The Five Manga Meme

From Sean (via Johanna, among others) all the cool kids are doing it: Here are my Top Five currently published manga in translation:



1. Planetes

2. Imadoki!

3. Blue Inferior

4. Hikaru-no Go

5. Negima



And as a bonus, because it's a completely different list, here are my Top Five all-time manga in translation:



1. Lone Wolf & Cub

2. Nausicaa

3. 2001 Nights

4. Maison Ikkoku

5. Sanctuary



(with honorable mention to Akira, Eagle, Uzumaki, Gon, Mai, and Paradise Kiss.)

Jeff Smith Interview

Public library book distributor BWI has an interview with Bone creator Jeff Smith on the occasion of the release of the colorized Bone from Schoolastic.



Not much new in the interview, but it's interesting to see how Smith and Bone are being positioned to the mainstream market, especially in light of responses like this:

Nowadays, I'm still very much into comics. I like Paul Pope, who does graphic novels. His work just flows. There's a cartoonist from Canada by the name of Seth, who just had a piece in the New Yorker, and he's designing the Charles Schulz Complete Peanuts books. There's Jim Woodring. Fantagraphic [sic] just published The Frank Book. Those are just transcendent comics.

I now have visions of public librarians buying The Frank Book for their collections and twisting the minds of tweens across the country...

Quick Mini Comic Reviews

Obsessive Crush

by Pat Lewis

Gina is a pretty folk singer who plays sets at the local college coffee house. Doug is a grad student in science! who creates a potion that will transform him into 'the coolest guy on campus'. Sharon is Doug's robot assistant, who is tired of being ignored so hse creates for herself the body of a giant killer robot. In other words, it's your typical comic book love triangle :) Lewis's comic is fast-moving, funny, and a wee bit insightful, and his cartooning fits the story perfectly

Rating: 3.5 (of 5)




Thankless Job

by Pat Lewis

The evil mastermind Iron Marauder has defeated his arch-nemesis, the heroic Retrobutionator, and now nothing can stand in his way of taking over the city. Except that is for a clueless temp who manages to accidentally delete the Marauder's entire ill-gotten fortune. Now Abe (the temp) is a hero, but has incurred the wrath of the now-penniless Iron Marauder. It's another fun outting from Lewis that makes fun of both the conventions of super-heroes and the cult of instant celebrity.

Rating: 3 (of 5)




Horus #1-3

by Johane Matte

Nofret is a typical teenage girl: adults, especially her parents, dont' understand her, and she hates kids, especially her brat of a younger bother. Of course, she lives in ancient Egypt, where finding a kid with the head of a falcon abandoned by a river bank is, while not a normal occurance, not cause for immediate alarm either. That is until two talking hippos kidnap the hawk-headed kid and Nofret's little brother, and she has to save them both. I love Matte's art; it's cartoony and full of dynamic action, and fits the story perfectly. The story mostly holds together, though at times take s acouple of jumps and delves off into a couple of unnecesary sub-plots. It's an odd thing to say in this day and age, but this comic seems awfully compressed. Horus might work a little better if Matte slowed the pace down a bit and allowed for the laughs and drama to develop a bit more, instead of rushing headlong to a conclusion.

Rating: 3 (of 5)




Distribution of mini comics can be very spotty, but all of these comics can be purchased online from the creators: Pat Lewis's books can be found at Lunch Break Comics, and Johana Matte's at Ruff Toon.

New This Week: January 26, 2005

Based on the NCRL list for this week's comics shipping from Diamond, here are a few things to look for at the local comic shop tomorrow:



The pick of the week is We3 #3 by Grant Morrison & Frank Quitely, from DC/Vertigo. I thought that the first two issues were two of the best of 2004, so that should tell you how stoked I am about the final issue coming out. If you haven't been reading We3, don't wait for the trade--see if your LCS has the first two issues in stock and grab the complete story.



In other comics:



Abstract has the fourth Strangers in Paradise pocket edition. I have the first three volumes, even though I own all the original comics; they're a rather smart package, and very handy to keep on your bookshelf.



Antarctic has the Gold Digger Adventures Stand Alone Special, which I believe focuses on the Diggers sisters in their younger days. Gold Digger is one of my guilty pleasure comics...



