The Manga Curmudgeon

Spending too much on comics, then talking too much about them

Reality check

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(The following contains SPOILERS for the finale of this season of Project Runway. Don’t worry if you missed it. Bravo will thoughtfully air it at least 300 more times.)

My addiction to reality television has dwindled rather significantly, but I’m still engrossed by Project Runway and thought the recently completed season was the strongest yet. The general skill level was very high, and the designers had a wide range of distinct aesthetics to keep things interesting.

But I can’t quite get over who won. The last few sentences of the recaplet at Television Without Pity sums up my reaction, though you could substitute “Laura” for “Uli” and it would still work. Jeffrey’s collection didn’t strike me as wearable at all outside of the red carpet at the Billboard Music Awards. The judges seemed to ignore the fact that Laura and Uli did have specific points of view; just because they didn’t speak to Michael Kors or Nina Garcia doesn’t mean they weren’t there. Jeffrey certainly had a point of view, but I kept wondering how they got the clown car backstage.

I take consolation in the fact that both Laura and Uli probably had offers from major houses before they even left the final filming at Parsons, because I think their aesthetics would actually sell. (I suspect that guest judge and Fashion Week mogul Fern Mallis shared that opinion. Heck, I think even Heidi Klum felt the same way.) And that should be part of the equation, shouldn’t it? Who, outside of collectors or the most diehard of fashionistas, is going to buy Jeffrey’s clothes? Who could actually wear them aside from a model?

A happy side effect of this season is this excellent post from MetroKitty on how to communicate during a design critique. It seems like excellent advice for any creative person trying to pitch their work.

Now, on to a new season of Top Chef and, thankfully, more terrific recaps from astute foodie Keckler. (I was watching a marathon of the first season, and wow, Harold whined a lot about how the challenges were beneath him, didn’t he? I’d forgotten that. Dude, you signed up for a television reality show. Are you really surprised that it isn’t dignity personified?)

Filed Under: TV

Friday mangablogging

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There are two recent reviews up from Brigid at MangaBlog. First up is Kye Young Chon’s Audition from DramaQueen. Second is David Roman’s Astronaut Elementary from Cryptic Press.

MangaCast’s Ed Chavez looks at some character-driven manga: Saijyo Shinji’s Iron Wok Jan! (DrMaster), Kaoru Mori’s Emma (CMX), and Key Young Chon’s DVD (DramaQueen).

Speaking of MangaCast, they’re sponsoring a contest. Simply imagine your imminent death, dredge up your most profound regret, and maybe win a copy of Reborn! (Viz – Shonen Jump Advanced). This is the point where I should say, “Enter now, or you’ll regret it for the rest of your life!”

The love for Drifting Classroom (Viz – Signature) keeps on coming, this time from Katherine Dacey-Tsuei at PopCultureShock.

ChunHyang sees people who see dead people in the second installment of a pre-Halloween manga spook-a-thon, mentioning many of my favorites in the process.

And now a question that comes from an e-mail conversation I was having with John Jakala. In your experience, which chain bookstore has the best manga selection? I find Barnes & Noble reliable, and the local Books-a-Million oddly always has the largest selection of Juné books, but for variety and selection, I’d have to vote for the Borders up in Pittsburgh. Of course it’s an hour away.

Edited to add: It sells a bajillion copies, but it doesn’t get reviewed that often. Bill Sherman takes a look at “the loudmouthed spud,” Naruto (Viz – Shonen Jump), at Pop Culture Gadabout.

From the stack: AGNES QUILL: AN ANTHOLOGY OF MYSTERY

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As a fan of books like Leave It to Chance and Courtney Crumrin and the Night Things, I think there’s always room for more young adults navigating mysterious, supernatural landscapes. For that reason, I think Dave Roman’s Agnes Quill: An Anthology of Mystery (Slave Labor Graphics) is a very welcome arrival.

