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February 18, 2009 by

So the Harvey Awards nomination process is underway, and creative types can make a bid to recognize their favorite peers and works in a wide variety of categories. You may remember me keening and gnashing my teeth over some of last year’s nominations.

For a change of pace, I thought I’d go the Force Works/Extreme Justice proactive route this year. Instead of recoiling in horror at the prospect of ever seeing the phrase “Harvey Award winner Witchblade Manga,” I’ve decided to take a stab at prevention. Toward that end, here are some books from 2008 that you might consider for the Best American Edition of Foreign Material category:

  • Aya of Yop City, written by Marguerite Abouet and illustrated by Clément Oubrerie, published by Drawn & Quarterly
  • Disappearance Diary, written and illustrated by Hideo Azuma, published by Fanfare/Ponent Mon
  • Dororo, written and illustrated by Osamu Tezuka, published by Vertical
  • Fluffy, written and illustrated by Simone Lia, published by Dark Horse
  • Little Nothings: The Curse of the Umbrella, written and illustrated by Lewis Trondheim, published by NBM
  • Moomin: The Complete Tove Jansson Comic Strip – Book Three, written and illustrated by Jansson, published by Drawn & Quarterly
  • Real, written and illustrated by Takehiko Inou, published by Viz
  • Seduce Me after the Show, written and illustrated by est em, published by Deux Press
  • Shoulder-a-Coffin Kuro, written and illustrated by Satoko Kiyuduki, published by Yen Press
  • solanin, written and illustrated by , published by Viz

    • There. Ten perfectly respectable potential nominations for your consideration. (And everyone should feel free to contribute their own suggestions in the comments.) I should also note that several of these books are also eligible for other awards.

    Filed under: Awards and lists, Dark Horse, Deux, Drawn & Quarterly, Fanfare/Ponent Mon, NBM, Vertical, Viz, Yen Press 1 Comment

    Con jobs: Fanfare/Ponent Mon

    January 30, 2009 by

    In my ongoing effort to shamelessly favor nouvelle manga specialist Fanfare/Ponent Mon, I will share with you the publisher’s press release on its plans for the upcoming New York Comic-Con. If you attend the con, do yourself a favor and stop by Booth 2347 to browse and buy some really beautiful, unusual graphic novels. Or, y’know, don’t, and live forever with the nagging uncertainty of what might have been.

    The release is after the cut.

    FANFARE / PONENT MON PREVIEWS NEW RELEASES FOR 2009 AT NY COMIC-CON
    BOOTH 2347 AT New York Comic-Con, Jacob K. Javits Center
    FEBRUARY 6 – 8 2009
    www.nycomiccon.com
    www.ponentmon.com

    Fanfare / Ponent Mon debuts their latest release for 2009 at New York Comic-Con! “My Mommy is in America and She Met Buffalo Bill” by Jean Regnaud and Émile Bravo will be available for sale at Fanfare / Ponent Mon (Booth 2347), as well as previews of the rest of the exciting new titles that are on the schedule for 2009.

    Fanfare’s edition of “My Mommy is in America and She Met Buffalo Bill” is the first English edition of this award-winning French graphic novel. Printed in glorious full-color in a hardcover edition, this story is a touching remembrance of a 5-year old growing up in rural France in the 1970’s. Jean lives with his father, his younger brother and his nanny. As he starts school, he’s troubled by a mystery: Where is his mommy?

    As the adults around him avoid his questions, his neighbor shares a secret. She gives him postcards written to him from his mother, all sent from exotic and far-flung destinations.

    Get a taste of this touching and memorable book here: http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/13882.html. This book is suitable for readers age 10 and up, as well as grown-up readers who will be charmed by its slice-of-life storytelling and distinctive artwork.

