Chris Evans plays Captain America in Marvel's Avengers

April 5, 2012 Johanna Comic Book Films One comment

Marvel Announces Captain America Sequel for 2014

Disney has announced that Captain America: The First Avenger will have a sequel opening on April 4, 2014. (A little early for the traditional “Marvel movie opens on the first weekend in May” pattern we’ve followed so far.) They describe plans for the film as a quasi-Avengers sequel, stating The second installment will pick-up where the highly anticipated Marvel’s The Avengers (May 4, 2012) leaves off, as Steve Rogers continues his affiliation with Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D and struggles to […]

April 5, 2012 Johanna Image Comics 5 comments

Between Gears

Natalie Nourigat captured her senior year at the University of Oregon in daily diary comics on the web, and now they’ve been collected in this thick volume. Opening Between Gears served as an immediate time capsule for me. It’s been longer than I like to think since I went away to school, but even though I didn’t (for example) watch Twilight my first night back, I could identify with so many of the events — moving back into dorms, catching […]

April 2, 2012 Johanna Other Publishers Leave a comment

Unterzakhn

Thought-provoking and disturbing, Unterzakhn shows us the lives and options available to young Jewish girls in an early 1900s New York slum. Although the twins look identical, Fanya is considered the smart one, and so she begins helping a “lady doctor”. This bitter woman helps others deal with unwanted pregnancies during an era when birth control was illegal and a homemade abortion risked killing you. The doctor also teaches Fanya to read, a skill she’s not otherwise thought to need. […]

April 2, 2012 Johanna Yen Press Manga Reviews One comment

Bunny Drop Volume 5

If you thought the previous book glossed over too much of Rin’s growing up, you’re going to hate this installment. It opens with a note that we’re now ten years later, so Rin’s a teenager, and Daikichi has changed from caregiver to parent worrying whether she’s ready to start dating. I admit, I miss the stories of a kid during cute toddler things and her clueless dad/nephew. (Rin is technically Daikichi’s uncle, although he’s over 20 years older than she […]

April 2, 2012 Johanna Books About Comics 6 comments

Mastering Manga With Mark Crilley

When I think of Mark Crilley, I fondly remember Akiko, the charming small-press comic that began in 1995. That was a long time ago now — the comic ran 50 issues, before spinning off another ten children’s prose books, and if it was a person, it would now be getting ready to graduate high school — and Crilley has done other books since then, Miki Falls and Brody’s Ghost. His newest publication gives readers the benefit of his experience, providing […]

April 2, 2012 Johanna Toon Books 2 comments

The Shark King

R. Kikuo Johnson (Night Fisher) returns to comics with this Hawaiian folktale for kids from Toon Books. Although the art takes full advantage of the island setting, the story is one familiar to any fan of legends. The Shark King, who can take human form, encounters a beautiful woman. They fall in love, marry, and have a child. The father leaves to return to the sea, but the child has his unusual abilities. So long as they live apart, the […]

April 1, 2012 Johanna Vertical Manga Reviews Leave a comment

The Drops of God Volume 3

There’s something to be said for consistency. In structure, style, and presentation, The Drops of God Book 3 is much the same as the first two books, so if you enjoyed those, you should find the same appeal here. However, story-wise… On the plus side, we get the first “Apostle” revealed, one of the 13 wines Shizuku must identify based on clues from his father’s will. On the negative side, in a storyline set up at the very end of […]

March 27, 2012 Johanna Other Manga Publishers Leave a comment

The Summit of the Gods Volume 3

After reading Volume 2 recently for the Jiro Taniguchi Manga Moveable Feast, I’m thrilled that I had a chance to dive right into the third volume. It’s because we hosted the MMF that the publisher provided an advance digital review copy; the book is due out in May. It’s by Jiro Taniguchi based on a story by Baku Yumemakura. For those who haven’t so recently read the gripping mountaineering mystery — involving determined climbers, a photographer in Nepal trying to […]

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