Every Friday, the local comics shop sends out an e-mail listing what’s arriving the following Wednesday.

Eeeeeeeee! Scott Pilgrim and the Infinite Sadness! Eeeeeeeee!

For those of you who didn’t make it to the shop on Free Comic Book Day or didn’t land a copy, Newsarama has made Free Scott Pilgrim available here.

For those of you lucky enough to be in the Toronto area on May 27, The Beguiling, Quack Media, and Sleeman’s Brewery are hosting a release party for Scott Pilgrim and Dinosaur Comics at Rocco’s Plum Tomato. Chris Butcher has details at his blog.

I bet they serve garlic bread. I wish I lived in Toronto.

It seems that Chris Butcher wasn’t just right, he was prescient. In a recent back-and-forth with a manga publisher, he pointed out that:

“This disclaimer you print in your books, that ‘All characters depicted in sexually explicit scenes in this publication are at least the age of consent or older,’ isn’t worth the paper it’s written on, and is assuredly going to be for naught in front of a judge or jury (you should ask your lawyers about that, while you’re talking to them…).”

Now there’s this thread at The Engine.

Of all the controversies that are brewing around The Da Vinci Code, the only one that matters to me is whether or not my partner will drag me to see it.

He’s waffling on the subject. He thinks its ridiculous for anyone to get this worked up over a movie, and he’s appalled by amount of media (free advertising) coverage it’s received. Like me, he’s also disinclined to ever see a Tom Hanks movie again, still feeling the sting of Forrest Gump. (I’m glad they cut the scene where a falling chunk of Skylab killed Forest’s dog.)

But he’s a sucker for big, dumb summer movies, and he’s tempted by the notion that every dollar it makes will irritate an overwrought fundamentalist somewhere out in the heartland. The only lure for me is the participation of Sir Ian McKellen, and while that’s not easily dismissed, Tom Hanks’s hair does a lot to balance it out.

I’m hoping I can hold him off by suggesting that we should save it for a hot afternoon during vacation and that he’ll forget by the time we’re there. He’s impervious to bad reviews, rightly noting that you can always find a contrary opinion and that sometimes the worst-reviewed movies can be awfully entertaining.

But could it be as entertaining as A.O. Scott’s review in The New York Times? I doubt it. Scott takes the opportunity not only to unload on the film but on the book that spawned it. The review is chockfull of great lines:

“In spite of some talk (a good deal less than in the book) about the divine feminine, chalices and blades, and the spiritual power of sexual connection, not even a glimmer of eroticism flickers between the two stars. Perhaps it’s just as well. When a cryptographer and a symbologist get together, it usually ends in tears.”

I should confess that I kind of enjoyed the book in a “beats thinking” kind of way. (I think I was at a beach at the time, and it’s been medically proven that reading standards lower when you’re near a large body of water.) I’ve certainly read worse quasi-scholarly thrillers.

But then author Dan Brown or someone decided that popularity was equivalent to importance or consequence, and it’s beach trash, no matter how many people call it blasphemous. That’s irritating to me in the same way that it’s irritating when someone calls Identity Crisis “important” or “mature.”

An acquaintance who teaches religion was delighted with the whole contretemps, not because people were engaging in debate on topics important to her, but because it gave her more opportunities on the lecture circuit. (More power to her, I say.) She’d been riding the Passion of the Christ wave for a while (calling it The Jerusalem Chainsaw Massacre the whole while) and was glad to see that something was coming up next.

So, if nothing else, I guess I can thank Brown, Ron Howard, and company for giving a deeply cynical, criminally underpaid scholar some extra income. Hey, I just looked on the bright side!

I feel like I’ve been slacking on my shôjo reading lately. It isn’t that I’ve had a shortage of reading material in general or manga in particular, but it’s been pretty boy-centric.

The folks at CMX sent me a set of galleys of the fourth volume of Kamikaze Kaito Jeanne, and it’s left me sufficiently intrigued that I want to check out the earlier books in the series. Joan of Arc reincarnated as a high-school student who moonlights as an art thief? That’s just too weird to ignore. There’s still a whole bevy of Swans I haven’t read yet.

