Manga heroines wind up in the oddest places: the far-flung past, the shifting terrain of the human heart, demon-infested landscapes. In Ai Yazawa’s Paradise Kiss (Tokyopop), studious Yukari is thrust into the magical world of the fashion industry.

It might as well be another planet, as far as Yukari is concerned. She’s been operating on auto-pilot, grinding along through school and prep classes and trying to get into a good college. She doesn’t have any social life to speak of, and she pretty much lives in her school uniform.

That all changes when she runs into a group of budding designers from the Yazawa School for the Arts. They think Yukari’s tall, willowy frame and waterfall of black hair will make her a perfect runway model for their festival fashion show. But Yukari, with her college-prep pre-programming, dismisses them as a bunch of frivolous freaks. Sure, there’s a buzz in being judged favorably for her appearance, but she doesn’t take them seriously.

The first volume is devoted to the group (working under the name “Paradise Kiss”) ingratiating themselves with Yukari. They turn out to be a determined and irresistible group, and Yukari is won over by their creative passion. At the same time, she starts to realize that she’s been working like a dog towards a goal that isn’t really her own. She’s done what’s expected of her, and she’s never really thought about what she wants from life. The PK designers, unconventional education aside, know what they want to do in a very concrete way, and that’s a revelation to Yukari.

Yazawa does splendid work with the PK crew, using strikingly distinct visual design to support quirky, layered characterization. Miwako may look like a pixie princess, but she’s got a potent kind of emotional honesty that speaks to Yukari. Punked-out Arashi surprises Yukari with his blunt insights and his level of artistic commitment. Suave bisexual George couldn’t be more different from Yukari’s longtime crush, top student Tokumori, but he sets Yukari’s heart to thumping all the same. Regal transvestite Isabella isn’t as defined as her colleagues, but her serene presence is welcome all the same.

There’s real power to the emotional complications that arise. Yukari is befuddled by her feelings for George, even as her increasingly erratic behavior manages to finally catch Tokumori’s attention. Tokumori also has a history with Miwako and Arashi, starting as childhood friends and turning into a tense, somewhat sad triangle. The romantic twists hum along nicely, supported by smart, character-based comedy. (Yukari’s romantic inexperience results in some hilarious internal monologues and delightful emotional explosions.)

Paradise Kiss is visually glorious. In addition to the fine character design, Yazawa does nice work delineating the different compartments of Yukari’s world, from the sterile schoolroom to the arty studio. In fine shôjo fashion, Yazawa lets heightened emotions define the landscape, surrounding her characters with clouds of passion, uncertainty, and possibility. Everything and everyone is infused with a distinct style.

But, subject matter and visuals aside, style doesn’t overtake the substance of the story. It serves it, working as a metaphor for the personal journeys in progress. It’s glorious stuff, and it’s left me eager for more.

Dave Carter at Yet Another Comics Blog (with an assist from Johanna Draper Carlson at Cognitive Dissonance) is giving away copies of Spider-Girl, a Marvel title that has generated an absolutely devoted fan base. Go here for details; deadline is 12 Noon EST on Friday, March 11. (I may have to enter this one. It’s gotten tons of good word of mouth, but I harbor deep scars from Tom DeFalco’s so-bad-it’s-good-oops-it’s-gone-around-to-bad-again run on Fantastic Four, so I’ve resisted making the investment.)

Milo George is auctioning off some of his pop culture treasures because “Endemic Treponematosis Sucks.” Go here for details and links to the auction site.

You still have time to throw your hat in for a copy of The Comics Journal from Shawn Hoke at Comic World News. Entry details can be found here; deadline is March 23.

Now, with benevolence out of the way, let’s move on to commerce! What’s coming to a comic shop near you tomorrow?

• The fifth issue of Street Angel from Slave Labor Graphics
• Volume 11 of Iron Wok Jan from Comicsone.Com (still catching up on this one, but I love it)
• Adam Strange 6 (of 8) from DC
• Vimanarama 2 from Vertigo
• A digest-sized collection of Marvel’s wonderful and (of course) short-lived Inhumans series by Sean McKeever (oh, Tsunami…)
• The first issue of something called Wolverine: Soultaker, which I mention only because it reminds me of Mystery Science Theatre 3000 and Tom Servo howling “Sooooooooooultaker!” (No, I’m not actually going to buy it, but I will probably howl “Sooooooooooultaker!” when I see it on the racks.)

