Genkaku Picasso

Welcome to Kuriousity

News, reviews and features with a focus on manga, self-published works and a Canadian perspective. Enjoy fulfilling your Kuriousity!

SITE RETIRED - Thank you for the years of support and readership!

Posts Tagged Picture Box Inc.

Massive Bara Anthology Rescued by Fantagraphics

Massive Bara Anthology Rescued by Fantagraphics

It looks like I was mourning the bara anthology, Massive, a little prematurely.

Fantagraphics recently announced that they’ve picked up the license for the anthology, Massive: Gay Erotic Manga and the Men Who Make It. It features a number of Japan’s best known bara artists, including the previously English-published creator, Gengoroh Tagame.

The late-publisher Picture Box Inc was originally slated to release the collection but announced they were shutting down as of the end of December. You can read more about the book in my original news post about the license and via an interview about it on Robot6, who originally broke this news.

The current release plan is next fall.

Credit for me reading the news first goes to AnimeNewsNetwork.


PictureBox To Cease Publications At End of Year

PictureBox To Cease Publications At End of Year
It’s a sad day whenever a publisher shuts its doors. PictureBox Inc recently announced that as of December 31st they would be ceasing publication of new titles.

Most notable to manga readers was likely PictureBox’s announcement back in January that they were starting an imprint called Ten Cent Manga, which included a hardcover collection of older Osamu Tezuka stories. The company didn’t publish a lot of manga, but what it did publish came with extra attention to the presentation, making each a collector’s item.

For me this news is saddest for the loss of a company brave enough to publish bara in North America – comics intended for gay men starring masculine characters, in contrast to boys’ love created for female audiences. Their release of The Passion of Gengoroh Tagame was wonderfully put together, and I loved being able to get my copy and meet the bara-famous Gengoroh Tagame at this past year’s Toronto Comics Art Fest. I was really, really looking forward to their announced bara anthology which was supposed to come out in Spring 2014 and had a number of my favourite bara artists featured in it.

PictureBox Inc is currently offering 50% off everything available to purchase via their website. Below is a list of their manga offerings with a few different places to purchase – get them while you can!

The Passion of Gengoroh Tagame: The Master of the Gay Erotic Manga
PictureBox | Amazon.ca | Amazon.com )

The Last of the Mohicans – Shigeru Sugiura
( PictureBox | Amazon.ca | Amazon.com )

The Mysterious Underground Men – Osamu Tezuka
( PictureBox | Amazon.ca | Amazon.com )

Gold Pollen and Other Stories: Masters of Alternative Manga (Vol. 01)
PictureBox | Amazon.ca | Amazon.com )

World Map Room – Yuichi Yokoyama
PictureBox | Amazon.ca | Amazon.com )

Travel – Yuichi Yokoyama
PictureBox | Amazon.ca | Amazon.com )


Otaku USA: On The Shelf – May 22, 2013

Otaku USA: On The Shelf - May 15, 2013

And now it’s time for this week’s new manga! And last week’s manga!  Last week’s On The Shelf article wasn’t posted, but this week’s is up so you can head over to read my thoughts on the new manga released today.

This week’s quick-list below also includes last’s week releases:

07 Ghost (Vol.04) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Disgaea 3: School of Devils (Vol.01) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
InuYasha VizBIG (Vol.15) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Jormungand (Vol.11) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Negiho [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Neon Genesis Evangelion 3-in-1 (Vol.03) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
The Passion of Gengoroh Tagame  [Amazon CANAmazon US]
Saturn Apartments (Vol.07) [Amazon CANAmazon USRightStuf]
Sunny (Vol.01) [Amazon CANAmazon USRightStuf]


TCAF 2013 Report – Comics, Comics, Everywhere!

TCAF 2013 Report - Comics, Comics, Everywhere!

Last weekend was  the Toronto Comics Art Festival – a “celebration of comics and graphic novels and their creators, which culminates in a two-day exhibition and vendor fair featuring hundreds of comics creators from around the world.”. Summed up, TCAF is an event where comic creators and lovers from around the world come together to celebrate and adore all things comic-related. And it’s wonderful!

