The Newsarama Hostage Crisis continues, with Day 3 of the Quesada/Bendis interview. Fanboy Rampage does a fine job pulling out some of the choicer nuggets, but Quesada expressing his concern that writers were tailoring their stories to please fans on the Internet made my jaw drop. Who are these writers?! Name them!!

Cleansing the palate, moving along. Viz has the full text of its Shojo Beat announcement up at its home page. The more I hear about the titles included in this anthology (like this preview of NANA from Christopher Butcher), the more eager I am for this book to show up.

Johanna Draper Carlson loves Alton Brown, and I have to agree. Good Eats has long been one of my favorite Food Network offerings. He’s kind of the Bill Nye, the Science Guy of the culinary arts. Must look for his cookbook the next time I’m at the bookstore.

I’ve been memed! Ed at The Low Road wants to know if I’ve got the music in me and, if so, precisely what that music might be. On one hand, I don’t listen to that much music, so this is kind of a struggle. On the other, I’ve been dying to use this entry title since I first encountered Ed. So, here we go:

1. Total amount of music files on my computer.
Um… none. I just don’t download it.

2. The last CD you bought was:
“Let’s Hear It For The ’70s.” But I got it for my partner. He likes to listen to dance mixes at the gym.

3. What is the song you last listened to before reading this message?
“Broadway Baby” from “Elaine Stritch At Liberty.” Yes, I’m just that gay.

4. Write down 5 songs you often listen to or that mean a lot to you.
“The Price I Pay” by Billy Bragg
“Destination: Anywhere” from “The Commitments” soundtrack
“For Now” from the “Avenue Q” soundtrack
“Walking on Broken Glass” by Annie Lenox
“Never Can Say Goodbye” by the Communards

5. Who are you going to pass this stick to? (3 persons) and why?
I’ll just let it flow free, I think.

Found via Thought Balloons, Viz has announced the six titles that will kick off Shojo Beat. And one of them is by Yu Watase! Squeeeee!

Ahem… seriously, it looks like a good mix of titles, from romance with robots to period mystery to coming-of-age soap opera to historical samurai action.

Update: Just got a press release from Viz with descriptions of the six titles. Quoted text below:

KAZE HIKARU by Taeko WatanabeKaze
Hikaru is a story set in nineteenth-century Japan that’s packed with action, drama, comedy, historical fiction, and—of course—a little romance. Kamiya Seizaburou is a young girl determined to avenge her murdered father and brother. To do so, she disguises herself as a man and joins the Shinsengumi, a group of swordsmen who her brother greatly admired and who supported the shogun government during the turbulent Bakumatsu Revolution. Amidst learning how to fight and fighting to keep her identity safe, she falls for Okita Sôji (an actual historic figure), one of the most charismatic members of the Shinsengumi. Kaze Hikaru has been called the shôjo equivalent to the immensely popular title RUROUNI KENSHIN—the setting, some aspects of the storyline, and even some of the historical personages are the same.

ABSOLUTE BOYFRIEND by Yuu Watase
Absolute Boyfriend shows us what happens when iRobot gets Orlando Bloom’s good looks. Riiko Izawa’s idea of the perfect boyfriend is someone cute, stylish, smart, and nice. He’s a great cook and all-around athlete. And he always wins a fistfight. Too bad Riiko has zero luck with boys. She’s a gawky high school student and has never even been kissed, let alone been anyone’s girlfriend! Her plots to attract the opposite sex never work—and the aloof boy next door, Soshi, is constantly teasing her about her lousy love life.But when Riiko ends up helping out a mysterious salesman, he agrees to grant her wish for a boyfriend (for a three-day trial, anyway) in return! As it turns out, the gorgeous guy pictured on the sales website is part of a Nightly Lover series—an artificial being programmed to love his owner completely and absolutely. One kiss from Riiko is all he needs to come alive…

