Masashi Kishimoto’s Naruto, about a school for ninja, ran from 1999 to 2014. What’s appealing about this series to kids? In this episode, Kumar asks a kid — his own 10-year-old son, Ashwin! Kumar’s been reading it himself, so father and son exchange takes on the comic, including what it was about the anime version that didn’t measure up to the manga, and Ashwin’s favorite Naruto character.
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Two manga-influenced titles are up for critique this time. First, in Kyle Fast’s JYNX, a white-furred monkey takes off to find adventure, leaving his guardian in the lurch. Then, organized crime gangs face off in Kitito Minami’s Dark Soul. Tim and Mulele give their opinions and advice.
Check out Mulele’s Kickstarter project!
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Many Westerners feel a bit puzzled by Japanese comics — the subject matter, the art style, the pacing, etc. Koom has been trying for some time to grasp what he’s not “getting” about manga. Meanwhile, manga translator Kumar is about done with “explaining” Japanese comics to people, but he makes an exception for Koom (and the podcast). They discuss I Am a Hero by Kengo Hanazawa, and A Distant Neighborhood by Jiro Taniguchi — both translated by none other than Kumar!
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This week, part two of the Kaigai Manga Festa 2017 roundup, recorded in Tokyo on November 23 at Tokyo Big Sight.
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It’s time for another Kaigai Manga Festa roundup! This year’s international comics festival in Tokyo was held on November 23 at Tokyo Big Sight, alongside the Comitia festival as always. Tim caught up with some familiar faces and met some new ones as well!
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At London Super Comicon last month, Koom got to sit down with Paul Gravett, a comics journalist and exhibition curator. Gravett is currently preparing the touring Asian comics show Mangasia, which will debut in Rome next month. This is a guy who’s read a lot of comics; do they all become a blur after a while? Koom asks him about avoiding burnout, the amount of progress comics have (or haven’t) made toward being accepted by the “art world”, and much more.
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This time Tim and Mulele take on two submitted comics: Dawn of War #1, the latest Warhammer 40,000 comic from Ryan O’Sullivan and Daniel Indro, published by Titan Comics; and Snowcone City: Rocket to Pluto by Joseph Hewitt, from Polar Bear Comix.
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Most people don’t equate the ancient city of Kyoto, Japan, with comics, but that happens to be the location of a museum and reading library of comics from Japan and around the world. Tim visited The Kyoto International Manga Museum recently, and this week he discusses it with Kobe-based comics creator Graeme McNee.
Also, a stopoff in Nagoya to chat with Adam Pasion, head of Big Ugly Robot Press, and co-organizer of the Comic Art Tokyo event.
Continue reading #541 Kyoto Manga Museum
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When webcomics creators aren’t creating webcomics, what are they reading? This week we check in with a couple of creators whose work we’ve looked at previously — Victor Edison and Maya Kern — and get their recommendations: Chris Carlier’s “Little in Japan” and G.G. Digi’s “Cucumber Quest“!
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SP4RX is Wren McDonald‘s first full-length graphic novel, a cyber-punk story that fondly remembers “the future of the past”. This week Wren talks about world building in SP4RX, his process, work-life balance, and more. Support Deconstructing Comics on Patreon to hear more of this interview!
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