There was no On The Shelf article last Wednesday because of a week without any new manga releases on my schedule list – how depressing was that? Well I guess we’ll accept those mini lulls now and again, especially with big release days like today following it up.

It’s Viz Media‘s big shipment of the month with nineteen new volumes of manga, including the first volume of A Devil and Her Love Song. You can read the full list of titles out this week over at Otaku USA’s On The Shelf article this week. Along with a slew of new volumes of shonen and soujo series, there’s also new volume of the well-loved Finder series from Digital Manga and two new of their Project-H books. Hopefully something for everyone – enjoy!

It’s Wednesday! And the fifth Wednesday in the month too, that’s an extra week of new comics. You can see the list of new manga out over at my On The Shelf article for Otaku USA.

The big titles out today are the long-awaited new volume of MPD Psycho from Dark Horse, and the seventeenth and final volume of Osamu Tezuka’s Black Jack from Vertical Inc. I may very well cry when I finish that one – it’s never easy when one of your favourites comes to an end!

The end of 2011 is creeping up and companies are continuing to give us lots of manga-loving reasons to look forward to 2012. Seven Seas has listed print information for three new manhwa titles up on their website this week, all you can expect to be released this coming year. Two were announced back in August but fell under the radar as footnotes in a post about their online comics initiative.

Alongside their recent news about acquiring Young Miss Holmes, the company is starting a trend of mystery-solving, Victorian-era titles. Very neat! I really look forward to reading them and it’s fantastic seeing another publisher is still actively looking into the vast Korean market of comics.

Lizzie Newton: Victorian Mysteries - Jeon Hye-Jin
First Volume (Omnibus, 1-2): August 2012

“Lizzie Newton, a young upper crust lady with a budding career as a mystery writer, is expected to know her place in Victorian society. …While the headstrong Lizzie tolerates earnest Edwin, she is not yet ready to accept him as her fiance. Besides, Lizzie is distracted by something far more important: an apparent suicide has occurred in the manor, and Lizzie is ready to solve her first real life murder case!” – Seven Seas

Witch Hunter – Cho Jung-Man
First Volume (Omnibus, 1-2): June 2012 | Second Volume (Omnibus, 3-4): October 2012

“Tasha Godspell, also known as the “Magic Marksman,” is one of the best Witch Hunters there is. Along with his sword-wielding Jack-o’-Lantern partner known as Halloween, Tasha puts his magical training and weaponry to good use, in his constant battles against witches. And yet, he cannot bring himself to fully hate the very witches he is tasked to destroy.” – Seven Seas

Jack the Ripper: Hell Blade – Jetae Yoo
First Volume: July 2012 | Second Volume: October 2012 | Third Volume: January 2013

“Jack the Ripper is not what he seems –but the truth may be more terrible than anyone imagined. A young police detective from Scotland Yard struggles to unravel the mystery behind the brutal slayings that grip 19th Century London. What he learns will turn his world upside down, and pit him face to face against the Ripper himself. But is Jack his savior or destroyer?” – Seven Seas

Witch Hunter and Lizzie Newton were originally announced as part of Seven Seas web-comic collection, Zoom Comics. The website is currently offering free online editions to read several of Seven Seas’ original properties, including the recently published Dracula Everlasting and Vampire Cheerleaders. It will be running the first volume of Witch Hunter starting in January.

With more titles on the horizon that’ll excite quite a few fans, Seven Seas is making an impressive come back into the licensed comic publishing market. With a bunch of new titles, strong digital initiatives and comics from sources few publishers are looking to these days, they’re a company you’ll want to keep an eye on.

ANNCast is always a must-listen for me over at AnimeNewsNetwork but they’re most recent two shows have been especially interesting for manga readers. I highly recommend listening to both:

ANNCast – Tarboxed and Feathered

“Justin and Zac shoot the breeze about some ANN business, and then it’s all awful blurays and the winter 2011 movie season. Then our guest shows up – longtime industry veteran Jonathan “Jake” Tarbox tells the story of his career up to this point, including his stint at Raijin Comics and DC Comics’ short-lived manga imprint CMX, and then takes your questions via Twitter. You can’t go wrong! “

ANNCast – Guy Kiley

“Former Senior Vice President of Tokyopop Mike Kiley is our special guest this week, and he runs us through his long and storied career at the shuttered publisher. We cover it all – the heady early days, the not so heady later days and the company’s untimely downfall. You’ve been waiting for this one!”

The manner in which DC handled choosing licenses for CMX was both fascinating and terrifying. It says a lot about the problems they faced over their years as a manga publisher and makes me more thankful than ever for the great titles we did get from them, some I know we’d never have gotten from anyone else (Key to the Kingdom – I love it, but really?). Knowing it was mostly done via a method akin to a dartboard shows how lucky we were for some. You could really tell things were tightening up over at CMX in its final year for selection and marketing though. It’s so unfortunate it was the beginning of the end.

This week’s ANNCast has Zac and Justin sit down to talk to Mike Kiley, Senior Vice President of the now no-longer-publishing-manga-until-I-see-otherwise, Tokyopop. He shares a lot about his experience with the company from the day it began up until his final days in their office. He’s a terrific guest and speaks very well with a lot of interesting info to offer. I was especially interested in hearing which series sold well and reasons for others not continuing, such as Kino no Tabi. I regret no one, myself included, thought to ask about Tokyopop’s boys’ love imprint, BLU, but it’s a minor quip in an otherwise great look at TP’s life start to finish.

