MangaBlog

My Unbound column at Robot 6 this week is an interview with Gina Biggs, who draws the unabashedly girly Red String, which was published for a while by Manly Manga for Manly Men (TM) publisher Dark Horse.

David Welsh takes his turn at this week’s new releases.

The Manga Recon bloggers have a fun roundtable discussing who would be the royalty of The Manga Kingdom.

David Goodwin addresses a question that frankly had never occurred to me before: Is Urasawa schmaltzier than Tezuka?

Kyoto Seika University, which already has a manga department, is offering a graduate course in manga. Check out the comments for some serious manga hatin’, though. (Via Mecha Mecha Media.)

Kate Dacey, a.k.a. The Manga Critic, is giving away two copies of vol. 17 of Nana. Click the link to find out how you can win one!

Laura writes about Ocean Day at Heart of Manga.

Courtney Kraft reports on Anime Expo for the Graphic Novel Reporter, and Kai-Ming Cha has an article on the first Asian American Comicon at PWCW.

News from Japan: Canned Dogs reports that the tankoubon for the manga Akuma to ore shirudaku has been cancelled and GanGan Online pulled it from their site as well. Apparently it’s “borderline” eromanga. Naru Nanao’s sketch of a character from Lucky Star garnered over 1 million yen at auction. Cromartie High School manga-ka Eiji Nonaka is starting a new series, Double J, in Weekly Shonen Magazine.

Reviews

Julie on vol. 1 of Ballad of a Shinigami (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Eva Volin on vols. 1-5 of Black Jack (Graphic Novel Reporter)
Courtney Kraft on vol. 1 of Brilliant Blue (Graphic Novel Reporter)
Lissa Pattillo on vol. 1 of Cirque du Freak (Kuriousity)
Connie on vol. 6 of Fairy Tail (Slightly Biased Manga)
Lorena on vol. 2 of Fall in Love Like a Comic (i heart manga)
Lorena on vol. 4 of Honey and Clover (MangaCast)
Kiki Van De Camp on vol. 1 of Hot Gimmick (VIZBIG Edition) (Animanga Nation)
Danielle Leigh on vol. 1 of Kimi ni Todoke (Comics Should Be Good)
Connie on vol. 2 of Me and the Devil Blues (Slightly Biased Manga)
Lori Henderson on vols. 28 and 29 of Naruto (Manga Xanadu)
Sesho on vol. 34 of Naruto (Sesho’s Anime and Manga Blog)
Connie on vol. 17 of O-Parts Hunter (Slightly Biased Manga)
Katherine Farmar on Red Blinds the Foolish (Comics Village)
Eva Volin on Swallowing the Earth (Graphic Novel Reporter)
David Welsh on V.B. Rose (Precocious Curmudgeon)
David Goodwin on vols. 1-7 of The World Is Mine (The Eastern Standard)

The headline says it all. Lee and Takei are collaborating on the Ultimo manga, which is now running in both the U.S. and Japan. If you’re going to SDCC, I would recommend checking out this panel; I saw these two at NYCC last year, and Lee really looked like he was having a good time. Details after the cut.

VIZ MEDIA WELCOMES ULTIMO CREATORS
STAN LEE AND HIROYUKI TAKEI FOR RARE PERSONAL APPEARANCES AT
2009 COMIC-CON INTERNATIONAL

Legendary Manga And Comic Book Creators To Participate In SHONEN JUMP Panel Discussion
And A Special In-Booth Signing Session

San Francisco, CA, JULY 14, 2009 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry’s most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, is proud to welcome comic book and manga legends Stan Lee and Hiroyuki Takei for a very special series of appearances at the 2009 Comic-Con International, taking place July 23-26 at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, CA.

The pair will appear at the nation’s largest comic book and science fiction convention to celebrate their historic creative collaboration for the ULTIMO manga series (KARAKURIDÔJI ULTIMO), which debuted in the July 2009 issue of VIZ Media’s SHONEN JUMP magazine.

