English-speaking manga fans are probably familiar with the name Deb Aoki. She covers Japanese comics for about.com, and is deeply into manga and anything remotely related to it. Deb made a manga geek pilgrimage to Japan recently, and Tim had a chance to sit down and talk with her about Japan, the changing manga culture in the US, and much more.
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Waaaay back in July 2010, Tim talked to David Steinberger of ComiXology about the emergence of digital comics. Since then, simultaneous release of digital with paper has become the norm. And, guess what – flying in the face of earlier fears of some in the industry, digital comics have actually helped, not hurt, the sales of paper comics. Tim talks to ComiXology co-founder John Roberts to find out why this is, and more.
Then we get the scoop on Mulele’s latest Web comic, a new version of Mindgator.
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We start the year off right with a critique of Irish creator Mark Egan’s comics statement about call centers, Back Office!
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FLASHBACK! On December 31, 2006, Tim visited the Tokyo Comic Market event, and gives his impressions. Also: A Mulele update, Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo, and Brandon’s review of the movie Eragon! (Originally published January 8, 2007)
Photos below the jump (complete with admittedly goofy captions written in 2007)…
Continue reading #057 Tokyo Comics Market
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Up until the late ’60s, Japanese girls’ comics were mainly done by men, and could often be formulaic and sappy. But then several female creators broke into the field and revolutionized the genre. One of them was Moto Hagio, whose stories (even when they had science fiction aspects to them) dwelt on not fitting in, losing what you love, and other themes that could be depressing, but were usually expressed in innovative and compelling ways. Little of her work is available in English, but Fantagraphics released an overview of her work, A Drunken Dream and Other Stories, two years ago. Tim and Kumar review.
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In the early ’90s, girls’ comics in Japan took a superheroesque turn with the appearance of Sailor Moon. It was shortly followed by CLAMP’S Magic Knight Rayearth, featuring three 14-year-old girls in a world that reminded them of RPGs.
A few years later, Tokyo Pop and other US publishers took the risk of releasing girls’ comics stateside, with unexpected success. Yes, American girls WILL read comics!
Manga critic Shaenon Garrity joins Tim to talk about the ’90s evolution of shojo manga and its debut in the States, and the place of Magic Knight Rayearth part 1 in that mix.
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As regular listeners well know by now, our own Mulele’s graphic novel “Elbis” came out earlier this year (buy it here, or read online here). We’ve discussed the book’s genesis on several occasions, but not a detailed look of the book’s content. So this episode, Tim and Paul roll up their sleeves and give it a good ol’ fashioned (unbiased?!) critique!
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A retrospective exhibit of the art of Katsuhiro Ootomo was recently held in Tokyo. Ootomo‘s work Akira is what inspired Mulele to come to Japan and learn to draw manga, so the exhibit was a chance to soak up inspiration and reflect on his current state of affairs. Patrik W, also an Ootomo fan from way back, attended and enjoyed. For Tim, not an Ootomo reader, it was a chance to see what he’s been missing. Discussion ensues.
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Brian John Mitchell talks about his Kickstarter project to fund the making of his matchbook-sized comics. Two of these books involved a collaboration with Dave Sim!
“Rook Bartly” (US Air Force active duty member Jason) tells us about “Okashi na Futari”, the Japanese novel series whose author has hired him to draw a manga version of the story.
Then, Kumar returns to tell us about a couple of his recent manga translation projects, “Stupid Guy Goes to India” (which landed him an interview in the March 25 Mumbai Sunday Mid-Day, pg 38-39) and Osamu Tezuka’s “Adolf”.
All this, plus the announcement of the winning “what do you like about Deconstructing Comics” entry!
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A few weeks back on Critiquing Comics, we discussed the work of science-fiction creator Ryan Cecil Smith; we liked it so much, we decided to have him on the show! Kumar talks with him this week about his influences, producing and promoting his books, and more.
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