CRIMSON HERO by Mitsuba Takanashi
Crimson Hero takes volleyball and bends it like Beckham in a story that pits family obligation against the love of the game. All that matters to 15-year-old Nobara Sumiyoshi is volleyball; she’s an awesome player with big-time ambitions. Nobara doesn’t care that she’s not feminine and pretty like her younger sister, Souka, but unfortunately her family does. As the eldest daughter, she’s expected to work at her family’s ryotei, an old-fashioned Japanese restaurant where she’ll have to dress in traditional clothes and makeup and accommodate the patrons’ every whim. No thanks!Nobara knows exactly what she wants—now she has to figure out how to get it. She enters Crimson Field High School, known for its top-notch volleyball team, but her mother is willing to stoop to dirty tricks to keep Nobara off the court. With assistance from her feisty Aunt Momoko, who’s got some helpful connections at Crimson Field, Nobara decides to start playing offense.

NANA by Ai Yazawa
Nana takes us to Tokyo to follow the tumultuous lives of two young women who have very different dreams. Nana Komatsu has endured an unending string of boyfriend troubles. Moving to Tokyo, she’s hoping to take control of her life and put those messy misadventures behind her. She’s looking for love, and she’s hoping to find it in the big city. Enter Nana Osaki. Confident and focused, she kicks down the doors to Tokyo’s underground punk scene. Beautiful, charismatic, and tough as nails, this Nana wants to be a rock star, and she’s not going to let anything get in her way.The two Nanas soon meet, and their new lives step into high gear: love blooms, tempers flare, and egos clash. The world of Nana is a thundering ball of excitement sparked by sex, music, fashion, gossip, and all-night parties.

GODCHILD by Kaori Yuki
Deep in the heart of nineteenth-century London, a young man named Cain emerges from the shadowy cobblestone streets. Forced to become an Earl upon the untimely death of his father, Cain assumes the role of head of the Hargreves, an aristocratic family with a dark past that seems to unfold one scandalous revelation at a time.Lost, lonely and disenchanted with his fate, Cain develops an obsession with lethal poisons and an uncanny ability to solve the mysterious murders that seem to follow him wherever he goes.With the aid of Riff, his faithful manservant who has a background in medicine, and Oscar, his long-time friend, Cain wades through his tormented life and struggles to find the truth behind his father’s mysterious death and alleged involvement with a sinister secret society.

BABY & ME by Marimo Ragawa
Baby & Me is a moving story about a boy who is forced to grow up quickly and who, through sacrifice, shows us the true meaning of love. Takuya Enoki isn’t your average 11-year-old Japanese elementary student. The tragic death of his mother puts him in the difficult position of taking care of his 2-year-old brother while their father works long hours. Takuya must devote all of his free time to becoming his brother’s guardian. Cooking, cleaning, sewing, and scolding become an integral part of the young boy’s life—responsibilities usually reserved for adults. Baby & Me follows Takuya and his brother through their unique new life together, filled with trials and tribulations, humor, and adventure.

Wow, a lot of books I dropped recently come out this week. Ah, well.

As has been noted, Ed Brubaker has signed an exclusive contract with Marvel. That’s sad news for fans of DC’s Gotham Central, which hits #28 on Wednesday. Still, Greg Rucka is a fine writer, and I hope the book continues. If Rucka is looking for a replacement writing partner, I hope he gives Gail Simone some thought. She’s no slouch at character-based writing with elements of noir, and I think she would give a different kind of energy to the book that’s still consistent with what Brubaker and Rucka have established. I wasn’t crazy about the art in the last arc, and I’ll certainly miss Michael Lark’s work, but I’m confident that they can find someone who’s a good fit.

For a look at Brubaker’s work at Marvel, why not give Captain America 3 a try? I have almost zero interest in Cap as a solo character, but I liked the first two issues, in no small part because Steve Epting is one of my favorite artists.

Grant Morrison’s Vimanarama arrives, the third of his current string of Vertigo mini-series. And this is solicitation copy: “East meets West with a burst of color, song and cosmic violence in Grant Morrison’s latest: VIMANARAMA!” I wasn’t as wild about Seaguy as everyone else seemed to be, though I lurved We3. I’m looking forward to this book.

And that seems to be about it. Nope. Nothing more on the list. Nu-uh.