    “My Mommy is in America and She Met Buffalo Bill” has already earned these prestigious awards:

    – Essentials Award winner, 35th Angoulême International Comics Festival, 2008
    – Tam Tam Award 2008, Salon du Livres et de la Presse Jeunesse
    – Émile Bravo was also a 2008 Eisner Award Nominee for his short story, “Young Americans” in Mome 8 from Fantagraphics

    ISBN 978-84-96427-85-3
    Hardcover, 120 full color pages
    retail: $25.00
    On sale in April 2009, and available for order now:
    Diamond Comics Distributors, Previews code JAN094222 (service@diamondcomics.com / 800-45-COMICS)
    NEW! Midpoint Trade Books (james@midpointtrade.com / 212-727-0190)

    Drop by the Fanfare / Ponent Mon booth at New York Comic-Con and pick up copies of some of our recent award-winning and critically acclaimed releases, including

    – Disappearance Diary by Hideo Azuma
    – Quest for the Missing Girl by Jiro Taniguchi
    – Japan as Viewed by 17 Creators
    – The Walking Man by Jiro Taniguchi

    You’ll also be able to preview some of the 2009 releases that are in the works, including:

    – A Distant Neighborhood by Jiro Taniguchi
    – Summit of the Gods by Jiro Taniguchi
    – Korea as Seen by 12 Creators
    – Years of the Elephant by Willy Linthout
    – Spanish language editions

    Filed under: Conventions, Fanfare/Ponent Mon 3 Comments

    Benchmark watch: Fanfare/Ponent Mon

    January 22, 2009 by

    I don’t think any manga publisher is immune to fallout from Diamond’s new policies, but some strike me as more vulnerable than others. One that I associate most closely with comic shop distribution is nouvelle manga specialist Fanfare/Ponent Mon, which releases books of extraordinary quality largely through specialty stores. In my experience, pre-ordering through Diamond is the most reliable way to get a Fanfare book in your hands (though they have secured a bookstore distributor, Atlas).

    So, since I’m nosy and since I very much want Fanfare books in my hands promptly and regularly, I pestered Stephen Robson for his response to the new benchmarks. Robson worked in comics distribution in the United Kingdom prior to going into publishing, first for Titan, then for Diamond after it purchased Titan in the 1990s. Robson hasn’t communicated with Diamond directly as yet, but he shared some general thoughts on the development.

    “From a Fanfare/Ponent Mon point of view I am not too concerned about the effect on the front list in Previews likely to be caused by this shift,” he said. “Bizarrely, if the catalogue choice is curtailed because of this policy, our books may even notch up a few more sales on first offering! No, the general economy scares me much more!!”

    One point of concern would be re-lists. “The deepest effect would be felt in re-lists if Diamond do implement this policy rigorously,” he said. “[P]ublishers in our position live as much from back list perennials as we do front list – even some of the longer established ones. Whilst I do receive a continuous trickle of orders from Diamond each month for my back list, there is no substitute for having an image with description and an entry in the order form to boost those numbers!”

    And while he’s sympathetic to Diamond’s position in a difficult economy, he shares a widely held concern about the fates of small publishers. “My sadness would not come from any decline through Diamond of my own sales, I will cope with that somehow, but if this quantum change did cause the demise of even one good creative comic publisher, however humble, who currently feed only at Diamond’s table because it is the only one. I, for one, would be much more appreciative if the process could be slowed somehow to allow such fledglings time to find alternative means of selling their produce to their audience or for an alternative means to spring up.”

    Filed under: Comic shops, Fanfare/Ponent Mon, Previews 5 Comments

    Coming attractions

    December 29, 2008 by

    Some highlights from the January 2009 issue of Diamond’s Previews catalog:

    It’s been quite some time since the second volume came out, so it’s good to see the third volume of Mi-Kyung Yun’s beautifully drawn Bride of the Water God listed by Dark Horse (page 60). Soapy doings among the gods, which was really the point of mythological pantheons in the first place, if you ask me.