Agnes is an orphan living in the creepy city of Legerdemain. Instead of a bucolic Central Park at its core, Legerdemain has an enormous cemetery. Agnes can communicate with the dead, benign and malignant. To make ends meet, she’s followed in her grandfather’s footsteps, opening a detective agency focused on helping the dead complete their unfinished business and the living cope with the pervasive, sometimes hostile weirdness around them.

So in addition to the aforementioned books, Agnes is following in the increasingly rich tradition of protagonists in series like Bleach, Dokebi Bride, Kindaichi Case Files, and Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service. She holds her own. Agnes is a little sullen, but she’s curious and resourceful. Legerdemain is often as strange to her as it is to the reader, and watching her uncover its secrets is rewarding.

Roman has obviously invested a lot in developing Agnes and her fictional world. In addition to the four stories that showcase Agnes solving very different mysteries, Roman has included extensive text pieces that offer a wealth of insight into his heroine and her city. (If Roman isn’t considering a possible prose novel featuring Agnes, he really should.)

The book earns its anthology tag by featuring the work of four different illustrators (Roman is joined by Jason Ho, Raina Telgemeier, and Jeff Zornow). The tones of the four stories are crafted to suit the style of the collaborator. Telgemeier’s piece has her trademark loopy sweetness. Zornow’s looks and reads like something out of Priest.

It’s an audacious approach to introducing a character, but I’m not sure it’s entirely successful. The stylistic shifts have the effect of pushing Agnes into the background. While the stories cohere in the sense that they credibly occur in the same fictional world, the protagonist becomes secondary, and I’m not sure if that’s the most effective way to manage her debut.

But the package as a whole, comics and prose, ultimately makes a very convincing argument for Agnes’s appeal. She’s a well-defined, sympathetic heroine who lives in an intriguing world. I’d just like to see a more focused approach to telling her stories that lets her shine.

Influence peddling

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There are all kinds of power, and yesterday’s list from ICv2 seemed to focus on the market variety – who sells the most. It got me thinking not so much about power as influence… the publishers who are driving manga creatively and expanding what’s available. So here is my list, in alphabetical order, of who I currently see as the Ten Most Creatively Influential Manga Publishers.

ADV: Say what you will about the reliability of their releases. It’s a legitimate criticism and a concern for fans who want to know that a publisher is going to finish what they start. But it’s undeniable (to me, at least) that any publishing entity that offers Anne Freaks, Cromartie High School, and Yotsuba&! deserves a nod for ambition.

Dark Horse: With intriguing recent releases like Ohikkoshi and The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service and upcoming books like Tanpeshu, Dark Horse has really expanded beyond what I viewed as a solid guns-and-swords specialist to one of the most interesting manga (and now manhwa) publishers. There’s great, unexpected stuff coming out.

Del Rey and Go! Comi: I’m putting these two together because I credit them with the same thing: pushing the boundaries of shôjo and shônen with edgier, more experimental offerings than the rest of the pack. Beyond the high production quality both publishers uphold, they’re giving younger manga readers somewhere to go next and older readers something to enjoy now.

DramaQueen: Anyone who launches a niche anthology (global BL in this case) automatically makes the list. Throw in a reputation for quality production of licensed work from Japan and Korea, and it’s a lock.

Drawn & Quarterly: Okay, so their manga output begins and ends with the work of Yoshihiro Tatsumi. Given the impact of that work, they more than meet the cut. They get extra points for a fine global roster of titles like the upcoming Moomin, the charming Get a Life, and the works of Guy Delisle.

Fanfare/Ponent Mon: Do I wish their books were easier to find and a little more affordable? Sure. Can I ignore those inconveniences to get books by Jiro Taniguchi, Kan Takahama, and others? Absolutely.

Icarus: See above for comments on DramaQueen. Ero-manga may not be my thing, but it’s comforting to know that it’s being successfully published by someone who loves it.