(Psst! Over here! I’m David’s subconscious, and he’s too ashamed to admit it, but he’s really, really excited about Young Avengers! I know! How geeky is that? The other day, I saw him look up the first-season DVD of The O.C. on Netflix, too! He’s never watched it before, but thinks Peter Gallagher is really hot, and that Adam Brody is totally cute. He’s got some weird aversion to Mischa Barton, though, which is why he’s passed on it. And he totally resents The O.C. for stealing Brody away from Gilmore Girls. But he’s caving!)

Heard via Pata’s Irresponsible Pictures and The Comics Reporter, Viz will be launching a new anthology and graphic novel line, Shojo Beat, in June of 2005. It’s about a third of the way down in a “girls like comics” feature in the Feb. 3 Los Angeles Times, which is odd, since it seems like the best possible evidence that girls like comics. I’d quote something from the article, but it’s nothing you haven’t read before, and it isn’t even written as well as what you’ve already read. I’d link to it, but I found it through LexisNexis, because I don’t feel like registering at the Los Angeles Times.

James at Reading Along has a review of CLAMP’s Legal Drug, and his opinion matches my own:

“The characterization and story has to be something extra to overcome my apathy towards that genre of story, and this didn’t because it all seemed very surface level.”

I read CLAMP’s xxxHOLiC over the weekend, and I rather liked it. I mention this because the Legal Drug boys popped by, along with an apparent who’s who from CLAMP’s other titles. This didn’t bother me a bit while I was reading xxxHOLiC itself, but it sure did clutter the hell out of the background notes at the digest’s end. Usually I really like the cultural notes that Del Rey throws in at the end of their volumes, but I would say this volume was about 50% useful and interesting information and 50% commercials for other CLAMP titles. And that? Bugged.

Brian at Comics Should Be Good has been blogging up a storm over the past few days. I was particularly interested in his discussion of the slipperly slope from style to shtick and his thoughts on authors who can be one-theme ponies.

And there’s a new edition of Flipped up at Comic World News.

Unless I miss my guess, lots of people will probably link to Tom Spurgeon’s collection of “Thoughts on the Year Thus Far” at The Comics Reporter. And they should, because it’s excellent, which should come as no surprise to anyone who visits TCR.

In his introduction, Tom talks about the state of on-line comics journalism:

“I’m an on-line reader, too. I’m just like everybody else in that I value being informed in a timely manner. My hope is that occasionally we can take a second look at some news stories, and try to come at them from a different angle, making news as well as breaking it.”

And that, to me, encapsulates why TCR is so essential, because that’s what Tom does every day. He looks at the breaking news in potent and thoughtful ways, and he covers an absolutely startling range of issues. He draws connections and poses important questions.

In fact, it’s almost… suspicious that Tom can do this so well. Hence, I have developed a handful of theories:

1. “Tom Spurgeon” is actually an advanced and powerful super-computer that has developed artificial intelligence and a discerning eye for the comics medium.
2. “Tom Spurgeon” is actually collaboration of Tom 1.0 and a group of meticulously created clones, because surely a single person couldn’t be responsible for a site so comprehensive.
3. Tom Spurgeon just kicks ass.

While I know that the third theory is the most likely, I don’t think we can discount the first and second as possibilities.

Update: From the Depressing Coincidences Desk, Newsarama has handed over the editorial keys to Joe Quesada for a week. The first scoop arrives in part one of a five-part Q&A with Brian Bendis: Quesada and Bendis — BFF! I demand equal time for Larry Young.

I’ve blogged before about my growing distaste for seeing movies in actual movie theatres, but it’s taken me forever to give Netflix a try. The first batch that arrived consisted of movies we were vaguely interested in seeing but not enough to subject ourselves to the companionship our fellow citizens.

Alien Vs. Predator was hardly worth the time to watch, much less to talk about. Um… except for that.