Back from New York with a suitcase full of swag and I was still excited to get home and see what new goodies are out this week! If you’re curious about what new manga titles are out, you can pop over to Otaku USA to read my On The Shelf article for the week.

A big chunk of my excitement for this week’s releases is because the first volume of Gate 7 is finally out. CLAMP are some of my favourite creators and to have a new title from them to read for the first time is really exciting. How many years has it been since that happened? Plus the book looks gorgeous! Dark Horse has a preview of the manga’s first chapter over on their website that you can read to get an early glimpse.

New York Comic Con/New York Anime Fest is in full swing this weekend and the majority of their manga-related panels were on Friday. Publishers haven’t disappointed with a bunch of new licenses for the last big con of the year. Yen Press’s panel was up first with some new adaptations and new manga licenses, along with some really exciting news for fans of digital manga to top it all off and a good Q&A sesssion.

It was a lengthy panel with lots to share so you can see the complete post under the cut (or below depending on how you’re reading this).

The panel began with the announcement of two new novel adaptations, joining other titles such as Witch & Wizard and Soulless. First was The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare, a story about an American girl who gets involved with sordid supernatural activity in Victorian London. This title already has an artist assigned – HyeKyung Baek – who also did the manhwa-adaptation of Gossip Girl. Their own works, Bring It On! and Chiro Star Project, have been released in English as well by Yen Press and UDON Entertainment.

The second adapation was Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Chronicles of Nick which is a prequel to a strong-selling Hachette title called Dark-Hunters. The book will be released under the name Dark-Hunters: Infinity. This story is about a young man named Nick who gets introduced to the world of the supernatural in New Orleans. No artist has been announced for this title yet.

Yen Press’s first manga license was Soumei Hoshino and Quinrose’s Alice in the Country of Hearts. This is a series that was previously released by Tokyopop before the company’s “shut down” in May of this year. Only the first four volumes were released. Yen Press will be releasing the complete six volume series as three 2-in-1 omnibus volumes, all of which will be released in June 2012. They did a similar release tactic with Yotsuba&! when they released every volume of their redone version simultaneously to catch up with where the previous publisher left off. Just as it was then, this is a great benefit to those who already own the last editions. In Alice‘s case, it means the fans who already bought the first four books will be able to just buy the final two volumes in one. Great plan!

It’s fair to say that a Tokyopop ‘license rescue’ this soon after the company dropped all their titles came as a surprise. With Tokyopop now trying for some kind of zombie-like resurrection, and saying they’ll be aiming to continue the series they previously released, it’s comforting to see one of the company’s most popular titles is in the hands of a very dependable publisher. The future of TP’s other titles remains entirely in the air but despite the TP ‘news’ as of late, it seemed clear during the panel that Yen Press is still looking at some potential titles from their library and fans are more than happy to keep recommending which titles to save.

Yen Press’s next license is a spin-off of the popular Haruhi series, The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan. It’s by the same author and artist as The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Nagaru Tanigawa and PUYO:

“This spin-off takes place in the world of the “Disappearance” arc of the Haruhi Suzumiya novels, focusing on the high school life (and romance!) of a tentative and bashful Yuki Nagato quite unlike the one you’ve come to know and love through the usual exploits of the SOS Brigade…but no less charming!”

Next up was Until Death Do Us Part, a manga series by Hiroshi Takashige and Double-S. It was described by Yen Press as “manly, manly manga”. It will be released as 2-in-1 omnibus editions starting in May 2012:

“Haruka is a young girl with precognitive abilities that allow her to predict the future with incredible accuracy. Unfortunately, these powers have made her a target for greedy corporations. Haruka uses her power to seek the one who can offer her protection, singling out Mamoru Hijikata, a blind man whose inability to see belies his skill with a sword!”

Following UDDUP on the licensing train was Puella Magi Madoka Magica, written by the Magica Quartet and art by Hanokage. The audience was pretty excited for the title as it was announced, I’m assuming because of the popularity of the anime which was streamed in the US earlier this year. This version of the manga (the series has three variations, plus a light novel) is three volumes completed.

“Madoka had always thought magic was the stuff of her dreams…until she encounters an unreal cat-being at her totally normal school! The cat offers her a choice — Will Madoka become a Puella Magi in exchange for her dearest desire?”

Lastly for licenses is another spin-off, this time for the popular Soul Eater by Atsushi Ohkubo. The spin-off is called Soul Eater Not and follows a couple new female characters with a distinct focus on their schoollife in the Death Weapon Meister Academy. The big news about this particular title is that it will be added to their Yen Plus magazine and, after a bulk upload in November to catch up with the Japanese release, will be posted online to Yen Plus subscribers within hours of the serialized version in Japan. This will start in January 2012. The first chapter is already available online to read in the October edition.

Kurt Hassler (publishing director) emphasized how this is a first time occurance of its kind in the North American manga market and that fans’ support on this endeavour could really help push forward simulantaneous releases of manga. “Help us, help you!” Joyously, as with the rest of the magazine, Soul Eater Not will be available to readers all around the world, not just the US. They have hopes for all the titles in Yen Plus to one day released in the same way. With the licenses making the titles available for everyone in the world with internet access, Kurt was confident to note it effectively eliminates all scanlators excuses.

