Independent Opinions, News, and Reviews of Graphic Novels, Manga, and Comic Books
There aren’t enough mysteries in comics — I’m talking about actual whodunnits, not violent crime sprees or suspense thrillers — so it was a pleasure to stumble across this small gem. “Murder at the Inn” is part two of two, revealing the killer of a traveling paper dealer knocked off at the end of #139, but it’s not essential to have read the previous issue to enjoy this one. You’re given the cast of characters at the beginning of this […]
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Branding four issues of the Veronica comic as a miniseries under a different name might seem like an odd thing to do, but it isn’t the first time Archie’s used an established title as a pilot springboard. Two years ago, Young Salem was tried out in the Sabrina comic. (Unfortunately, the title was cancelled just after that.) It’s a good way to force viewers to pay attention to your new character, since subscribers are automatically going to read the issues. […]
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Given recent topics of discussion, KC and I started talking over some of our “favorite” bad superhero stories when it comes to the treatment of female characters. These are the stories where, months or years later, you find yourself wondering “who thought THAT was a good idea?” or “did the writer just get dumped by his girlfriend?” This is just an approximate ranking, and I welcome discussion/debate in the comments. Especially if we’ve forgotten some real doozies. 12. The blase’ […]
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After some delay, the 1992 Captain America movie is now available as a made-on-demand DVD as part of the MGM Limited Edition Collection. The only extra on the disc is the trailer. It’s under two minutes, and it’s remarkably dark, sometimes so much it’s hard to see what’s going on (a problem the film also demonstrated, at least in my setup). Still, nice to have as an extra, which tend to be rare on MOD projects. The movie is 97 […]
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The JManga portal (link no longer available), a website selling English translated manga online direct from 39 Japanese publishers who form the Digital Comic Association, is now available (after being discussed for the last month). Features include 168 listed series, many of which are new to the U.S. Free previews Author interviews Manga sorted by genre — shojo, josei (both of which include yaoi), shonen, seinen, and kodomo (new to me, that term means “kids”) — and then subdivided under […]
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The latest volume in the Manga Guide series, following The Manga Guide to Relativity earlier this summer, tackles the biggest subject yet. The result is the best Manga Guide so far. The Manga Guide to the Universe by Kenji Ishikawa, Kiyoshi Kawabata, and Yutaka Hiiragi follows the usual pattern — lots of pages of comics with cute girls learning science, backed up by text material that explains the concepts covered in more depth. This volume includes a bit more plot […]
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I’ve been anticipating the next graphic novel from Faith Erin Hicks (The War at Ellsmere, Superhero Girl) since she announced Friends With Boys two years ago. Now, I can start reading it! Friends With Boys will be published by First Second in February 2012, but until then, it’s being serialized online. The Friends With Boys website has launched with the first 32 pages of the book, and it will be updated with a new page every weekday. The comic updates […]
Read moreThe newest Manga Moveable Feast is dedicated to my favorite manga author, Fumi Yoshinaga. I’ve already reviewed most of her books, including explicit yaoi, tamer boys’ love, school soap opera, restaurant reviews, and the not easily categorizable Antique Bakery. That diversity is one of the things I love most about her work. That, and her beautiful line and distinctively expressive characters. If you’re looking for a good starting point, I highly recommend the single-volume book of short stories All My […]
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