MangaBlog

Ed Chavez has posted his Tokyopop Year in Review article on Anime on DVD, part of an ambitious series he started in December. It’s another solid piece, but there’s a curious omission: any mention of OEL manga, which TPop has played up so prominently in the last year.

To get a sense of what Ed might be missing, check out this interview with Fool’s Gold creator Amy Reeder Hadley on Newsarama. The book looks great, with an independent-minded heroine and an interesting and diversified cast. Tokyopop has posted a preview online.

Back at AoD, Jarred Pine takes an advance look at volume 2 of Love Roma and likes what he sees. So do David Welsh and Jog, which is as sterling a set of recommendations as anyone could wish for.

Over at the Manganews forums, reviewer Kuwa-Jiji doesn’t hold back on the snark in a review of volume 1 of Iron Wok Jan, a book I actually liked. But then, I’ve been known to watch Iron Chef.

I’m a little late with the card, but congratulations to Love Manga on their first anniversary! It’s hard to believe they have only been around for a year; Love Manga is usually the first site I check when I wake up my computer in the morning. And being British, they understand my Bunty references… Anyway, here’s my toast, with best wishes for many more blog-years to come.

In his comments on this month’s Previews, David Welsh noted that Netcomics is debuting ten titles this month.

Curiosity piqued, I went to the site. Netcomics is a new company that publishes Korean comics in English; their website just launched in January. Most of their titles are webcomics that you can read online for 25 cents a chapter. But when I went to read one, I got a message that only Internet Explorer is supported.

Hello? What century are we living in here?

I use a Mac. IE hasn’t been supported for the Mac for years, so I use Safari most of the time, and Firefox and Opera on occasion.

I realize that most people use PCs, but I think putting your product off limits to Mac users is very unwise. If you’re trying to get traction in the marketplace, you don’t necessarily want to reach most people, you want to reach people who are shapers of opinion and creaters of buzz. I don’t flatter myself that Mangablog has much influence, but many of the smart, creative people I know, artists in particular, use Macs.

So anyway, here I am with my little blog, and I’d love to have something nice to say about the Netcomics line, but there were only two I could read, the two that are offered for free. The first one, Almost Highly Classified, just stank. The drawing was too simple and the plot incoherent. The other one, The Great Catsby, has some nice art but the plot shudders along like a kid learning to drive a stick shift.

I suppose I could rummage around in the bowels of my computer for Explorer, start it up, and then hand over my credit card to complete strangers so I could spend 25 cents on a chapter of Boy Princess or Dokebi Bride.

Or not.

Instead, I’ll offer Netcomics a little free advice. Don’t cut out any part of your market, especially one of the more influential parts.

And if you’re going to hand out free samples, offer your best stuff, not the comics that are too lame to charge for.

Over at Anime on DVD, manga reviewer Ed Chavez has a lengthy and thorough 2005 Manga Report Card for Viz Media. It’s a worthwhile read, but if you’re short on time, here’s the executive summary: Viz is the king, dominating the market with a solid lineup (quality), plenty of titles (quantity), and a new and improved branding strategy. The fact that Viz is owned by two major Japanese manga publishers, of course, means they have plenty of titles to choose from. On the downside, Ed knocks them for poor communication skills, poor print quality, and occasionally changing the content.

I’d say Ed’s right all around. Even with their recently redesigned website, it’s hard to find information about a particular title, and Viz does a poor job of announcing which books are coming up. That news usually comes from retailer sites like Barnes & Noble or Right Stuf, rather than in the form of press releases and promotion from Viz themselves. On the other hand, as the mother of two girls I can testify that the Shojo Beat branding strategy is brilliant, and as they release tankoubon of the stories serialized in that magazine, Viz will actually compel me to buy the same product twice.

ICv2 previews its new retailer’s guide to manga and anime with this speculation: there will be plenty of manga on the market but less will come from the big two. Both Viz and Tokyopop are planning “only modest increases” this year, while CPM and Del Rey will be releasing more, and—who knows?—some new publishers may make the scene.

Meanwhile, if you missed David Welsh’s Flipped column, hurry up and read! This week, David interviews manga veteran Jake Forbes, currently editor of Go!Comi. It’s a friendly interview, as David is clearly a fan of the Go!Comi titles, but it’s hard to fault him for that. Jake talks about the current Go!Comi line and reminisces a bit about Fruits Basket, which he edited in the early days.

Lots of manga love down at Sequential Tart this month. The All Access offers a roundup of comics that deal with romance and are aimed at the 12 to 16 set. Their picks include Kare Kano, Socrates in Love, and Peach Fuzz. Meanwhile, feature writer Laura Bissey looks over the field of shoujo manga and finds herself less enthusiastic about some of these same titles—but as devoted as ever to Fruits Basket.

I find myself drawn to series that seem clever, with a sense of humor about themselves, and some moderate emotional depth. There’s not too much of the aforementioned patented shoujo angst.

The Wallflower and Paradise Kiss both make the cut as well. Elsewhere, the issue includes an article on love in manwha, and the Tart to Heart column focuses on relationships the writers either love or hate, which naturally brings to mind Hot Gimmick, a book that has raised a few eyebrows in other circles.

Heidi MacDonald at The Beat brings us up to date on the Tokyopop situation. After the company laid off VP of Sales and Distribution Steve Kleckner, senior editor Aaron Suhr, and five or six other employees, Heidi started hearing rumblings that Tokyopop was telling OEL (original English language) manga creators to stop work on their projects, adding, “but it’s all chatter at this point.”

The chatter proved unfounded, at least for now: Tokyopop editorial director Jeremy Ross told Heidi,

We have not told any OEL creators to stop working on their projects as a result of Aaron’s departure. The projects that Aaron was supervising are being reassigned immediately to other TOKYOPOP editors who will provide continuity.

Still, Kleckner’s comment to Publisher’s Weekly that he left over “differences about where the manga market is going” gives food for thought. It makes sense for Tokyopop to develop some homegrown talent, as Viz has tied up a lot of the Japanese licences. Furthermore, from what I’ve read on message boards, Tokyopop’s contracts with OEL creators give them part ownership of the characters, whereas the Japanese manga are merely licensed—it’s the difference between renting and owning. So OEL could pay off big, IF the market appears.

But so far, the OEL are selling steadily but not spectacularly. My theory, based on my very unscientific observations of my kids and their classmates, is that Tokyopop is missing the real sweet spot, the 8-to-12 age group. Most of their OEL manga is pitched to an older age group—there is a gap between Fruits Basket and Steady Beat, and it may be that the teenagers who could relate better to the OEL books are too old to start reading comics. Already my older girl, who turned 13 yesterday (gasp!) has started leaving manga behind for more traditional books. That’s an image problem that comics have suffered for a while.

For two or three years now, my daughters have been hard-core manga buyers. My 11-year-old still entices me into the bookstore whenever possible (not that that’s very difficult) and seldom leaves empty-handed. If I were going to start some homegrown manga, I’d aim it at her, not her older sister.

I’m just sayin’.

And I hate to say it, because I really like the OEL manga—it’s definitely a more sophisticated read than One Piece. But if you’re going to extend your brand, extend it to your biggest buyers first.

I hope the rumors, unfounded as they may be, provide some food for thought for the OEL creators too. Creative people hate to think about boring stuff like copyright, but it would be a terrible thing to lose control of a character because the publisher owns the rights and ends the series. Every creator should have a good intellectual-property lawyer looking out for their rights.