I’m a volume behind on Crimson Hero (Viz – Shojo Beat), Tenshi Ja Nai!! (Go! Comi) and Nodame Cantabile (Del Rey), all of which I really enjoy. I wonder if I have a personal shopping day at WaldenBorders? It would certainly come in handy.

On top of all this, Viz e-mailed a press release that makes me want the July issue of Shojo Beat. It’s the one-year anniversary issue, and will feature the beginning of Yuu Watase’s “Drawing With Yuu” three-part tutorial series. (I don’t want to learn to draw, in shôjo style or otherwise, but it sounds like one of the more interesting extras the book has offered.)

The issue will also feature the debut of Matsuri Hino’s Vampire Knight. Hino will be appearing at this summer’s Comic-Con, which brings the number of women guests to… um… four.

(Edited to note a quick correction: Vampire Knight will be one of the ongoing series in Shojo Beat, though no confirmation on what it might be replacing.)

First, a quick apology. I neglected to mention in yesterday’s Flipped that some of the comments on Monster (Viz – Signature) were based on a preview copy provided by the publisher. So, sorry for neglecting the disclosure and making anyone wonder if they’d missed the third volume that doesn’t come out until late June.

Now, back to comics of the present.

I’m a big fan of My Faith in Frankie (DC – Vertigo), in no small part because of Sonny Liew’s art. So applying his talents to one of my favorite genres, the revisionist fairy tale, is a sure way to get me to pick up a book. Slave Labor Graphics offers the first issue of Wonderland from Liew and writer Tommy Kovac.

Now, this is strange. Copies of the great big collection of Linda Medley’s Castle Waiting (Fantagraphics) will arrive in comic shops before they reach Amazon. That’s what I get for being cheap. Well, I also get an extra $10 of discretionary income, so there’s that.

As Brigid noted, the seventh volume of Fullmetal Alchemist owns the latest BookScan chart and didn’t do too shabbily on the USA Today list. It arrives in comic shops Wednesday, and it’s almost certain to be awesome unless something really unexpected happens. (Brigid also thoughtfully sifts through the shipping list for this week’s manga goodies.)

Honestly, I hate the smell of daedra pretty much any time of the day.

This is my not-so-subtle way of admitting that I really, really despise the main quest in Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. My least favorite elements of Morrowind were those long stretches where you had to slog through arid, daedra-infested landscapes seemingly just for the sake of it. In Oblivion, it seems like roughly 70% of the main quest is slogging through smoldering, daedra-infested landscapes for even less evident purpose.

The loot sucks. If you have a stealth-oriented character, chances are you can’t carry much of it. The whole process of closing gates to Oblivion is repetitive and seems largely pointless. I don’t like the frequent necessity of keeping non-player characters alive, not because I’m especially bloodthirsty in my style of play, but… well, I just don’t care that much. And when your weapon of choice is a bow, it’s irritating to have to wait for your shot until all the “helpful” soldiers clear a path to whatever horrible thing you’re trying to kill.

I’d rather just wander around Tamriel and pursue my own interests, advance in guilds, and chat aimlessly with the local populace, when I’m not firing arrows into them. Is that so much to ask?

Because I love the side parts of the game. I’m having a lot of fun trying to get into the Mages Guild. I apparently murdered someone at some point (though I swear I don’t remember it) and have been invited into the Dark Brotherhood. And someone’s finally confirmed for me that there is a Thieves Guild. What do I care about all these damned daedra? Why should I spend a minute of my time dealing with another of those stupid clanfears as they do their velociraptors-at-the-prom impersonations?

So, what I think I’m going to do is just set the difficulty slider at zero and charge through this stupid main quest to get it out of the way. Then, my lizard-woman assassin can get on with her life the way she chooses. Because Tamriel could be a lot of fun, if it just weren’t for all the damned daedra.