    I can’t remember for the life of me who it was, but someone was really excited that Deux Press had licensed Tetsuzo Okadaya’s The Man of the Tango (or Tango, I guess). It’s listed on page 230, promising hunky men “drawn into the seductive beat of a Latin dance,” etc. Why not?

    This month’s “fascinating coss-cultural experiment that could actually tear the internet in half” would have to be Del Rey’s two manga-fied takes on Marvel’s mutants: Wolverine: Prodigal Son, by Anthony Johnston and Wilson Tortosa, and X-Men: Misfits, by Raina Telgemeier, Dave Roman and AnZu. Wait, Telgemeier and Roman are collaborating on the X-Men book? How did I miss that? (Page 267.)

    Fanfare/Ponent Mon takes a break from Japanese comics to release Jean Regnaud and Émile Bravo’s My Mommy Is in America and She Met Buffalo Bill. It’s received serious Angoulême love in 2008. Here’s my Comics Reporter neighbor Bart Beaty’s take on the book. (Page 281.)

    Filed under: Dark Horse, Del Rey, Deux, Fanfare/Ponent Mon, Previews 2 Comments

    Upcoming 12/17/2008

    December 16, 2008 by

    No publisher is as capable of making me go all Team Comix as Fanfare/Ponent Mon. If they’ve got a new release, it’s bound to be my pick of the week. If they’ve released anything in a calendar year, it’s bound to be somewhere on my theoretical list of the year’s best. (I say theoretical because I’m deeply ambivalent about my ability to concoct a list without over-compensating for my personal biases and anxieties about looking… well… dumb.)

    So this week I will urge you all to at least take a look at Jiro Taniguchi’s The Quest for the Missing Girl, which fuses Taniguchi’s facility with evoking sense of place and his fondness for detective pulp in some very effective ways. I reviewed it over at The Comics Reporter.

    And speaking of Fanfare/Ponent Mon and year-end round-ups, Hideo Azuma’s Disappearance Diary (which I reviewed here) has deservedly been popping up on several, including this one at Manga Recon. I point to this one in particular because it’s one of my favorites. I love the format, and I think it allows for a very natural eclecticism of tastes. It’s a great example of the kind of thing a good group blog can do really well.

    Here’s this week’s ComicList, by the way.

    Filed under: Awards and lists, ComicList, Fanfare/Ponent Mon, Linkblogging 1 Comment

    Pass it on

    October 20, 2008 by

    Windy manga columnist has crush on Jiro Taniguchi.

    Filed under: Fanfare/Ponent Mon, Flipped Leave a Comment

    Last-minute shopping

    October 13, 2008 by

    I’m never going to catch up with anything, obviously, and we’ve already passed the published deadline for Previews orders through Diamond, but if your shop allows any flexibility in this sort of thing, I wanted to point to two items that are well worth your consideration:

    The Quest for the Missing Girl by Jiro Taniguchi (Fanfare/Ponent Mon): If you’ve never treated yourself to any of Taniguchi’s work, you’re being needlessly stingy. The Walking Man (also from Fanfare) is always hovering near the top of my re-read list, and Benkei in New York (written by Jinpachi Mori, published by Viz, and apparently out of print) is good, pulpy fun and a fine precursor to The Quest.

    Details aren’t available at Viz’s site yet, but they’ve solicited the first volume of Oishinbo, a cooking manga from Kariya Tetsu and Hanasaki Akira. Ed Chavez, of MangaCast and Otaku USA fame, is very exited, as all sensible people should be.

    Filed under: Fanfare/Ponent Mon, Previews, Viz 1 Comment

    Expository

    October 3, 2008 by

    I had hoped to make it back to SPX this year. I had a great time the year I went, and it’s in one of my favorite metropolitan areas. But other recent travel demands have left me wanting to stay at home when possible.

    That said, I have to post Fanfare – Ponent Mon’s press release about its presence at SPX. First of all, I love the publisher and think Stephen Robson does amazing work publishing beautiful books. Second, I think SPX is a terrific venue for Fanfare’s titles. Really, if you’re in Bethesda this weekend, please stop by Fanfare’s table (W33) and pick up a book or two or three or eight. You really won’t regret it.

