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.

With Tokyopop wandering around the internet in zombie-form as of late, why not take a positive inspiration from their coincidentally Halloween-themed stunt? RightStuf’s Bargain Bin is full of old Tokyopop titles looking for homes. Time for some grave-digging!

In the holiday spirit, here are some Halloween-flavoured titles from the list for your enjoyment. I own each of these titles and love every one. Whether you want a mature, eerie story like The Embalmer or a liberally translated, hilariously entertaining ghost-seeing BL-laden story like Eerie Queerie!, or one of the many other in betweens, you’ll find each of these titles has its own uniqueness that makes it just right for October 31st reading:

Daemonium (Vol. 01) – $3.99
Eerie Queerie! (Vol. 01) – $4.99
Eerie Queerie! (Vol. 02) – $4.99
The Embalmer (Vol. 01) – $4.99
The Embalmer (Vol. 03) – $4.99
The Embalmer (Vol. 04) – $4.99
I Luv Halloween (Vol. 01) – $3.99
I Luv Halloween (Vol. 03) – $3.99
Mad Love Chase (Vol. 01) – $5.49
Mad Love Chase (Vol. 02) – $5.49
Tokyo Babylon (Vol. 01) – $3.99
Tokyo Babylon (Vol. 02) – $3.99
Zone-00 (Vol. 01) - $4.99

For some really good Halloween reads, I recommend checking back on Shannon Fay’s 13 Days of Halloween posts from last year too. It has a great mix of scary and fun titles to cover just about anything and everything you like about the day.

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.

Sales come and sales go but many online sites have sales on 24/7. EverythingYaoi.com, a site that earns its name, has a handy Clearance section where they list just what it sounds like – items on clearance you can get for up to 50% off the cover price (and sometimes more).

Of the books currently listed, below are my top recommendations:

Going in alphabetical order, the first two books I’d recommend added to any boys’ love shopping cart is Can’t Win With You!. The series is three volumes long and while volume one isn’t on clearance, Can’t Win With You (Vol. 02) and Can’t Win With You (Vol. 03) are with each priced at $4.99/US each. The series is about a cast of amusing, often sexually explorative and teasing teenage boys in an all boys’ school, drawn by Yukine Honami, whose works have been published many times since by Digital Manga. The story itself is written by Satosumi Takaguchi who wrote Shout Out Loud! which was published by BLU.

Two other second-half volumes I’d commend are Passion (Vol. 03) and Passion (Vol. 04). This series has always had a special place in my yaoi-loving heart as one of the first (if not the very first) strictly boys’ love stories to be published in English (excluding Tokyopop‘s early fare in the genre). I remember the day I bought volume one the day it came out… ah the memories and the first of many purchases. The series itself is pretty standard genre-fare but it’s sweet and fluffy and has those great classic cliches of student-teacher relations and starting said relations off on the seriously wrong foot.

Two other Digital Manga series worth adding to your bookshelf from the clearance selection are Moon and Sandals (Vol. 01) by Fumi Yoshinaga and Princess Princess (Vol. 02) by Mikiyo Tsuda. The first is part one of a two book series wherevolume one gets you attached to the characters and the following book proves a steamy follow-up. Princess Princess isn’t really a boys’ love story but pretty boys, teasing and crossdressing definitely makes it an applicable crossover for many fans.

And last but not least, a one-shot from Yaoi Press, the original boys’ love publisher affiliated with EverythingYaoi.com. The book is titled Surge and is a cute love story between a surfer and book nerd. It’s got some funny moments and an adorable art style plus one-shots are always a great cart topper. All in one!

Though these titles are just some of those in the site’s clearance section, it’s also recommended you check out their other sale sections to see what books from different publishers they’ve got on discount as well. Shipping prices can get a little hefty though so be sure to read through the FAQ section when making your calculations. Shop on, boys-love collectors!

eManga has added a bunch of interesting new titles in this latter portion of 2010, notably a handful of new titles from artists outside of Japan, along with a new manga series exclusive to their site.

Most recent, and my most favourite, additions are the first two volumes of Yayoi Neko’s Incubus series. The print edition (currently up to volume three) has been published in its entirety so far by Kitty Media (after being picked up from Bang! Entertainment).

“Demonic beings longing to be human put Judas’ life at stake to possess the unique soul within him. The incubus Lenniel, has sworn to protect and defeat all who threaten the man he loves: the shy puritan Judas. But outside dangers are not all that threaten his human beloved. A painful past haunts Judas, preventing him from trusting anyone, especially Lenniel. This is an enemy the incubus is not sure how to defeat. How does one fight a crippling force that exists within another’s heart?”

