Kimi ni Todoke (Slightly Biased Manga)
Michelle Smith on vols. 12 and 13 of Love*Com (Soliloquy in Blue)
Amy Grockl on Love Like a Comedy (Comics Village)
Sterg Botzakis on Monster (Graphic Novel Resources)
Anonymous on vol. 41 of Naruto (Animanga Nation)
Erica Friedman on Needless (Okazu)
Kate Dacey on vol. 1 of Ooku: The Inner Chambers (The Manga Critic)
Emily on Tokimeki Tonight (Emily’s Random Shoujo Manga Blog)
Carlo Santos on vol. 22 of Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle (ANN)
Ysabet Reinhardt MacFarlane on vol. 7 of Vampire Knight (Manga Life)
Tangognat on vols. 2-5 of We Were There (Tangognat)
Derek Halliday on vol. 1 of X-Men: Misfits (Comikaider Halliday)
Connie on vol. 3 of You’re So Cool (Slightly Biased Manga)

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New comics and a new RK story

Posted on September 15, 2009 by Brigid Alverson

Deb Aoki, Kate Dacey, and Lori Henderson check out this week’s new manga releases at their respective blogs.

The last volume of the VizBig edition of Rurouni Kenshin includes an all-color short story that has never been published in English before. (Via ANN.)

Michelle Smith asks her readers: What should she review next?

News from Japan: A while ago, we were following the saga of Shuho Sato and his plans to put his works online due to his dissatisfaction with his publisher. Well, he took the plunge this week, putting New Say Hello to Black Jack online for 30 yen per installment for new comics, 10 for older comics, and took in 100,000 yen the first day. Not bad for a startup, but will it have legs?

Reviews: Simon Jones makes a really good point about Yotsuba&! at the Icarus blog; I can’t believe I didn’t see that myself. Carlo Santos treats us to another round of scintillating and scorching reviews in his latest Right Turn Only!! column. And over at Manga Recon, the team has posted another set of Manga Minis for your perusal.

Lorena Nava Ruggero on vol. 2 of Crimson Hero (i heart manga)
Lori Henderson on vol. 2 of Divine Melody (Comics Village)
Julie on vol. 8 of Dragon Eye (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Erica Friedman on vol. 1 of Ichiroh (Okazu)
Shannon Fay on Junior Escort (Kuriousity)
Dave Ferraro on vol. 1 of Little Fluffy Gigolo Pelu and Domo: The Manga (Comics-and-More)
Connie on vol. 6 of Real (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 2 of You’re So Cool (Slightly Biased Manga)

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All good things must come to an end

Posted on September 14, 2009 by Brigid Alverson

Kate Dacey shows her academic side with a discussion of the manga canon, including the question of whether one is necessary, the possible pitfalls of composing it, and what it should include, at The Manga Critic. Be sure to check out the lively comments section.

Lori Henderson has another great summary of the week’s manga news at Manga Xanadu, and Erica Friedman keeps us up to date on the latest in yuri at Okazu.

Lissa Pattillo posts the September release list at Kuriousity.

The New York Times Graphic Books best-seller list is up, and Vampire Knight makes the list for the sixth week in a row. In fact, several books have been on the list for a while, including recent volumes of Naruto and Fruits Basket that have been sitting pretty for nine weeks each.

And David Welsh has an idea for another vampire manga that could do well: Moto Hagio’s Poe no Ichizoku.

John Seven interviewed Hwan Cho, who is starting up a webcomic, KGB, with pal Becky Cloonan.

Next year, New York Comic-Con and New York Anime Fest will be the same weekend. Scott VonSchilling comments on what exatly this means, including his fear that NYAF will simply disappear, at The Anime Almanac.

The last volume of Chibi-Vampire goes on sale soon; here’s a trailer to whet your appetite.

Job Board: Tokyopop is looking for a Business Administration Clerk.

News from Japan: The big news of the weekend is that CLAMP is bringing Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle to a close. Life creator Keiko Suenobu will be starting a new manga next month, and ANN has word of a couple of other new series as well. A busy manga-ka’s schedule shows little time for recreation or sleep.

Reviews

Michelle Smith on vols. 1-4 of Antique Bakery (Soliloquy in Blue)
Sam Kusek on vol. 1 of The Battle of Genryu: Origin (Manga Recon)
Lorena Nava Ruggero on vol. 1 of The Battle of Genryu: Origin (MangaCast)
James Fleenor on vol. 1 of Choco Mimi (Anime Sentinel)
Snow Wildsmith on Color (Fujoshi Librarian)
Michelle Smith on vol. 1 of Detroit Metal City (Soliloquy in Blue)
Sophie Stevens on vol. 1 of Gestalt (Animanga Nation)
Lissa Pattillo on vol. 10 of Ghost Hunt (Kuriousity)
Julie on vol. 3 of Goong (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Erica Friedman on vol. 5 of Hakodate Youjin Buraijou Himegami (Okazu)
Connie on vol. 3 of Happy Happy Clover (Slightly Biased Manga)
AstroNerdBoy on vol. 12 of Hayate the Combat Butler (AstroNerdBoy’s Anime and Manga Blog)
Julie on vol. 14 of Love*Com (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Julie on vol. 2 of Pig Bride (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Connie on vol. 1 of Short Cuts (Slightly Biased Manga)
Matthew Rozier on vol. 5 of Slam Dunk (Comics Village)
Bill Sherman on A Tale of an Unknown Country (Blogcritics)
Danielle Leigh on vol. 1 of Tale of the Waning Moon (Comics Should Be Good)
Shaun A. Noordin on vol. 1 of Tengu-Jin (The Star of Malaysia)
Ezel on vol. 1 of Warcraft: Legends (The Star of Malaysia)
Casey Brienza on Where Has Love Gone? (ANN)
J. Caleb Mozzocco on vol. 6 of Yotsuba&! (Blog@Newsarama)

