Independent Opinions, News, and Reviews of Graphic Novels, Manga, and Comic Books
Lucy Knisley and her mother went to Paris for a month in 2007, and the result was French Milk, Lucy’s drawn travel journal. The two women were each facing their own turning points. Her mother was going to be 50, and Lucy was turning 22 and facing the questions of adulthood. Her preparations demonstrate her youthful view of what’s important: she barely learns the language, but she succeeds at taking up smoking, to better hang out in cafes. She’s struggling […]
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Erika Moen has self-published the first collection of her webcomic DAR: A Super Girly Top Secret Comic Diary (NSFW link), collecting her strips from 2006-2008. Although there are plenty of webcomic diary strips, this one is like none other. First, it’s remarkably bawdy and explicit. Erika is not shy about dealing with bodies, her own or others, and physical functions like sex or farting. Her portrayal of these are both funny and honest. You’ll know from the first few strips […]
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The addiction I worried about developing after reading book 1 may not be as big a problem after all, because the manic energy and emotion of that volume is missing from volume 2. Without her mother and her demented family situation to play off of, the story becomes just another “girl tries to become a star” tale. And it’s a darned repetitive one. Yura has a crisis — her costume’s been damaged by a jealous co-star! her family secret is […]
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If you’re only going to read one book about how to break into the comic industry, it should be one by Lurene Haines. They were written in the late 1990s, so the specifics about particular companies and publications are no longer valid, but the advice in general is still solid. These books aren’t about how to make comics — they’re about how to be a professional, how to have a career in comics. Business, not art. Hard work, not waiting […]
Read moreThanks to a reader comment in my post on Tokyopop’s varying pricing, I was made aware that Viz appears to be standardizing on higher prices later this year. Previously, Shonen Jump titles were $7.99, while Shojo Beat books were $8.99. (A discrepancy that caused some conversation back in 2006. In that post, Christopher Butcher predicted this price rise, three years early.) I checked out some series I follow on Amazon. The only Shonen Jump book I buy regularly is Hikaru […]
Read moreKent Jones, “Comic Book Matrimonial Correspondent”, did a clip on Archie’s upcoming marriage on last night’s Rachel Maddow Show. I loved the way he used all those art samples to make his point that Betty’s the catch — because she can cook and fix cars! — while marrying Veronica would make Archie “a widely envied idiot”. (But both girls are called smart!) And the punchline rocks!
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The more I read this series by Tetsu Kariya and Akira Hanasaki, the more I enjoy it. I just have to learn not to read it when I’m hungry, because I start craving food that I can’t find! Oh, some types of ramen (noodle soup) and gyoza (dumplings) are available in my area, but I never dreamed of the possible variations covered here. And it’s not just about the food: The first two stories in Oishinbo a la Carte 3: […]
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Miel Violette comes from a family of magicians, but she’s not good at magic. Her super-strength serves her just fine… until she meets a prince in disguise after clocking him with her purse. Becoming involved with him shows her that there might be reason to improve her skills in The Lapis Lazuli Crown volume 1 by Natsuna Kawase. The title comes from the idea that lapis lazuli is “associated with intelligence, insight, and good judgment”, a nice symbol for a […]
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