MangaBlog

This week’s Publishers Weekly Comics Week newsletter has comprehensive coverage of NYCC, including a roundup of manga stories by Kai-Ming Cha and me.

ANN has an interesting report on the State of the Manga Industry panel, one of the events I’m sorry I missed at NYCC. Liza Coppola of Viz, Dallas Middaugh of Del Rey, and Lillian Diaz-Przybyl of Tokyopop discussed sales trends, editing manga, and why only one of the three has an anthology magazine.

Newsarama was at the Tokyopop panel.

And for a peek at the total con experience, check out the con report from my traveling companion J. Dee Dupuy.

Blog@Newsarama has samples of the art for Del Rey’s shoujo manga X-Men and Wolverine titles.

It’s a Go!Comi week for David Welsh, who finds three favorites among this week’s new releases.

At comiXology, Kristy Valenti talks to Aimee Major Steinberger about drawing Japan Ai: A Tall Girl’s Adventures in Japan.

Erica Friedman posts her translation notes on chapter 2 of the 18th Maria-sama ga Miteru novel at Okazu.

Reviews: Tiamat’s Disciple takes an early look at a really different new title, vol. 1 of Shoulder-a-Coffin Kuro, and he also reviews vols. 1-3 and vols. 4-11 of XXXHolic and vols. 1-3 of Tsubasa. Lissa Pattillo checks out vol. 2 of Psychic Power Nanaki at Kuri-ousity. Tangognat looks at vol. 1 of A Wise Man Sleeps, the latest offering from Her Majesty’s Dog creator Mick Takeuchi. Julie reads vol. 2 of Nightmares for Sale at the Manga Maniac Cafe. Alison Bailey explains why she likes After School Nightmare at the Friends of Lulu blog. John Thomas takes a look at vol. 1 of Dororo at Mecha Mecha Media. The villagers post a new slate of reviews at Manga Village: John Thomas on vol. 2 of My Dearest Devil Princess, Charles Tan on Dark Wraith of Shannara, Lori Henderson on vol. 1 of Honey and Clover, Sabrina on vol. 13 of Monster, and Dan Polley on vol. 9 of Yakitate!! Japan. Holly Ellingwood checks out vol. 6 of Tail of the Moon and vol. 13 of Death Note at Active Anime.

Read on for more about this picture book, which sounds like it’s not for the kiddies!

DRMASTER PUBLICATIONS PRESENTS
YASUSHI SUZUKI’S GOTHS CAGE
 
SAN JOSE, CA – April, 2008 – DrMaster Publications proudly announces the production of the highly anticipated picture book by internationally acclaimed video game designer Yasushi Suzuki (a.k.a. – D-Suzuki), Goths Cage (previously titled Phantoms).
 
Goths Cage is an enchanting manga-esque picture book anthology of three short stories with a malicious twist of love and romance. It is based on Yasushi Suzuki’s art series that was previously released online in Japan under the name Phantoms KADAN. Suzuki-san re-adapts his art series and transforms it into a bewitching picture book with entrancing grace and charm. Each of his gothic tales is exquisitely crafted with elegant detailed illustrations that transport readers into an enchanted world of gothic glory.
 
In his first story, Glass Magic, Suzuki-san does a twisted take on the classic Cinderella tale.  An ugly corpse-like servant girl wishes to fall in love with a prince and become a beautiful princess. Then a sinister old witch offers her a magic potion that can grant her heart’s desires, but in order for the magic to work she must abandon her soul. She gets rid of her memories, her face, and her master to become a cruelly beautiful glass princess.
 
In another of Suzuki’s splendidly dark tales, the shop keeper of an enchanted barbershop attends to his beautiful victim under the moonlight. He snips away at her thoughts and memories, mystically cutting away all her painful memories that scar her heart. However, because she is sapped of her thoughts and memories, all that is left is her pitiful empty body.
 
Prepare to be mesmerized by Yasushi Suzuki’s spine-chilling tales of love and entrancement this Fall 2008, because this enchanting collection of spellbinding illustrations and twisted tales is a must-have!
 
