I always feel kind of Tom Sawyer-ish when the effort I expend on a Flipped column is limited to writing a couple of transitional sentences and begging other people to contribute the rest, but I always enjoy the results. This week, I asked some folks in manga publishing to offer up their favorite titles from 2008.
Oldies, goodies
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.
Big reader
Writing for The New York Times, publishing beat reporter Motoko Rich mixes things up by reporting some good news for a change. According to a survey conducted by the National Endowment for the Arts, adults are reading more books just for the pleasure of it:
“‘There has been a measurable cultural change in society’s commitment to literary reading,’ said Dana Gioia, chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts. ‘In a cultural moment when we are hearing nothing but bad news, we have reassuring evidence that the dumbing down of our culture is not inevitable.'”
The NEA initiative is called The Big Read, and it has its own blog. Here’s the link to the survey, though it doesn’t seem to be loading for me at the moment.
I haven’t had enough coffee yet to figure out how they might do this, but it would be neat if comics publishers participated in some way. The Times article doesn’t specifically mention graphic fiction, but I don’t get the impression that it’s excluded. I’d like to see the NEA ask if the increase in reading for pleasure (or just what portion of reading for pleasure) is contributed by comics.
A bargain
Oh, if I lived near Manhattan and had $500 to spare, I would so go to this. The only way it could be better would be if Neil Patrick Harris played Henrik, the hot, repressed cellist/seminary student.
Panel by panel
The New York Comic-Con has announced its preliminary schedule of panels. I won’t be able to make it this year, but if I did, these are the chats I wouldn’t want to miss.
10:15 a.m.: Newsflash: Teen Girls Read Manga! The wider media still seems to be amazed that female readers are a huge part of the boom in the manga market, but while the stereotypical manga and anime fan has long been the male otaku, we know that women are making massive contributions to fandom, the industry, and beyond. This panel will discuss the state of women in the manga industry, female fans within the manga community, and just where we might go from here in supporting and advocating for the media we — both women and men — love. Presented by Robin Brenner, Brigid Alverson, and Katherine Dacey. 1A24.
(It’s possible that I might actually skip the ones after this so I could take the panel out for an early lunch, because seriously… Best. Panel. Ever.)
11:30 a.m.: Otaku Collection Development. Manga continues to play a dominant role in the library world. Now that you have become familiar with series such as Bleach, Fruits Basket, Naruto, and Death Note, it’s time to take manga collection development to the next level. Two veteran public librarians will speak about how to grow your collection beyond the current popular series, delving into forgotten, underground, and alternative books that you’re probably missing. This discussion will cover not only the newest manga titles in the USA but go over many manga classics that every library should have. Presented by Dave Inabitt and Christian Zabriskie. 1A24.
12:45 p.m.: Manga as an Extension of Young Adult Literature: Are You There God? It’s Me, Manga. While it is now standard practice for libraries to have manga collections, manga is not often seen as much more than an alternate format to conventional prose narratives. However, manga’s unconventional depictions of gender offer female teens valuable opportunities to contemplate, and thus experiment with, a wider range of sexual identities than usually afforded by young adult fiction. Manga has found a place in young adult collections because of its popularity with teens. However,it also performs the same role as young adult literature: to help teens find their identity. Presented by Lisa Goldstein and Molly Phelan. 1A24.
2:00 p.m.: Dark Horse. Founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson behind the concept of establishing an ideal atmosphere for creative professionals, Dark Horse Comics has grown to become the third-largest comic publisher in the United States and is acclaimed internationally for the quality and diversity of its line, a line that begins with Hellboy, Buffy, and Umbrella Academy and has no end in sight! Get the latest from Dark Horse right here! 1A21.
6:00 p.m.: Vertical Publishing. Vertical publishes some of the most important manga in America, including the fundamental Osamu Tezuka works Buddha, Dororo, and Black Jack. Spend an hour with the publisher as Vertical speaks about its philosophy, titles, and upcoming plans. 1A22.
