I’m trying to get back into the swing of things with regular manga linkblogging, there’s a new post up at WFA.

Zot!: The Complete Black and White Collection: 1987-1991 by Scott McCloud (amazon)

I just finished reading Zot!: The Complete Black and White Collection and was reminded again why Zot! has always been one of my favorite comic books. It is funny that now Scott McCloud is more well-known for being a comics pundit than for creating one of the best indie comics of the late 80s. I don’t usually buy collected editions of things I already own in single issue form, but I thought that a collected edition of Zot! would make for nice satisfying reading. If you haven’t encountered it before, Zot is a superhero on a retrofuturistic version of Earth. His “not-girlfriend” Jenny is a normal kid who is struggling with dealing with all the issues of real life like her parents getting divorced and the torture of high school. The first few issues of the collection feature plenty of superhero fun with Zot fighting villains like the De-Evolutionaries, a cult-like group armed with guns that transform people into apes, and Dr. Bellows, whose weapons are based on technology from the industrial revolution. McCloud shifts into more serious territory when Zot and Jenny are trapped on our Earth, but there is a core of sunny optimism that always remains when one of the main characters is from the far-flung future of 1965. If you haven’t read it before, I recommend picking it up! I’m glad that part of the series is back in print.

John DiBello is Bully’s friend. He wrote a piece about some of his experiences at San Diego Comic-Con:

Overheard at San Diego Comic-Con while I was having lunch on the balcony of the Convention Center on Sunday July 27: a bunch of guys looking at the digital photos on the camera of another, while he
narrated: “These were the Ghostbusters girls. That one, I grabbed her ass, ’cause I wanted to see what her reaction was.” This was only one example of several instance of harassment, stalking or assault that I saw at San Diego this time.

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You can make a manga avatar at FaceYourManga.com

Here’s mine:

High School Debut #4 by Kazune Kawahara (amazon)

This continues to be one of my favorite new series. The plot isn’t particularly unique, but the characters are so engaging that I didn’t mind the continuation of Yoh and Haruna’s awkward romance despite having encountered similar storylines before. Haruna vows to make Yoh’s Christmas the best ever, and she throws herself into planning with her over the top enthusiasm. She plans out a detailed schedule, learns how to bake, changes her look, and gets a job in order to save up money for Yoh’s present. When Yoh and Haruna grow closer, she totally freaks out and starts acting intensely awkward. Will some coaching from Yoh’s sister save the day?
Part of the reason why I like this series are all the little details of character interaction. Haruna consults Yoh’s friends for help with her Christmas plans. Yoh’s sister Mami takes Haruna to a store and beauty salon for a makeover and somehow manages to secure free gifts and coupons for herself in the process. Haruna depends on her athleticism to pull through difficult situations. Yoh still acts as his usual inscrutable self, with a couple outbursts that demonstrate how he feels for Haruna. It is nice to read a manga that has an angst free ending too.

Skip Beat #13 by Yoshiki Nakamura (amazon)

Finally the end is in sight for the Dark Moon Saga. After Kyoto worked with Ren by improvising with him to help his acting, he improvises with his co-star Itsumi to prove that his interpretation of the character Kastuki is better than the original. Kyoto sees Ren’s heavenly smile:

It is the same way he looks at her sometimes. She begins to wonder if he doesn’t hate her after all. The developing relationship between Kyoko and Ren keeps inching slowly forward. While normally I’d be annoyed at such a drawn-out plot I find Skip Beat entertaining because Kyoko is a nice antidote to the typical shoujo heroine. Kyoko’s progression from being solely focused on revenge to gradually caring for Ren and wanting to become a good actress in her own right is interesting. She has more complex motivation than the more typical manga girl who just seeks a boyfriend. While the Dark Moon arc was long, I was impressed at how fraught with tension Ren’s acting exercise was even when it was spread out over half of this volume. Really, this series is worth picking up if only for the many scenes of Kyoto giving Ren advice while she wears a chicken costume.

It is finally here! The showdown between Amethyst and Dark Opal! Sorry for getting a little off track with my posting schedule, things have been somewhat hectic around here.

The cover of Amethyst #12 shows a victorious Amethyst hefting a sword while Prince Topaz and Lord Garnet grin in the background.

She’s surrounded by gold picture frames containing supporting characters like her dear departed Granch, the Emerald Princesses, a surly Prince Carnelian, Citrina, Sardonyx, Dark Opal, and a worried looking Mr. and Mrs Winston.

Sardonyx is falling through nothingness in the strange dimension inhabited by the Emissaries of Varn. He grabs a passing shooting star and shoves it in the face of one of the Emissaries.

That’s pretty bad-ass. I would think it would both hurt a bunch and be physically impossible to hold a star in your hand, but I guess the normal laws of physics don’t apply if you are in Varn.

I’m not quite sure what to make of the revelation that Sardonyx was hiding a set of goat-like horns under his headdress.

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Kiichi and the Magic Books Volume 1 by Taka Amano (amazon)

I have often thought that librarians needed some sort of catchphrase they could declaim as they went into battle. Reciting lines from the ALA code of ethics like “We provide the highest level of service to all library users through appropriate and usefully organized resources; equitable service policies; equitable access; and accurate, unbiased, and courteous responses to all requests.” just doesn’t do it for me. I want something that rhymes and alludes to librarian superpowers. If only librarians were as cool as the Green Lantern, who is able to say “In brightest day, in blackest night, no evil shall escape my sight! Let those who worship evil’s might, beware my power.. Green Lantern’s light!”