At $2.99 a month for the entire magazine, you get a great deal (I’ve been subscribed since the beginning just for Yotsuba&!) and now even more so with a fresh new manga title available in English so fast. Kurt Hassler noted in the Q&A that they’re able to offer these really low prices for the amount of content because the magazine is available on a rental system (you can read it for a certain period of time but not keep it) and that ‘owning’ the digital versions would need to have increased costs they’d like to avoid.

Speaking of Q&A time, it was now Q&A time! Things started with someone asking Yen Press about any plans for other platform availability for their Yen Press app (currently available on the iPhone and iPad). Kurt Hassler said that yes, they were, but with things in development and lots on the go they couldn’t say anything concrete at this time.

The next question was in regards to Tokyopop’s recent… whatever they’re doing. What does Yen Press think of it? The subtle chatter in the room after this question was asked said a lot for everyone’s eagerness to hear Kurt’s response on the matter. Simply put, he responded that they don’t really think anything of it at all. “If they can do it, all the power to them,” He made a good follow-up joke that Yen Press would be shutting down at 5pm that night, only to re-open Monday morning. An audience member’s shout out of ‘so just a publicity stunt right?’ seemed to hit the nail on the head for many in the crowd who nodded and laughed in agreement.

Later someone asked about them considering new Tokyopop license-rescues, to which they answered they were interested and trying but running into the usual manga licensing issues. “Nothing happens overnight.”

When asked about any new titles released with the hardcover quality of A Bride’s Story, they said that it is a possibility if a series feels like it suits the format. They referrenced their new full-colour, large trim size release of High School of the Dead which clocks in at just under 4lbs in weight. That’s a very hefty book! Kurt also responded later to a question of if Yen Press was considering artbooks or calendars, to which he said they are and are asking about one potential title but can’t say which.

“Will Yen Press be doing another talent search?” – the answer is yes, though they emphasized that these talent searches aren’t a contest. The company are looking for new “on the cusp to professional”  individuals whose skills they can help foster. They also answered that their longest current adaptation work, Cirque du Freak, will be ending at twelve volumes which matches the original novels’ length.

JManga came up next with curious consumers wondering about Yen Press’s thoughts towards it, if there was any relationships between them and if titles being on JManga meant they couldn’t be licensed for hardcopy release. Kurt Hassler said they have no relationship with JManga and feel the site is “disingenious” by not clarifying what on their site is meant to be available content someday and what is just informational. He noted that JManga is, by their nature, positioning themselves as a competitor to English publishers. He added Yen Press’s stance is very much that digital and print need to work together and having one without the other doesn’t make sense. He also said they have no current plans to work with JManga in the future.

When asked about two series by the same author – Satoko Kiyuduki-they noted that both Shoulder-A-Coffin Kuro and GA have caught up with the Japanese releases and that the former is currently on hiatus there.

Someone then asked Yen Press about the anti-piracy collition that had been announced a while back. While intitially we saw takedowns of material, recently it’s been quiet on that front with illegal distributors of content back to their usual distribution. Kurt was upfront that a lot of work is being done in the background with contracts being signed and legal issues being put in order. He acknowledged that scanlators may feel they’ve been given “a grace” period, but that the collition will be getting very aggressive in the near future. All the power to them and best of luck!

At this point in the panel, two artists working on Yen Press titles – Svetlana Chmakova (Witch & Wizard) and REM (Soulless) – came to the stage to take questions.

Svetlana started by answering what it was like adapting James Patterson’s work. She said it was fun and “a big relief having the story written for you!”. Later someone asked if the artists worked closely with the original creator when it comes to character designs. Svetlana said they do, and in the case of Witch & Wizard, she did several versions of one of the leads until he was just right. She also noted that they don’t generally care so much about the secondary characters but the main characters appearances matching the author’s intent is very important to everyone.

In relation to the adaptation of Soulless, REM said that while she’s new to steampunk, she really likes it. She also enjoys working on Soulless because of all the action sequences she gets to draw. Yen Press noted that the title had been on their radar to adapt for a long time, which included publishing a snippet of their novel in the Yen Plus magazine.

When asked how the transition was between working for Tokyopop to Yen Press (both Svetlana and REM worked for TP), there were some awkward laughs on being put on the spot in regards to publisher vs publisher. However both emphasized how awesome working with Yen Press is for them. They noted Tokyopop’s staff were “very nice”.

And that wrapped up the panel! Shortly after Yen Press posted the news on their own website so feel free to pop over there and leave your comments, thank yous and questions to them directly.

Another week gone by and another stack of lovely new books to read! Lately I’ve been reading a lot of older titles since my haul at Animaritime but this week’s new titles definitely put up a huge fight for my attention (and who am I kidding, they won!).

First up was  the new volume of Black Butler (Vol. 06) from Yen Press. Knowing that the whole curry fiasco is behind us and another mystery is afoot had me extra eager for this book. I was not disappointed! This series is worth  buying for the art alone – such gorgeous Victorian outfits ranging from the wonderful to just plain weird. Throw in some detective work and sexual tension between pretty people and it’s an easy sell.

