Last December, we discussed a law that had just been passed in Tokyo to limit access by minors to manga and anime showing certain sexual acts. Now the law has gone into effect: what’s changed? What’s covered and what isn’t? What effect does the law have on what’s published, or what’s sold in other parts of Japan? This week Mulele and Tim talk to perhaps the most authoritative English-speaking voice on this topic, Dan Kanemitsu a manga translator who has helped to bring international attention to Tokyo’s Bill 156. A very educational discussion about Japan, child porn, and manga publishing ensues.
U.S. Embassy in Japan on child pornography and manga/anime: Spring 2008
Pornography, Rape, and Sex Crimes in Japan by Milton Diamond and Ayako Uchiyama
Japan Refuses to Pass Legislation Banning Child Pornography Possession (mediaite.com – 5/14/10)
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The recent Sydney Graphic Festival, held August 20 & 21, featured a variety of artists from comics and other media in panels and the like. Kumar attended, and discusses what he saw there (and the one huge, disappointing 
Part of being a creator is promoting your work. But among all the other creators promoting their own work, how can you make yours stand out? (Aside, of course, from making your work really good!)
Jeff Parker‘s profile as a writer at Marvel is gradually increasing, due to his work on Agents of Atlas, Hulk, and Thunderbolts. This week we get his take on some of the characters he’s writing and story choices he’s made, as well as his approach to writer’s block, mistakes new writers make, and more. Why do his stories tend to move so quickly? How does a mainstream writer deal with “events” like Fear Itself derailing his story plans? Find out in this episode!
Are you in a comics cooperative? Would you like to be? What are the various things a group might offer its members?
Doug TenNapel’s name is known in a wide variety of media in the U.S., from video games to animation to, of course, comics. His Neverhood game is worshiped by, among many others, our own Kumar. His graphic novels have won acclaim but also some controversy, in part because of the statements on spirituality that are made in some of them, such as Black Cherry, the most spiritual book that you’ll never see in a Christian bookstore. (Could it be the nudity and F-bombs?)
Eddie Campbell is best known to many as the artist on Alan Moore’s From Hell, but throughout his career he has been putting out book after book of his autobiographical Alec comics. In 2009, much of his Alec work was compiled into the massive Alec: The Years Have Pants omnibus. Kumar catches up with fellow Australia resident Campbell for a chat about Alec, The Birth Caul/Snakes and Ladders, From Hell, and more.
In episode 273, we sang the praises of “Expectations Fail”, the story in the first issue of the mini-comic series Myriad. Writer 
While the American comics publishers, and publishers in general, are making more and more content available digitally, the situation is quite different here in Japan. The traditional manga publishers — Shueisha, Kodansha, and Shogakukan — have been very slow to embrace the digital market.