Stan Lee and Hiroyuki Takei will be welcomed as special guests at the SHONEN JUMP panel, scheduled for Friday, July 24th from 10:30-11:30 a.m. in Room 10. Lee and Takei will also appear together in VIZ Media’s Booth #2813 on the main show floor for an exclusive autograph session on Friday July 24th from 2:15-3:15 p.m. The first 40 fans to purchase the July issue of SHONEN JUMP magazine featuring ULTIMO from the VIZ Media retail area each day from Wednesday through Friday will receive a ticket to have their issue personally autographed by Lee and Takei.

ULTIMO represents an innovative and historic collaboration between comics legend Stan Lee, co-creator of many iconic superheroes including Spider-Man™, the Fantastic Four™, and the X-Men™, and Hiroyuki Takei, the creator of the popular SHAMAN KING manga series, published in Japan by Shueisha and in North America by VIZ Media.

The ULTIMO back-story: High above Farmless City, citizens are stunned by the sudden appearance of two floating figures. Are they human boys, monolithic robots, or something much more strange? As the battle ensues between them, destruction and devastation falls on the hapless city. One figure is Vice, and seems to be as evil as his name implies. The other is Ultimo, intent on trying to stop Vice from wreaking more havoc. But who are Vice and Ultimo really? Where did they come from? Find out in the first chapter of ULTIMO!

For over half a century, Stan Lee has been synonymous with superhero comics. In addition to co-creating countless memorable series and characters, including Spider-Man™, the Incredible Hulk™, and Daredevil™, he served as the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics. Lee remains a hugely respected and dynamic figure in the entertainment industry and continues to develop a variety of film, television and video game properties.

Unconventional author/artist Hiroyuki Takei began his career by winning the coveted Hop Step Award (for new manga artists) and the Osamu Tezuka Award. After working as an assistant to famed artist Nobuhiro Watsuki (RUROUNI KENSHIN), Takei debuted in Weekly Shonen Jump in 1997 with Butsu Zone, an action series based on Buddhist mythology. His multicultural adventure manga series SHAMAN KING debuted in Japan in 1998 and has been adapted into a popular animated television series. The SHAMAN KING manga series is published in North America by VIZ Media and has sold more than 400,000 copies in the U.S. to-date; for many years it was also serialized in English in VIZ Media’s SHONEN JUMP magazine.

“We are extremely honored to host two creative luminaries as huge as Stan Lee and Hiroyuki Takei to Comic-Con this year,” says Grant Lowery, SHONEN JUMP Editor-In-Chief. “Their groundbreaking new collaboration, ULTIMO, is an exciting, action-packed story that blends the best attributes of the Western and Eastern comic book and manga traditions. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity and we look forward to welcoming visitors to this year’s Comic-Con which promises to be the most exciting one yet!”

Lee’s own company, POW! Entertainment (Pinksheets: POWN.PK), worked with VIZ Media parent company Shueisha, and with JEA and Dream Ranch to facilitate the development of ULTIMO.

For more information on ULTIMO, SHONEN JUMP and VIZ Media please visit www.shonenjump.com or www.viz.com and on TWITTER: VIZ-Media

Kate Dacey of The Manga Critic and Red Baylon of Japanator check out this week’s new releases.

ANN has the latest lineup of new titles from 801 Media and Juné Manga.

Bamboo and Sara talk to global manga artists Lanny Liu and Ziang Her about the realities of the marketplace, submitting to different companies, and the trade-offs involved in choosing or rejecting contracts. Lots of interesting practical information in here.

Meanwhile, Simon Jones (somewhat NSFW) has an interesting take on the standard criticisms of Tokyopop (most recently heard at the global manga panel at AX):

The sales levels the panelists alluded to, the ratio of hits to misses, quality versus speed – none of those things were out of the norm for the typical comics publisher… and TP wasn’t actually doing anything different than typical comics publishing. So if the results were dictated not by particular failures on TP’s part, but the common nature of the market, then the problem really rests with expectations -on the part of TP, creators, and readers- more than anything else. In other words, even if TP had done everything right, the state of their program still might not be any rosier.