11:15 a.m. Del Rey Manga. The Del Rey Manga Happy Fun Time Hullaballoo! The gang from Del Rey Manga not only publish your favorite series, but are also perhaps the best-dressed team in all manga publishing. Join Dallas Middaugh (Associate Publisher), Tricia Narwani (Editor), Mutsumi Miyazaki (Licensing and Acquisitions Director), April Flores (Associate Publicist), and Ali T. Kokmen (Marketing Manager) for the latest news and announcements — including new sneak peeks at X-Men: Misfits and Wolverine: Prodigal Son — a lively Q&A session, and maybe even a few fashion tips regarding hats, ties, and other accessories. 1A06.
1:45 p.m. Yen Press. Catch up on the latest news and announcements from Yen Press! Their editorial staff will be on hand to answer questions (and maybe give out some swag). With titles including Haruhi and Soul Eater and their innovative Yen Plus, Yen Press is a publisher to keep a close eye on in ’09! 1A22.
6:45 p.m. CMX: Manga Mania. Get the latest word on all things manga at DC’s CMX panel! Discover what’s coming in 2009 like Genghis Khan, Broken Blade, Name of The Flower, Fire Investigator Nanase, Jihai, Venus Capriccio, and others. Hosted by Manga Editor Jim Chadwick. 1A06.
11 a.m. Viz Media. The VIZ Media team gives you the latest scoop on everything from acquisitions to key marketing campaigns for both manga and anime. 1A23.
1:30 p.m. Scott Pilgrim vs. The Panel! Harvey, Doug Wright, Joe Shuster Award-winning, and Eisner-nominated creator Bryan Lee O’Malley sits down with NYCC to discuss his ground-breaking, slice-of-life series Scott Pilgrim. From its genesis to the NYCC release of volume five, O’Malley talks frankly about where Scott Pilgrim came from and where the series is going from here. With moderation by Douglas Wolk and a fan Q&A to close the discussion, this is a must see event at NYCC 2009! 1A14.
Slam dunk
The choices just keep coming from Deb Aoki at About.Com. This time, she’s asking readers to pick the Best Josei (Women’s) Manga of 2008. This one was a bit easier for me, as my heart belongs to Chica Umino’s Honey and Clover (Viz).
Tough one
At About.Com, Deb Aoki continues her poll series asking for visitors to vote for the Best New Seinen (Men’s) Manga of 2008. While there are lots of great books on the ballot, I’m going to have to go with Hideo Azuma’s Disappearance Diary (Fanfare/Ponent Mon) for its combination of publishing ambition and entertainment value. But it really is quite a varied list with lots of quality entries for a variety of tastes.
You thought you were done with voting for a while
Over at About.Com, Deb Aoki is running polls on 2008’s Best New Shonen Manga and Best New Shojo Manga series.
In case you’re curious, I picked Hiro Mashima’s Fairy Tail (Del Rey) in the Shonen poll and Hinako Ashihara’s Sand Chronicles (Viz) in the Shojo run-off. Neither choice was particularly easy, as there are fun new series on both ballots. The Shojo pick was particularly tough, what with books like Ai Morinaga’s Your and My Secret and Kazune Kawahara’s High School Debut in the running.
Upcoming 1/7/2009
The comics industry still seems to be getting back up to full speed after the holidays, but there are still a couple of very notable items on this week’s ComicList:
First is the eighth volume of The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service (Dark Horse), written by Eiji Otsuka and drawn by Housui Yamazaki. I don’t know what else I can say about this series, other than that it’s delightfully quirky and cheerfully morbid and you should all buy it.
Second is the soft-cover version of Rick Geary’s The Lindbergh Child, from his Treasury of 20th Century Murder series (NBM). Do you remember when you were a kid in school and you wanted to do something cool with a reporter or project, and you thought it would be really fun and entertaining and educational, all at the same time? Geary’s crime histories always turn out like the cool project you envisioned (instead of the night-before reality).
Quote of the day
There are many reasons to enjoy Hitoshi Iwaaki’s Parasyte (Del Rey). Among them are the translations of fan letters to Iwaaki and his responses. Here’s one of my favorite pearls of wisdom from Iwaaki:
“I think there are two ways for a long-running manga series to end — the story can die, or the story can conclude.”