I know, I’m late again. But holidays will do that. Anyway, despite my slowness, the rest of the gang got their reviews up on time! John Thomas didn’t fall to pieces and got his review of Dororo Volume 2 from Vertical out on time. I take a walk down memory lane with High School Girls Volume 9 from DR Masters. And Charles Tan hefts a Claymore Volume 12 for some monster fighting action from Viz. Then, we’ve got our weekly picks up, giving you a checklist of what to by for your summer reading. And over at Good Comics For Kids, I’ve got my latest picks for All Ages.
I has them. At least I thought I did until I saw this forum thread. I’m way behind compared to some of these people. Maybe if I added in all my Shonen Jump and Shojo Beats… Anyway, that’s not to say my manga collection isn’t still growing. This month is going to be another tough Previews order. There are a lot of not just manga but comic books that are coming out that look good. A new Doctor Who (10th Doctor), a new Fathom series, and I new Voltron in addition to the titles I’ve already added over the last few months: Madame Xanadu, Indiana Jones, and Chuck.
It’s a goth week at Manga Village this week, where dark side is reigning supreme (mostly). Let’s get the little ray of sunshine out of the way, with Suzuka Volume 8 from Del Rey Manga by Dan Polley. Then John Thomas starts us done the dark path with Blood+ Volume 2 from Dark Horse. I finish up the gothic horror/suspense series with the last volume of Godchild Volume 8 from Viz. Then Charles Tan takes us on a final tour of the Museum of Terror Volume 3 from Dark Horse. Over on our columns, we have our picks for the week to lighten your wallet in Manga Village Picks ‘n Mix. And don’t forget to check out Good Comics for Kids, where I have the weekly comics list and picks for all ages, and Katherine Dacey of Pop Culture Shock has a review of the Dark Horse series Dayan.
Well, it’s been a tough week at the Manga Village, but still, we persevere! First, Memorial Day greeted us with the site being hacked, but it’s all patched up now, with practically no damage. But then, yours truly went and caught a nasty flu bug. Trust me, don’t want this! So, things are a little late, but still up before the end of the week! The week starts out with Enchanter Volume 1 from Digital Manga Publishing? Was I spellbound by it? Check out the review to find out! Revisit the Museum of Terror Volume 2 from Dark Horse with Charles Tan. Dan Polley’s on vacation this week, and John Thomas had a bout with real life, but they’ll both be back next week. There’s also our weekly picks. It’s an eclectic selection as always. Over at Good Comics for Kids, I’ve got the newest All Ages Comics list up. Sabrina Fritz has a review of many of the All Ages comics that were available on Free Comic Book Day. Come check out what she found, and the other reviews that are up!
There’s some good variety this week, ranging from old school favorites with Archie and Disney to new with Cartoon Network Block Party & Franklin Richards, the Marvel version of Calvin.
There’s a lot of comics for teens and adults, and there’s a lot of manga for teens and adults. But what about the kids to ‘tweens? There’s not a lot, but they are out there. Starting this week, I’m going to be listing these books, and spotlighting the ones I recommend. ARCHIE COMICS Archie #582, $2.25 Archie Double Digest #186, $3.69 Veronica #187, $2.25 BONGO Simpsons Comics #139, $2.99 DC COMICS/CMX Cartoon Network Action Pack #22, $2.25 MAD Kids #10, $4.99 MAD Magazine #487, $4.99 Palette Of 12 Secret Colors Vol 02, $9.99 **Spotlight** Scooby Doo #129, $2.25 IMAGE COMICS Lions Tigers & Bears TP Vol 02, $14.99 **Spotlight** JACK LAKE PRODUCTIONS INC Classic Illus Jr #505 Sleeping Beauty, $5.99 Classic Illus Jr #506 Three Little Pigs, $5.99 Classic Illus Jr #507 Jack & The Beanstalk, $5.99 Classic Illus Jr #510 Little Red Riding Hood, $5.99 Classics Illustrated Frankenstein, $9.99 Classics Illustrated Gullivers Travels, $9.99 Classics Illustrated Huckleberry Finn, $9.99 Classics Illustrated Tale Of Two Cities, $9.99 MARVEL COMICS Marvel Adventures Avengers #21, $2.99 Marvel Adventures Two-In-One #8, $4.99 PAPERCUTZ Classics Illustrated HC Vol 01 Great Expectations, $9.95 Hardy Boys GN Vol 12 Dude Ranch O Death, $7.95 Hardy Boys…
The current issue of Otaku USA, as well as featuring stories about the anime Space Battleship Yamato and Star Blazers, also had an insert on the Star Blazers webcomic, Star Blazers: Rebirth. This is a web comic written by THE authority on Star Blazers, Tim Eldred. It is a continuation of the Star Blazers saga, taking place after the Final Yamato movie, and features a new generation of characters. But, did you know there were other comics based on the Star Blazers series? StarBlazers.com, the place for all things Star Blazers, has a section on the history of Space Battleship Yamato and Star Blazers in comics. Being a Leiji Matsumoto fan, I found the entries on the manga version of Yamato very interesting, since all that I’ve ever seen of them are the covers. (I had a chance waaaayyyyyy back in the eighties to buy them from the LA store Books Nippon. I really wish I had…) The article goes into some detail about the history of the comic, even showing covers of the magazines they were serialized in. It also includes a really cool bonus: a translation of a rarely seen side story, Eternal Story of Jura. Yamato/Star Blazers…
Why do I read so much manga instead of American comics? Let’s take Marvel’s latest story line in Amazing Spiderman as a good example. It’s riled up a lot of comic fans, and been kind of hard to avoid if you follow the forum boards at all. Basically, in the story line called “One More Day”, Aunt May is dying. She’s old, it was bound to happen. Peter, who’s been married to Mary Jane for the last 10 years, just can’t seem to accept that. Peter “with great power comes great responsibility” Parker decides he can’t live without Aunt May, and goes to the Marvel Universe’s version of Satan to make a deal (like those always turn out soooo well). He gives up the last 10 years of his life, and his wife, so Aunt May can live. He’s doing this over Aunt May’s protests, by the way. Mr. Responsibility turns into a selfish 2 year old. So what’s Marvel done here? In technical terms, it’s called the “Big, Red Reset Button”. They are wiping out 10 years of continuity to turn Peter Parker back into a young bachelor, unencumbered by the hassles of a wife, to be a carefree…