Much less in-your-face about its charms is the fourth volume of Cross Game. I’ve completely fallen in love with this series – I love the baseball games, the characters, the romance – it’s all good! It’s so relaxing, the kind of book you just want to curl up in bed with and not put down until you’re done. Plus I think I join the many in-story characters who have a crush on Aoba.

Adding two more volume sixes to go with Black Butler, I also bought Rin-Ne (Vol. 06) and Time & Again (Vol. 06). Both are series I have hesitations buying because the volumes have been hit or miss since the beginning. All the same, this is the final volume of Time & Again so I had to pick it up to see how things fare between the leads. Rin-Ne I buy consistently because when it’s good I really enjoy it, the kind of entertainment only Rumiko Takahashi can offer.

Speaking of hit or miss, two books came in the mail this week from DramaQueen - Missing Road and JUNK!. With three books now under their belt since their ‘comeback’ began, I’m ready to give them another chance and take a look at the new offerings. First impressions say the quality of the publishing itself is great but will the content itself hold up?

The big purchase this week was undoubtedly Wandering Son (Vol. 01), however. I’ve been waiting, waiting and waiting (patiently you see) for this book since it was announced. With this description, how could I not?

“The fifth grade. The threshold to puberty, and the beginning of the end of childhood innocence. Shuichi Nitori and his new friend Yoshino Takatsuki have happy homes, loving families, and are well-liked by their classmates, but they share a secret that further complicates a time of life that is awkward for anyone: Shuichi is a boy who wants to be a girl, and Yoshino is a girl who wants to be a boy.”

The book has since been showered with praise and rightfully so for what it is. I absolutely loved reading it and will hopefully have a review done soon to highlight why. As a first impressions note, it’s another hardcover release from Fantagraphics so on publication quality alone you really get your money’s worth.

What was in your swag bag this week?

Welcome to what is definitely the longest Swag Bag to date! Mostly because I completely failed to compile my Swag Bag from last year’s Anime North… None the less! – my recent trip to Toronto was chock full of fun finds, and painful but no doubt hilarious attempts at cramming it all into my suitcases. This post here consists of the manga I bought while traversing the packed streets of Toronto while my TCAF purchases will come in a later post once I’ve finished oogling them enough to write something coherent.

The books listed here were all purchased from either my local Strange Adventures (pre-con buying is important, like eating before going to the grocery store – it helps… I think). The rest with exception of I think 1 or 2 came from what I’m dubbing the manga treasure trove of Toronto – The Beguiling. My thanks to their very accomodating staff! If curious about my other comic shop adventures in Toronto, you can check out the Ontario section of Kuriousity’s Canadian Comic Shop listings.

Now onto the swag!

Like most of my Swag Bag posts as of late, Viz Media dominates the list. Then again why shouldn’t they with the largest output? I’m not complaining though. Starting with a dash of shoujo, I picked up Otomen (Vol. 10) and Arata (Vol. 05). Ensuring I’d need to be extra careful packing my suitcases to drag onto a plane, I also bought Kaze Hikaru (Vol. 05-17) – twelve volumes of a single series in one go is more faith than I’ve given any series before so don’t let me down Kaze Hikaru!

Picking up some series not under the Shoujo Beat brand, but certainly no less dramatic in their own ways, I got Genkaku Picasso (Vol. 03) (the last volume to my surprise!), Dogs (Vol. 04) (because I’m a ninny and bought volume five without realizing I missed four) and Bakuman (Vol. 04) (which looks more like a light novel with the words to pictures ratio – yikes!).

Interesting, unexpected and very delightful finds were the long since out of print Short Cuts (Vol. 01 – 02) by Usamaru Fuyura (who I had the pleasure of meeting there despite my sad shy pacing in circles before working up the nerve to say hello) and an artbook Dragonball: The Complete Illustrations. I had come across this very same artbook in its original Japanese release the day before and now I’m glad I held off buying it since now I have it in English.

Next up was Tokyopop, some bittersweet purchases considering their recent demise. On the upside, three of the four purchases were final volumes of series so that’s three more series completed on the shelf: Roadsong (Vol. 03), CLAMP no Kiseki (Set 12) and Karakuri Odette (Vol. 06). Alas that I can’t say the same for Matsuri Akino’s Genju no Seiza (Vol. 08) which I may never see the end of now. So depressing!

Vertical Inc. offered up some satisfying finishes to soften the blow with the absolutely, fantastically disturbing one-shot Lychee Light Club (signed by Usamaru Fuyura!) and the character-driven science fiction series 7 Billion Needles which comes to an end here at volume four.

But all this snazzy manga buying isn’t complete without a healthy dose of boys’ love. I was pleasantly surprised to find a copy of Oh My God (Vol. 02) published by the unfortunately shutdown Deux Press. Speaking of unfortunately shutdown, I also bought the sadly weird-proofreading-flawed one-shot Croquis by Hinako Takanaga and BLU Manga. The bulk of my BL buys were then one-shots from Digital Manga and all chosen because they’re by creators whose works I’ve enjoyed before: Makoto Tateno’s A Bloody Kiss Tonight, Yukine Honami’s Stolen Heart and Yaya Sakuragi’s Stay Close To Me. I take a big break from the fluff with the second and last volume of Undergrand Hotel.

