January 3, 2015 Johanna Vertical Manga Reviews 2 comments

Prophecy Volume 1

Sometimes reviews work! I hadn’t taken notice of Prophecy until I saw Ash Brown’s review, which made it clear I would find the topic fascinating. The figure on the cover of Prophecy is “Paperboy”, a vigilante who covers his head in newspaper when he goes online to promise revenge through underground video postings from internet cafes. All his victims were previously brought to public attention online, whether a company that caused a number of food poisoning cases or a guy […]

January 2, 2015 Johanna Books About Comics One comment

Words for Pictures: The Art and Business of Writing Comics and Graphic Novels

Words for Pictures: The Art and Business of Writing Comics and Graphic Novels is a bit of a specialized book, focused on writing comics for businesses run by other people (instead of self-publishing or drawing your own work), but it’s full of great advice for those who want to go into that aspect of the industry. More importantly, the enthusiasm Brian Michael Bendis conveys for the job is infectious. Similarly, Joe Quesada’s foreword hits the “don’t give up, push through […]

January 2, 2015 Johanna NBM / Papercutz 2 comments

A Treasury of Victorian Murder Compendium II

If you haven’t had the pleasure of trying Rick Geary’s Treasury of Victorian Murder series, this new omnibus volume is a wonderful starting point. For those of us, like me, who have long recommended these explorations of sometimes-unsolved mysteries of long ago, the handsome hardcover is a delightful way to be reminded of author Rick Geary’s skill. This substantial volume contains five books’ worth of material: The Borden Tragedy, The Mystery of Mary Rogers, The Saga of the Bloody Benders, […]

January 1, 2015 Johanna Yen Press Manga Reviews Leave a comment

Barakamon Volume 1

I had the wrong impression of Barakamon. I’d heard it compared once too often to Yotsuba&!, which I adore, but I suspect that’s just because there’s a smart-alec kid co-starring. The tone is very different. In my opinion, a better comparison to Barakamon would be Green Acres: high-powered city guy moves to the country and learns the virtue of relationships with a variety of rural character types. Handa is a talented calligrapher who’s been overcome by the stress of competitions […]

January 1, 2015 Johanna Dark Horse Manga Reviews One comment

Drug & Drop Volume 1

Following up on their re-release of Legal Drug, Dark Horse next week puts out the CLAMP sequel Drug & Drop. It’s just like the first series (although promised to continue, unlike the aborted first run), with the addition of “many crossover references to the CLAMP universe.” That’s what drove me away from their work previously — I got enough of that when I read superhero comics — but I admit, it’s fun to see Watanuki from xxxHOLiC requesting the boys […]

January 1, 2015 Johanna Vertical Manga Reviews Leave a comment

The Garden of Words

story by Makoto Shinkai; art by Midori Motohashi A boy in his first year of high school takes shelter on days when it rains in a park gazebo. He sketches shoes and dreams of being a designer of ladies’ footwear. His family is moving apart without him, with his mother spending her time with a younger boyfriend and his big brother moving in with his girlfriend. On those mornings when he goes to the park, he has company — an […]

December 31, 2014 Johanna Viz Manga Reviews One comment

Happy Marriage?! Volume 9

Chiwa has been attacked recently by someone unknown. It could be someone from her husband’s family company who wants to get rid of him and take control. It could be his ex-girlfriend, president of a rival company. Either way, it provides some important drama to give this series by Maki Enjoji, which has been spinning wheels for a while, a jump start. It also shows how Chiwa is different from his previous entanglements — Hokuto cares about what happens to […]

December 31, 2014 Johanna Viz Manga Reviews 2 comments

My Love Story!! Volume 3

I continue to adore this cute and happy series by Kazune Kawahara and Aruko. Even when events become exaggerated — as here, where the young couple go picnicking and end up trapped in the wilderness after falling off a cliff — the love between gorilla-ish Takeo and fairy-ish Yamato is inspiring and heart-warming. Their innocence is adorable. Yamato’s friends assume that the two have lied to their parents so they can spend the night together, but the sincere young couple […]

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