About the Creator:
Yasushi Suzuki is a world renowned video game conceptual designer and animator. His work on IKARUGA (Sega), Sin & Punishment (Nintendo), Radiant Silver Gun (Sega), and so many other games, mainly under the gaming development giant TREASURE GAMES, has earned him a following few other conceptual designers can match. He has also meticulously compiled a stunning cache of his own work history in an art book – The Art of Yasushi Suzuki, which showcases nearly 100 images, some of which were designed specifically for the collection, including art from the video games Ikaruga (Sega), and Sin & Punishment (Nintendo), as well as cover art from the Japanese language version of George R.R. Martin’s New York Times bestselling novel series, A Song of Ice and Fire.

Availability
Goths Cage will be available October 2008, and will be priced at $12.95. All 32 pages of the hardcover book will be printed in full-color.

ICv2 has the Diamond sales numbers for the first quarter of 2008, and the news is mixed: Graphic novel sales were up 5%, but periodical comics were down enough to drag the total down to a 7% drop.

ICv2 also posted the graphic novels chart for March, so let’s take a look at how manga fared. As always, the first number in parenthesis is the book’s rank on the overall graphic novel chart, and the second number in parens is the number of copies sold this month in comics stores.

1. (3) Naruto, vol. 28 (5,427)
2. (5) Fruits Basket, vol. 19 (5,313)
3. (11) Berserk, vol. 22 (3,756)
4. (17) Negima, vol. 17 (3,158)
5. (20) Bleach, vol. 22 (3,064)
6. (22) Fullmetal Alchemist, vol. 16 (3,015)
7. (46) XXXHolic, vol. 11 (2,101)
8. (61) MPD-Psycho, vol. 4 (1,700)
9. (68) One Piece, vol. 17 (1,572)
10. (75) Welcome to the NHK, vol. 6 (1,468)
11. (81) Samurai Deeper Kyo, vol. 27 (1,310)
12. (82) Nana, vol. 9 (1,300)
13. (91) Claymore, vol. 11 (1,181)
14. (97) Black Cat, vol. 13 (1,112)
15. (98) Shaman King, vol. 15 (1,112)

At first glance, this looks like a good month for manga, because it’s actually unusual to see manga in the top ten of the direct market charts. But it really is an illustration of what Milton Griepp was saying at the ICv2 Graphic Novel conference (of which more shortly), that the top layer of books is doing well, but the bottom two-thirds are hurting. Usually, the bottom half of the chart is well populated with manga, but this month there are fewer titles but two in the top ten. Of course, those two are Naruto and Fruits Basket; this would be less likely to happen in a non-Naruto month. But it does seem like there are fewer manga on the chart than in previous months.

I’ll be writing up some more of my observations about NYCC shortly, but in the meantime, check out ComiPress’s monster list of reports from the con, or just go straight to Gia and Deb, who between them were everywhere and saw everything. Be sure to check out Gia’s Q&A post. And at Manga Recon, Kate Dace presents her own take on days 1, 2, and 3 of the con, picking up some interesting tidbits that went unnoticed by everyone else, like the panel on indy manga in Japan on day 1. Chloe didn’t make it to the con, but she has some interesting analysis at Shuchaku East.

At MangaCast, Ed Chavez is all over the new license news, with cover images and comments on Viz’s new cooking manga Oishinbo, Dark Horse’s Clover omnibus, Digital’s Tezuka acquisition, Swallowing the Earth, and the latest acquisitions from CMX, DMP and 801, Yen Press, Del Rey, and even Bandai.

Secret project revealed: Ryan and Evan of Same Hat bring in regular doses of awesomeness in the form of bizarro Japanese horror manga that you will never see anywhere else, and now they have gone pro: They are translating, editing, and lettering Tokyo Zombie for Last Gasp. (This makes quite a contrast with Last Gasp’s previous manga, Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms.)

Shaenon Garrity has a great column on the girls of shonen manga at comiXology.

At Okazu, Erica Friedman updates us on the latest yuri news and translates the beginning of the 18th Maria-sama ga Miteru Novel.

Feel like reading some manga? Broccoli just updatd their home page with previews of Koi Cupid and Sola.