I’m a fan of Yayoi Neko‘s work – it has an art style that offers something notably different than the vast majority of boys’ love released in North America (check out her website gallery). The first volume of Incubus also comes with a short called ‘Weapons of Mass Destruction’ (which was released originally by the artist in limited edition ‘floppy’ comic format) about a scientist and the robot he helped create with… well, it’s worth reading to get all the exact details.

Other new titles on eManga include the webcomic BL-hit, Starfighter, a sample edition of the artistically-gorgeous Teahouse (also a web comic) and Mizuki, which is a “never before released” shoujo by the creator of Wedding Peach.

Digital Manga sells its points “using a credit card at a typical rate of 1000 points for $10.”. Looking at a complete volume at 300 points, you’re only paying $3 for the rental (which lasts 72 hours). It’s a great deal for people who love to read a book once, especially when a second rental allows you unlimited time access (so about $6 a book for digital keeps).

While the addition of a variety of talented artists from around the globe is of course great, I also continue to be impressed simply by the amount of cross-publisher work being done with eManga. BLU (Tokyopop), Yaoi Press, Media Blasters and of course Digital Manga, all on one site – it’s quickly collecting all the boys’ love basics (plus some Harlequin thrown in there for good measure?). It’s a shame though that this collection of boys’ love, with its great prices in particular, isn’t able to be utilized on a more mobile platform. Even a digital-meh person such as myself wouldn’t be able to deny this kind of collection being in the palm of my hand instead of trapped on the internet-locked computer screen.

Early September  marked the first issue of Yen Plus in its digital format for subscribers. For only $2.99 a month – which is set up via PayPal – readers now have access to that month’s issue, which also now includes new chapters of K-on and Yotsuba&! (which was reason enough for me to subscribe right off the bat).

In their first issue they also officially launched their search for new talent to be potential new additions to the monthly magazine. At their request, information was kept off other sites to give subscribers the early-bird advantage. As of today however, the information for their New Talent Search has been posted publicly on Yen Press’s site so now all interested and qualifying artists can read the details.

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“…we’re finally introducing our New Talent Search! I know many of you out there have waiting for this, so I hope all the apisiring artists are eager to show off their skills. Additional details can be found (below), but here’s a tip: make sure to show your work to the people around you and get as much feedback as possible to help you finish your story. Having as many “readers” as possible is the key to honing your ability. We can’t wait to see your work! (Ah, and course our search for professional artists continues too!)”

- JuYoun Lee

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CALLING ALL (AMATEUR) ARTISTS!

Are you an aspiring artist looking to make your debut? YEN PLUS is pleased to announce its long-anticipated NEW TALENT SEARCH!!!

Who is eligible: Any artist who has NEVER BEEN PUBLISHED may enter.

What to send: Create a 32-page short story using the page parameters* below:
Size of each page of printed digital art should be 7 inches wide by 10 3/8 inches tall. The live area of each page is 4 5/8 inches by 1 1/8 inches (that is, 1 3/8 inches from the edger of the page). Please keep panels and “important art” within this live area. As long as these proportions are maintained, you may size your pages as you wish.

Deadline: January 3, 2011
If you submission catches our eye, you may receive a contract for publication in YEN PLUS!

Please send your completed short story to:

Please do not send original art as no art will be returned. We will not be able to respond or provide feedback on all inquiries. If we are interested in your submission, we will contact you. Please do not attempt to contact the editors directly.

GOOD LUCK!!

* An image of the layout requirements can be seen on Yen Press’s Talent Search page.

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While this submission call is for never-before-published artists only, Yen Press’s regular submission call remains open and available to read on their website as well.

Author: Tina Anderson
Artist: Amelie Belcher
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Release Date: July 2010

Synopsis: “Romantic ice-age hilarity ensues as young whaler Anituk’s miserable life with doting parents and an oversexed wife-hunting brother is rudely interrupted by the arrival of Abalu, a tall handsome stranger who delights in encroaching upon Anituk’s angst.”

For all the light heartedness of penguin tossing and wife hunting, there is a strong undercurrent of loneliness in this story. The main character just doesn’t feel he ‘fits’ in his world. He comes from such a limited background, so small a circle of influence, it’s no wonder he doesn’t get how he fits in when he’s got only his loving parents and his lusty, wife-hunting brother to measure himself by. Even when he meets Abalu, he still feels on the outside of something important. It isn’t until the snow strands them on their own does Anituk finally understand what he’s feeling and what he wants to do about it.

