More Manga Drops

The discussion in the Manga I’ve Given Up On post, combined with David Welsh’s comments, reminded me of several more titles. These didn’t come to mind originally because I’ve been disposing of the volumes, so they required a bit more memory-prodding. Baby & Me — Cute characters, but too many of them too quickly (with all the siblings of the family down the street), and not enough depth. Stopped with book 3. Cheeky Angel — Not enough forward movement, and […]

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Manga I’ve Given Up On

John Jakala writes up manga series that have stopped appealing to him. Like him, I also gave up on Yakitate!! Japan after book four, although he’s completely wrong about Hikaru no Go. And I’m sorry to hear about Death Note — I have most of the volumes but haven’t started them yet. It’s a good question. Reading superhero comics out of habit at $3 a month is bad enough; buying manga series beyond the point you’re enjoying them at $10 […]

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Finder: Mystery Date

The previous volume in this series, Dream Sequence, explored artistic creation; Mystery Date explores another art form, that of sexcraft. Vary, a former temple prostitute, is off in the big city studying paleozoology while working at a brothel. Her art form is very well-regarded and only suited for the best of the best, as in the historical days of the courtesan. Her school is an oasis to an overworked, overstimulated populace where the students are encouraged to learn how to […]

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Red Eye, Black Eye

I read comics so I can experience lives I could otherwise only imagine. Often in comics those stories are fantastic; K. Thor Jensen’s Red Eye, Black Eye, in contrast, is much smaller in scale, almost frighteningly so. Don’t think events steeped in daily life are boring, though. Jensen’s life as captured here is far away from the kind most people live. Several years ago, he lost his job, his girlfriend, his grandmother, his city, and his apartment, so he bought […]

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Beach Party Movies

Over the weekend, I decided to rewatch all the Beach Party movies, the American International teen film series that started in 1963 starring Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello. Here’s the list, with IMDB links. Beach Party Muscle Beach Party Bikini Beach Pajama Party Ski Party Beach Blanket Bingo How to Stuff a Wild Bikini If you’ve never seen them, go read about them and check out the cast lists. There’s something weirdly eye-catching about all of them. For instance, as […]

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Finder: Dream Sequence

Dream Sequence takes the next step beyond previous volume Talisman in dealing with alternative realities. Users with direct-interface brain jacks visit Elsewhere, the world inside Magri White’s head, to process their subconscious into dream-like visions in lieu of sleeping. It’s a virtual reality with all senses engaged, and because it’s the vision of a single creator, it’s a better experience than the corporate, computer-designed alternatives. Magri’s life is his art, and he’s building worlds literally shared by his audience (even […]

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How to Work a Booth

I’ve been doing some spring cleaning (shut UP! I know it’s June!), and while sorting through old papers, I found my copy of the Friends of Lulu booth guidelines from 1996. Since convention season is heating up, maybe some small publishers might find these tips helpful. (I’ve heavily excerpted the document to make it more general.) Opening the Booth A coordinator should have been designated in advance to take charge of booth setup. Make sure that all boxes and supplies […]

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Thoughts on Recent Headlines

Congratulations to Tim. Diamond has reversed its previous decision and will be offering Comic Foundry magazine. I’m not sure “ok, we’ll drop the price 27 cents” is really, as the headline says, meeting halfway, but the real test will be how many orders it gets. (Readers, will you be ordering the first issue? Does your store order shelf copies for customers to browse projects like this?) And I do wish Tim wouldn’t say things like “We were considering taking the […]

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