NETCOMICS: I admit that I thought they were kind of crazy for dropping as many inaugural titles as they did, but they are seriously leading the charge towards different delivery systems. They’re also assembling an impressive and varied roster of titles available either in print or on-line.

Seven Seas: Licensed works, original titles, web-to-print, novels… Seven Seas is pursuing an ambitious mix of projects that put them right in the thick of what’s happening now in manga, but they’re doing all of those things at a sensible scale. Perhaps I’m unfairly favoring the (comparatively) little guy, but hey, it’s my blog.

Vertical: If they’d only ever produced the hardcover version of Osamu Tezuka’s Buddha, they’d deserve a place on the list. It’s the kind of classy accomplishment that a publisher can ride for a lifetime. But they keep going. And if anyone is going to give me a gorgeous edition of Rose of Versailles, it will probably be Vertical.

Power mad

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ICv2 has released its new manga power list, putting global mangaka/Borders graphic novel buyer Kurt Hassler at the top. In July, they offered a list of the 10 most powerful people in anime, and David Taylor wondered who would make a manga-centric list. The answer is, pretty much who you’d expect:

“1. Kurt Hassler, Graphic Novel Buyer, Borders Group
2. Hidemi Fukuhara, Chief Executive Officer, Viz Media
3. Stuart Levy, Founder, CEO, Chief Creative Officer Tokyopop
4. Dallas Middaugh, Associate Publisher of Manga, Del Rey
5. Jim Killen, Graphic Novel Buyer, Barnes & Noble
6. Mike Richardson, CEO & Publisher, Dark Horse
7. Mike Kiley, Publisher, Tokyopop
8. Yumi Hoashi, EIC & VP of Magazine Division, Viz Media
9. Hikaru Sasahara, CEO, Digital Manga Publishing
10. Masashi Kishimoto, Creator of Naruto”

Kishimoto is the only full-time creator to get a nod, but it makes sense, given Naruto’s top spot in the Top Ten Manga Properties and fair enough ranking on the anime list. The presence of big-two bookstore reps makes sense, as does the higher placement for Borders than Barnes and Noble. I can understand why other retailers get irritated with those Borders exclusives that some publishers pursue, but they certainly seem to help shift books.

I was initially surprised to see Digital Manga make the cut, but their Juné books are a powerful presence in comic shops, hovering high on the graphic novel bestseller lists every time they’re released. And in my entirely anecdotal experience, they’re reliably easy to find in chain bookstores, even more than offerings from Dark Horse. (If the DMP rep had ranked higher than Dark Horse’s on this LCS-focused list, MangaCast might well have fomented another manga revolution. I can already hear the cries of “Caaaaaaaaaaaarl!”)

I’m going to have to track down a copy of this, if only for the “Shojo Rising” article about the growing anime-for-girls market. This came up in yesterday’s PWCW piece on the Cartoon Network Effect, particularly in Thomas J. McLean’s discussion with Viz’s Liza Coppola:

“Graphic novel publishers may only be beginning to benefit from TV. Consider that there is not yet any animated version of shojo manga—the wildly popular subgenre that targets teenage girls. ‘We’d love to have a shojo network out there,’ Coppola says. ‘I think that’s the dream of a lot of publishers.’”

Understandably so. In the shôjo category, Absolute Boyfriend joined Fruits Basket on the Top Ten Manga list, and Loveless represented shônen-ai all by its cat-eared self. But as far as the anime properties go, plenty of the properties are equally appealing to male and female viewers, but nothing there falls conventionally into the shôjo category.

I find it hard to believe that Cartoon Network isn’t at least considering the possibility of introducing shôjo properties into its programming. I find it irritating as hell, but Totally Spies could probably anchor at least one other girl-centric program with the right cross-promotion, and as Brigid notes at MangaBlog:

“True, but what are the girls doing? Playing with their Barbies? My daughters watched CN too, when they were that age, and I’d love to see some shoujo anime on TV.”

