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Wednesday again

January 16, 2007 by

It’s a short trip through this week’s ComicList, though there are some choice items on offer.

Fantagraphics delivers the fourth issue of the second volume of Linda Medley’s Castle Waiting. The stories are delightful and the characters engaging, though I find myself starting to wonder if the reading experience wouldn’t be more satisfying in a big, collected chunk than in individual floppies.

Netcomics offers the fourth volume of Marley’s Dokebi Bride, one of my favorite series. (Marley will be attending this year’s New York Comic-Con, along with Doha of The Great Casby fame.)

With all of the understandable excitement over To Terra…, it might be easy to forget that Vertical is still releasing beautifully produced paperback versions of Buddha. The fifth volume arrives in comic shops tomorrow.

Shaman Warrior, the other title in Dark Horse’s manhwa line, makes a belated arrival to keep Banya company.

And Tokyopop’s only offering for the week is a re-issue of the second volume of Fruits Basket, which must mean the series is still drawing new readers in addition to the legion who are already enjoying it.

Filed under: ComicList, Dark Horse, Fantagraphics, Netcomics, Tokyopop, Vertical 3 Comments

Parcels

January 3, 2007 by

I’ve been doing a lot of Amazon ordering, what with gift certificates and the like, and since I’m always trying to save more money for manga, I try and configure things so that I get the free shipping. Usually that means stuff takes a while as they bundle things to minimize the number of shipments, but this practice has apparently been abandoned during the post-holiday season. I swear I can’t open my in-box without finding a notification that another single volume of something is on its way while they wait to fill the rest of my order. It’s beyond me why, and I’m not thrilled with the quantity of cardboard they’re squandering, but the pacing is strangely pleasing.

As for comics delivered by other means, Thursday’s ComicList seems kind of skimpy at first glance. (That’s fine, honestly, as I’ve been bringing entirely too many comics into the house over the last couple of weeks.)

If I wasn’t behind the curve, I would probably pick up the fourth volume of Keiko Yamada’s VS. (CMX). I flipped through a galley proof and liked it, and Mely has given it the thumbs-up, but I’ve told myself that I need to delve into Oyayubihime Infinity first.

For whatever reason, Nicolas De Crécy’s Glacial Period (NBM) showed up at the local comic shop last week, though it’s listed this week as well. I found it intriguing and delightful.

On the Viz front, there are new volumes of Death Note (Shonen Jump Advanced) and Yakitate Japan! (roaming unbranded and free across the manga prairie). The first volume of Vampire Knight (Shojo Beat) also arrives. When I was in kindergarten, the elementary school offered morning and afternoon sessions. It never even occurred to me that the afternoon group might be filled with vampires. I was so naïve.

And while it isn’t coming out this week, I was happy to see a positive review of Aya (Drawn & Quarterly) in this week’s PWCW, because I’m really looking forward to reading it. All right, D&Q, I surrender. You’ve beaten me down with books like Get a Life and Moomin and Curses. I love you. Are you happy now?

Filed under: ComicList, On-line shopping 5 Comments

Make nouvelle friends, but keep the old

December 27, 2006 by

Spinning off of the praise for The Building Opposite (Fanfare/Ponent Mon), ICv2 takes a flattering introductory look at nouvelle manga. And despite the sometimes frustrating process of actually getting my hands on the stuff, I’m all in favor of these books getting a higher profile than they currently enjoy. ICv2 zeroes in on the retailers who might benefit from keeping them in stock:

“Retailers in urban areas, college towns, specifically those who do well with alternative comics should definitely consider carrying the Fanfare/Ponent Man line of Nouvelle Manga as well as the thematically related gekiga titles of Yoshihiro Tatsumi (The Push Man and Other Stories, Abandon the Old in Tokyo) published by Drawn & Quarterly.”

And while you’re at it, order a few copies of Sexy Voice and Robo (Viz). I swear you won’t regret it.

Speaking of slightly overpriced comics with that cosmopolitan savoir-faire, the highlight of Thursday’s ComicList is Glacial Period from NBM. It’s by Nicolas De Crécy, one of the contributors to F/PM’s Japan as Viewed by 17 Creators, and it sounds intriguing, even at roughly $15 for 80 color pages. A post-apocalyptic look at the Louvre? Why not?

