There are certain things readers tend to automatically anticipate when they open a graphic novel: characters, plot, interactions, emotional paths, a sense that the story inside can somehow maps onto their own reality. One of the things great art does, though, is upend its viewers’ preconceptions about what it can and should do, and very [...]
Remember the time, a few years ago, when it looked like manga was going to totally take over American comics? Probably not happening anytime soon: Tokyopop announced on Friday that it’s shutting down its American publishing operations at the end of May. (A German office handling global rights will remain open.)
An entire generation of American girls got their aesthetics permanently shaped by the Sailor Moon animated series. The anime, though, was based on a series of manga by Naoko Takeuchi–the apotheosis of the “magical girl” genre. And, while the English translations of Takeuchi’s Sailor Moon manga volumes were immensely popular in the U.S. between 1997 [...]
It’s New Year’s Eve–the time for setting intentions and goals for the year ahead–and as a devoted comics reader, a few of my New Year’s resolutions this year have to do with the way I deal with my favorite medium. Here are some of the ones I’d like to follow through with in 2011.
One of the highlights of Comic-Con, as far as we’re concerned, was the Sunday-morning “Techland Presents: Comics and Digital Piracy” panel, featuring comiXology’s CEO David Steinberger, manga expert Deb Aoki, and manga editor Jake T. Forbes, with Techland’s Douglas Wolk moderating. Aoki has posted a transcript of the entire panel over at About Manga. A [...]
DC Comics has announced the closure of its CMX Manga imprint, with three months’ worth of previously scheduled to go unreleased.