An odd but interesting mix of stuff. And special thanks to Viz for not putting out seven million titles I want in a single week.

I had a manga-centric weekend, putting the finishing touches on the latest Flipped (which is up today at Comic World News). In it, I look at the “Forest? What forest? Keep putting bras on these trees!” launch of CMX’s Tenjho Tenge. Never in my life did I think I would be called upon to type the word “panties” so frequently.

I’m happy to say there was plenty of palate-cleansing reading to rid my thoughts of such lackwitted corporate shenanigans. In the latest volume of Sgt. Frog, the invading amphibians attempt to launch a pharmaceutical corporation, try to turn spring fever into a chemical weapon, and learn what their mysterious Fifth Member has been up to. The usual hilarity, in other words.

A trip up to Borders allowed me to witness the bookstore graphic novel shopper dynamic first hand. A twenty-something guy picked up DC’s New Frontier. A middle-aged mother helped her tween daughter sort through the manga for new volumes of the girl’s favorite titles. (I hope she wasn’t looking for the final volume ((sob)) of Imadoki!, because I grabbed it right before she got there. Yes, girls like comics, but only if I didn’t get there first.) A teen-aged guy grabbed some sci-fi paperbacks, then a collection of Ultimate Spider-Man, then something by CLAMP, I think. Okay, so maybe it wasn’t particularly instructive, but I loved seeing a mother and daughter shopping for comics side by side.

I also picked up a copy of Paradise Kiss on a whim, and I’m absolutely crazy about it. I’ll be posting a sickening mash note to Ai Yazawa in short order, but why wait? You should stop by Reading Along to read James Schee’s review of PK.

You know how I feel about Marc Andreyko’s Manhunter. In an interview at The Pulse, Andreyko drops a hint about a future arc that makes me very, very happy:

“All of the Manhunters currently lingering in the DCU will be appearing in the Manhunted arc [issues # 10 – # 14]. And other DCU folks will be ‘chase‘-ing after Kate, too.”

If Andreyko writes a guest appearance by DEO Agent Cameron Chase of the much-missed Chase series (by D. Curtis Johnson and J. H. Williams III), I will be the happiest of geeks. I think Andreyko would do a splendid job with the character, and I think she’d be a great foil for Kate.

Normally, announcements of Big Two exclusives don’t do a thing for me. But I’m glad to see that Dan Slott has signed with Marvel (announced at Newsarama and other places). It seems to have made Slott happy, and it furthers my entirely unfounded theory that he’s trying to destroy and rebuild the House of Ideas from within with a string of fun, accessible comics. Har!

Oh, Toronto Comic Arts Festival, why do you torment me so? Even if I won’t be able to go, at least they keep giving me wonderful goodies on their web site. The latest is a one-page Street Angel strip by Jim Rugg and Brian Maruca.

And since I’m on the subject, talk of a Batman/Daredevil crossover only distracts us all from what should be the top co-publishing priority for Marvel and DC: a collection of all of the Hostess Snack Cake strips the companies have run over the years.

The eighth volume of Hot Gimmick (Viz) is another corker, and I continue to marvel at Miki Aihara’s ability to make readers root for the romance between mini-martyr Hatsumi and emotionally stunted Ryoki. A lot of it tracks back to Aihara’s care in creating the stifling environment of company housing and its crushing caste system. It’s hard not to support people bucking a corrupt system, even if they probably aren’t very good for each other. Best of all, this volume includes a flashback chapter detailing Hatsumi’s first days in company housing. If the complex is a tough place for teens to navigate, it’s worse for toddlers. And it’s riveting to see the origins of future conflicts.

I was rather surprised by the second volume of IWGP, as I thought the driving plot of the first installment would carry through the entire series. Writer Ira Ishida and artist Sena Aritou move in a different (but thematically linked) direction, and while it doesn’t have the first volume’s emotional weight, it’s still very solid stuff. For a splendid analysis of the first and second volumes, go read Immelda Alty’s review at Comic World News. (My comments are based on a review copy provided by Digital Manga Publishing.)

The Tarot Café (Tokyopop) has an interesting premise and a great visual hook, but the comic itself is kind of dull. Fortune teller and café proprietor Pamela gives tarot readings to a variety of supernatural figures – a magical cat, a self-pitying vampire, a surly faerie – helping them achieve their individual destinies. Sang-Sun Park’s art is pretty but static, featuring stick-thin, doll-like women and delicate, ethereal men. Some nice detail is undermined by visual stiffness and a rather limited range of emotional expressions. It’s kind of like a fashion spread with plot added. The faerie story – she’s got some serious miles on her, but she’s trapped in a childlike form — is the best of the bunch, as it has real energy and some O. Henry-ish comic surprises in its favor. Other than that, Pamela’s customers are a fairly dull lot, and there’s nothing particularly inventive in the ways their stories unfold.