Also promising is DC’s Huntress: Dark Knight Daughter collection. I’ve got a lot of nostalgia for the Earth 2 incarnation of the Huntress, daughter of Batman and Catwoman. (I’m extremely protective of the current incarnation of the character as well, mostly because I resent the hypocritical way that Batman treats her like a moral inferior. But that might have changed since the last time I picked up a DC book, so who knows?) Anyway, Helena Wayne always struck me as a potentially great character in her own right, beyond her intriguing heritage, so this will be a good opportunity to read some of her adventures that I missed the first time around. (I’ve also gone from despising Joe Staton’s art as a teen to viewing it with nostalgic fondness in the intervening years. I’ve mellowed with age.)

Project X continues over at Digital Manga, this time probing the origins of 7-Eleven. The fifth volume of Dragon Head is snuggled in the middle of Tokyopop’s long list of offerings.

Filed under: ComicList, ICv2, Linkblogging 4 Comments

I need to come up with a tag for these Wednesday posts

December 19, 2006 by

Major booksellers seem to be on a mission to clog my e-mail in-box with in-store and on-line offers. I think I’ve made pretty good use of some of them, though I managed to resist the one-day discount thing Barnes and Noble sent yesterday, since it was only usable yesterday and, well, I had things to do that didn’t involve extra left turns.

And I do have to save some of my retail expenditures for the local comics shop, because I’ll feel like a soulless Big Box pawn if I don’t. So let’s look at the week’s ComicList, shall we?

If the season’s huggy, over-stuffed sentiment is getting to you and you want something a little faster and leaner, Dark Horse offers a tonic in the form of the second volume of Banya: The Explosive Delivery Man. While the title character hasn’t actually exploded yet, he’s done just about everything short of it in terms of action-adventure behavior. It’s a lot of fun, and Kim Young-Oh’s art is gorgeous.

One of these days, I’m going to have to delve further into Clamp’s xxxHOLiC (Del Rey). I read the first two volumes long ago, was baffled and put off by the irrelevant crossovers with other Clamp series, then read the third and became intrigued. So perhaps I’m not quite ready for the eighth volume, but I will be someday.

I’ve heard nothing but good things about So-Hee Park’s Goong (Ice Kunion). In spite of a massive recent overhaul of its web site, the publisher still doesn’t seem to have any previews available for the series, but it’s a what-if story about what Korea might be like if the monarchy was still in place. It was popular enough in Korea to be adapted into a television drama, which I believe is still an unusual development. Wikipedia has a spoiler-y summary of the manhwa.

Oni launches Maintenance, a sci-fi workplace comedy from Jim Massey and Robbi Rodriguez. I read a preview a while back and really enjoyed it.

Viz provides new volumes of Monster and Train Man: Denha Otoko. Monster is always reliably entertaining, and this volume seems to promise more of the Knots Landing antics of saintly Tenma’s hell-on-wheels ex-fiancée, so there’s really no down side. As for Train Man, Hidenori Hana’s adaptation of the story is easily my favorite of the competing versions.

Filed under: ComicList, Dark Horse, Del Rey, IceKunion, Oni, Viz Leave a Comment

Conspicuous consumption

December 12, 2006 by

The past few weeks have obviously lulled me into a false sense of security, because a look at the ComicList for Wednesday… well… it’s like Manga DEF CON 5. Pawn some heirlooms, clear space on your shelves, do what you have to do.

For simplicity’s sake, I’ll just go with a list of what I would like to buy, were money no object:

  • Anne Freaks Vol. 4, ADV
  • Mail Vol. 1, Dark Horse (written and drawn by Housui Yamazaki, artist on The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service)
  • Emma Vol. 2, CMX
  • After School Nightmare Vol. 2, Go! Comi (first volume recently reviewed by Brigid here)
  • Train + Train Vol. 1, Go! Comi
  • Fruits Basket Vol. 15, Tokyopop
  • Sgt. Frog Vol. 12, Tokyopop
  • Shout Out Loud Vol. 3, Blu
  • Beauty Pop Vol. 2, Viz – Shojo Beat
  • The Drifting Classroom Vol. 3, Viz – Signature

    • And that doesn’t even count series like Aishiteruze Baby, Bleach and Phoenix where I need to catch up on previous volumes. Other corners of the shipping list seem a bit more forgiving to me, but overall, it looks like employees of manga-friendly comic shops are going to be swamped this week.

    Oh, and until teen girls can be liberated from comics poverty when Minx comes riding over the hill, they’ll just have to settle for stuff like this.

    Filed under: Blu, CMX, ComicList, Dark Horse, Go! Comi, Graphix, Tokyopop, Viz 2 Comments

    Batten down the hatches

    December 5, 2006 by

    At first glance, there doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of interest in this week’s ComicList, but it does have its pleasures.

    I think my initial lack of enthusiasm comes from the fact that I hardly ever buy floppies any more, but there are two this week that I’m eager to read. I’ve been enjoying Hero Squared (Boom! Studios), and the fourth issue arrives tomorrow.

