The Manga Curmudgeon

Spending too much on comics, then talking too much about them

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Following up

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In the comments section of a previous post, a representative of Carnal Comics weighs in on the likely fallout of Diamond’s discontinuation of Previews Adult:

“We have no illusions about what this will do to our sales to Diamond. For us adult publishers its a double hit. Not only is their adult catalog going to be very hard for consumers to get to, but the higher benchmarks make it very unlikely for almost all the adult publishers to get Diamond to carry our new products. We have always been a niche in the larger market. That niche has for all intents and purposes been wiped out as far as Diamond is concerned.”

Over at the Icarus blog, Simon Jones continues to track reactions and offer commentary.

I need a Hiro

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Tom Spurgeon certainly knows how to frighten me, running a cover image from Fred Chao’s delightful Johnny Hiro to illustrate a piece clarifying the position of AdHouse Books on Diamond’s new policies and possible changes in AdHouse’s strategy. According to AdHouse Publisher Chris Pitzer, the planned collection of the first three issues of the series will be expanded to include the yet-to-be-published fourth and fifth installments instead of releasing them as pamphlets.

In one of those interesting internet coincidences, Greg McElhatton opened his review of the first two issues thusly:

“Every now and then, I hear people talking about the idea of going away from single issues of comics (in favor of strictly longer-form graphic novels) and I think to myself, ‘Would that really be such a bad thing?’ What always makes me come to my senses, though, is coming across a comic that uses the single-issue format perfectly. And so, with that in mind, another book to add to that list is Fred Chao’s Johnny Hiro, one that can best be summed up as 32-page bursts of sheer fun.”

For me, I’ll take the book however Chao and AdHouse can manage to deliver it, and I certainly hope they decide it’s worth whatever hassle, because the book is a real charmer… nifty art, endearing characters, a quirky sense of humor, and so on. So when you see the collection listed in Previews, I’d urge you to consider pre-ordering it, because I think you’ll really like it.

Of magazines and men

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Deb Aoki has two more polls up at About.Com. First is Best Manga Magazine, and I’m going to have to go with Otaku USA. I can take or leave the non-manga content, but the comics coverage is top notch.

For me, the Best New Yaoi/Shonen-Ai Manga is a serious Sophie’s choice between est em’s artful, ambitious Seduce Me After the Show and Saika Kunieda’s funny, nuanced Future Lovers. I’m going to have to let sentiment prevail and cast my lot with Future Lovers.

Diamond makes it rough

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Diamond Comics Distributors is apparently raising its minimums and discontinuing the print version of its Preview Adult catalog supplement, switching over to a PDF. While the development is worrying on a number of levels, especially for smaller publishers, I find myself fixated on the Previews Adult issue. I’m all in favor of minimizing pulp in the waste stream, and going electronic seems like a reasonable way for Diamond to cut expenses. BUT…

Simon Jones indicates that his understanding is that “retailer would have access to the PDF, which Diamond expects retailers to PRINT OUT themselves.”

There’s just so much that seems wrong with that system, given what I perceive to be the realities of that sector of comics publishing. Here are my concerns:

  • It’s a bad idea to put the onus on retailers, who have their own concerns. Printing out paper copies of the catalog PDF for interested customers takes time and costs money, and many retailers might end up doing a perfectly sensible cost-benefits analysis that tells them that their profits from the comics listed in Previews Adult aren’t sufficient compensation for the inconveniences and expenses of the new system.
  • It potentially inconveniences consumers in any number of ways. Comics consumers are creatures of habit to begin with, so limiting access to the catalog is already a hurdle. (I’m not saying it’s a huge hurdle, but given the general shrinking of disposable income, you never know what hurdle is going to be huge enough to convince people to change their buying habits.)
  • The percentage of comics shops stocking shelf copies of adult material already seems small, and I swear I remember Simon telling me that individual customer pre-orders were a key part of any adult comics publisher’s sales. Hindering a consumer’s ability to pre-order comics promises to compromise the publisher’s most reliable revenue stream. And with higher benchmarks coming into play at the same time as new barriers to consumers, publishers of adult comics seem to be facing a double bind.

    • If Diamond wants to switch over to an electronic version of the Previews Adult catalog, they should really make it more accessible than the print version, rather than less available. And they should educate their consumers about the change well in advance of the change-over, so they know where to go to get the information. Buying any kind of niche comic can be challenging, and buying adult comics can be awkward. The retailer-PDF strategy seems designed to exacerbate the hassles that publishers, retailers and consumers already face. The plan seems like it would inconvenience everyone but Diamond.

    Here are some other links on the development:

  • Two pieces from Simon Jones of Icarus
  • Tom Spurgeon at The Comics Reporter
  • Johanna Draper Carlson at Comics Worth Reading

    • Standing alone

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    And I thought the seinen category was tough. That was before I saw the Best New One-Shot Manga poll over at About.Com. Looking at the list, I’m reminded that there might not be tremendous volume in off-brand, non-genre manga, Hideo Azuma's "Disappearance Diary"but there’s significant variety and serious ambition on display, and publishers (from ultra-mainstream Viz to boutique operations like Last Gasp and Fanfare) are to be applauded for pushing the boundaries of what’s available. 2008 may not have been the year that manga grew up, and 2009 and 2010 might not either, but I think the fact that Deb Aoki can assemble such strong slates in these potentially marginal categories indicates that the foundation for that maturation is solid and getting more solid all the time.

    Of course, a crappy economy may suspend the maturation for a while, but I’ll go with optimism at the moment.

    Globalization, mobilization

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    Deb Aoki has another poll out, this one focused on 2008’s Best New Original English Language Manga. I voted for Nina Matsumoto’s funny, polished Yokaiden (Del Rey), but I suspect all will be crushed in the wave of support for Anima (Yaoi Press), by Dany and Dany. In the handful of hours since the poll was posted, Anima has already received more votes than the two front-runners in the shojo poll have in a week.

    Oldies, goodies

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    Deb Aoki is still going strong with her manga polls over at About.Com, this time asking readers to vote for the Best New Edition of Classic or Reissued Manga of 2008. Strong as the field is (though it’s sad that there’s only one eligible title by a woman), I had to go with Osamu Tezuka’s Dororo (Vertical), which was funny and moody and tragic and bizarre in that singularly Tezuka way.

    Speaking of Tezuka, Matthew J. Brady has a great back-and-forth with his younger brother Noah, over at Warren Peace Sings the Blues. Tezuka features prominently in the discussion, and while neither demonstrates proper reverence for the Creepy Little Tumor, the Dororo love is rewarding.