Heard via Pata’s Irresponsible Pictures and The Comics Reporter, Viz will be launching a new anthology and graphic novel line, Shojo Beat, in June of 2005. It’s about a third of the way down in a “girls like comics” feature in the Feb. 3 Los Angeles Times, which is odd, since it seems like the best possible evidence that girls like comics. I’d quote something from the article, but it’s nothing you haven’t read before, and it isn’t even written as well as what you’ve already read. I’d link to it, but I found it through LexisNexis, because I don’t feel like registering at the Los Angeles Times.
James at Reading Along has a review of CLAMP’s Legal Drug, and his opinion matches my own:
“The characterization and story has to be something extra to overcome my apathy towards that genre of story, and this didn’t because it all seemed very surface level.”
I read CLAMP’s xxxHOLiC over the weekend, and I rather liked it. I mention this because the Legal Drug boys popped by, along with an apparent who’s who from CLAMP’s other titles. This didn’t bother me a bit while I was reading xxxHOLiC itself, but it sure did clutter the hell out of the background notes at the digest’s end. Usually I really like the cultural notes that Del Rey throws in at the end of their volumes, but I would say this volume was about 50% useful and interesting information and 50% commercials for other CLAMP titles. And that? Bugged.
Brian at Comics Should Be Good has been blogging up a storm over the past few days. I was particularly interested in his discussion of the slipperly slope from style to shtick and his thoughts on authors who can be one-theme ponies.
And there’s a new edition of Flipped up at Comic World News.