MangaBlog

Heidi poses a question:
Anyway, I came not to be snarky (well I guess I did) but to wonder why there is so much animosity towards COMICS WEEK from the blogosphere?

Actually, I like PW Comics Week, and several of my fellow bloggers do as well. It’s usually well written, interesting, and link-worthy.

The problem people had was with this industry roundtable, which appeared in yesterday’s issue. I didn’t bother linking to it because there wasn’t much mention of manga and because, as Tom Spurgeon observed, it was really too vague to be interesting. Also, there were lots of typos.

Heidi’s frustration is understandable but wrongly directed. She should be mad at her bosses, who are obviously not treating PWCW like a real magazine.

I worked for a real magazine and several real newspapers. Every story in those publications is read by several people besides the writer. Editors look at tone and content. A copy editor checks grammar, spelling and style and verifies that if the author says “we have five chief weapons,” five weapons are listed—you’d be amazed how often writers get that wrong. Real magazines also have fact-checkers, and having done this for a living I can tell you that no fact is too obvious or too small to be checked. (This led to some fascinating conversations, including one with the biologist who bred the supermarket strawberry and another with a cult leader who had recently tried to resurrect his dead wife. All in a day’s work.)

Does this always happen? No. I have worked for publications that did away with copy editors as a cost-cutting move, and believe me, it was a mistake. Readers don’t take a publication seriously if it has a lot of typos and small errors. Thus we get reactions like this one from a commenter on Christopher Butcher’s site:

As usual, I’m THIS CLOSE to offering to proofread the fucking thing for free because it makes me furious that it goes out every single week with ridiculous typos, but sadly I have better things to do with my time and they spend their money with other priorities in mind. I doubt I’m the only reader who finds it a huge turn-off since this is, after all, aimed at people who care about books, but I may be the only reader who reads it nonetheless.

Bloggers, of course, have no editors or fact-checkers, but we’re in a different part of the universe. The fact is, all writing is vastly improved if someone other than the writer goes over it.

From the outside, it looks like PWCW is understaffed. An editor would have flagged the content problems with the article and sent it back for retooling, even if that means delaying it for a week. A copy editor or fact checker would have caught the errors. Heidi and Calvin are good writers, and they have a knack for finding good subjects to write about, but it takes more than good writers to make a good publication. It takes editors as well. PWCW usually appears pretty seamless, but it doesn’t sound like they have much in the way of editing. It’s to her and Calvin’s credit that that isn’t obvious every week. But if PW wants us to take PWCW seriously, PW needs to take it as seriously as its dead-tree cousins.

Playthings interviews Viz senior vice president of marketing Liz Coppola, who demonstrates right up front that she really understands the appeal of manga: Talking about Viz’s hottest properties, Naruto, FMA, Rurouni Kenshin, and Death Note, she says,

They are stories that have rich, complex main characters that all have a vision—whether it’s becoming the ultimate ninja, discovering the master alchemy formula or being suddenly given the power of life and death. They’re ordinary characters that have some form of a “gift” that they’ve discovered within themselves and they must learn to live with all the complexities that come with that talent or power.

I think those aspects are every kid’s aspirational dreams—to wake up and suddenly become something you weren’t before, but your essence remains the same. You are still the same nervous, geeky kid but now you have discovered a hidden talent.

I think that’s a great summary of children’s literature, from Alice in Wonderland to Harry Potter. Of course, she goes on to say, manga have more complex storylines, with hidden motivations that don’t surface until later in the story. That’s what keeps us going for 28 volumes.

The rest of the interview is interesting but probably nothing new for most readers—she talks about what the hot properties are and how Viz is trying to expand the market. She touches a bit on branding, and how Shonen Jump has a strong female readership.

Our readers trust that we are the experts in providing them with not only a diverse range of titles, but also in our suggestions. If they are a reader of a Shonen Jump title, they will find that they would probably enjoy other titles in that imprint. The same for the Viz Signature imprint, which is designed specifically for a certain type of reader in mind—the titles are all “carefully hand selected” to match the imprint.