Maybe I’m just hoping for something to break Naruto’s monotonous dominance of the sales charts. But seriously, didn’t shôjo-rific Sailor Moon start all of this anime-manga frenzy in the first place?

Updated to note: Brigid and Simon Jones have offered reaction to the list.

And again to note: So has Ed Chavez at MangaCast.

Mangalanche!

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There’s an outrageous quantity of good manga coming out this week, and David Taylor has pulled the manga out for your convenience.

If I didn’t already own it, I would name Fanfare/Ponent Mon’s re-release of Jiro Taniguchi’s sublime Walking Man as manga pick of the week. I think I will anyways. (F/PM is another publisher who could play a mean game of “If you like…” Of course, I think every comic shop should have a spinner rack full of their books. Some of their work is on display in a recent article from Paul Gravett, along with other offerings in the still-too-narrow gekiga category.)

In non-manga offerings, I’m most excited about Dave Roman’s Agnes Quill: An Anthology of Mystery from Slave Labor Graphics.

Chris Butcher goes through this week’s releases, hitting the highlights and making an good point about a couple of current manga series:

“Better still, it’s a lot of fun to compare the 1970s suspense-horror of Drifting Classroom by Kazuo Umezu (essentially: Japan’s Stephen King) to Dragon Head, a more contemporary take on the sub-genre. Drifting Classroom leaves less to the imagination about the fate of the characters and what they face, but it also has the reactions of the characters ratchetted way above Dragon Head to achieve similar effects… You really oughtta be buying and reading both, I think.”

Jog’s rundown of the week’s comics is particularly manga-rich this week. Best line:

“Q-Ko-chan Vol. 2 (of 2): Another model of clarity from writer/artist Ueda Hajime draws to a close. It looks nice!”

What more is there to say?

Dave Ferraro is another Drifting Classroom fan (so am I), and he takes a look at volume 2 in the latest Manga Monday at Comics-and-More, also reviewing Dragon Head 4, Monster 5, and Shojo Beat’s Punch preview.

At MangaBlog, Brigid gives a qualified thumbs-up to the second volume of Boogiepop Doesn’t Laugh; I agree with her that more distinct character design would have helped with clarity. Rereading the first volume before delving into the second was almost essential.

MangaCast keeps the previews and reviews coming. Volume #255 features CMX’s Densha Otoko, Juné’s Close the Last Door, and the second volume of The Great Catsby from NETCOMICS. And MangaCaster Erin F. provides an audio version of the latest Manga Recon column from PopCultureShock. The eclectic collection of titles covered includes the first two volumes of Scott Pilgrim, DMP’s Robot anthology, Ultra Cute, and the excellent Dokebi Bride. Ah, globalism!

Dark Horse’s Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service did well in the Direct Market, and TangognaT thinks it deserves four stars (out of five).

And in this week’s Flipped, I think about the children… the murderous, emotionally disturbed children.

If you like…

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Chris Butcher at comics212.net (no dot!) notes that Tokyopop is trying its hand at the “If you like…” game in favor of some of its global manga titles. It’s not a bad idea, though Chris notes some of the flaws in execution in this particular example.

“I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that a number of these titles have more in common with the books that Oni Press, or Image Comics publish (and I’m sure both of those companies are really excited by the prospect of competing with Tokyopop for shelf-space and dollars in comic stores) than the Japanese- and Korean-originated titles they publish, but several of them really aren’t very ‘indy’ at all. Some of these books are exactly what the average person thinks of when they think of manga; relationship-oriented drama and teen-boy adventure stories. Nothing wrong with that, but I think it muddies the waters of your promotion somewhat…”

In some cases, I think comics shoppers view any manga in the same way dedicated super-hero readers view books from Oni or Fantagraphics or Top Shelf; it’s all undiscovered country, even if the content is very mainstream (romances, mysteries, zombies, what have you). That isn’t a criticism – everyone should read what they like and what gives them the best return on their investment.

