Independent Opinions, News, and Reviews of Graphic Novels, Manga, and Comic Books
If you’re looking for shojo teen romance with more substance than the usual high school hijinks, Sand Chronicles by Hinako Ashihara is the perfect series for you. Sand Chronicles is Ann’s story, told in flashback to key seasons in her life. At the age of 12, she and her mother move from Tokyo to her grandparents’ rural village. Her parents have divorced due to her father’s debts, and her mother is having trouble coping, with hospital stays for overwork and […]
Read more“[I]f you support DC Comics, then personally, I really can’t consider you a feminist.” — Valerie D’Orazio, January 16 (link no longer available) (via Ragnell) Yet… “If you really want these comics [starring and/or created by women] to be successful — and, in turn, convince Hollywood to make more movies starring these superheroines — then make more of an effort to support these comics. Talk them up on your blogs, and support them with your wallets. No, I’m not saying […]
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In Love and Capes, Thom Zahler does a perfect job combining romantic comedy with superheroics. Now, you can get a great big chunk of the adventures of Mark and Abby in the new collection Do You Want to Know a Secret?, reprinting the first six issues of the series. Mark is the Crusader, the best-known superhero in town. Abby is a detail-oriented bookstore owner who somehow has missed figuring out his secret identity. They’re deeply, believably in love, and he […]
Read moreDiamond Comic Distributors, the near-monopoly gateway to direct market comic shops, has raised its minimum order level to $2500 value retail. Update: My understanding was wrong. As Dan Vado points out in the comments below, it’s not retail based on cover price, but based on what Diamond pays the publisher. I’ve corrected my numbers below with strikeouts. That means, if you’re a self-publisher, first, you have to get approved to get listed in the monthly order catalog. Then, once you’re […]
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I enjoy this series by Chica Umino more when I keep two things in mind: 1. Read the chapters/stories one at a time, with pauses in-between. That allows for the differing moods of the various entries to seem less like abrupt changes and more like the author wants to explore different aspects of nostalgia for young adulthood. 2. You get out of this series what you put into it. Those who are predisposed to enjoy it will find more in […]
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This final volume of the series continues the same high quality established by the first book. Some have expressed concern over the ending, but I don’t see why. The character art of Dr. Tenma over this series reminded me of Angel‘s Wesley — a quiet, bookish man with a terrific life path laid out for himself who finds himself, only because he seeks to do what’s right, transformed into a kind of taciturn vigilante. The friends he makes along the […]
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I’m astounded that this second book contains even more far-out stories than Volume 1. I didn’t think there could be such a thing. The first, “Needle”, shows one of the rare occurrences when the rogue doctor Black Jack is defeated. We get a hint that this might happen on the first page, where a wise older doctor (with a huge fluffy beard) cautions the rogue to humility: Don’t underestimate the human body, or else. … When you’re trying to treat […]
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The latest in the series of studio-produced interviews promoting the direct-to-video Wonder Woman animated movie has been released: it’s a conversation with Virginia Madsen, who voices Queen Hippolyta. Since it’s promotional, there’s not a lot of striking content, although it’s cute to see Madsen talk about her teenage son and his take on things. I did find these two exchanges, near the end, interesting: Question: Were/are you a comic-book reader? Madsen: I was not a comic book reader, but my […]
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