Comic Book Resources has launched a bi-monthly manga column, Calling Manga Island by Tony Salvaggio. His first outing takes an in-depth look at Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, a classic by master mangaka Hayao Miyazaki.

At Newsarama, Troy Brownfield looks back at 2004 in his Your Manga Minute column. I particularly agree with his take on DC and Marvel’s respective responses to the manga surge.

Thanks to everyone who’s blogged about my freshman outing at Comic World News (most recently Johanna, Lyle, and Scott). I’m a bit horrified that people expect it to be interesting on a regular basis. Cunard never said anything about that.

Previews. It weighs a ton, and it leaves me faintly depressed. So, in an effort to cheer myself, I thought I’d put out a quick list of comics I read this year that were actually… y’know… fun.

• Amelia Rules! Both of the trades and the ongoing (Superheroes) are highly recommended. A great all-ages book.
• Case Closed: Mistaken-identity hijinks wrapped around solid mysteries. Charming character design helps strike the perfect tone.
• Fake: I loved watching Fake’s odd-couple cops go through their twisty mating dance. The crime drama is ludicrous, but that’s part of the fun.
• Girl Genius: Engagingly deranged and adorably menacing, this book is bursting with great ideas, smart parody, and terrific comic moments.
• Hikaru No Go: I think it’s quintessential manga, honestly: appealing characters, a fun and fresh premise, and generous doses of humor and heart.
• Imadoki! Who knew Yu Watase had such a charming sense of humor? Oddballs at a posh, sterile high school form a gardening club, with unexpected results.
• Owly: It really should become a classic. (Tomorrow’s the last day of the Owly contest sponsored by Cognitive Dissonance.)
• Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life: Smart, sweet, and slightly surreal, this is a pleasure to read over and over.
• Sgt. Frog: Gero! Gero! Gero! Attention-span-challenged amphibians plot world domination from a house in the suburbs.
• She-Hulk: Dan Slott scripts the best monthly Marvel’s got, in my opinion. It’s got a skewed perspective that actually celebrates super-heroes while telling funny, accessible stories. Also? Awesome. Andy.

Ahhhhhhh. I feel better now!

On a weightier front, Time has its list of the best comix of 2004, and Christopher Butcher takes an inimitable look at both the list and at the current state of critical discourse on comics.

Time’s running out on Johanna’s Owly Contest. Entries, in the form of your version of a cute owl, must be received by Dec. 24.

Speaking of Owly, wouldn’t that be a great donation to the “Million Books for a Million Children” drive being sponsored by Barnes and Noble? Check for details at Polite Dissent.

Still haven’t satisfied your philanthropic bent? You have until Dec. 24 to participate in Dave Carter’s matching donation offer in support of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. Details are here. At the time of this posting, six donors had taken the plunge. Four to go, and the CBLDF will get a nice chunk of change!

Hm…

In Avengers Disassembled, high-profile heroes were shaken by a string of mysterious deaths that made them question their roles as heroes. Why? Bitch crazy.

In Identity Crisis, high-profile heroes were shaken by a string of mysterious deaths that made them question their roles as heroes. Why? Bitch crazy.

Against the better instincts of everyone involved, I am now a columnist for Comic World News. It’s called “Flipped,” and you can read the first installment here. (Thanks to Kevin, Pata, and Ed for the linkage.)

One of the things I’d like to do with this is highlight interesting manga titles that haven’t caught much attention yet, so if you’ve got recommendations, send them my way. Or, post them in the Flipped Forum.

As mentioned on Cognitive Dissonance and PostmodernBarney, Prism Comics is looking for donations to help them reduce their debt load. (Okay, so I had to pause for a moment when I saw Devin Grayson at the top of their donations page. Do I really want to support middling psychosexual fanfic? But then, scrolling down, I saw Phil Jimenez, and everything was all right again. Mmmm… Jimenez.)

And, in spite of his craven assault on Ed Cunard, I’ll point you to a contest being sponsored by BeaucoupKevin. He’s giving away Julius from Oni. If you can describe in 35 words or less what your favorite comics moment of 2004 was, drop him a line by Dec. 30. (I’m guessing “Tiny footprints on her brain!” won’t serve you very well as an entry.)