    I’m also looking forward to a comic by Gail Simone that isn’t in the thick of DC’s mainstream super-hero titles. Welcome to Tranquility sounds like fun, and I like both revisionist super-hero stories and murder mysteries.

    For whatever reason, the paperback version of The Case of Madeline Smith from the Rick Geary’s A Treasury of Victorian Murder series showed up at my shop last week, but soft and hardcover versions seem to be arriving everywhere tomorrow.

    Viz’s releases function more as a reminder that I’ve fallen behind in my reading list. How did Aishiteruze Baby get to its fifth volume when I wasn’t looking? And Crimson Hero is at volume four? The reason this sort of thing happens is that I keep getting distracted by charming new series like Beauty Pop, which is at volume two.

    Oh, and if you’re wondering what’s going to dominate Bookscan graphic novel sales for the next couple of weeks, I’ll give you one guess.

    Filed under: Boom! Studios, ComicList, NBM, Viz, Wildstorm Leave a Comment

    The suspense is killing me!

    November 30, 2006 by

    Well that was a pleasant surprise. I thought NBM was only shipping a new printing of Rick Geary’s The Borden Tragedy, but a copy of the paperback version of The Case of Madeleine Smith showed up in my reserves yesterday. New installments of A Treasury of Victorian Murder are always gratefully accepted.

    Speaking of the accused Glaswegian, she’s made her way onto the list of nominees for the American Library Association’s Great Graphic Novels for Teens. (Yes, I’m still obsessively tracking those. Thanks for asking.) Nominations are now closed with a projected drop date for the final list in mid-winter of 2007.

    It’s a little hard to tell what joined the list when, but accounting for my shaky memory, recent additions include:

    • Action Philosophers: Giant-Sized Thing #1 (Evil Twin)
    • American Born Chinese (First Second)
    • Brownsville (NBBComics Lit)
    • Chocalat (Ice Kunion)
    • Crossroad (Go! Comi)
    • Fables: 1,001 Nights of Snowfall (Vertigo)
    • Infinite Crisis (DC)
    • Inverloch (Seven Seas)
    • The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service (Dark Horse)
    • Livewires: Clockwork Thugs, Yo! (Marvel)
    • Pride of Baghdad (Vertigo)
    • Same Cell Organism (DMP)
    • To Dance: A Ballerina’s Graphic Novel (Simon and Schuster)
    • Young Avengers Vol. 2: Family Matters (Marvel)

    I hope the nomination list is still available after the final roster is chosen, because there are some great books on it. But barring some bizarre failure of decision-making, it’s hard to see how the final list could be anything but excellent.

    (Edited to note: If I missed anything new to the nominations, let me know, and I’ll add it to the list.)

    Filed under: ComicList, Comics in libraries, DC, DMP, Evil Twin, First Second, Go! Comi, IceKunion, Marvel, NBM, Seven Seas, Vertigo 3 Comments

    Short list

    November 29, 2006 by

    Once again, ComicList courteously offers regular and manga versions of the week’s offerings, which feature a focus on new printings of good books.

    Evil Twin provides a second printing of Action Philosophers: Giant-Sized Thing #1. NBM rolls out a revised version of the soft-cover of A Treasury of Victorian Murder: The Borden Tragedy, promising “a whole new section of newspaper clippings of the day!” And while I’m not familiar with the book, having been deep in spandex country during its initial printing, people are sufficiently excited about the new collection of Ragmop from Big Bang to make it their pick of the week.

    But there’s plenty of brand-new material too.

    A new issue of Linda Medley’s Castle Waiting (#3, in this case, from Fantagraphics) is always welcome.

    I’ll throw in my lot with MangaCast’s Jarred on the manga front, singling out volume three of Fuyumi Soryo’s ES: Eternal Sabbath (Del Rey) as the pick of the week. It’s intriguing, character-driven science fiction.

    Antique Bakery (DMP) has left me incapable of ignoring anything by Fumi Yoshinaga, even if I wasn’t crazy about some of the story elements of the first volume of Gerard & Jacques. But it’s Yoshinaga, so volume two is on the shopping list.

    Filed under: ComicList, Del Rey, Evil Twin, Fantagraphics, NBM Leave a Comment

    Gift guides

    November 21, 2006 by

    Two ads showed up in the e-mail box this morning, and since neither was for cheap prescription drugs or a home loan, they caught my eye. They’re for the seasonal gift shops at Barnes & Noble and Borders, and each has a special graphic novel niche, though B&N’s is listed a layer in.