Brazilian artists Fabio Shin and Rafael Kirscher are cooking up a Michael Jackson manga, according to Rich Johnston.

Troy Lewter, editor of Tokyopop’s Warcraft manga, interviews creator Dan Jolley.

Melinda Beasi explores outward signs of geekiness at There it is, Plain as Daylight.

Patrick Macias ogles his advance copy of Junko Mizuno’s Little Fluffy Gigolo Pelu.

Last Gasp is planning a hardcover edition of Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms.

Attention Malaysian manga creators: The 2009 National Manga Competition is now under way.

Reviews: David Welsh takes a fond look at the works of Yuji Iwahara—Chikyu Misaki, King of Thorn, and Cat Paradise—at The Comics Reporter.

Michelle Smith on vol. 4 of Black Cat (Soliloquy in Blue)
A Library Girl on vol. 2 of Blank Slate (A Library Girl’s Familiar Diversions)
Connie on vol. 3 of Bride of the Water God (Slightly Biased Manga)
John Thomas on The Cat in the Coffin (novel) (Mecha Mecha Media)
Lorena on vol. 1 of Fall in Love Like a Comic (i heart manga)
AstroNerdBoy on vol. 4 of Gunsmith Cats Revised Edition (AstroNerdBoy’s Anime and Manga Blog)
Shiki on Gyo (Psychedelic SoulJam)
Shojo Flash on vol. 2 of Honey Hunt (Shojo Flash)
Justin Colussy-Estes on vol. 1 of Iron Wok Jan (Comics Village)
Deb Aoki on the iPhone version of Japan Ai: A Tall Girl’s Adventures in Japan (About.com)
Lissa Pattillo on Legend of Zelda – Oracle of Ages (Kuriousity)
Julie on vol. 4 of Monkey High! (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Sesho on vol. 33 of Naruto (Sesho’s Anime and Manga Reviews)
Tangognat on vol. 1 of Shirley and vol. 8 of Emma (Tangognat)
Diana Dang on Socrates in Love (Stop, Drop, and Read!)
Anna on Star Blacks (2 screenshot limit)
Billy Aguiar on Star Trek: The Next Generation, The Manga, Bounkenshin (Prospero’s Manga)
Ken Haley on vol. 1 of Star Trek: The Next Generation: The Manga (Manga Recon)
Connie on Swallowing the Earth (Slightly Biased Manga)
Shiki on Uzumaki (Psychedelic SoulJam)
Andre on vol. 3 of Vampire Hunter D (Kuriousity)
Connie on vol. 18 of Yakitate!! Japan (Slightly Biased Manga)

DMP is joining the stampede of publishers to digital media, with iPhone and Kindle versions of selected June and DMP titles. Full press release, with lots of links, below, but I want to point something out: Although they mention both the Kindle and the iPhone, this press release is all about Kindle books, which can be read on either platform. Consumer note: Vampire Hunter D is also available directly for the iPhone/iPod Touch through iTunes. Amazon wants $7.95 for the Kindle version, but you can buy the 6 chapters individually through iTunes for 99 cents each, saving you two bucks over the Kindle version. Either way, it’s a good savings over the $12.95 cover price on the print edition. However, it looks like most of the other books listed aren’t available on iTunes so you’ll have to pay the full Kindle price. Read on for details.

Digital Manga Publishing, one of the manga publishing industry’s most innovative and unique companies, is product to announce the availability of select DMP and June’ titles for both the Amazon Kindle and iPhone! Now you can read DMP and June’ on the go, right from your very own wireless device! Digital Manga Publishing is excited to showcase some great titles available now! And if you don’t have a Kindle, you can purchase one at www.amazon.com. If you have an iPhone, you can read many of DMP’s offerings there as well. On the iPhone, you can download DMP titles through the Kindle application: visit the Amazon Kindle store at www.amazon.com, or download the free Kindle App through iTunes. For a more detailed list, including all available and new Digital Manga titles, visit www.dmpbooks.com and www.junemanga.com, or visit the Kindle store, and do a keyword search for “manga”. You can even download samples and test all the titles before purchase!