    The full press release follows the jump.

    Fanfare – Ponent Mon at Small Press Expo (SPX) 2008 This Weekend!

    Bethesda, MD: UK / Spain publisher Fanfare – Ponent Mon is bringing their line of award-winning graphic novels, manga and nouvelle manga from Japan and France to the 13th annual Small Press Expo this Saturday and Sunday, October 4 and 5, 2008 at Booth W33.

    Visitors to Fanfare – Ponent Mon’s table W33 at SPX will also have the chance to enter to win a prize pack of Fanfare – Ponent Mon graphic novels. No purchase necessary, and winners need not be present to win.

    SPX is one of America’s premier shows for small and independent press comics and graphic novels, featuring over 450 exhibitors at the Marriott Bethesda North Hotel and Conference Center at 5701 Marinelli Road in North Bethesda, Maryland. The show hours are from 11 am – 7 pm on Saturday, and noon to 6 pm on Sunday. Admission is $8 for one day memberships and $15 for weekend memberships.

    Fanfare – Ponent Mon’s sophisticated mix of Japanese manga, nouvelle manga and European graphic novels for grown-ups feature innovative, distinctive artwork and personal storytelling that are far from the usual ninjas, schoolgirls and giant robots that most mainstream readers might expect from manga. Some of the titles that will be spotlighted at SPX this weekend include:

    The Quest for the Missing Girl by Jiro Taniguchi
    As featured in this month’s 2008 issue of Previews magazine, Fanfare – Ponent Mon’s latest release from manga master Jiro Taniguchi is a seinen manga (men’s comic) one-shot about a climber is called from his peaceful mountain home to the streets of Tokyo to find his best friend’s missing daughter. What he encounters is a city where danger lies wait in every alley, school girls sell themselves for money and the truth can be a rare commodity in a city of gleaming skyscrapers and gritty side streets.

    First previewed at San Diego Comic-Con, The Quest for the Missing Girl will be available in limited quantities at SPX.

    Disappearance Diary by Hideo Azuma
    “This manga has a positive outlook on life, and so it has been made with as much realism removed as possible.”

    What would you do if your editors were giving you hell, your deadlines were impossible to meet and you’re just a few drinks away from killing yourself? If you’re manga artist Hideo Azuma, you run away from it all and become a homeless person. Disappearance Diary is the mostly-true, mostly-humorous story about Azuma’s two attempts to ‘disappear’ from his regular life, his pressure-cooker career as a manga artist, and his eventual stint in rehab when his alcoholism got out of control.

    Disappearance Diary is the recipient of the Grand Prize of the 2005 Japanese Media Arts Festival

    Also available at SPX will be copies of Tokyo is My Garden by Frederic Boillet, The Ice Wanderer by Jiro T Taniguchi and Kinderbook by Kan Takahama, a selection of Spanish language titles and much more.

    For more information about Fanfare – Ponent Mon releases, visit http://www.ponentmon.com.

    For more information about Small Press Expo, visit http://www.spxpo.com.

    Filed under: Conventions, Fanfare/Ponent Mon Leave a Comment

    Upcoming 8/13/2008

    August 12, 2008 by

    You would think that the comics pick of the week would be a gimme. I mean, Fanfare/Ponent Mon is releasing Hideo Azuma’s Disappearance Diary. In fact, you generally only need to type “Fanfare/Ponent Mon is releasing…” to guarantee pick-of-the-week standing. And Disappearance Diary is an excellent, unusual comic book that’s absolutely well worth your time and money. (I reviewed the book here.) So it’s a lock, right? But…

    It’s also generally true that you can begin a pick-of-the-week sentence with “NBM is releasing a new installment of Rick Geary’s Treasury of…” and feel reasonably confident that you won’t be easily contradicted. So we also have Geary’s Treasury of 20th Century Murder: The Lindbergh Child to greedily anticipate. (Seriously, if you haven’t treated yourself to any of Geary’s Treasury of Victorian Murder books, you need to be nicer to yourself. Much, much nicer.)