    B&N breaks theirs down into “Graphic Novels and Comics,” “Manga,” and “Collectibles.” DC’s Absolute program seems to have positioned them very nicely for placement in these gift guides. While the Marvel entries are reference books, DC’s are largely stories. Someone at B&N really seems to like Joann Sfar (represented by Pantheon’s The Rabbi’s Cat and First Second’s Klezmer) and Osamu Tezuka, which is perfectly understandable. Ode to Kirihito (Vertical) makes both the graphic novel and manga lists.

    My favorite entry on the GN list is probably Paul Gravett’s Graphic Novels: Everything You Need to Know (or Stories to Change Your Life). It’s a beautifully produced book with tons of page samples and a really solid cross-section of the more interesting books that are out there, along with well-written history and context from Gravett.

    The manga list illustrates something of an industry shortcoming, to my way of thinking. While there are plenty of big, comprehensive, stylishly produced volumes on the GN list, there’s little in the way of boxed sets in the manga section. There are some art books and character guides, but there are a lot of single volumes from late in ongoing series that don’t immediately scream “stocking stuffer” unless you’re buying for a dedicated reader who probably already has Fruits Basket 14 anyways.

    At Borders, the “Comics & Graphic Novels” link has better placement, but it also has fewer choices. On the bright side, they’re also having a 4-for-3 sale with page after page of choices. There are plenty of volumes of popular manga series like Naruto, Bleach, and Death Note, and an otherwise eclectic mix of everything from Doonesbury to Little Lulu. One can also find lots and lots of boys’ love or yaoi titles in the listings from publishers like Juné, Blu, Netcomics, and others.

    Books-A-Million doesn’t seem to have a GN/manga section to their gift guide, though the chain seems to be making a lot of money off of the category.

    If I were to assemble some kind of gift guide, it would definitely include Moomin, Linda Medley’s Castle Waiting hardcover, Gene Yang’s American Born Chinese, a personally assembled box set (maybe of Fumi Yoshinaga’s four-volume Antique Bakery, Ai Yazawa’s Paradise Kiss, or Scott Chantler’s Northwest Passage), Jessica Abel’s La Perdida, and Paul Gravett’s Manga: 60 Years of Japanese Comics.

    Moving on to more current offerings, the week’s releases are up at ComicList. Lazily assembled highlights include:

    Insert cornucopia joke here.

    Filed under: Awards and lists, ComicList 1 Comment

    Updates, reviews, and long-awaited Scandinavian cartoons

    November 15, 2006 by

    Lyle has shared the cover of that issue of SF Weekly that featured the article on Yaoi-Con. It’s been suggested that they modified the artwork without the creator’s consent. Brigid has also found some letters to the editor in response to the article.

    At The Beat, Heidi MacDonald links to an article from the Associate Press on controversial graphic novels in libraries, sparked by the dust-up in Marshall, MO. It’s a well-sourced and interesting read.

    At Journalista, Dirk Deppy has heard reports from a reliable source that Yumi Hoashi left her post as head of Viz’s magazine division for a new gig, a theory posited by Simon Jones (whose blog might not be safe for work). Jones also provided me with my heartiest guffaw of yesterday, which was much appreciated:

    “Won’t somebody think of the children!… who… read… the Comics Journal…”

    *

    Brigid has also reviewed Inverloch from Seven Seas for Digital Strips. I liked the first volume a lot and keep meaning to track down the second. Johanna Draper Carlson reviews one of my favorite books, Girl Genius from Airship Entertainment. And Jamie S. Rich, author of 12 Reasons Why I Love Her from Oni, also loves June Kim’s 12 Days from Tokyopop.

    *

    As for today’s comics, the clear front-runner (for me, at least) is Moomin: The Complete Tove Jansson Comic Strip Book One from Drawn and Quarterly. (Go here, scroll down, and click for a preview.) I’ve been looking forward to this since Free Comic Book Day, and my anticipation has only intensified thanks to the Moomin references in at least two of the manga versions of Train Man.

    Speaking of that subway Romeo, Del Rey offers its one-volume shôjo take on the story. (Count Jog among the unmoved.)

    If forced to pick only one item from Viz’s rather substantial list of product, hunger would win out and I’d opt for the second volume of Yakitate Japan.

    The ComicList has thoughtfully compiled a manga-centric list of the week’s releases, and the MangaCasters have gone through it with a fine-toothed comb.

    Filed under: Airship, ComicList, Comics in libraries, Del Rey, Drawn & Quarterly, Linkblogging, Marshall library controversy, Media, Seven Seas, Viz 1 Comment
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