The lead story in Yumi Tamura’s Wild Com (Viz) will be instantly familiar to anyone who’s ever read an X-Men comic. A group of young people with psychic powers are assembled by a mysterious mentor figure to do good, mostly in the form of disaster relief. Many X-tropes are in evidence – an uneasy relationship with government officials, conflicted romance, and power as a metaphor and catalyst for adolescent trauma. Tamura takes a gentle, character-based approach that’s kind of appealing, but there’s nothing here that hasn’t been done just as well (or better) elsewhere. The other stories in this shôjo anthology are cautionary romantic tales. “The Beasts of June” is a mood piece about emotional purity and its effect on a pair of teen lowlifes, and “The Eye of the Needle” is a paranoid revenge fantasy. Tamura’s darker approach to shôjo is a mildly interesting change of pace, but the stories themselves cover familiar territory. Tamura’s scratchy, stylized artwork is pretty standard, too, and not really to my taste. It’s competent but unremarkable stuff. (My comments are based on a review copy provided by Viz.)

If any title were to break through my aversion to battle manga, it would probably be Hiroshi Takahashi’s Worst (Digital Manga Publishing). It’s set in what seems to be a magnet school for thugs. Extra-curricular activities consist of picking the right gang and pounding the snot out of classmates. If Takahashi took any of this seriously, it would be absolutely lethal, but he seems to know perfectly well how absurd his set-up is. And he creates a terrific protagonist in oblivious country bumpkin Hana, who approaches the fisticuffs with such enthusiasm and bonhomie as to be utterly charming. On the down side, Hana is pretty much the only character that stands out, despite some rather strenuous efforts to make the rest of the cast visually distinct. (Seriously, these boys deserve a beating for crimes against fashion, if nothing else.) The first and second volumes follow Hana’s participation in the traditional freshman battle, his brash announcement that he’ll become top dog of the whole hoodlum pack, and the ensuing shake-out in the school’s gang-based power structure. It’s violent, a little difficult to follow, and weirdly appealing. I still don’t like battle manga, and I probably never will, but all due credit to Takahashi for his fresh, unconventional approach. (My comments are based on review copies provided by Digital Manga Publishing.)

No one can convince me that this is lead-story material. It’s right down there with “Oprah limits her caloric intake to six almonds and a glass of water to fit into Oscar dress” on the list of things that merit extensive scrutiny.

Detouring myself here a bit: if a friend or a teen-ager of your acquaintance told you that they were cutting their diet back to a few dry-roasted nuts and H2O to fit into a particular outfit, what would be your response? Mine would be, “Didn’t it come in your size?” Or possibly, “Where’s that ‘So You Think You Have An Eating Disorder’ pamphlet?” Seriously, with a growing obesity crisis on one end of the spectrum and the continuing prevalence of anorexia and bulimia on the other, isn’t it kind of difficult to look at this as charmingly wacky celebrity eccentricity? “Oprah starved herself to be pretty! You can, too!” I would think nutritionists and psychiatrists would be lining up around the block to note that fasting, while effective for short-term weight loss or political activism, isn’t healthy.

That pointless tirade was brought to you by the American Council for the Promotion and Enjoyment of Carbohydrates and Comfortable But Flattering Clothing. Moving on.

This isn’t really news, either, but I really hope Martha Stewart takes a great and horrible vengeance on those who tried to paint her as the Poster Mogul for Corporate Fraud. Because in terms of scale and the lasting impact of her misdeeds, she absolutely pales in comparison to many of her peers. Of course, since Martha was a polarizing public figure and since her misdeeds were easier to grasp and communicate than, say, Enron’s, Martha was the most obvious target. That isn’t the same thing as her being the most despicable example by any stretch of the imagination.

I’m looking forward to her version of The Apprentice, partly because I’ve made it a personal mission to support her comeback, and also because I’m hoping her version will be free of the distasteful sexism that mars Donald Trump’s original. I’m sure she can find minions as imposing as George and Carolyn (who’s coming to my town to speak next week!).

