Manga Jouhou - News Updates

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• Where do comics (and manga) stand in the U.S.?
• TOKYOPOP announces new online manga program
• Review of the Day: Meeting You

Where do comics (and manga) stand in the U.S.? Posted: 15 Aug 2009 07:28 PM PDT Although not manga, the release of the graphic novel adaptation of Ray Bradbury's novel Fahrenheit 451 has sparked some heated commentary in several major U.S. publications about the general acceptance of comics as a whole in the country. Chicago Tribune cultural critic Julia Keller recently wrote about the backlash she received from readers over her reviewing several graphic novels. “I heard from several other readers as well, wondering why I had allowed myself to be seduced by the easy enchantments of comic books,” she writes. “Frankly, they expected better of me--given my doctoral degree in English literature and my well-known and oft-alluded-to affinity for dense, difficult, high-minded novels by the likes of Virginia Woolf and Joseph Conrad.” Rather than apologize, she follows with a flowering review of the Fahrenheit 451 graphic novel. Meanwhile, Sarah Boxer at Slate Magazine is somewhat less generous in a lengthy article released today (Sunday) discussing the conversion of Fahrenheit 451, in which comics are described as the lowest form of literature, to graphic novel form. “Fast forward 56 years to a condensed, comic-book version of the very novel in which comic books and condensations are presented as pap,” she writes. “Surely this is black humor, a resigned joke about the imminent eclipse of books on paper by images, both digital and analog. Except that it isn't. The graphic novel of Fahrenheit 451, with pictures by Tim Hamilton and a condensed text authorized by Bradbury himself, seems quite earnest.”

TOKYOPOP announces new online manga program Posted: 16 Aug 2009 05:11 AM PDT TOKYOPOP announced Friday it would be releasing a number of its original series exclusively on TOKYOPOP.com to help struggling titles and hinted that it might introduce a print-on-demand model in the near future. TOKYOPOP debuted Psy*Comm, Volume 3, online Wednesday, Aug. 12, with a new chapter to be serialized weekly for free until the series concludes its story arc. The online manga program will include continuing volumes of Boys of Summer, Earthlight, Kat & Mouse, Pantheon High, Undertown, Gyakushu and others. "The Kindle, iPhone, Web comics and the like have dramatically changed the marketplace for online comics," TOKYOPOP Associate Publisher Marco Pavia said. "With the launch of this online initiative, our goal is to increase visibility and demand for such critically acclaimed series as Psy*Comm, Boys of Summer and others that have, up until now, struggled to find their audience in a challenging retail environment. We are also exploring an on-demand model to satisfy print-edition demand for the online manga series. We'll have more news in the not-too-distant future, so stay tuned." "We're very grateful for the patience of our manga-ka friends," TOKYOPOP Senior Editor Lillian Diaz-Przybyl added. "Last year we discussed running a number of these original manga series online, so that they would be exposed to the widest possible audience. Now, with TOKYOPOP.com's nearly one million unique visitors per month and the ability for anyone to embed the TOKYOPOP reader anywhere, we are definitely excited about the vast audience to which these and other series will be exposed." Following the traditional “new comics days,” the subsequent chapters of Psy*Comm will be released each Wednesday. Boys of Summer will debut Wednesday, Sept. 23, followed by Earthlight and Kat & Mouse. The full schedule is available on www.TOKYOPOP.com/MangaOnline.

Review of the Day: Meeting You Posted: 16 Aug 2009 04:45 AM PDT Review of the Day Check Out This Book! Meeting You Mangaka: Mio Tennohji Genre: Yaoi Licensed by: 801 Media Reviewed by: Snow Wildsmith In Meeting You, Mio Tennohji, manga-ka of Sky Over My Spectacles, offers up a collection of school-love and businessman-love stories in her latest collection to be released in the United States. The first two stories, both titled Meeting You, are about Himeshiro, a jerk-of-a-high school playboy who finds his take on romance changing when the shy Touru confesses to him. The salary men stories, How to Find a Gentle Kiss and Mornings at the Bus Stop, feature men who work for the same office—Keigo Senken, who runs into an old friend after years apart and finds that their feelings for each other haven’t changed, and Shunpei Machida, whose daily meetings at the bus stop leads to deeper feelings for his fellow commuter. Go read the full review!

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