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 […]

A very important manga — historically, Sailor Moon broke open the U.S. market for manga in bookstores and among girls — is returning to print from Kodansha USA. Here’s an excerpt from their press release: Brand new deluxe editions of the acclaimed series will be released by Kodansha USA’s Kodansha Comics imprint in September 2011. Out of print for six years, SAILOR MOON re-launches along with Takeuchi’s two-volume prequel series CODENAME: SAILOR V, in print in the US for the […]

Shaenon K. Garrity (link no longer available) wrote an excellent overview of those little artist side notes found mostly in shojo manga. She provides a number of hilarious examples to support the idea that if you Read enough of these notes, however, and you get the impression that shojo manga artists are both incredibly boring and completely insane. I was impressed that she did an entire column on the format without even mentioning the overused “I’m so sorry my art […]

Tokyopop is looking for costume pictures to include in their september release of Hetalia. It’s a manga, originally a webcomic, in which various countries become characters for historical satire. It’s reportedly got a large fan following already. 12 cosplay winners will have their photos included in the book. Oddly, there’s no mention of whether they’re going to print in color, which I think would matter. Black-and-white reproductions may not show off detail. To enter, you have to post your photo […]