In the news this week; the November/December Manga Movable Feast begins! Critics become critical of the manga blogging community, but not in a constructive way, more digital news from both sides of the Pacific, news from Japan, podcasts, and the Manga Village Roundup. So make with the click-y…
Ignoring the digital world has finally become impossible for the comics world. Over the last several months, mostly after the debut of the Apple iPad, comic publishers have been announcing their digital plans for the future. The big two, Marvel and DC have put their faith in Apple and Comixology. releasing apps and titles through these platforms. At the New York Comic Con, two more publishers, more relevent to manga readers, have announced more of their digital plans. Dark Horse Comics announced their digital strategy at their panel on Friday. Instead of going through Comixology, they are creating their own platform for selling their books. This strategy is supposed to be available across all platforms and on the web. For the iPad/iPhone, they will have an app that will connect to their platform, and therefore bypass the Apple censors. For the most part, I agree with Dark Horse’s strategy. Making their titles available on any device, be it a smart phone, computer or tablet is the smart way to go. With most American comics being in color, I can understand skipping the e-book readers such as the Kindle or the Nook. I think it’s funny though, that Dark Horse has…
Hellsing, a secret organization also known as the Royal Order of Protestant Knights, has protected the United Kingdom and the English crown since ancient days from supernatural threats. Whether it is vampires or the mindless ghouls they create, the Hellsing Agency is ready to take on the fight local police are unable to handle.
It was a slow news week for manga, as companies and bloggers alike prepared for NYCC/NYAF. But there was still a few items that flew across the internet, including news about Del Rey, Kodansha, license announcements and of course, the first day of NYCC/NYAF.
In this week’s post: News from Kumoricon, free manga online, manga by subsciption online, manga in libraries, respect for shojo, or the lack thereof, New York Times Best Seller list, second opinions, podcasts, and the Manga Village weekly roundup.
May Movable Manga Feast This month’s movable manga feast featured the Vertical title To Terra… a sci-fi shonen from the 70’s. It was hosted by Kate Dacey of The Manga Critic blog. Reviews for the title were a lot more varied than on previous titles. People definitely had their opinion of this series and had no problem expressing it. You’ll find an introduction to the series and all the links to the participating reviews at the top link. Well, That’s a Surprise Here’s something that shouldn’t shock reader of Hunter x Hunter. It’s going on hiatus. Again. What is this? Once a year at least, this title has to stop? Is this something in Togashi’s contract? If he hates writing this series so much, why doesn’t he just cancel it. Or hand it off to an assistant. At least do something to give fans closure. This is like a bad relationship, and someone’s gotta stop the vicious circle. This Actually Is! Dark Horse, which has started to feature titles on Facebook, recently had one entry on Ghost Talker’s Day Dream, which included the news that the series would be returning in September. The title was previously reported cancelled, so this…
Who’s Going Down? ICv2 reports that manga sales will drop to below 1000 volumes for 2010. The drop in sales was seen more in bookstores than in the direct market, and they speculate that shojo fans getting older, distracted by other things (Twilight) and lack of hit shonen anime is hurting sales more than scanlations. Some of these elements make sense. I can see the drop in sales from bookstores being more, since ordering through the direct market through Previews can often net you a 30% discount on many titles. It’s my preferred way to buy. And fans, male or female, have priorities shifts as they get older, especially in the 20’s, where kids become adults and must establish themselves in the real world. I know that’s where I stopped collecting comics and watching anime. Work and starting a family became much more important. I wonder though how much the “Cartoon Network” effect really drove sales. I can see it driving the sales for first volumes, but like the anime that they are based on them, once a series hits a lather, rinse, repeat cycle, no amount of TV promotion will keep a series selling. Personally, I’m not concerned about…
St. Patrick’s Day is a decidedly American holiday that really isn’t celebrated or even mentioned outside of the US. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t any good manga you can enjoy with your green beer and corn beef and cabbage. Now, admittedly, some of these titles are a stretch, but in the spirit of good fun, here are some titles you might find in a pot of manga gold.
I knew I shouldn’t have done it. I saw the con report for the State of the Manga Industy panel from NYAF at Manga Recon, and knew I should skip it. But, being a masochist, I didn’t. So now I have to write another rant about the ignorance of Michael Gambos. Now, I don’t know if it’s just that no one else cares, but the panel was happy to let Gambos speak for them on digital distribution and make his silly little comment about the Kindle.
It’s that time of year again when ghosts and goblins come out to play. Do you want to get into the Halloween spirit, but just don’t know what to get? Well, here’s a list of manga that I’ve either read, or know something about enough to recommend (or warn you away from). I first posted this on my Tokyopop blog, but I’m bringing here with a few updates. Well, I thought it was going to be just a few, but every time I start to think I’m done, I come up with another book! I tried to keep the books in this list to more appropriate to a Halloween theme, than just ghosts, vampires and monsters, etc. It would take forever to list ALL manga with those in it!
Hellsing Volume 8 By Kohta Hirano Publisher: Dark Horse Age Rating: 13+ Genre: Horror/Action Price: $13.95 Rating: London is already bathed in blood, its citizenry almost entirely slaughtered by vampiric, reborn Nazi soldiers. And marching through the rivers of blood–thousands of extreme Catholic warriors in creepy cloaks. But the focus of this chaotic either volume is the return of Alucard, the slave-paladin of the British Protestants, who’s just piloted an aircraft carrier up the Thames to join the fray. It’s a crazy face-off between three gory armies and their primary killers, and if you think that sounds nuts, wait until you dive into the crimson-stained new volume of Kohta Hirano’s creepy-cool Hellsing manga series. Now, I generally don’t read blood-spilling horror manga, but for Hellsing, I make an exception. My husband started getting this series originally, but, having nothing to read one day I picked it up, and was instantly hooked. This volume is a good example why. We are still in the middle of a battle that started back in volume 6 with first the vampiric Nazis and then the invasion of the Catholics to take back Protestant England. It was not a good day to be a Londoner….
It was really hard getting through Previews this month. In the catalog, May is Manga Month, so along with all the regular series, there were new ones coming out that had to be evaluated. Top that with a weakening economy, and you get some really tough decisions to be made with this month’s order. More after the cut.