Sure, I like The Comics Journal, but do I like like it? Okay, yes, I do, and for a variety of reasons.

First of all, it’s a leisurely reading experience. It’s nothing to be consumed in a single sitting, and that’s all to the good. Full of chunky, thoughtful articles on a range of topics, I certainly get my ten bucks back. TCJ 266 arrived (Fantagraphics Books) last week, and it inches me ever closer to just subscribing already. (At the same time, it’s something I really want to see carried regularly in the local shop, so I should just put it on the pull list.)

While the prospect of a really long interview with Brian Michael Bendis made me kind of tired, I thought Michael Dean did a nice job keeping things moving. It was nice to see Bendis in a more contemplative mode, unlike his Internet persona. It doesn’t change my opinion of his current output, but it’s nice to see him talk about his work and the industry at length and with depth. (Quick question: how did Dean and Bendis manage to go through 40 pages of interview without actually calling The Pulse by its actual name? I miss Alias as much as anyone, but that seemed kind of odd, given that Alias hasn’t been in publication for over a year.)

Dean’s continuing look at online comics journalism is solid reading, even if Dean does seem to be fairly certain of the answer to the question he poses (“Does It Exist?” “Not Really.”) It’s timely, too, given the drubbing Rich Johnston took from Bendis and Joe de Quesada during their occupation of Newsarama not too long ago. The look at Scheherazade’s printing woes (Dean again) was fascinating to me, in part because I know so little about the actual process.

Now we come to the central value judgment I make over just about every periodical: does it make me want to buy something? (“Buy something” in this case is a catch-all phrase that stands for “read something,” “travel somewhere,” “try a recipe,” etc.) And, yes, unfortunately, it does. And I have. (Curse the hypnotic power of Tom Spurgeon with his review of the Bone: One Volume Edition.) With a somewhat limited selection of comics to choose from locally, TCJ provides an enticing look at titles that aren’t likely to show up on my shop’s shelves. (Note to self: order The Walking Man and Carnet de Voyage at earliest financial convenience.)

I do have a quibble (maybe it’s more than a quibble) with TCJ’s critical approach to manga. There seems to be a tendency to isolate the manga titles they like from the herd by characterizing the remainder in some fairly stereotypical ways (“big eyes and manic speedlines” get name-checked in one review). It would be nice if a book could be praised entirely on its own merits without the implicit criticism of so much of its kin. (And, honestly, big eyes and speedlines aren’t an automatic indicator that a manga title is without merit.)

But overall, TCJ is a wonderful resource and, more often than not, illuminating, satisfying reading. I like like it.

Heidi MacDonald follows up on the 7-11 story she broke at The Beat, kicking so much ass that I’m surprised she didn’t lose her shoes in the process. I’m particularly taken with her thoughts on the mad scheme to produce comics kids might actually enjoy reading:

“Every day we read about someone launching a line of educational comics for kids. Everyday we hear about librarians unable to keep comics on the shelves in kids sections. Every day we read that manga paperbacks aimed at kids sell 10-60k copies. This has been going on for years. People aren’t doing it because of some insane gamble that has only a prayer of paying off. It’s solid business sense. It isn’t rocket science. KIDS LIKE COMICS. That’s a fact.”

And if that wasn’t good sense enough, she follows it up with this:

“Marvel knows they have to escape from Skull Island. They’ve got to get back to the mainland, because everyone is running out of coconuts.”

Amen.

I’m apparently not the only person who gets nostalgic at the thought of comics in convenience stores (or drugs stores or grocery stores or wherever). And I’m interested to watch the same pattern emerge in many people’s experience: 1) pick up comics casually someplace where comics aren’t the only attraction; 2) become more dedicated to the hobby as your disposable income increases; 3) find specialty shop so you don’t have to rely on spinner racks in the carry-out.

It seems weird to me that this wasn’t just happening with me as a comics reader, or with a bunch of other comics readers, but that it seemed to be happening to an entire industry. Comics moved out of the places where everyone could buy them, further and further into an isolated, ever-more costly niche industry. It’s nice to see a concentrated effort to reverse that, and I hope Marvel and DC can commit the resources needed to put some quality, all-ages material in places where all ages are already shopping.

And sure, it’s old hat to compare the current state of affairs to the apparent comics utopia that is Japan, but sometimes it merits repeating. By all accounts, comics have always been widely available and inexpensive in Japan. And there are stories for all ages, which allows readers to keep reading, not out of a sense of nostalgia, but because there’s material that speaks to them, whether their in elementary school or riding the train to the office. And that’s a good thing, isn’t it?

