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Previews review

January 31, 2007 by

It’s time again for a trawl through the current edition of Previews. There’s lots of interesting new stuff, but there are also new versions of excellent comics that have been published previously and re-lists of some great books.

The first in DC’s Minx line of books, The Plain Janes, rolls out in this edition, and DC provides some preview pages that look nice. It’s interesting to see how much effort DC is devoting to getting these books in comics specialty shops, but I sure hope there are concurrent efforts in the kind of outlets where the target audience actually shops.

On the CMX front, there are a few attractive preview pages of Tomomi Yamashita’s Apothecarius Argentum, another period poison piece. But will it be completely insane?

The solicitation for 801’s Affair by Shiuko Kano catches my eye with phrases like “real adult relationships.” It’s also a collection of shorts, which is one of my weaknesses.

I’ve already enjoyed David Petersen’s terrific Mouse Guard (Archaia) in floppies, but I’m glad to see that the publisher hasn’t wasted any time in putting out what will surely be an attractive hardcover collection.

The manga-with-princess-in-the-title wars rage on as Del Rey debuts Yasunari Mitsunaga’s Princess Resurrection. The tiara and the chainsaw balance each other out rather nicely, don’t they?

Also from Del Rey is the first volume Hitoshi Iwaaki’s Parasyte, which has generated considerable anticipation. It’s one of their “older readers” books at the $12.95 price point.

Drawn & Quarterly re-lists the first volume of Moomin: The Complete Tove Jannson Comic Strip for anyone who may have missed it. I’m crazy about this book and will mention it at any opportunity.

The story described in the solicitation for Gipi’s Garage Band doesn’t immediately grab me, but First Second has demonstrated impeccable taste in the books they choose to publish, and I’ve been wanting to sample Gipi’s work.

I like the idea of the multi-generational story described in the blurb for Morim Kang’s 10, 20 and 30 from Netcomics. I’ll have to swing by the publisher’s site and sample a few chapters when they become available.

Oni focuses on new versions of already-published material, collecting Scott Chantler’s terrific Northwest Passage in an omnibus edition and delivering a “Definitive Edition” of Greg Rucka and Steve Lieber’s bottom-of-the-world thriller Whiteout. They also re-list a bunch of great books from their catalog, so if you’ve missed stuff like Past Lies, Capote in Kansas, or Banana Sunday, now’s your chance.

New from Oni is James Vining’s First in Space, a 2006 Xeric Grant recipient, telling the tale of “a chimpanzee Americans trained for the first sub-orbital spaceflight.” I’m intrigued, but my “sad animal story” radar is pinging.

Say what you will about the prospect of OEL from Avril Lavigne. It’s bound to be The Rose of Versailles compared to the Bratz Cine-Manga (Tokyopop).

Tokyopop’s Blu imprint delivers more Fumi Yoshinaga in the form of Lovers in the Night. How many of her titles are left to license? It’s like we’re in the middle of a Yoshinagalanche. That’s not a bad thing, obviously. I didn’t like the opening gambit of Gerard and Jacques, but the series of explosions in the second volume was one of the funniest pieces of cartooning I’ve seen all year.

Top Shelf delivers a new volume of Andy Runton’s Owly, A Time to Be Brave, which would be generosity enough for one month. But after taking a look at the preview pages for Christian Slade’s Korgi (via Blog@Newsarama), I realize that they’re determined to spoil me.

Filed under: 801, Blu, CMX, Del Rey, Drawn & Quarterly, First Second, Minx, Netcomics, Oni, Previews, Tokyopop, Top Shelf 6 Comments

Quality dark chocolate is also always a good choice

December 1, 2006 by

There’s a special feature in this month’s Previews: a Valentine’s Day Merchandise Checklist, compiling “a host of titles that are perfect to share with a loved one.” Okay, there’s more than a whisper of Team Comix to it, and some of the choices are a little odd, but many of them do provide extra exposure for some great books up at the front of the catalog, so I won’t complain.

The one that makes me happiest is the inclusion of Rebecca Kraatz’s House of Sugar from Tulip Tree Press (p. 344). I guess when Diamond reconsiders a rejection, they go all the way. That’s a good thing, as I like this book a lot.

ALC’s books (Yuri Monogatari 3 and 4 and Works, p. 208) make the cut. I thought the third YM book was kind of a mixed bag, but I do find the work of Rica Takashima hard to resist, and she brings her characters from the charming Rica ‘tte Kanji back in the fourth, so I might have to cave. Works, a collection of romantic shorts by Eriko Tadeno, sounds appealing as well.

If you missed it the first time, Diamond humbly suggests you consider the one-volume edition of Jeff Smith’s Bone (Cartoon Books) as a Valentine’s Day gift. Heck, just keep it, because you have to love yourself before you can love anyone else.