Under the DMP imprint:
Hideyuki Kikuchi’s Vampire Hunter D Vol. 1 manga, $7.95
Hideyuki Kikuchi’s Vampire Hunter D Vol. 2 manga, $7.95
Let’s Draw Manga: Shoujo Characters, $12.95
Let’s Draw Manga: Yaoi, $12.95
AND MORE! Check www.amazon.com for all of the available DMP manga for the Kindle.

Under the June’ imprint:
-NOVELS
Better Than A Dream (novel), $5.95
Gentle Cage (novel), $5.95
Immoral Darkness (novel), $5.95
Body Language (novel), $5.95
Like A Love Comedy (novel), $5.95 >
S Vol. 1(novel), $5.95
Caged Slave (novel), $5.95
A Promise Of Romance (novel), $5.95

-MANGA
Il Gatto Sul G Vol. 1, $7.95
Awaken Forest, $7.95
Lost Boys, $7.95
Sugar Milk, $7.95
Endless Rain, $7.95
Love Training, $7.95
Party, $7.95

AND MORE! Check www.amazon.com for all of the available June’ manga and novels for the Kindle.

We continue to add more titles each day to the already extensive list of titles available for download, and we stand at over forty titles and counting! For some titles that have long been unavailable or out of print, this is a great way to get those titles, and you can sample them to see if you are interested in purchasing! Plus, now for the summer and traveling, you can have our novels and manga available at any time, anywhere! We’re proud to be able to offer so many great titles to our fans, so go ahead and check them all out!

The MangaCast team takes a look at the July 1 manga releases, and the denizens of Manga Village look over the most recent crop.

Sales of pamphlet comics were up in June but graphic novels were down, according to ICv2’s latest analysis of Diamond’s numbers, which includes the top 300 graphic novels sold in comics stores. And here’s the NY Times best-seller list for comparison purposes.

Deb Aoki has a thorough writeup of the OEL Manga panel at Anime Expo.

The newest addition to the Yen Plus lineup will be Kuroshitsuji, which will be rendered in English as Black Butler. Also, Yen is offering six-month subscriptions to the magazine to help lessen the bite on our pocketbooks.

Rikki and Tavisha Simons have confirmed that they own the rights to the ShutterBox series, and they’re looking for a publisher. Tokyopop published the first four volumes of the series and cancelled it just as the creators were about to hand in the fifth volume.

Lori Henderson rounds up the week’s manga news at Manga Xanadu, and Erica Friedman posts her weekly yuri roundup at Okazu.

Casey Brienza has some thoughts on the demise of Shojo Beat.

Julie drops off some manga at the library, finds Berserk labeled as a YA book, and chats with the librarian about the proper placement of manga.

A German site called Botshaft von Japan interviews Dr. Joachim Kaps, managing director of Tokyopop Germany. Unfortunately for me, the interview is in German, but it looks interesting, and I welcome my German-speaking readers to brief us on the highlights.

Lori Henderson takes a look at small-screen manga readers.

Shojo Flash interviews Lorena of i heart manga.

Manga at SDCC: Maximum Ride artist NaRae Lee will be Yen Press’s guest at SDCC, and IKKI editor Hideki Egami will be there courtesy of Viz.

News from Japan: Ed Chavez has a roundup of items in his MangaScope column at MangaCast. Hideo Yamamoto’s Homunculus has returned from hiatus. And Stan Lee is launching yet another manga in Japan, this one based on the anime Heroman.

Reviews: Be sure to check out this week’s What Are You Reading? post at Robot 6, wherein yet another blogger is brought into the manga fold. Lots of good recommendations this week. Sarah Boslaugh takes a look at the first volumes of Orange Planet, Honey Hunt, and Maid War Chronicle at PLAYBACK:stl. At Manga Recon, the gang checks in with another set of Manga Minis.

