Is Birmingham, England, the next big hub of the comics industry? Possibly, argues this piece in the Birmingham Post about StripSearch, an initiative for would-be cartoonists helmed by Hunt Emerson and John McCrae. The goal?
“‘We have given them the strength to break out of their nine to five hell,’ adds John ‘And throw them into comic hell…’”
There’s also a manga primer attached to the piece, and… well…
“Manga characters almost always have large eyes, small mouths, and they also usually have abnormal hair color.”
It reads like narration from a documentary on some startling genetic disorder, doesn’t it?
Still, the Midlands Comics Collective sounds like a wonderful idea, and they’ve already published an anthology. Some of the creators are also featured in The Mammoth Book of Best New Manga.
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It’s not just Nana. Apparently, Nodame Cantabile has inspired a themed café, though how anyone could want to eat after looking at a recreation of Nodame’s room is beyond me.