This was my third year attending and the show continues to impress, getting bigger and better every time. Thankfully it’s yet to ever waver in the consistency of it’s spirit – this is an event free from the Hollywood and mainstream influence that shadow over comic conventions such as NYCC. Thousands and thousands of people, all crowding (quite calmly and politely) into a library. It’s all about the comics and the creators, and there was no shortage of art to buy and people to talk to.

Read more…


Short Stories and Ships: PictureBox Announces New Manga for Fall

Short Stories and Ships: PictureBox Announces New Manga for Fall

This news was missed here back in April but better late than never! In early April, Picture Box Inc announced they’d acquired two more manga series for publication:

Gold Pollen and Other Stories – Seiichi Hayashi
World Map Room – Yūichi Yokoyama

Gold Pollen and Other Stories is a collection of short stories and will be released in full colour and hardcover. This book will be a part of a new imprint they’re calling ‘Masters of Alternative Manga’. The book is listed at $27.50/US. More information and preview pages are currently posted on Picture Box’s website.

World Map Room is a one shot title released as a black & white paperback for $17.95/US. You can read about the book and see preview pages for this book on Picture Box’s website as well.

Both books are scheduled to be released in Fall 2013.


PictureBox Inc Releasing Massive Bara Anthology in Spring 2014

PictureBox Inc Releasing Bara Anthology in Spring 2014

This past weekend’s Toronto Comics Art Festival had comics, comics and more comics, and also managed to slip in some manga industry news from attending publisher, Picture Box Inc. The company announced they’ll be releasing a new anthology of gay erotic manga called Massive: Gay Erotic Manga And The Men Who Make It. The book is planned for Spring 2014.

Currently the anthology is slated to have short stories and biographies on the following creators:

Fumi Miyabi
Gengoroh Tagame
Go Fujimoto
Guy Mizuki
Inu Yoshi
Jiraiya
Kazuhide Ichikawa
Kumada Poohsuke
Noda Gaku
Seizoh Ebisubashi
Takeshi Matsu

Chip Kidd, the art director for PictureBox’s recently released The Passion of Gengoroh Tagame, will be returning to work on this new project. As someone who was really impressed with the production values of that book, I have high hopes we’ll see treatment just as nice for Massive. Plus it means not only more Gengoroh Tagame in English, but other creators I like such as Takeshi Matsu as well. As with Gengoroh Tagame’s book, this will be a book for mature readers only.

“Massive goes beyond simply translating the artists’ work, offering an intimate, in-depth look at an essential (but criminally overlooked) queer culture that challenges and transcends stereotypes of gender and sexuality. In addition to comics and illustrations, Massive features some of the first photos of these artists; background information providing cultural and historical context; and first-person interviews about what it’s like to be a gay erotic artist in Japan.”

Gay erotic artwork created by men, for men is often referred to as bara and most easily distinguished by its depiction of larger, more masculine characters. This is different from boys’ love/yaoi which is predominantly created by women, for women.

Credit for the news details goes to AnimeNewsNetwork and The Comics Reporter.


PictureBox Inc Launches New Manga Imprint – Ten Cent Manga

Ten Cent Manga

The manga won’t cost as little as name suggests, but that does little to dampen the fun of sharing word of a new manga imprint revealed earlier this month. According to AnimeNewsNetwork and The Comics Reporter, the publishing company PictureBox Inc. is launching a new manga imprint called Ten Cent Manga.

Currently there are two books scheduled to kick off this new imprint which will be  “focusing on manga straddling Japanese and American cultural influences”:

Last of the Mohicans – Shigeru Sugiura
April 30, 2013 – $19.99/US, $19.82/CAN (Hardcover)
“A 1973-74 classic from a manga master. This (very) free adaptation of the novel employs a range surrealist, collage-like techniuques that engag with contemporary Pop Art and psychedlia, as well as Japan’s modern history of cultural appropriation, to bring to life the great American story. It features combines Sugiura’s signature brand of absurd action and exquisite drawing, veering constantly from lowbrow cartoon spoof to nuanced meditation on American cultural influence.”