Added to the blogbar: Comics Should Be Good, the product of “six nerds against the world.”

Apologies to Mike for putting the wrong closing date in the mention of his Swamp Thing Contest. It ends Dec. 31.

Joe Casey and Matt Fraction talk about the European comics market in the latest Basement Tapes. It turns out Casey is big in Germany. I don’t know how they can discuss this topic at length and not make a single David Hasselhoff joke.

See how easy that was?

I’ll also take undeserved credit for the plug Casey gives Dan Slott’s She-Hulk.

As usual, the column is a mix of interesting observations, probing questions, and shameless self-promotion, sometimes all at once:

Casey: “So, what does this say about us? What is it about our culture that, in some sense, “anti-promotes” this medium and its presentation to the point where a German hardcover of a piece of my work — that isn’t even available in America anymore — is just the Way Things Are?”

It’s not really similar, but I can’t help thinking about something that happened during a trip to Germany I was fortunate enough to take. My partner had designed a set for a production that was part of an exchange program with one of the regional theatres there, and I tagged along with the company and crew and got to bum around while they all worked.

As part of the itinerary, we went to one of the host theatre’s studio productions, which was neither the best nor worst play I’ve ever seen. At the end, the audience (who hadn’t reacted strongly either way during the performance) gave the cast a standing ovation that I found to be out of all proportion to the quality of the piece. Apparently, that’s just seen as common courtesy when you attend a play — stand and clap until your hands are numb.

Obviously, this was something of a revelation for the American actors. (They’re students, and their audiences generally consist of other students who have to attend to pass their 101 survey courses. These audiences generally are headed towards the doors with their cellular phones out before the lights even dim. Yes, that’s rude, and, yes, the program has set itself up for this by stacking the house with prisoners of liberal studies requirements. Moving on.)

So, during the ovation that would not end, we were standing and clapping behind two student actresses, who were soaking in the experience. One turned to the other, and, with the perfect mix of greed and indignation, hissed “Audiences should do this in our country!”

We all knew it was inevitable, didn’t we? Mike Sterling, amiable master of ceremonies at Progressive Ruin, is sponsoring a Swamp Thing contest. Mike knows no peer in Swamp Thing fandom, and he’s celebrating by giving away a copy of Swamp Thing: Bad Seed, which collects the first six issues of the current Vertigo ongoing. And even if you aren’t a Swamp Thing fan, Bad Seed is written by Andy Diggle, so how can you go wrong? (Okay, now I’m having visions of Swamp Thing vs. Rhoda Penmark, and I can’t say I hate it.) (Deadline: 12/31. I had this wrong yesterday, because I’m an idiot. Sorry, Mike!)

On the contest reminder front, you still have time to jump on the Owly Love Train by sending Johanna Draper Carlson a cute picture of an owl. More details are available at Johanna’s splendid blog, Cognitive Dissonance. I just bought the first volume of Owly, and it’s an absolute treat. This is the kind of all-ages book that should become a classic. (Deadline: 12/24.)

And you still have a chance to squeeze some extra bucks out of Dave Carter at Yet Another Comics Blog. He’s putting his money where his mouth is, offering to match 10 first-time $25-donations to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. (Deadline: 12/24.)

Nothing puts me in the holiday spirit like ambulatory plant matter, adorable owls, and protecting the First Amendment.

Can I claim to be boycotting something when I never had any intention of buying it in the first place? That’s the quandary I’m facing with Ultimate Iron Man, to be written by sci-fi author Orson Scott Card.

Tom Spurgeon at The Comics Reporter has some informative links on Card’s conservative views. There was also some lively discussion on the subject on Usenet. Card certainly does sound like someone whose work I’d avoid on principle, but I’m not a science fiction fan, and I have to admit that the chances I’d actually pick up Ultimate Iron Man under any circumstances are next to nonexistent. (With all due respect to Iron ‘Fro, I’m just not a fan.)

Comics always seem to rob me of the opportunity for activist purchasing patterns. Sure, there are creators whose public personas I find repugnant, but I usually find that out after I started avoiding their work for purely aesthetic reasons. How am I supposed to vote with my dollars under these circumstances? It would be like giving up cooked cauliflower for Lent.

For more on Card, stop by I Am NOT The Beastmaster and Crocodile Caucus.