I had a manga-centric weekend, putting the finishing touches on the latest Flipped (which is up today at Comic World News). In it, I look at the “Forest? What forest? Keep putting bras on these trees!” launch of CMX’s Tenjho Tenge. Never in my life did I think I would be called upon to type the word “panties” so frequently.
I’m happy to say there was plenty of palate-cleansing reading to rid my thoughts of such lackwitted corporate shenanigans. In the latest volume of Sgt. Frog, the invading amphibians attempt to launch a pharmaceutical corporation, try to turn spring fever into a chemical weapon, and learn what their mysterious Fifth Member has been up to. The usual hilarity, in other words.
A trip up to Borders allowed me to witness the bookstore graphic novel shopper dynamic first hand. A twenty-something guy picked up DC’s New Frontier. A middle-aged mother helped her tween daughter sort through the manga for new volumes of the girl’s favorite titles. (I hope she wasn’t looking for the final volume ((sob)) of Imadoki!, because I grabbed it right before she got there. Yes, girls like comics, but only if I didn’t get there first.) A teen-aged guy grabbed some sci-fi paperbacks, then a collection of Ultimate Spider-Man, then something by CLAMP, I think. Okay, so maybe it wasn’t particularly instructive, but I loved seeing a mother and daughter shopping for comics side by side.
I also picked up a copy of Paradise Kiss on a whim, and I’m absolutely crazy about it. I’ll be posting a sickening mash note to Ai Yazawa in short order, but why wait? You should stop by Reading Along to read James Schee’s review of PK.