    More often than not, you can begin a pick-of-the-week sentence with “New from First Second is…”, though not if that sentence finishes with “Life Sucks.” Eddie Campbell (collaborating with Dan Best) seems like a much safer bet, and I will certainly pick up a copy of The Amazing Remarkable Monsieur Leotard at some point.

    Okay, moving on from the pick-of-the-week face-off, we reach the eye-catching oddity. First of all, Viz seems to be publishing its own Gantz equivalent, with Rei Hiroe’s Black Lagoon. I admit that the price point ($12.95) was what first caught my eye, because it made me think they’d added something to the Signature imprint. But no, it’s a rated-“Mature” book about mercenaries with characters named things like “Revy Two Hand,” which triggers both my curiosity and my Not for Me Alarm.

    Lastly, a return to my comfort zone. I very much enjoyed the first volume of Uhm JungHyun’s Forest of the Gray City, originally from ICE Kunion. Yen Press has picked up the manhwa consortium’s catalog, and the second volume of Forest arrives Wednesday. It has a very josei feel to it, featuring a working woman who takes in a hunky male boarder to pay off some of her debts. It’s got lovely art and a smart, sexy vibe overall.

    Filed under: ComicList, Fanfare/Ponent Mon, First Second, NBM, Viz, Yen Press 5 Comments

    No birds were harmed in the writing of this post

    July 17, 2008 by

    Chris Butcher offers some excellent advice on nurturing the next phase of the manga industry:

    “If you’ve got a store that believes in the material, and that keeps it in stock, not just makes it available for pre-order, then you can sell the material. In short, we have to invest in the industry we want, not just as retailers, but as journalists and pundits by covering the material we like, and as consumers by supporting the books we like with our dollars.

    “That’s my prescription for the manga industry: let’s make the industry we want, do our best to convert fashion into function, and celebrate our successes where we find them rather than complain that we’re not quite successful enough.”

    I’m all about combining errands, so here’s a possible way to kill two birds with one stone. (Sorry about the inherent animal cruelty of that phrase, but I haven’t had enough caffeine to recall a more benevolent alternative.) If you’re attending Comic-Con International and find some extra spending money in your pocket because you don’t feel like giving any to the Manchester Grand Hyatt, you could swing by the Fanfare/Ponent Mon booth (C04) and buy some of their lovely, lovely books. As Deb Aoki noted, Fanfare’s distribution system with Atlas isn’t quite 100% yet, so SDCC is probably your best chance to browse the publisher’s catalogue, gape in wonder at books like The Walking Man, Japan as Viewed by 17 Creators, and Kinderbook, and to pick up a copy of Hideo Azuma’s nothing-else-like-it Disappearance Diary (which I reviewed here).

    Now, as for “supporting the books we like with our dollars,” Brigid Alverson works in an excellent way to do that in a recent post at MangaBlog: ordering titles via your local bookstore, especially if they’re books that might not otherwise get shelved. This strikes me as a great way to put offbeat titles on a store’s radar, and I’ve heard from various people that many stores will order a couple of shelf copies of a title when they get a special order. Also, you don’t have to worry about potentially climbing shipping costs from online retailers, though you still have to pay for gas to get to the local big box.

    At Comics Should Be Good, Danielle Leigh gives a fine example of “covering the material we like” with her latest Manga Before Flowers column on CMX, DC’s stealth manga division:

    “But CMX made me a fan for life by bringing over really extraordinary titles that no one else ever has and published them on a very consistent schedule over the past few years (Even though three of four volumes of Eroica a year isn’t a lot, it is enough to make me happy).”

    Filed under: Bookstores, CMX, Conventions, Fanfare/Ponent Mon, Linkblogging 3 Comments
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