Let’s start off with something cool: It’s in Japanese, of course, but this video about CLAMP gives a fascinating glimpse of the foursome at work in their studio (note shelves and shelves of manga—and wine). (Via Manganews)

PW Comics Week has two very different manga stories this week. First up is an article on Blame! creator Tsutomu Nihei, who came to manga after working for a New York architect; PW says he “has redefined and re-created the cyberpunk genre for the current generation of manga readers.”

The second piece is about the global manga Biker Girl, which was published by Hyperion this month. Here is a preview. The book reads right to left, which is an interesting departure for a traditional book house. The story, about a girl with a magic bike, is “an appealing mix of adventure, female empowerment and romance brought alive by Takashima’s vibrant illustration,” according to PW writer Kate Culkin, and is designed to appeal to manga readers and non-readers alike.

That makes an interesting lead-in to this livejournal post on comics for women, or rather, the lack thereof. The writer has some interesting reflections on shoujo manga and why it’s not enough, and then notes that shoujo aside, the companies making comics for women are not the traditional comics publishers but traditional book houses. Well worth a read. (Via the invaluable When Fangirls Attack.)

At MangaCast, Ed Chavez has some thoughts about flooding the market (ADV) versus starting small and building from there (Del Rey, DMP), and some advice for ADV, now that they have a new investor:

Maybe they can get new faces who know manga in there, as David from Love Manga suggested. I as a reader would consider that huge plans from them.

Hear, hear!

Can’t get enough of Death Note? Check this out: the “final” volume, which includes a four-page one-shot, explanations of the “mystery” of the story, and a card with L’s real name.

The North Jersey (?) Herald News has a nice article about cosplay at AnimeNEXT. It manages to be interesting and informative without lecturing or smirking; I think the reporter struck just the right tone.

… will be presented by Love Manga and MangaCast from now on. With both of them doing such a great job, I don’t see any point in my continuing to run the new manga list. I’ll link to them every week, though.

Yes, the headline doesn’t lie: According to this press release, the Best Western Miyako Inn, in San Francisco, will be remodeled to reflect “the vibrant energy of Japanese pop culture”:

Undergoing a more dramatic change will be the 125-room Best Western Miyako Inn, which will take inspiration from contemporary Japan, featuring the bright colors, modern embellishments and art styling found in Japanese anime, manga and street fashion. An optimistic blend of practical comfort and quirky details, the Inn will attract a diverse spectrum of guests.

I like that “optimistic.” The stodgier Miyako Hotel will retain its “respectful interpretations of Traditional Japanese culture”—soaking tubs, rice paper screens, like that.

Gynocrat has an interesting tale for us about plagiarism and vengeance among Japanese manga-kas.

The folks at the AoD forums are managing to contain their excitement about today’s ADV news.

Pata has some fun with the Japanese Anti-Smoking Association’s objections to Nana (found via ComiPress).

With Fool’s Gold due out in less than a month, Amy Hadley is going to Anime Expo, and she’s worried about the etiquette of autographs. Just a little first-time jitters.

Hey, kids! ANN has a blog! Ikimashou is not impressed.

A French publisher is announcing a new global manga anthology magazine, Shogun, featuring content by European creators. The announcement is in French, but The Comics Reporter has a summary: “based roughly on the Shonen Jump model (lots of pages, low price).” Given that the French have done some really nice work, I will be interested to see this one. The website goes online on July 9; there’s a placeholder there now if you want to bookmark it.

ADD Theater comments on objectification of women in manga: It’s not that it doesn’t happen, it’s just easier to ignore.

This is a nice Fred Gallagher fan site, freshly updated to celebrate the release of volume 4 of Megatokyo.

Next step in Japanese evolution: a maid cafe on wheels.