We saw The Bourne Identity in the theatre and liked it. I saw lots of reviews saying that The Bourne Supremacy was better than TBI, but I disagree. I thought it was too mired in intelligence agency politics, though Joan Allen is always a welcome presence in any cast. There’s something fundamentally wrong with a sequel that gives you less Franka Potente and more Julia Stiles than its predecessor. The chase sequences probably would have worked better on a big screen than on our TV, where they just seemed kind of long.

The rental we enjoyed the most was Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story. How is it that someone getting beamed with a dodgeball never stopped being funny? I can’t quite figure that out, and maybe it’s just me. It fell apart at the end, but this kind of movies (whether presented seriously or in a satirical vein) almost always does. And, sure, it had plenty of really tacky bits, but they didn’t bother me that much, mostly because the whole movie had this very pleasantly casual vibe to it. I thought Justin Long was adorable, and I was thrilled to see Missi Pyle, a favorite from Galaxy Quest. Best of all, though, was Christine Taylor, who I think is really underrated as a comic actress. (She’s Ben Stiller’s wife and played Marcia perfectly in the two Brady Bunch movies.) While she does the “pretty, sensible girl surrounded by goofballs” thing about as well as anyone, she also seems to have no shame in pursuit of a laugh. It’s always nice to see her in a movie, and she’s such a great fit with Stiller’s comic sensibility.

So, all in all, seeing movies without having to deal with other people? I like it. Will it probably lead to me watching movies that I would have never seen otherwise and probably weren’t worth the time? Hell, it already has, but the minimization of effort and expense almost offset the fact that I’m contributing to my own mental deterioration. (Like that’s ever been a deterrent.)

Cartoon Network giveth, Cartoon Network taketh away. Spoilers ahead.

Teen Titans seems to be launching its next long arc with last night’s Raven-centered episode. As with Terra, the show mines some classic stories from the comics, playing up Raven’s demonic heritage and terrible destiny. I actually prefer the cartoon Raven to the comic-book version. I loved the Marv Wolfman/George Perez comics, don’t get me wrong, but the cartoon’s portrayal of Raven as tough and guarded makes more sense to me. The comic Raven seems like such a sad sack in comparison. In the cartoon, she seems more heroic (and potentially tragic) because she’s less of an obvious martyr. The character’s spooky edge is communicated more clearly, too.

Despite that advantage, I thought last night’s episode was pretty dull. Protracted fight scenes didn’t mask the fact that the audience wasn’t really learning anything new. And the show seems to be running the risk of creating a scenario that could be averted (or at least mitigated considerably) if the characters would just talk to each other for five minutes. Robin, as he’s been portrayed, doesn’t seem likely to let things drop quite as easily as he does here. Still, it’s the beginning of the story, so it’s got plenty of time to improve.

And where do I even start on Justice League Unlimited? Happy as I am for Dorian that Wildcat was featured in the episode, I wish old Ted hadn’t been quite so pitiful. He was just so easily manipulated and his motive (fragile male ego, basically) is one that never fails to exhaust me. Poor old bruiser feels threatened by the shiny new kids with a heaping helping of Fight Club thrown in.

And, man, was there a lot of cheesecake in that episode. Black Canary: formidable fighter, a little manipulative, powerful sonic scream… admire her many heroic attributes, and, while you’re doing that, let your gaze lovingly rest on her jiggling boobs. I was thrown around a lot, from admiring the Barbara Stanwyck/Veronica Lake visual inspirations to thinking, “Now why the hell was that shot needed?” I can’t see very much chemistry between BC and Green Arrow, either, but that might be because I’m usually too busy gaping at GA’s horrifyingly Liefeldian torso to listen to what he’s saying.

The whole “teach Wildcat a valuable lesson by letting him think he’s killed GA” bit was just plain odd. Yes, GA was faking, but does that really seem like a good way to drive a change of mind? I would think the memory of the act and the knowledge that he was capable of such a thing would be enough to sideline Wildcat for a good long while. For all intents and purposes, and for a brief period of time, he believed he had killed GA, and had at least subconsciously wanted to do so. Where do you go from there? (Into therapy with Martian Manhunter, apparently, though recent comics couldn’t help but create the impression that Ted was headed in for some mindwiping. This along with the Dr. Light cameo in Teen Titans made it a very Identity Crisis evening of animation.)