Geez, I go to lunch and all kinds of good stuff pops up around the comics sites and blogs. Much of it deals with ways the comics industry might make buying their product a more convenient, pleasant, cost-effective experience.

At Comic World News, Shawn Hoke takes a look at local comic retailers, good and bad. Shawn makes a lot of good points, as do folks talking about the column at Fanboy Rampage.

As I’ve mentioned, I don’t live in a major metropolitan area, but I still have two comic shops to choose from in town. One has a friendly staff, a front-of-Previews selection, a reluctance to stretch beyond it, and a decidedly unpleasant ambiance. It’s not that the people aren’t nice; it’s that the shop is dingy and dark and smells funny. Boob-a-licious art is all over the walls, and it’s cramped, with every available flat surface covered with something, from Elektra busts to eight-sided dice to whatever.

The other shop has a friendly staff, a slightly more diverse selection, real interest in what’s out there that they might not be familiar with, genuine eagerness to help you track down a book if they don’t have it immediately in stock, a decent selection of manga, a great selection of trades (including a fair amount of indie stuff), and an appealing, well-organized retail space. The shop is clean, brightly lit, doesn’t smell like anything it shouldn’t, and would make just about any customer, from diehard comics nerd to parents with young children, feel comfortable shopping there.

And this is my pet peeve about some comic shops. Clean your space already. Make it an appealing place to spend money. I can’t imagine you’ll lose any of your existing clientele (unless they like the smelly, dark, cramped, creepy version because it gives them giddy, porn-store sense memories), and new kinds of customers might actually be inclined to shop there more than once, if they could actually muster the courage to stay long enough to make a purchase the first time. I’m watching right now what happens when these two kinds of stores directly compete with each other. The dirty, dank one gets its ass kicked.

Elsewhere, Dave Carter at Yet Another Comics Blog wonders about the potential of the comics anthology. For a success story, he cites Shonen Jump with its high page count, lower print quality, and crazy low per-page price. It’s something I’d love to see Marvel or DC try, though I’d want to see a mix of current material along with the reprints Dave suggests (though many of his ideas for themed anthologies sound really, really cool). Kind of like a Marvel or DC “Sampler.” Then, of course, I try and contemplate what exactly they’d be able to include in such an athology that isn’t too insular or too “mature” for general audiences and still features the kind of marquee character who would lead a kid to pick it up.

I also wonder about the likelihood of a major publisher willingly lowering the quality of their print stock for a concurrent reprint, even if it’s for a potential loss leader. And that would be the most sensible reason to do an anthology like that. While I’m sure some profit could be made off of the anthology itself, there wouldn’t be much point if the ultimate goal wasn’t to use it as a gateway for the publisher’s regular product, the monthly floppies and collections.

Last but not least, Heidi MacDonald at The Beat has broken news of Marvel’s brave re-entry into the convenience store. And that story pushes soooooo many nostalgia buttons for me, as the carry-out was my primary source for comics as a kid. They were pretty much my only source of exercise, too, as I would travel on foot from one to the other to find all of the comics I wanted. It’s weird to think that Marvel actually has to decide to go back into a 7-11, because up to a certain point, I never really thought of comics as being anywhere else. They were at the drug store and the UDF and the Convenient next to the library.

I mean, it’s nice that they’re branching into other outlets, but it makes me kind of sad that they have to consciously decide to start doing something that was pretty much a given during my formative comics years. Great. Now I feel really old.

I haven’t been to many comics events. The ones that sound interesting (or at least morbidly fascinating from a “you should experience it at least once” perspective) would also demand a fair amount of travel and expense to attend. Generally, I like to reserve my travel budget to go to a destination with plenty to do rather than one specific event. Timing usually keeps me from going to things that are closer at hand. (And my partner’s eyes flint with fight-or-flight instinct at the very mention of a comics convention.)

But, man, is the Toronto Comic Arts Festival a temptation. First of all, Toronto has always been on my list of potential urban destinations. Second, it would let me go to The Beguiling and spend too much money. Third, they have an absolutely crazy roster of guests. Jeff Smith, Darwyn Cooke, James Jean, Bryan Lee O’Malley, Cameron Stewart, J. Torres, Jim Rugg, Andy Runton… it seems almost unsafe to have that much talent in one place.

Insidious Canadians, luring me north and tempting me to be fiscally irresponsible.