Independent Opinions, News, and Reviews of Graphic Novels, Manga, and Comic Books
I’m very glad Yen Press brought back Kaoru Mori’s maid manga Emma. The period piece combines a cross-class romance (gentleman and maid) with beautifully illustrated details of daily life, set during a time, 19th century England, that appeals to many readers, given the elaborate dinner parties and social rituals. When the series was originally released by CMX, I covered most of the volumes, so I won’t talk in detail about the plot, but I did want to note how lovely […]
Read more
This was announced last month at the New York Comic Con, I think, but the book is now available for pre-order. I’m thrilled to hear that the manga Emma is coming back into print from Yen Press. They currently release A Bride’s Story by the same author, Kaoru Mori, as well as a one-shot of her shorter pieces, Anything and Something. Emma was previously published in the US from 2006-2009 by CMX, the now-defunct manga imprint of DC Comics. It’s […]
Read more
Review by KC Carlson Andre the Giant: Life and Legend by Box Brown is wonderfully small story about a wonderfully giant man. Andre Rousimoff was born with a rare condition called acromegaly, a syndrome often associated with gigantism. Unfortunately, besides just being large, other symptoms that affected Andre included aging prematurely, his brow and jaw growing more pronounced, and his heart, organs, and joints not being able to keep up with his growth. After finally being diagnosed as a young […]
Read more
The first Young Romance volume must have done well, because here’s a second collection of classic love stories by masters of the comic medium Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. In contrast to that volume, which ranged more widely across years and titles, this one more closely approaches chronological coverage. The reprints here come from Young Romance #1-10 (with the exception of stories included in the first book) and Young Love #1-2, published from 1947-1949. A thorough introduction by comic historian […]
Read more
The family interaction introduced in volume 3 that I was excited to see returns here, as I hoped — but ramped up to ridiculous degree. I should accept that emotional exaggeration is the natural state of this title and quit expecting anything else. I’d be happier with it if I accepted what it was instead of what I thought it might be. Much like young bride Chiwa in her relationship needs to learn what a real-life love is like, instead […]
Read more
Last night, I got to see a preview of This Is the End, a horror comedy that opens tomorrow. As you can see from the poster, it stars James Franco, Jonah Hill, Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel, Craig Robinson, and Danny McBride all playing themselves — or the version of themselves they want to show for this story. The premise starts by exploring what it means to be friends, and how you combine your old and new groups. Old friend Jay […]
Read more
In past years, I’ve written a post titled “Best Manga of [Year]”. This year, I’m retitling. My manga reading has decreased, in part due to my interests swinging back a bit to graphic novels, in part due to what material has been available. This year, I’m just looking back at what I enjoyed reading this year. I’m still using similar criteria in determining “Best” for me — and looking back at last year’s post, even then, I was noting fewer […]
Read more
Kaoru Mori is the fan-favorite author of the popular manga Emma and A Bride’s Story. As she explains in her comic-format foreword, Anything and Something is a “stewpot book… a bunch of manga short stories, illustrations, and columns” she’s done over the past ten years, since the launch of Emma. It’s good to see such a collection make it to the US, especially for those eager to buy whatever she has available, but I found the result a mixed bag. […]
Read more