Moving on to the romantically unsanctioned, I’m taken with the premise of Keiko Yamada’s Go Go Heaven!! (CMX, p. 98). After her untimely death, an unhappy teen gets “49 days to relive her life and resolve unfinished business.” Sounds morbid, but fun!

What’s this I see on the Featured Items page? A collection of the intriguing Elk’s Run from Villard Books (p. 347)? It started out self-published, got picked up by a publisher who went bust, and never got to finish its run as a mini-series, despite general critical acclaim. Now, Villard’s offering the whole shebang, and high time, I think.

Juné lures me with the promise of more Fumi Yoshinaga in the form of The Moon and the Sandals (p. 264).

Marguerite Abouet and Clément Ouberie’s Aya (Drawn & Quarterly, p. 270) offers intriguing subject matter (the everyday life of young women in the Ivory Coast) and an excellent pedigree (the 2006 Best New Album award from Angoulême).

The Comics Journal devotes #281 to the best of 2006 (Fantagraphics, p. 275). I’m a sucker for lists.

My favorite bit of solicitation text in the catalog is found in the blurb for Cantarella Vol. 6 (Go! Comi, p. 280). Young Chiaro “finds comfort and warmth within the confines of a monastery.” Oh, I’ll just bet he does.

It’s nice to see a full-page ad for Viz’s Signature line, especially one that focuses on Osamu Tezuka’s Phoenix. Given the well-deserved attention Vertical’s production of Ode to Kirihito has received, it’s smart, too.

So what looks good to you?

Filed under: ALC, CMX, DMP, Drawn & Quarterly, Fantagraphics, Go! Comi, Previews, TCJ, Tulip Tree Press, Viz Leave a Comment

Weekend reading

November 20, 2006 by

Sometimes I forget the awesome, palate-cleansing power of really well-executed shôjo fluff. After spending way too much time pondering four variations on the Train Man phenomenon, I was happy to remember that I had a proof copy of the second volume of Penguin Revolution sitting in my to-read pile.

It’s still delightful, and for all of the same reasons the first volume was. It’s nice to see a smart, tenacious protagonist handle a wide variety of personal and professional situations with aplomb. It’s even nicer that those situations are genuinely funny, and that the supporting cast is developing in entertaining ways.

And speaking of delightful, Moomin: The Complete Tove Jansson Comic Strip so delivers on the promise of the Drawn & Quarterly Free Comic Book Day sample. (So did Get a Life, come to think of it. D&Q gets a retroactive A+ on that freebie.) The loopy, meandering sweetness of this strip is a perfect counterpoint to Jansson’s often barbed commentary on greed and status. It’s a perfect read for a drizzly afternoon, though I suspect it’s a delight under just about any meteorological conditions.

(Tiny nitpick: That band around the back cover was a really nice design element, but it covered up some of the biographical text, and it was bound too tightly to remove without tearing. This might not constitute a problem for anyone but me, but I felt like I was defiling a holy object or something.)

I’m so glad there are four more volumes to come, as I’m really eager to read more of Jansson’s work. I’d also like to try some of her prose, and if anyone can recommend a good biography, I’d be grateful. She sounds like a fascinating person.

Filed under: CMX, Drawn & Quarterly 5 Comments

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…”

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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.

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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

In the news

October 11, 2006 by

There’s an audio interview with Guy Delisle up at BBC’s The World about his experiences in North Korea and his graphic novel, Pyonyang: A Journey in North Korea (Drawn and Quarterly).

Delisle’s Shenzhen: A Travelogue from China arrives in comic shops today.

Filed under: Drawn & Quarterly, Media Leave a Comment

More of the same

September 26, 2006 by

I know, I know… more linkblogging. What a surprise! Let’s start off with a round-up of manga reviews:

  • At PopCultureShock, Erin F. (of Manga Recon and MangaCast fame) takes a gander at Densha Otoko (Train Man) phenomenon, and Katherine Dacey-Tsuei reviews Omukae desu (CMX).
  • Back at the MangaCast mother ship, Jack Tse reviews Suzuka (Del Rey), D. Gray-man (Viz – Shonen Jump Advanced) and Q-Ko-Chan (Del Rey).
  • Updated to note: I missed a bunch, but Brigid didn’t, so go ye to MangaBlog.

At Crocodile Caucus, Lyle synthesizes much of the recent talk about manga anthologies and takes a look at comics anthologies past and present.

At Love Manga, David Taylor filters through the week’s ComicList for manga offerings. At the risk of repeating myself, god, finally.

Other Wednesday highlights include the concluding chapter of the first volume of Scott Chantler’s Northwest Passage (Oni Press), which I may have previously mentioned in passing. Or ad nauseum. And before I’ve even gotten around to reading Pyonyang: A Journey in North Korea, Drawn & Quarterly releases Guy Delisle’s Shenzhen: A Travelogue from China. A PDF preview of Shenzhen can be found here.