Anituk’s angst isn’t the only part of the young man that Abalu wants to encroach on! This was definitely an interesting manga. First off, the cover, especially the back cover, is absolutely gorgeous! I love the art. This artist is adept at saying a lot with a few lines of expression on a character’s face. That’s key when so much of the story is told without words. The artist has also done a fabulous job of depicting the snow white-on-white landscape the story is set in. She’s used shading and texture to differentiate between foreground and background, to set the characters firmly in their world and make it easy for the reader to believe in who these people are and how they live.

I like that this is a blend of a tradition I don’t get a lot of chances to read about, and a sweet coming out/self discovery story. I might have been a little upset about the ending. Dubiously hopeful is not quite what I’m after in a little romance, but I understand this is downright cheerful for this author. However, fortunately, for me, there’s a little afterward that satisfied my personal need for happily ever after.

I would absolutely recommend Loud Snow to any boys’ love manga fan who likes a hint of paranormal mixed with angst and dished up with a side of comedy and all presented with beautiful art.

Review written October 31, 2010 by Jaime Samms
Book purchased from LoudSnow.com

Shannon, here – Halloween is my favourite holiday and to honour it I’m counting down 13 manga throughout the month that I think best capture the Halloween spirit. They aren’t all horror manga, as to me Halloween is about more than scares: it’s about a sense of fun and wonder. It’s about discovering that there may be more to this world than meets the eye. So with that in mind, there’s everything on this list from action-packed shounen to romantic-comedy to children’s manga to some lock-the-doors-and-leave-the-lights-on horror. (See all 13 Days of Halloween so far…)

- – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – -

7. Arkham Woods

Seven Seas has a lot of titles that would fit on this list, but one that stands out is the lovecraftian OEL manga Arkham Woods. Kirsti’s mom recently found out that she is losing her sight. In order to pay for the operation, they need to sell Kirsti’s great-uncle’s creepy home. However, that may be hard to do since the house sits on a portal to an ancient and unspeakable evil, a feature likely to scare away potential buyers.

Arkham Woods is a nicely paced horror story. The tension and the weirdness just keep mounting until the climax, where the cast must stop Cthulu himself from taking over our world. The series plays pretty fast and lose with the Cthulu mythos, but it still manages to share its atmosphere of weird, otherworldly horror. If you’re not familiar with H.P. Lovecraft’s works, don’t worry, the manga tells you everything you need to know.

If you want to check out Arkham Woods yourself, Seven Seas has put the entire thing online here.

(In the interest of full disclosure, I want to note that I’ve worked for Seven Seas as a freelance editor. In the interest of self-promotion, I want to note that anyone who likes dark and twisted manga should buy Amnesia Labyrinth as soon as it comes out.)

Far too few and far between when I get to post to about some neat manga-related events going on across the country. Today I was sent an interesting press release from artist Eric Kim, probably known best to manga readers as the artist of the manga-inspired Love As A Foreign Language.

From November 6 to December 18, Eric Kim will be holding hands-on sessions about the creation of Japanese manga with the focus on storytelling through art. These sessions will take place in Toronto and will be 3 hours a class for seven weeks. Enrollment is limited to 15 students.

“Students will be introduced to layout, composition and design for storytelling, staging, anatomy, life drawing, perspective, shadow and texture, inking, toning, lettering, character design, color work, and also an overview of the North American marketplace. Along with comprehensive training both in-class and through assignments, students will obstain training that will start them on their storytelling careers.”

This Manga Dojo is a part of the Toronto Cartoonist Workshop which holds similar classes for all types of comic-making material.

Eric Kim’s Manga Dojo kicks off Saturday, November 6, 2010

TORONTO, ONTARIO – Oct 15, 2010 - Toronto’s own Eric Kim will be bringing his many skills and accomplishments to the table when he takes on the role as instructor in the Toronto Cartoonists Workshop’s Manga Dojo.

The Manga Dojo is a hands-on, practical course – ideal for both beginner and intermediate artists. Students will be guided through the process of story creation and obtain a firm grasp of the fundamental elements involved in the Art of Japanese Manga.