Tokyopop apparently laid out their three-year plan to publish a boatload of Warcraft manga at NYCC.

We may be hearing that the market is contracting, but events like this manga evening at a bookstore in Doncaster, UK, are still packing ’em in.

News from Japan: Canned Dogs spots a strange ad that suggests a facelift for Dengeki Daioh magazine. The wrestling manga Kinnikuman and the soccer tale Captain Tsubasa will return to Weekly Shonen Jump for one-shot episodes. And Japanator’s Dick McVengeance visits the Shonen Jump store in Tokyo.

News from Germany: Manly Manga and More has news of some new licenses, which will look familiar to American readers, as well as some cancellations of titles that are also running over here. Young Krissy gives vol. 1 of Gon three stars but thinks it’s too violent at Manga Xanadu.

The Daily News of Egypt takes a global look at SelfMadeHero’s Shakespeare manga.

Reviews: Tom the Titan reads his first manga, vol. 1 of Mail Order Ninja, and he likes it. Publishers take note: He picked it because it was inexpensive and he had already read part of it in the Sunday paper. Dave Ferraro is quite entertained by vol. 1 of Bizenghast at Comics-and-More. Lissa Pattillo reads vol. 13 of Black Cat, vol. 5 of After School Nightmare, and vol. 1 of Boys Be at Kuri-Ousity, and she posts a review of The Sky Over My Spectacles at Manga Jouhou. At Sleep Is For the Weak, Lianne Sentar reviews Itazura na Kiss and then rinses her brain with a look at S.A. (Special A.) Ken Haley is severely unimpressed with vol. 1 of Purgatory Kabuki at Manga Recon. Mangamaniac Julie reviews Sugar Milk at MangaCast and back at the Manga Maniac Cafe, she looks at vol. 16 of Fullmetal Alchemist, vol. 1 of Tea for Two, and vol. 1 of White Night Melody. Also at MangaCast, Eva Volin checks out the light novel vol. 1 of Strawberry Panic. Erica Friedman reviews Mermaid Line, vol. 8 of Hayate X Blade, and Kiseki Goten at Okazu. At Active Anime, Scott Campbell reviews vol. 18 of Eyeshield 21, Holly Ellingwood reads vol. 11 of XXXHolic, and Davey C. Jones checks out vol. 3 of Atelier Marie and Elie Zarlburg Alchemist. Tangognat reads vol. 1 of Honey and Clover and vol. 1 of White Night Melody. Ferdinand contemplates the incredible lightness of vol. 1 of Mamotte Shugogetten at Prospero’s Manga. At Anime Sentinel, James Fleenor reads vol. 5 of Trinity Blood. Connie looks at vol. 2 of With the Light, vol. 15 of Boys Be…, vol. 2 of Aqua, vol. 18 of Astro Boy, and vol. 12 of From Eroica With Love. Greg Hackmann reads two rather different titles, Be With You and vol. 4 of MPD-Psycho, at Anime on DVD.

NYCC is over for another year, and life is slowly returning back to normal. Dee and I took the Acela back to Boston and wound down by hanging out with Kevin Church in the club car.

My overall impression is that manga was less prominent this year. Tokyopop, as always, set up their big booth and flew in lots of creators for signings and panels, but according to Gia’s writeup, their panel had only one new title announcement. Instead it sounds like a list of previously announced properties, plus the news about their new pilot program that will put global titles online for free.

And while Viz had their big Stan Lee crossover announcement, their panel was more low-key and they didn’t have a staffed booth at the con, just their manga lounge. Go!Comi and Broccoli weren’t there at all.

On a more cheerful note, Stephen Robson of Fanfare was there, beaming about the recent Eisner nomination for Jiro Taniguchi’s The Ice Wanderer, although he still faces distribution challenges. Vertical had a bigger booth than last year, and marketing director Stephen Vrattos told me that they sold all their advance copies of Dororo pretty quickly. Digital Manga seemed to be doing a brisk business, and the Speed Racer box set was the object of desire du jour.

Gia has a handy list of new title announcemnts up at her blog, as well as extensive coverage of all the panels. And ComiPress has the mother of all link posts, covering pretty much everything that has been written so far.