Kiichi and the Magic Books features a librarian named Mototaro who is often called upon to utter “As birds flying out of formation are books lacking information. Empty pages must need be filled so return to thy home as I have willed.” As catchphrases go it isn’t that great but I’ll take what I can get. Mototaro also wears a purple hat, and is easily identified as a “library man” due to his coat, so he also continues the librarian tradition of questionable fashion choices.

In Mototaro’s world, books are placed in tightly controlled depositories so librarians wander from town to town with a selection of titles that villagers can use as a portable lending library. Kiichi is a young boy, an illiterate outcast in his village because he has a horn on his head which indicates that he has oni (demon) heritage. Kiichi is left alone after the death of his mother and he observes Mototaro in the forest holding a book containing tiny demons that leap from the pages. Kiichi decides that Mototaro is the key for him to find out about his demonic heritage so he decides to follow Mototaro and his girl companion Hana on their journey. Books can be dangerous in the hands of untrained users, because the characters in the books come to life. An elephant rampages through Kiichi’s town, but Mototaro is able to put it back in the book thanks to his nifty rhymes.

The first volume is mostly set-up as everyone gets to know each other. They start on a trip to a book depository where an Oni scholar may be able to help Kiichi. Hana isn’t quite what she seems, and she’s resentful of Mototaro adding another companion to the group. Kiichi is determined to find other Onis, and he starts to work on learning how to read. The art for this title is simple but effectice, featuring plenty of Mototaro’s deadpan expressions and dynamic fight scenes with literary characters that have escaped from their books.Kiichi and the Magic Books isn’t a standout title, but like many of the series published by CMX it has a certain lo-fi charm. I’ll be picking up further volumes but I tend to seek out manga about books and/or librarians.

Other reviews:

Manga Maniac Cafe
Slightly Biased Manga
it can’t all be about manga… (includes some scans of the art)

Manga Xanadu has created a list of all ages manga. This might come in handy for librarians working with younger library patrons. The ratings are taken from the publishers, so it is a rough guide.

One Pound Gospel by Rumiko Takahashi (amazon)

I like Takahashi’s work, but I don’t have the stamina or financial commitment to read all of her longer series like Ranma 1/2 and Inuyasha. I was intrigued by the idea of a book about a struggling boxer and a nun, so I pre-ordered the reissued edition of One Pound Gospel.

Kosaku is in many ways the typical hapless Takahashi hero. He’s a professional boxer whose gluttony is always spoiling his chances to make weight before a fight. He makes a habit of confessing a list of sins (hamburger, noodles, pork and rice) to a novice nun named Angela. While Kosaku is too oblivious to realize that his weight fluctuations effect everyone at his boxing gym who are counting on him to make it as a pro, Angela feels some compassion for Kosaku’s coach who is often bursting into tears of frustration over his wayward boxer. After a stolen kiss, she slaps Kosaku and calls him a coward. He vows to win a fight for her but his road to victory isn’t easy.

Kosaku struggles with his fights and his weight. It is hard not to root for him because he’s so good natured despite being rather clueless. A romantic relationship between a boxer and a nun doesn’t seem like it will turn out well, but you never know. While my manga had a sticker on the cover saying “From the creator of Inuyasha”, I think that fans of Takahashi’s slice of life romantic comedy Maison Ikkoku are more likely to enjoy One Pound Gospel.

Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer (amazon)

I enjoyed the first couple books of the Twilight saga. By the third book I had grown tired of the constant “Bella in peril and is rescued” plot line that Meyer uses over and over. I was hoping that the fourth book would be better, but it wasn’t.

Spoiler Space!

I’m finding the comparisons of the Twilight saga to Harry Potter a little annoying. I can see why someone would compare the two just in terms of both being a publishing phenomena that cause people to line up at midnight to buy books, but Rowling is by far the superior writer. At least in the Harry Potter books good people die because they are fighting evil! Characters are sacrificed. Death is sometimes arbitrary, and life isn’t fair. There’s actually dramatic tension, and the characters grow and change. In contrast, Meyer is so in love with her own creations that nothing negative ever happens to them.

• Edward and Bella get married and have a magical psychic baby half-vampire baby (the sperm of the undead must be something) who is apparently so perfect that she doesn’t ever have a dirty diaper (hard to see how that would happen on a diet of blood) or a late night crying fit.
• The Edward-Bella-Jacob love triangle is wrapped up nicely when Jacob falls in love (imprints) on Bella’s infant daughter. There’s no emotional fallout to deal with. All of the tension that was built up over the three previous books goes away due to the magical baby.
• There’s the possibility of some tension due to Rosalie’s obsessiveness over the magical fetus in utero, but Meyer keeps going to the edge of something horrible happening and never delivering.
• There’s no real fall-out when Jacob becomes an alpha wolf, with his own mini-pack.
• Bella has the easiest transition to vampirehood in the history of transitions to vampirehood.
• There’s a vampire standoff at the end where nothing happens other than Bella getting more vampire superpowers, and the fighting is averted due to the power of democracy.

The lack of dramatic tension and character growth is a book that is extremely bland and a vampire saga that is the equivalent of generic vanilla pudding.