With not half as much available in English, I was all the more eager to leap a top two Yuri books I’d been looking for. The first was Voiceful – a cute little schoolgirl love story – published by Seven Seas. The second book was another one-shot titled Works from ALC Publishing. It’s a much more mature story about love between older woman – both amusing and classy!

To round off my teetering stacks of how-did-I-fit-these-in-our-suitcases with a few single volume purchases from other companies, I finally (shame on me!) found a copy of Bunny Drop (Vol. 03) from Yen Press. I gobbled this series with my eyes the moment I got home that day because it’s just that good – an absolutely adorable and refreshingly grounded story about a man raising his five year old Aunt.

Deviating a lot in tone and subject matter, I bought the second volume of Digital Manga’s horror series Taimashin (Vol. 02). I’m never blown away when I read this series but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t drawn back again by the gorgeous male main character. What can I say – I’m a sucker for a super pretty guy.

Lastly, and certainly not least, I was happy to pick up some older series – By the Sword (Vol. 01 – 02) from the now defunct ADV Manga and by the same manga artist as Fake and the upcoming Full Moon from Kodansha Comics. Speaking of boys’ love (mentioning Fake means I’ve made a semi-meaningful connection, right?), I purchased the full two volume series of Roureville from NetComics. I’ve had it recommended to me so we’ll see how it fares. I really love the cover though so good start. And then the true lastly, Hayate x Blade Omnibus (Vol. 02) from Seven Seas – huzzah for omnibus!

So these were my purchases over the past two weeks – what shiny things have you added to your bookshelf lately? Anything you’d recommend?

And a new question for folks as we here at Kuriousity try to breath some new life into our review systems – any book here you’d like to see me review? Something you’re curious to learn more about or even something you’ve read and looking compare opinions on (and join a fellow reader in a chat)? Let me know!

For now be sure to enjoy your swag this week :)

RightStuf’s company-specific sale this week is for books from Canadian company UDON Entertainment. Though probably best known to most for their vast assortment of Street Fighter comics, the company has lots of hidden surprises well worth every penny spent on them. RightStuf’s sale offers minimum savings of 30% on the books.

UDON has a few different manga series for kids under their belts but admittedly I’ve yet to check them out. I have read their manhwa though and enjoyed each one for its own particular quirks. My favourite beyond a doubt is Chronicles of the Grim Peddler. So far they’ve only got one volume released but it’s a really atmospheric book about a man titled the Grim Peddler who anchors several alternate tellings of fairy tales.

Getting only one volume seems to be the manhwa curse from UDON though with the same being said for their horror series, Reading Club. While I’m still boggled by some super-tiny, near unreadable lettering the story itself still did a pretty good job setting up some book-related suspense. And how can a horror fan resist that cover?

Speaking of hard to resist visuals, UDON also picked up the publishing rights to Range Murata’s multi-artist compilation series Robot. Unfortunately they were only able to put out volumes four and five but they’re still no less worth owning. The same can be said for Apple, a similar full-colour comic anthology collection from Korea that sports breathtaking artwork. They’re released four volumes so far but you’ll be hooked after one!

Anyone who’s ever picked up or purchased an UDON book simply to stare at the super shiny artwork shouldn’t hesitate a moment to pick up the first volume of their Vent anthology. It’s another large  trim cut, full colour and high gloss artbook chock full of artwork and tutorials from their talented team of regular contributors. The book is in celebration of the company’s 10th anniversary. Lastly (and speaking of tributes), if you’re even marginally a fan of Darkstalkers and Street Fighter, ensure your bookshelves are that much snazzier with their fan tribute books upon them.

You can see RightStuf’s full list of UDON books on sale over on their site.

Seven Seas announced a new license late March (yes, I’m quite late on this among many other neat bits of news!) as the company continues to deliver to the vampire-fandom out there with My Boyfriend Is A Vampire. It’s also their first license of a manhwa title (Korean comic).

“Being beautiful is never easy, especially if you’re an eighteen year old boy like Ryu who is constantly mistaken for a girl because of his delicate good looks. When Ryu stumbles upon strange happenings in the forest, he gets sucked into a world of vampire intrigue and sinister romance that he never knew existed. And he learns that there are worse things than being turned into a vampire: being turned into a girl?!”

The books are being released in 2-in-1 formats which works well considering the series is 14 volumes long according to AnimeNewsNetwork. The first volume is due out this coming October.

So a gender-bender vampire manhwa – it’s got my attention! Out of curiousity it’s on my list of must-reads for Halloween this year.

Manhwa-ga: JinJun Park
Publisher: Yen Press
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Release Date: November 2010

Synopsis: “Irel and Lamia are back on the hunt for the chrism bottles – that is, until Lamia decides that it’s time to part ways. Memories of a solitary past have given her cause to keep her distance from humans, but is she really prepared to go it alone? Meanwhile, Detective Chris’s conspiracy theories lead him to the heart of a secret society called “Crossline.” Can their leader, Ian, truly be who he claims?”

Rolling in with another volume of insane, fast-paced action, mildly incoherent conspiracy theories and zombies created by the blood of religious icons, JinJun Park’s Raiders offers more of the same thrills. Slightly held back by poor reproduction choices, it never the less offers a decent mix of art, though might not be suitable to mass market tastes.