Speaking of cartoons, I’m feeling the need to sample some anime. (I’ve also finally signed up for Netflix, so it should be easier to do.) If you’ve got any recommendations, send them my way either here or at the Flipped Forum.

Sigh. I’m used to emotional highs and lows in manga by Yu Watase, but few things have bummed me quite as much as her offhand announcement that the fifth volume of Imadoki! would be the last. I would complain bitterly, but it would make me look like a total hypocrite. Crippling depression aside, volume four was tremendous, just as I expected it would be, and just as I expect volume five will be, and volumes six through ten would be if they were ever going to happen.

Heh… sorry about that.

Viz was kind enough to send me the second and third volumes of Whistle!, the appealing soccer manga by Daisuke Higuchi. It builds on the strengths of the first, while managing to keep me involved in a soccer game that spans both volumes and still isn’t finished. Higuchi manages this by blending tons of character development into the soccer scenes, rounding out the supporting characters and opposing team into distinct, engaging individuals. There’s plenty of fun sideline kibitzing from grizzled stall chef Oyassan and Kō, male escort and brother of series star Shô. I liked these characters individually, and they make a fun comedy team; the only thing they have in common is their fondness for Shô, but that goes a long way. And that’s because Shô is just an awesome kid, not because he’s a soccer genius but because he’s kind, optimistic, hard-working, and brave. I still don’t love soccer, but I understand why these characters do, and I couldn’t resist rooting for this team of underdogs.

I really ought to get around to writing a full review of Othello, and I will now that I’ve read the second volume. For two fairly divergent opinions, go read Johanna’s review at Comics Worth Reading or Greg’s at iComics.com. (I made some quick comments on the first volume in last week’s column.)

Has anyone out there read Until the Full Moon? It’s more shonen-ai from Sanami Matoh, who’s responsible for one of my favorite titles, Fake. She’s left cops behind for the supernatural, and it sounds like a lot of fun.

I was at the Big Chain Bookstore today buying some manga (Maison Ikkoku, which is like crack, and the first volume of xxxHOLiC, because I felt compelled to try more of CLAMP’s output). The cashier asked if I was manga-only or if I liked anime, too. She’s a fan of both, though I generally find the voiceover acting matches poorly with the voices I heard in my head while I was reading the manga. (Example: One Piece.) (Insert “voices David hears in his head” joke here.) Always nice to run into another comics fan outside of a comic book shop, though, and this is the second time that’s happened at that store. The first time, another cashier told me he and his wife had actually named their child after a manga character, which struck me as maybe going a tiny bit too far.

Jog (of Jog – The Blog) has a new installment of Jog Likes Comics up at Komikwerks, and it is very, very funny indeed. It broaches the subject of late comics (not “dead” late, but “tardy to varying degrees” late):

“But as I was soon to discover, Daredevil: Father didn’t become monstrously, humiliatingly late by accident. No, it turns out that each and every copy of the first issue of “Daredevil: Father” is actually a sentient psychic organism that can talk out loud and predict the future and make you smile when you are lonely.”

His “if we like comics, we’ll wait” thesis seems to me to be a very sound one. I’ve dropped some perennially delayed titles not because they didn’t show up when promised but because I just wasn’t enjoying them that much. Lateness tends to wind up at the end of a list of other complaints.

I do wonder if readers are maybe more charitable towards scheduling glitches in creator-driven comics than product from Marvel and DC. I know that I’d like more issues of, say, Amelia Rules! to come out on average, but I don’t want them unless Jimmy Gownley is well and truly done with them.

I have a slightly different set of expectations from corporate comics. It’s like the difference between going to a sit-down restaurant where there’s a chef whose culinary sense sets the menu, or running into, say, Wendy’s for some chicken strips. I’ll wait a while for the chef’s entree, but the chicken strips? Please.

And, yes, that is a desperately unfair generalization, and many very talented people work in corporate comics, and they should have as much artistic lattitude as possible. And, yes, chicken strips are as satisfying in their own way as a nice plate of risotto.