The Mysterious Underground Men – Osamu Tezuka
October 2013 (Hardcover)

“Originally published in Osaka in 1948, The Mysterious Underground Men tells the story of Mimio the talking rabbit, as he struggles to prove his humanity while helping his friends save earth from an invasion of angry humanoid ants. Inspired by Bernhard Kellermann’s Der Tunnel (1913) and drawing widely on European and American science fiction, as well as Milt Gross’ own pioneering “graphic novel,” He Done Her Wrong (1930), this full-color edition of The Mysterious Underground Men will not only introduce to English-language readers a founding monument in modern Japanese comics. It will also offer a rare glimpse at the wide-ranging Western cultural sources that made up young Tezuka’s world.”

 According the TCR report, we can expect to see more lesser known titles from well known creators. Already having some Tezuka under their belt is a good way to get started I’d say, and I’m curious to see what else comes of Ten Cent Manga. At the very least, their selection of titles so far and the company’s explained intent means we’ll be getting some history lessons with their releases as we read stories from creators that may not have otherwise been considered for license.


TCAF 2013 To Host Manga Creators Gengoroh Tagame and Taiyo Matsumoto

TCAF 2013 To Host Manga Creators Gengoroh Tagame and Taiyo Matsumoto

One of my favourite events of the year is the Toronto Comics Art Festival, and much to my joy they’re back again this year with an already exciting assortment of guests. Plus they’re not on Free Comic Day this year which means I get to enjoy one of the coolest days of the year at my local Strange Adventures and still make it to Toronto for the amazingness that is TCAF. I’m already checking airline ticket prices as my eyes scan over this year’s Exhibitor List. You can bet I’ll be there!

Among their featured guests for the 2013 event – taking place the weekend of May 11-12 – are two manga artists: Gengoroh Tagame and Taiyo Matsumoto.

Gengoroh Tagame is a well-known artist in the bara community, which is a genre of stories about gay men that are targeted towards gay men (as opposed to boys’ love, which is predominantly created by women for women). This will be his first event in North America and it coincides with the release of his English translated book, The Passions of Gengoroh Tagame.

Taiyo Matsumoto is best known for his manga, Tekkon Kinkreet, which was published by Viz Media. His series Blue Spring and Go Go Monster have also been released in English. Taiyo Matsumoto’s newest series, Sunny, will debut at TCAF, also published by Viz Media.

Last year TCAF’s manga guest was Konami Kanata, creator of Chi’s Sweet Home. More guest and event news will be announced for TCAF in the next few months leading up to the festival. Currently there already announced plans for a display of Taiyo Matsumoto’s work including a special screening of the animated adaptation of Tekkon Kinkreet.


Bara in English! Picture Box Inc. To Release Collection of Gengoroh Tagame

Bara in English! Picture Box Inc. To Release Collection of Gengoroh Tagame

This was some news that completely boggled my brain when I read it earlier this week – PictureBox Inc. will be releasing a collection of bara stories by Gengoroh Tagame in English next Spring (2013). The book is titled The Passions of Gengoroh Tagame: The Master of Bara Manga, and is being designed by Chipp Kidd, better known to manga readers as the designer behind several Vertical titles. May I just say, wow.

For those who aren’t familiar with the term, bara is a word used to encompass works about homosexual men. What differentiates bara from yaoi/BL is that bara is intended for actual gay men, and typically drawn by them, where as BL is targeted at women, and typically created by them also. Because of the different demographic, bara manga looks a lot different in that their characters are often more large – be it in muscle and/or weight – and have more defined features, body hair and are usually actually fully anatomically present (you have few places to flourish here, invisi-talia and sparkles). That said, yes, The Passion of Gengoroh Tagame will a mature audiences’ book.

To my knowledge this collection will be the first time bara has been licensed and made available in English as its own book collection, so I’m really curious, and hopeful, it finds its market here. My friend and I have purchased a number of bara volumes and anthologies in Japanese over the years (thank you, Beguiling!) and both of us were pretty much resigned to the notion that no publisher would actually license it. It’s sometimes nice to be proven wrong! I love to dabble in just about every genre and art style and bara manga is another one of those areas that really offers something different and unique, both in the styles of art and the tone of the stories themselves.

The Passion of Gengoroh Tagame will be printed with a large-trim size and contain ten short stories spanning the artists’ career over fifteen years. There will also be an original story created just for this book. Gengoroh Tagame’s work, as I’ve seen, can often be rather violent and include some pretty out-there bondage so it’ll be especially interesting to see which of his stories get chosen for English. We shall see in the Spring (if you’re over 18 of course).


Take me back to the top!