Yen Press’s presentation is something that is fairly standard in terms of fan expectations, with a colour insert and digest sized format, yet didn’t quite work in the series favour. Having read previous volumes, it’s become clear that this series would of benefited in using a larger trim such as Sugarholic’s. Park’s line work is very delicate, using light shadows to add some contrast, yet is sometimes hard to distinguish due to the blurry lines that result from presenting it at such a small scale. This seemed less noticeable in previous volumes, and there are indeed many pages that manage to avoid blurry lines, but there’s enough issues with the printing that I hope Yen Press pays more attention in subsequent volumes. Hopefully, should Park’s work succeed and more of their works are translated, Yen Press will opt to use a larger trim on those releases. Nevertheless, despite all this, the presentation is otherwise excellent, and the artwork remains enjoyable.

While the art is mildly compromised, the story is quite compelling. One might get somewhat confused by the assorted organizations creeping in on Irel and Lamia, as sinister priests, international cults and the oft required mysterious persona employed by the Vatican pop up. There’s a fair amount of information to take in, including some bits about Chris’s past, but the series shines by focusing in on Lamia’s tragic past instead. There are some fairly shocking revelations, including a gruesome scene that happens mostly off panel as Lamia dodges Nazis in World War II. Park presents some scenes that would of made shocking, horrific bits in a Japanese publication, holding back just enough to let Yen Press sneak it past with an Older Teen rating, perhaps due to differences in content regulation in Korea. Even if it happens off camera, the series doesn’t shy away from depicting just how horrific Lamia’s existence can be, something which may be off putting for some readers. Park does a lot to humanize her plight, yet also shows why Lamia is one many should fear, something that foreshadows her choices regarding questing with Irel.

It’s these intriguing characterizations that offset the horror throughout. Lamia is a stoic fighter who does her best to help humanity while simultaneously being their predator. Irel is over eager, unfazed by his new existence and closely bonding with Lamia in a mildly Stockholm syndrome way. And Chris is a maniacal human monster with several surprises up his sleeve that he dumps on his partner and the professor’s daughter. Park’s characters have taken on stronger shapes, guiding us along the occasionally unpredictable plot through some fairly grim moments. The narrative continues to build as Park adds more cards to the situation while the artwork’s skillful body language and facial expressions make for a stark, yet emotional result that would appeal to fans of Death Note’s Takeshi Obata.

The introduction of Vatican flunky and would-be Messiah Ian into the mix ends the volume on a fairly blasphemous note, just in case we hadn’t found all the cannibalism, zombies and gore wacky enough. Park’s spirited, fast paced comic certainly doesn‘t shy away from violence or controversy, hopping from one crazy plot element to the next. These aspects are perhaps slightly more edgy due to Korea having a larger population of Christians than Japan, outnumbering even traditionally Asian religions like Buddhists. This aspect makes Raiders slightly more interesting then the window-dressing crosses and strange representations of Christianity one often encounters in manga. Even if it’s entertainingly nutty in its references to Christianity, it’s clear that Raiders at least has a better idea of the history and concepts involved, and the context makes it slightly more daring.

Despite the issues with presentation, Yen Press’s publication of Raiders should be sought out by those who enjoy their manga very much insane and don’t mind checking out non-Japanese works. Even with its light rendering, Parks inks are solid, with a quality many artists strive for in their delicacy. In keeping itself moderately gory, it opens itself up to a slightly wider readership, making it a decent choice for those who’d like a step between Shonen Jump titles and seinen fare like Berserk and Gantz. Filled with an intriguing cast and an excellent sense of pacing, one can overlook the slight overload of ideas and have a fun time with the title. Hopefully Park will manage to continue to balance the elements well and deliver on the promise established so far in the title.

Review written December 6, 2010 by Andre
Book provided by Yen Press for review purposes

It’s Thursday! And that means new comics were out on comic store shelves yesterdat. There weren’t a whole lot of books I wanted out this week but I still left with a few gems I look forward to jumping into tonight. For consistency’s sake, I’m also going to aim to have these Swag Bag editions up consistently on Thursdays, the day after I buy the bulk of my books. Any I buy other days I’ll save up for the next week’s edition. Can I handle this simple schedule? We shall see!

Two of my current Viz Media favourites came out today – Toriko (Vol. 03) and Pokemon Adventures (Vol. 10) – stories of monsters of very different kinds. I really enjoyed the second volume of Toriko, though I do lament the art on the covers that leaves much to be desired. It’s hard to hold it up to people as say ‘Hey, you should read this!’ and get anything but a funny look in return. This new volume of Pokemon Adventures also marks the start of the new artist. I really loved Mato’s stuff though Satoshi Yamamoto’s look pretty nice upon quick flip through – very similar inking style and layout work, just a notably different lead artist. My real concern though is whose this new girl? Where’s Red and Yellow?! Things got some epic in volume nine! Ah well, we shall see how this pans out.

To round off my small but much-loved purchases, I also picked up the new collected edition of Thor: The Mighty Avenger – an incredibly charming mix of wit and hilarious expressions about the most lovable version of this character Marvel’s ever managed to portray (in my opinion of course). I also bought Dragon Sword and Wind Child, a young adult novel that was one of my absolute favourites when I was a kid so I was excited to get the chance to buy a new edition by Viz Media’s Haikasoru novel imprint.