It’s surprising to me that Tokyopop didn’t include I Luv Halloween (written by Keith Giffen) or Boys of Summer (written by Chuck Austen), though the latter would probably appeal more to the morbidly curious who’ve missed having Austen to kick around. Of course, the ILH comparisons would probably pain me. I can just see it being categorized with Ted Naifeh’s Courtney Crumrin books, and that would be agony, because Courtney doesn’t deserve that kind of company.

And speaking of Oni books, they’ve always struck me as the company best able to straddle the indy-manga divide, if in fact there is one. Their books cover a lot of the same narrative territory, and while the illustration styles don’t necessarily scream “manga-influenced,” their trim size and packaging frequently do.

While the effort is flawed, it’s good to see Tokyopop reaching out to local comic shops, particularly after they generated ill will with the recent on-line exclusive initiative. I do think publishers like Del Rey or Dark Horse might be better positioned to make a pitch like this. Del Rey’s Love Roma, Eternal Sabbath, Genshiken, and other titles strike me as having strong crossover potential. Dark Horse has always done well with manga in the Direct Market, and some of their recent releases (Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service and next week’s Ohikkoshi spring to mind) would rest quite comfortably in the indy comic section.

But, as last month’s LCS sales figures (ably examined by Brigid of MangaBlog) demonstrate, Dark Horse doesn’t really need a comic-shop specific initiative. (Full figures for the month are at Comic Book Resources.) Neither, apparently, do Digital Manga’s Juné books, which is great in one sense, but bad because the line’s momentum makes me wonder even more if we’ll ever see more books like IWGP or Bambi and Her Pink Gun (in other words, books you’d think would have flown off the comic shop shelves).

More Marshall follow-up

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Chuck Mason, editor of the Marshall Democrat-News, is not happy:

“I have no qualms with Louise Mills of Marshall, who objected to the two books and filed the necessary paperwork to bring the matter to the attention of the board of trustees. Mills is a resident who has a complaint and she has the right to register it.

“What I object to is pulling the books off the shelves.

“The library board has essentially blinked in the harsh light of public discussion.”

Mason is concerned about the precedent the board has set, fearing it will become an open invitation to restrict access to any material that might be viewed as controversial.

Bake day

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All of the culinary fiction (good and bad) that I’ve consumed lately finally caught up with me, and I spent most of yesterday baking. Both were from recipes from Baking with Julia.

My partner has made challah from another recipe in the bread machine before, and it turned out really well. I tried the purist approach, following the book’s recipe carefully, and it didn’t turn out nearly as well as the improvised, machine made version. It’s nice bread, but it isn’t as eggy and sweet as any of the really good challah I’ve had. (Confession: I was too lazy to braid and shape it in the traditional way. It was sticky.) It will probably make good French toast at some point. (I tend to agree with this person on the outcome, and on the superiority of the challah at Whole Foods, though the nearest one is about 90 minutes away. That’s probably just as well.)

I also got it into my head that I wanted to make a complicated dessert of some sort, so I went with the mocha brownie cake that’s cut into three layers and slathered with ganache. Because it didn’t seem sufficiently time-consuming or fiddly, I decided to add layers of chocolate mousse as well, and used Alton Brown’s recipe (though I halved it).

I’ve noticed something weird about Brown’s recipes: if they’re for a dish I normally really like, I don’t care for his version. If they’re for something I don’t normally enjoy (like fruitcake), he really knocks it out of the park. The mousse is okay, though I would be disappointed if I’d made it just to have mousse.

I usually avoid tricky pastry assemblies or presentations, because I suck at them. (Pie crust seems to be completely beyond my abilities in the kitchen.) This one turned out really nicely though. It’s pretty and satisfyingly dramatic, though it’s far too much cake to have in the house, and it’s way too rich to have more than a small slice.