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Review: Yotsuba&!, vol. 6

Posted on September 12, 2009 by Brigid Alverson

yotsuba_6Yotsuba&!, vol. 6
By Kiyohiko Azuma
Rated All Ages
Yen Press, $10.99

Yotsuba&! has become such a phenomenon in the manga world that it is impossible to write a truly objective review. Everybody loves the little green-haired kid!

The phenomenon might be a little harder for those new to manga to understand. The basic premise of the comic—cute kid misunderstands things in a humorous way—is so simple as to be universal. It’s the underpinning of countless newspaper comic strips and children’s books, and Yotsuba&! never strays too far from that premise. What makes it special is that it is done so well, with solid writing and beautiful, clear artwork.

In the first volume, Yotsuba was puzzled by ordinary things like air conditioners. She would see an object, wonder what it is, and then apply her own logic to the problem, always winding up with a crazy misunderstanding that was gently corrected, with many amused looks, by the others around her.

By volume 6, Azuma seems to have run that well dry, and the stories are more ordinary kid-and-family stories. Yotsuba does a recycling project, taping discarded objects to an old T-shirt. Yotsuba gets a bike. Yotsuba rides all over creation to deliver a bottle of milk to a friend. She just seems like a sweet kid who lives with her father and likes to go hang out with the older kids next door.

There are a few qualities that set Yotsuba&! apart from, say, Dennis the Menace or Rose is Rose. For one thing, the setting is very noticeably Japanese. Yotsuba&! is a slice-of-life manga in a pedestrian setting, so we get to see a lot of images of ordinary people at home, which is somewhat unusual in manga. While many artists keep the backgrounds vague, Azuma treats us to detailed interiors and sweeping urban landscapes, complete with carefully delineated buildings and crisscrossing wires. My favorite part of this volume was the story in which Yotsuba rides her bike cross-country to bring a bottle of milk to a friend, along paths and through fields and neighborhoods, the landscape spreading around her on either side.

Yotsuba herself always seem to be on full power, unlike the people around her. It’s not that she is hyperactive so much as earnest and eager, always straining to head out on the next adventure. One difference between Yen Press’s editions and those produced previously by ADV is that in the Yen book, Yotsuba’s words appear larger in the text balloons, so she seems to be yelling a lot of the time.

One of the interesting things about this series is that Yotsuba is drawn in a noticeably more cartoony, less realistic style than everyone else. Her head is big (bigger than her father’s) and perfectly circular, her body is smaller in proportion to her head than those of other characters, and her eyes are often reduced to circles. Everyone gets the circle-eyed look once in a while, but Yotsuba has it most of the time. It’s as if the iconic smile face grew pigtails and a body. If you apply Scott McCloud’s theory, that means that the reader is supposed to identify with Yotsuba herself. That opens up a range of interesting speculation, given that the series runs in a comics magazine for young men in Japan, that I’m choosing not to pursue.

Here in the U.S., though, Yotsuba takes on a different context. Its all-ages rating makes it a natural for kids, and the clear linework and simple situations also make it easy to grasp the story visually. Azuma describes his characters with great economy, giving each one a distinct look and personality without distracting the eye with a lot of details.

As many readers know, Yotsuba&! was originally published by ADV, which started their manga program with a flood of releases and then slowed their output to a trickle. They published the first five volumes of the series, with decreasing frequency, and then, despite louder and louder clamoring from readers, never published any more. This will remain one of the great mysteries of manga publishing—why, with people practically climbing the walls for these books, they didn’t just go ahead and publish them.

Anyway, Yen rescued the license and has started it fresh, with new translations and redesigned editions of the first five volumes. The translations definitely are different, although which one is better will be a matter of individual taste. The ADV editions have translators’ notes at the end, the Yen editions do not. On the other hand, Yen retains the original sound effects and Japanese script in the art (translated in the margins between the panels), as well as honorifics, which will doubtless please purists. Yen also wins on production values, with high-quality paper and glossy covers making for a very handsome set of books.

Yotsuba&! is one of those atmospheric manga, like Aria, that you can read for relaxation. Each chapter is a self-contained story, so you don’t have to work too hard, and the biggest conflict in the book is Yotsuba taking off on her bike and getting grounded. It’s a great choice for escapist reading for kids or kids-at-heart.

(This review is based on a complimentary copy provided by the publisher.)

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