In truth, I’m still fixating over some of the books I bought over the weekend, particularly Dokebi Bride (NETCOMICS). I liked the first volume so much that I had to hit Amazon for the second.

On an unrelated note, I’m developing a horrible case of WordPress envy. I crave tags, but I worry that my web haplessness would lead to disaster if I tried to transition. Many others have survived the experience, so I’m sure I wouldn’t make too much of a muddle of it. We’ll see.

Filed under: CMX, ComicList, Drawn & Quarterly, Linkblogging, Netcomics, Oni, Viz 3 Comments

Catalog shopping

September 15, 2006 by

Okay, order forms are due tomorrow, but the new Previews just showed up in the shop this week. Let’s see what’s there!

If you’ve been even vaguely intrigued with Phil and Kaja Foglio’s Girl Genius, Airship is giving you a great opportunity to see what it’s all about. They’re publishing a black and white, manga-sized Omnibus Edition priced at $14.95 for 312 pages of story.

Who knew First Second’s Mark Siegel had spare time? He’s illustrated two graphic novels for Aladdin Books: A new soft-cover version of Seadogs: An Epic Ocean Operetta, written by Lisa Wheeler, and To Dance: A Ballerina’s Graphic Novel, written by Sienna Cherson Siegel.

I loved Gabrielle Bell’s When I’m Old and Other Stories, so chances are good I’ll feel the same about her new collection, Lucky (Drawn and Quarterly).

I mentioned it yesterday, but it bears repeating. Fanfare/Ponent Mon has a new collection of stories from Kan (Kinderbook) Takahama, called Awabi. Takahama’s stuff is gorgeous, and chances are slim that you’ll run across much of it in a bookstore, so if you’re interested, you might consider pre-ordering.

The solicitation text for Escape from Special (Fantagraphics) isn’t particularly helpful until it gets around to describing creator Miss Lask-Gross as “a love child of Linda Barry and David B. mid-wifed by Judy Blume.” Now that catches my attention. (Fantagraphics also seems to be having a summer sale with 20% off orders of $40 or more.)

This also seems to be one of those months where new volumes of tons of ongoing manga series I love come out. CMX has Emma vol. 2. Dark Horse has The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service vol. 2 (which I’m sure I’ll love if the first volume ever shows up). Del Rey has ES vol. 3. Seven Seas has Inverloch vol. 2. Tokyopop has Fruits Basket vol. 15, Sgt. Frog vol. 12 (of 12, apparently), and Shout Out Loud vol. 3. Vertical has the fourth soft-cover volume of Buddha. Viz has The Drifting Classroom vol. 3 and Monster vol. 6.

Okay, what did I miss?

Filed under: Airship, Drawn & Quarterly, Fanfare/Ponent Mon, Fantagraphics, Previews 3 Comments

From the stack: GET A LIFE

August 19, 2006 by

In her review of You, Me and Dupree at The New York Times, Manohla Dargis notes the peculiar cinematic fondness for thirty-ish men who refuse to grow up. Film (and comics) can be “a virtual playpen for legions of slobbering big babies for whom Peter Pan isn’t a syndrome but a way of life,” as Dargis puts it.

One of the things that makes Philippe Dupuy and Charles Berberian’s Get a Life (Drawn & Quarterly) such a pleasure is that it isn’t about growing up so much as getting older. Mr. Jean, their endearingly average, slightly dyspeptic protagonist, is hovering around thirty, and he isn’t entirely happy about it.

But he isn’t obsessed with it or terrified by the prospect. He’s got a reasonable amount of success at work. His personal life isn’t a wasteland; he’s got friends and romantic companionship. If life isn’t perfect and a major milestone of years is looming, things could certainly be worse. In other words, Mr. Jean is in an age-appropriate place, and that’s refreshing.

Dupuy and Berberian, who divide their duties as creators equally, strike a wonderfully balanced tone in their stories. They’re witty without ever becoming arch and warm without being cloying. As Mr. Jean moves through the highs and lows of everyday life, he encounters friends, family, and neighbors who all provide distinct comforts and frustrations. Chance encounters trigger memories that can be both painful and nostalgic. Each story is a snapshot of a life that feels very real.

The illustrations are very much of a piece with the stories. Character designs are funny and charming but not too exaggerated. Mr. Jean’s body language works particularly well, attuned to all of his many moods. He can be slumped with defeat or exhaustion, rigid with frustration, and even (rarely) comfortably at ease with the way his life is going.

It’s a tremendously comforting comic. The stories are funny, moving glimpses of the everyday. If I were to quibble with anything, it would be the title. I’d say that Mr. Jean already has a life, and an appealingly grown-up one. But it can be hard to see that while you’re busy living it.

Filed under: Drawn & Quarterly, From the stack 4 Comments
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