December 20, 2014 Johanna Comic News 3 comments

Sequential iPad App Focuses on Respected Graphic Novel Publishers

I’ve been remiss in not talking before now about Sequential, the iPad app that features graphic novels “from some of the world’s leading creators and publishers.” If you’re looking for a curated digital comic reading experience, this is the app you want. Their key publishers include * Top Shelf — featuring works by Alan Moore, Eddie Campbell, and James Kochalka * Fantagraphics — with Ed Piskor’s Hip Hop Family Tree volumes and Lucy Knisley’s An Age of License newly added […]

December 19, 2014 Johanna Other Leave a comment

Happy Anniversary to Comics Worth Reading

I bought the ComicsWorthReading.com domain on December 23, 1999, as a present for myself. That means that this year, it will have been operating for 15 years. The internet, particularly blogging, has changed a lot in that time, and so has this site, going from static pages to WordPress and from reference pages about comic series to a blog covering more topics, including related movies and books. The modern gift category for the 15th anniversary is Watches, and I’m certainly […]

December 19, 2014 Johanna Manga News Leave a comment

Sgt. Frog Returns as Viz Digital Manga

Sgt. Frog, a humor manga about a frog-looking alien residing with a “typical” Japanese family by Mine Yoshizaki, was originally published in the US by Tokyopop, which put out 21 volumes beginning in 2004. The alien was supposed to invade, but he’s incompetent, and soon, there’s a group of his friends, all hanging out in the sitcom-like episodic structure. For readers, the chapters make fun of media and culture through their wacky situations. I enjoyed the series at first, although […]

December 19, 2014 Johanna Kodansha Manga Reviews One comment

Manga Dogs Volume 2

At the end of the previous volume, manga artist Kanna had been kidnapped by a wannabe. More than her life, her work was in danger as her pages were taken hostage, preventing her from making her deadline. Of course, she’s rescued in this book — the advantage of a series made up of short (ten-page) chapters is that things move very quickly. The teacher of the manga class (made up of Kanna, the three aspiring guys, and the new character) […]

December 19, 2014 Johanna Drawn & Quarterly One comment

Over Easy

Graphic memoir is the hot genre these days in publishing. Where fantasy stories can be hit or miss, true-life autobiographical comics have an immediate hook — this story actually happened to someone. In fact, if I’m honest, graphic memoirs are a bit of a drag on the market. Just because a story is true doesn’t always make it entertaining or well-told; structure is a huge challenge with autobiography. And one of the most common types of memoir is the coming-of-age […]

December 19, 2014 Johanna Comic News Leave a comment

See My SPX Panel: How Comics Get Reviewed

I hosted a panel at the Small Press Expo in September called “Pro Tips: How Comics Get Reviewed”. Brigid Alverson, Michael Cavna, Dan Kois, Heidi MacDonald, Douglas Wolk, and I talked about how to get coverage for comics and what editors and critics are looking for. Now, the SPX team have posted the panel video here, in case you’d like to see it:

December 17, 2014 Johanna Fantagraphics 3 comments

Displacement: A Travelogue

Displacement is a followup to Lucy Knisley’s previous travelogue, An Age of License, but this time, instead of portraying a young woman starting her life, she tackles the end. She describes the difference like this: “That trip was about independence, sex, youth, and adventure. This trip is about patience, care, mortality, respect, sympathy, and love.” Knisley accompanies her grandparents on a cruise for the elderly, and Displacement is her journal about taking care of them while they travel. In her […]

December 15, 2014 Johanna Viz Manga Reviews One comment

Ooku: The Inner Chambers Volume 10

Ooku: The Inner Chambers volume 10 feels like a final volume. The cover, a group shot with a white background, differs from the stark single-figure-against-black theme of the previous books in the series, and there’s an incredibly valuable extra included that wraps together many of the previous events. It’s a family tree showing all the shoguns and their key retainers that makes me want to reread the series, now that I better understand the relationships. I wish we’d seen this […]

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