Also with me today was my roommate who purchased a few extra snazzy books I look forward to borrowing. She bought the last two volumes of Shaman Warrior, a really well illustrated manhwa with epic fight scenes – I can’t wait to see how it ends! I’d forgotten about it for such a long while, I’ll likely go back and reread the earlier volumes first. My roommate also bought a new UDON release, the Darkstalkers manga Red Earth which is done by Mami Otou, the artist for the disappointingly-cut-short manga, Pilgrim Jager. Her art style really suits the characters so I expect this will be a fun read!

How about you? Pick up anything shiny today?

Author: Dall-Young Lim
Manhwa-ga: Sung-Woo Park
Publisher: Yen Press
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Release Date: December 2010

Synopsis: “Mikami may have slipped through the Kaionji Group’s fingers once, but they aren’t to let her escape again! Before she can make her getaway, Saishu of the Shishigami Clan takes out Mikami’s beloved Ferrari, forcing her to face him in a battle. Enraged, Miami readily leaps into the fight, but without a contractee even the fierce Mototsumitama is no match for Saishu’s skillful attacks. Excel watches in tears as her only precious friend is bloodied and beaten… which rouses memories of another person she once held very dear.”

This eleventh volume of Black God pens up with suspense as Mikami is driven to confrontation (they destroyed her Ferrari!) with the sinister duo on her doorstep. At the same time has to look out for Excel who is still suffering from memory loss and now stays on the sidelines as a fearful young child. And as marks the bulk of this volume – violence ensues. And lots of it.

Mikami’s fight quickly becomes a one-sided affair as the fan-wielding enemy starts chopping her up to his pleasure. This guy is pretty darn annoying but he can at least fight. Many readers will find themselves rooting for Mikami simply out of wanting to see the twit she’s fighting get his – thankfully the chapter doesn’t disappoint. The tables are turned and in a very successfully dramatic show of attitude and speed lines. That’s more like it! Much as it was interesting seeing Excel as a child, having her return to her more serious-business-self was a turn of events both completely expected and likely universally anticipated.

Retuning to our leads, a recent trend in this later part of Black God is the sexualization of Kuro. By that I don’t mean she herself is suddenly over-sexualized, however. In fact something I’ve always liked about the series is how it’s starred a young bodied woman with short shorts that never felt like it was loli-pandering. What’s happening now however, is characters are looking at her sexually. Much of it has been very negative, molestation and implication of rape that’s left me more disgusted than most other series have accomplished. And this isn’t even to say I’m disgusted by the story or portrayal, but by the actions themselves within the story. The creators have sufficiently fleshed Kuro out to be an innocent, steadfast young woman who’s assaults become that much more horrific, driven home by the look of sheer terror on her eyes in this volume when she again comes face to face with the most sadistic character in the series so far.

Swinging back to the sexualized but not inherently negative, the scene that stood out to me in this volume the most, to the point I was shocked, was turning the page to see Kuro with her pants removed and Keita’s head between her legs. Say what? While his reasoning for it may be understandable in context, this particular method of approaching it felt so bizarrely forward and borderline obscene. Again, not to the direct fault of the creators but simply in the story itself. Kuro’s expression was sufficiently amusing because her expression probably well-mirrored those of most readers who suddenly find themselves on those pages.

While their training regime offers up some nice downtown and a touch of humor, it’s not destined to last and the end of the volume tears through the cast with as much blood-soaked violence and emotional trauma as the volume opened with. Kuro and Keita are caught off-guard by Aragi and his partner and suddenly they’re in the fight for their lives they thought they’d at least have more time to prepare for. And it’s not pretty. What it is at least is a great show of the writer and artist’s combined ability to make a scene poignant and effectively scary – it’s near impossible not to feel white-knuckled at watching Keita and Kuro get beat down, driven to begging and even contemplating suicide to get away from the tortures in their future at their enemies’ hands.

Suffice to say, this book has some intense moments and it’s favoured well by a wise decision to put some more light-hearted content in the middle of the book to keep it from being an entirely down, dirty and depressing experience. With a focus on the intensity of individual scenes however, this eleventh volume of Black God does successfully feel more engaging than it has in some time. There isn’t an over abundance of plot here to bog things down, just the characters we’ve come to know getting the snot beat out of them and us watching eagerly for them to somehow get out of it. It’s been a while since a Black God cliffhanger has left me hanging but here it successfully does just that. Fight on, Kuro!

Review written December 1st, 2010 by Lissa
Book provided by Yen Press for review purposes

Author: Woo SooJung
Manhwa-go: Kara
Publisher: Yen Press
Rating: Teen (13+)
Release Date: November 2010

Synopsis: “Painfully aware of the fate that lies ahead of Eun-Gyo should either the Shaman or the Bulkirin succeed in their respective goals involving the Seven-Blade-Sword, No-Ah asks Eun-Gyo to run away with him to a place where they can never be found. But Eun-Gyo refuses to allow the world to be destroyed because of her cowardice.”

This final volume of Legend unfortunately compounded all the elements I’ve had issue with for the past few volumes. While in this book many of the recently introduced characters are already gone, or swiftly dealt with, there’s still the leftover resonance of too many characters and most poignantly, too many bad guys. Note: Review contains spoilers for the series

The Shaman and the Bulkirin are confusing, their goals colliding and mixing. Even up to the end I still wasn’t completely sure who was doing what for what (or who). It was always easiest to just focus on Eun-Gyo and her goals – getting home, saving her friends, and now protecting the world – but in this volume it was very evident that she was no longer the star of her own show.