Lexie on vol. 3 of 20th Century Boys (Poisoned Rationality)
Michelle Smith on vol. 3 of Black Cat (Soliloquy in Blue)
Lori Henderson on vol. 5 of Captive Hearts (Comics Village)
Shojo Flash on vol. 1 of Choco Mimi (Shojo Flash)
Julie on vols. 1 and 2 of Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Julie on vol. 4 of Dance in the Vampire Bund (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Lorena on vol. 1 of Fairy Tail (i heart manga)
Oyceter on vols. 17-18 and vols. 19-22 of Fullmetal Alchemist (Sakura of DOOM)
Lissa Pattillo on vol. 1 of The Guin Saga: The Seven Magi (Kuriousity)
Melinda Beasi on vol. 2 of Her Majesty’s Dog (There it is, Plain as Daylight)
Michelle Smith on vols. 3 and 4 of Honey and Clover (Soliloquy in Blue)
Connie on vol. 24 of Iron Wok Jan (Slightly Biased Manga)
Lexie on vols. 1 and 2 of Kieli (Poisoned Rationality)
Lorena on vol. 4 of Land of the Blindfolded (i heart manga)
Casey Brienza on vols. 1-3 of The Magic Touch (ANN)
Melinda Beasi on The Manga Guide to Physics (There it is, Plain as Daylight)
Erica Friedman on Miyuki-chan in Wonderland (Okazu)
Christoph Mark on Moyasimon (The Daily Yomiuri)
Lorena on vols. 1 and 2 of Nana (i heart manga)
Anna on Oishinbo: A la carteli (2 screenshot limit)
Melinda Beasi on On Bended Knee (There it is, Plain as Daylight)
Noah Berlatsky on Paradise Kiss (comiXology)
Anna on vols. 1 and 2 of Penguin Revolution (2 screenshot limit)
Connie on vol. 4 of Pluto (Slightly Biased Manga)
Shannon Fay on vol. 1 of Pure Heart (Kuriousity)
AnaKhouri on vol. 1 of Real (Yellow Menace)
Ed Chavez on vol. 3 of Real (MangaCast)
Brenda Gregson on vol. 5 of Sand Chronicles (Animanga Nation)
Connie on Swallowing the Earth (Manga Recon)
Julie on Unsophisticated and Rude (MangaCast)
Sam Kusek on vol. 1 of Waq Waq (Manga Recon)
Laura on vol. 1 of You’re So Cool (Heart of Manga)

Japan Ai: A Tall Girl’s Adventures in Japan is a delightful book, and it’s well worth the cover price just because it’s so pink and pretty. But if you’re looking for a bargain, it’s now available—in its entirety—on iTunes. Read on for all the details.

GO! COMI AND ZEITGEIST GAMES ANNOUNCE
“JAPAN AI – THE IPHONE APP”
9 July 2009, LOS ANGELES

Innovative manga publisher Go! Comi and cutting-edge game designer Zeitgeist Games today announced the release of the iPhone version of Aimee Major Steinberger’s smash-hit manga journal “Japan Ai – A Tall Girl’s Adventure in Japan” – named one of the Young Adults Librarian Association’s Top Ten Great Graphic Novels for Teens of 2009! It is now available, formatted for the iPhone or iPod Touch, for the introductory price of .99 CENTS!

Join Aimee Major Steinberger on the ultimate otaku vacation! Steinberger uses sketches and hand-written descriptions to capture it all in this manga journal that is both adorable and breathtaking. And now you can have her travel journal right at your fingertips no matter where you are, with this handy app that features the COMPLETE 190-page book, formatted for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

The application also contains several special features that are EXCLUSIVE to the iPhone version of the book:

– Using Smart Panels(TM) technology, you can move from panel to panel with a single tap

– With two different viewing modes, reading is a snap

– Browse thumbnail images of each page in the chapter

– Learn Japanese words with the help of the voice phrase dictionary

– Photo gallery allows you to see actual photos from the trip

That’s right – readers will get the complete book in iPhone form, plus exclusive iPhone/iPod Touch features, for only 99 cents! The “Japan Ai” iPhone App is available now at the iTunes store.