Arcana has the third issue of 100 Girls.



Dark Horse has the third volume of Samurai Executioner and the sixth volume of Shadow Star (I've only read the first two--I need to catch up!)



Besides We#3, DC has more Morrison goodness with the final installment in his JLA Classified story (#3); as well as new issues of the revamped Legion of Super-Heroes (#2), Planetary (#22), The Losers (#20), Sleeper Season Two (#8), and Y: The Last Man (#30).



Del Rey has the fourth volumes in three of their launch series: Negima, Tsubasa, and Xxxholic.



Fantagraphics has a new printing of Dan Clowes' Like a Velvet Glove Cast In Iron.



Image has the third Noble Causes collection.



Marvel has the penultimate issue of the latest Black Widow mini (#5) and a new issue of Fantastic Four (#522).



Monkeysuit has the Rex Steele: Nazi Smasher graohic novel (which is sitting on my shelf, waiting to be read...)



NBM has the first issue of Cryptozoo Crew.





This will be, alas, my last regular trip to my LCS, as starting next month I'm switching over to DCBS for my regular comic buying. It'll be a somewhat sad day.

Quick Manga Reviews

Benkei in New York

by Jinpachi Mori & Jiro Taniguchi

Benkei is a Japanese ex-pat living in the Big Apple. He's a painter, but uses his skills only for creating forgeries; he expresses his artistry through his second profession, as an assassin. Following a professional code that only makes sense to him, Benkei takes on jobs in both of his professions, sometimes for money, other times for more personal reasons. Each chapter in this volume is its own simple noir story, ably told by Mori and drawn with great detail by Taniguchi. Like all good noir, the action isn't all permeating but nearly always in brief, explosive sequences. Taniguchi excels at these action scenes, with the best being an extended series of chases and hand-to-hand combats in a snowcovered Central Park and The Museum of Natual History. This is smart noir for adults; we need to see more manga like this in translation.

Rating: 3.5 (of 5)




Hikaru-no Go, vol. 1

by Yumi Hotta & Takeshi Obata

The premise for this series, in which a sixth-grade boy is haunted by the spirit of a centuries-old Go master, may seem like the set-up for a standard shonen manga wherein a boy gets extraordinary skills and faces down all comers. However, the execution is definitely a cut above. While Fukiwara-no-Sai, the haunting spirit in question, guides Hikaru in his Go playing, the aim of the plot is more than just a boy living out a fantasy. Hikaru's journey will be to learn the game of Go himself and, in so doing, mature in the other areas of his life as well. I've only played Go a handful of times well over a decade ago, but even though my interest in the game is slight, Hotta & Obata make it an unusally exciting subject for a comic. Obata's art is particularly engaging, very strong in characters, backgrounds and storytelling, while managing somehow to make the playing of a boardgame visually interesting. My only complaint about this volume is that it ends in the middle of a story--something that should be a no-no in a 200 page comic, but that just means that I'm anxious to read the next volume.

Rating: 3.5 (of 5)

Big Fat Royalty Check

I received a royalty check from my publisher today--the first in two years, in fact. Now while most people would be pleased to get a royalty check, I find it to be a bit annoying. Why? The check is for only $11.



You see, the check is for a book I co-wrote back in 1999. While the book sold well for the first couple of years, sales have now dropped off to a trickle. Since I split the royalties with my five other co-authors, there really isn't that much to go around at this point.



Still, I suppose that the publisher has to pay out even small amounts, so as to make the books balance and all. I don't really blame them (they're good people, and I wouldn't hesitate to work with them again).



The annoying part is that for my 2005 taxes, this $11 means that I have to file a whole extra form to declare my whopping eleven dollars in book royalties. (I get a reprieve this time, since they didn't send me a royalty in 2004.)



Of course, I've heard of other writers and artists getting royalty checks for just pennies, so I guess I shouldn't complain too much, right?

Monkey Covers

Sunday is Monkey Covers day here at YACB. Because there's nothing better than a comic with a monkey on the cover.

From 1981's The Unexpected #210, artists Rich Buckler & Dick Giordano illustrate the feature story "Vampire of the Apes" (script by George Kashdan).

(standard disclaimer about apes not really being monkeys applies)

Image is courtesy of the GCD. Click on the image for a larger version.