January 16, 2009 Johanna Comic News One comment

Diamond Raises Order Minimums

Diamond Comic Distributors, the near-monopoly gateway to direct market comic shops, has raised its minimum order level to $2500 value retail. Update: My understanding was wrong. As Dan Vado points out in the comments below, it’s not retail based on cover price, but based on what Diamond pays the publisher. I’ve corrected my numbers below with strikeouts. That means, if you’re a self-publisher, first, you have to get approved to get listed in the monthly order catalog. Then, once you’re […]

January 13, 2009 Johanna Viz Manga Reviews One comment

Honey and Clover Volume 4

I enjoy this series by Chica Umino more when I keep two things in mind: 1. Read the chapters/stories one at a time, with pauses in-between. That allows for the differing moods of the various entries to seem less like abrupt changes and more like the author wants to explore different aspects of nostalgia for young adulthood. 2. You get out of this series what you put into it. Those who are predisposed to enjoy it will find more in […]

January 11, 2009 Johanna Viz Manga Reviews 3 comments

Naoki Urasawa’s Monster Volume 18

This final volume of the series continues the same high quality established by the first book. Some have expressed concern over the ending, but I don’t see why. The character art of Dr. Tenma over this series reminded me of Angel‘s Wesley — a quiet, bookish man with a terrific life path laid out for himself who finds himself, only because he seeks to do what’s right, transformed into a kind of taciturn vigilante. The friends he makes along the […]

January 9, 2009 Johanna Vertical Manga Reviews One comment

Black Jack Volume 2

I’m astounded that this second book contains even more far-out stories than Volume 1. I didn’t think there could be such a thing. The first, “Needle”, shows one of the rare occurrences when the rogue doctor Black Jack is defeated. We get a hint that this might happen on the first page, where a wise older doctor (with a huge fluffy beard) cautions the rogue to humility: Don’t underestimate the human body, or else. … When you’re trying to treat […]

January 8, 2009 Johanna DCU Original Animation One comment

Wonder Woman: Virginia Madsen on Comics, Gender, Parenting

The latest in the series of studio-produced interviews promoting the direct-to-video Wonder Woman animated movie has been released: it’s a conversation with Virginia Madsen, who voices Queen Hippolyta. Since it’s promotional, there’s not a lot of striking content, although it’s cute to see Madsen talk about her teenage son and his take on things. I did find these two exchanges, near the end, interesting: Question: Were/are you a comic-book reader? Madsen: I was not a comic book reader, but my […]

January 6, 2009 Johanna Comic News Leave a comment

Last Spirit Archives Postponed

The Spirit Archives Volume 26, the last in the DC Comics reprint series, was due out last week. It didn’t arrive. Today DC released this announcement: Please note that all orders for THE SPIRIT ARCHIVES VOL. 26 HC (AUG08 0190) are cancelled. This item will be resolicited at a later date. According to Amazon, that new due date is June 23. Which will, interestingly enough, put it out AFTER Dark Horse’s tie-in “volume 27”, which is due out May 20. […]

January 6, 2009 Johanna Vertical Manga Reviews 5 comments

Black Jack Volume 1

I like this Osamu Tezuka manga for its entertaining medical craziness. Behind stories of insane, unbelievable surgeries lies a strong sense of morality and justice. (Big thanks to David Welsh, whose contest got these books to me for free.) Black Jack is a rogue surgeon, an unlicensed doctor who refuses to kowtow to the medical establishment. He requests immense fees to accomplish the impossible, such as treating sores that form faces and talk or transplanting a brain to a new […]

January 4, 2009 Johanna Bloomsbury USA 3 comments

Freddie & Me

A Coming-of-Age (Bohemian) Rhapsody This autobiography is about how Mike Dawson loved the music of Freddie Mercury and moved from the United Kingdom to the United States as a child. As such, I expected Freddie & Me to address in some fashion these topics: Why Queen’s music was so appealing to him How the near-death revelation of Mercury’s homosexuality and his having AIDS affected him The culture clash between England and the U.S. I think those are basic questions most […]

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