No matter where you turn, there are more examples of the increasing crossover between young adult prose and graphic novels. Newsarama has a piece on Tokyopop’s new Pop Fiction line of prose, and ICv2 picks up Del Rey’s announcement of their first original graphic novel which will feature a new adventure set in the fictional universe created by YA best-seller Terry Brooks.

Another highlight of this trend has been this week’s arrival of the first installment of Raina Telgemeier’s adaptation of Ann M. Martin’s The Baby-Sitters Club (Graphix). It’s hard to believe that this is Telgemeier’s first full-length graphic novel. She does a really splendid job with it, staying true to the source material while infusing the book with her own charm and style. It’s a terrific fit.

The story itself is a lot of fun. A group of seventh-graders form a baby-sitting service while dealing with issues like divorce, over-protective parents, sibling rivalry, and secrets. They work hard, bond, squabble, and make up — it’s packed with lots of small, relatable events and moments that accumulate into a very charming whole.

In fact, it’s so good that I think I’m going to have to donate it to the local library. It really begs to be read by its target audience, and since the local library has been a bit slow to increase its graphic novel holdings, I feel kind of stingy not passing it along.

But really, the number of graphic novel publishers targeting the YA market has really gone from a trickle to a flood, hasn’t it? If I were a parent of a tween, I don’t know if I’d be thrilled at the number of choices available or daunted by the volume of material my kid might want.

I got a press release from Digital Manga Publishing about two new title acquisitions, Princess Princess by Mikiyo Tsuda and Enchanter by Izumi Kawachi. This bit from the release’s intro caught my eye:

“‘DMP does more than just yaoi!’ exclaims Eric Rosenberger, Sales and Distribution Manager, ‘Look for more mainstream titles to be announced during the upcoming convention season.’”

Has DMP reached the point where it has to remind people that it’s more than just a yaoi imprint? They certainly do publish a lot of it, and most of their recent announcements have been in that category, so maybe it is time for a bit of a correction.

It’s just kind of funny to me to see a manga publisher feel like it has to highlight that a title is mainstream. Most of the big news lately has come from publishers announcing new niche efforts, like lines for mature readers, and here’s DMP so associated with a specific category that books for a more general audience are actually a big deal.

I’ve enjoyed a bunch of DMP’s non-yaoi titles (Bambi and Her Pink Gun, Café Kichijouji de, IWGP) and have appreciated their commitment to more experimental material, so I hope they don’t correct too far in the other direction. I mean, I never need to read another Sweet Revolution, but I’d hate to see DMP get too… normal.

This is the week when :01’s books arrive in comic shops, with six to choose from. I’ve already read and enjoyed Deogratias: A Tale of Rwanda by J.P. Stassen, and I’m looking forward to picking up my copy of Vampire Loves by Joann Sfar. I’m sure I’ll pick up more of them before all is said and done.

Tom Spurgeon has been interviewing :01 folks over at The Comics Reporter, including Mark Siegel, Grady (The Lost Colony) Klein, and Eddie (The Fate of the Artist) Campbell. Over at comics.212.net, Christopher Butcher has been reviewing :01’s spring line, having covered Lewis Trondheim’s A.L.I.E.E.E.N. and The Lost Colony so far.

You wouldn’t think I’d be the target audience for The Baby-Sitters Club (Graphix), but I’m definitely part of the target audience for pretty much any comic by Raina Telgemeier (unless she goes through a zombie phase, and even then I’d probably pick it up).

Neal Shaffer and Joe Infurnari’s Borrowed Time (Oni) starts a little slowly, but it’s got a very interesting premise. It’s got a nice Twilight Zone vibe to it.

Are you suffering from Love Manga withdrawal? You can catch up with David Taylor in this week’s Publishers Weekly Comics Week via an interview conducted by Calvin Reid.

My favorite bit:

“This isn’t permanent. I enjoyed myself far too much to give this up now. I’ve met so many new people and groups that I would have never come in contact with just as a pure reader. This is a little break, and once I think I can achieve a balance it will be back into full swing again.”

YAY!