No-Ah is the big player in this finale, out to stop the baddies and save Eun-Gyo from her fate. The volume waffles around with his intentions for a while but his resolution of his feelings towards Eun-Gyo are ever-present. For someone who has always been the brooding, my-show-my-way sort of guy, it’s nice to see him focus so much on one thing we can all actually see. Plus I think for all her annoying tendencies sometimes, Eun-Gyo deserves some saving by this point as she remains a prisoner, awaiting her own death as a sacrifice.

I’m still surprised about Ho-Dong – he was one of my favourite characters earlier on – back when he was still a ‘kid’ – and I was honestly surprised to see him go against the others when it happened. It was successfully depressing when he died here in the last volume and certainly milked all the dramatics it could.

Usually I’m not a fan of the kind of endings utilized here in Legend – total rewind and a fresh memory wipe to allow the characters to start over with one another. But here I actually liked it – it fit and it worked. For whatever reason I didn’t feel cheated by the quick-fix ending, perhaps in part because I was never really rooting for No-Ah and Eun-Gyo as a couple in the first place. Plus, I’ve always thought this was going to get an Escaflowne-style ending anyway, where the two lovebirds were left to stare longingly into a sky that separates them. I much prefer this open-ended but still satisfyingly final ending.

So ten volumes later and here it ends – a magical journey that didn’t always make the most sense, but it had some fun characters and each volume always had individual scenes that were entertaining or suspenseful. Unfortunately the story has gotten more and more convoluted as it’s gone on, starting out as a fairly standard girl-from-another-world-character-fetch-quest and trying to stand out by layering elements of plot it didn’t need. At least in its final moments Legend did what it’s needed to do for a few volumes now, offered up a nice clean slate to leave readers feeling refreshed over suffocated.

Review written December 1st, 2010 by Lissa Pattillo
Book provided by Yen Press for review purposes

Manhwa-ga: JiUn Yun
Publisher: Yen Press
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Release Date: November 2010

Synopsis: “On occasion, life offers an unexpected blessing: a natural talent, a promising opportunity, or even a spot of good luck. But human nature will not be satisifed by simply enjoying the fruits of fate. When greed takes over and man exploits the gifts he has been given, seeking more power, more wealth, more than his share, it can only end in tragedy… a truth Ho-Yeon knows all too well.”

Time and Again is a series I would classify as having one of my favourite story formulas – supernaturally-inclined individuals interacting with episodic characters in varying stories that test human morale and and judgement. This manhwa tends to favour its lead characters more and the secondary short-term characters less, but it’s still offered up its share of just-deserts and suspenseful problem solving when spirits are involved. This fourth volume starts off with another tale of Baek-On and Ho-Yeon doing their work as exorcists to save a dying man but the lessons relearned at the expected expense of their clients carries the remainder of the book into the origins of Ho-Yeon.

Poor Ho-Yeon… he’s such a likable character, very kind and devoted. Thus it’s all the more depressing to read about his back story which is full of his hard-work and sacrifice ultimately leading to his own sadness. The story begins with him already in his adulthood, now left to care for his ailing Mother and his disabled sister. He works as a transcriptionist for a General to earn the money he needs but his employer knows of how skilled a warrior Ho-Yeon is and the money he could make fighting at the frontlines. Convincing Ho-Yeon to join him by hiring a hand for his family and the promise of money to pay for their living, Master Son – who to his credit does genuinely care for Ho-Yeon – takes the young man away to war. Though Ho-Yeon’s intentions are noble, alas it doesn’t mean they are rewarded.

The story ends with Ho-Yeon being saved from a welcoming death by Baek-On and it briefly chronicles their first time working together that lead to their partnership and Ho-Yeon being chosen by a spirit inhabiting a sword. Suffice to say the story up until that point is very sad, both effectively told and sufficiently heart-breaking. Again I say, poor Ho-Yeon. The final chapter of the book returns to present day with a new character and some interesting, albeit confusing, flashbacks.

JiUn Yun’s artwork is very immediately recognizable as manhwa with a style similar to most of that which has been released of Korean comics in English. In comparison though I favour the little differences here such as a tendency to have smaller eyes and less clutter in panels. The hair and clothing designs set the era well and I love the little ornate details used when called for such as a set of sprawled scrolls or decorative wall hangings. The pretty-boy factor doesn’t hurt either though some designs feel a little lazy, slapping some facial hair and a few wrinkles on a stock-design face instead of playing around with different facial structures.

The manhwa that Yen Press puts out is always an extra treat with the larger than average trim sizes. Originally I’d thought this was something they were only utilizing to keep consistent the series they carried over after the acquisition of ICE Kunion titles, but even their newer series, such as Time and Again, are still sticking with the same release style. An added bonus is the full-colour illustration included at the book’s beginning which in this volume offers up a gorgeous image of Ho-Yeon.

This fourth volume read a little too quickly for my liking, feeling considerably shorter with only two distinct stories within it. However learning about Ho-Yeon was as satisfying as it was sad and now even more than before I look forward to seeing more interactions and jobs shared between him and Baek-On in future volumes.

Review written July 15, 2010 by Lissa Pattillo
Book provided by Yen Press for review purposes