Dates: November 6, 2010 to December 18, 2010
Time: Saturday afternoons 12:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Length: 7 weeks of 3 hour classes
Cost: $350. plus H.S.T.
Location: 486A College Street, Toronto

ABOUT ERIC KIM: Eric Kim has been working in comics and illustration for the past seven years. His book credits include Love as a Foreign Language, Degrassi: The Next Generation Vol. 3, Battle Academy, The Sidesteppers, Streta, and most recently, the Complete Plays of William Shakespeare. As an illustrator, he has worked for numerous book and editorial clients across North America as well as Japan.

Eric’s website is http://www.inkskratch.com. He’s also a smart cookie.
ABOUT THE TORONTO CARTOONISTS WORKSHOP: The Toronto Cartoonists Workshop is a learning environment where aspiring cartoonists can study with working professionals in the North American comic book, webcomics, animation and illustration fields.

Workshops are seven weekly sessions of three hours each and attendance is limited to a maximum of 15 students to optimize individual learning.

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Authors: Dave Roman, Alison Wilgus
Artist: Nina Matsumoto
Publisher: DelRey
Rating: Teen (13+)
Release Date: May 2010

Synopsis: “When Prince Zuko dared to question authority, his father Fire Lord Ozai, banished him from the Fire Nation. Horribly scarred and stripped of everything he held dear, Zuko has wandered the earth for almost three years in search of his only chance of redemption: the Avatar, a mystical being who once kept the four nations in balance. Everyone he encounters believes that this is an impossible task, as the Avatar disappearance a century ago. But Zuko stubbornly continues the search. He must regain his honor, so his question is all he has left.”

Scarred by his Father and scorned by his people, Prince Zuko embarks on a quest to capture the now near-mythicized Avatar to regain his honour and be once again allowed home. Little here will trend new ground for those well-versed in Nickelodeon’s original animated series but superb writing and classy artwork combine to make this book a short but sweet one-shot that any fan of the series should keep an eye out for. Zuko’s Story takes a huge leap forward from the Avatar movie-verse (from where it garnered its inception) by taking a step back to Zuko’s past and doing so with more reminiscent style.

Zuko’s Story comes from most of the creative team who put together the graphic novel adaptation of The Last Airbender, namely the writers Dame Roman and Alison Wilgus working under the thumb of M. Night Shyamalan’s live-action script. Handed a prequel here however, the duo – who’re no strangers to professional Avatar comics – really get to strut their stuff in this more free-reign assignment. And it shows.

The story focuses predominantly, as one would assume, on Zuko and his personality fits the original to a tee. Reading his lines immediately brings his voice actor to mind and it becomes a more engaging reading experience because of it. This really feels like a story about ‘the’ Zuko, and while some may find it lacks anything feeling new because of this, those dedicated to the tried and true original with love the attention to detail including subtle mannerisms and the less subtle rageful outbursts and boo-hoo me angst that marks him both as a good anti-hero and a believable teenager.

The strength of the writing is just as evident when the words flow from the mouth of Uncle Iroh. Rendered here in his movie design with stand-out dreadlocks and notable height, he still feels no less like the Uncle Iroh viewers of the original show had come to love. Wise, patient and a little cheeky, every line he delivers feels distinctly Iroh-ish. That in itself would make this a worthwhile read before going into the live-action movie to serve as a good transition piece between the two versions.

The story begins with Zuko’s banishment and ends with the sight of the Avatar’s revival. In between readers are delivered a combination of Zuko’s anger, self-loathing and refreshingly sincere move towards self-acceptance as he travels the globe. Also, while the majority of the content is a rehash of what the animated series already showed us, there’s also some overlap of elements that are bound to amuse fans and offer some satisfying cameos from characters otherwise absent in the movie-verse.

Nina Matsumoto’s artwork is also in complimentary top-form – it suits the subject matter so well that it’d be fantastic to see more Airbender work from her in the future. Best known for her anime-style Simpsons picture and Del Rey released original series, Yokaiden, here in Zuko’s Story she feels like she found a style that fits like a glove. Elements from the movie design, most notably the revamped Uncle Iroh and Zuko’s wardrobe, are meshed seamlessly with the art style of the original series itself. Nina Matsumoto’s own unique inking style, utilizing heavy strokes and sparse screen toning, really shines – hopefully she had as much fun drawing it as the finished produce suggests she embraced it. Some panels can look a little rushed with sparse details but all-in-all whether it’s the background elements to set a scene or the blazing fires of an enraged Prince, the art shows just what’s required to tell a good story, and with a solid mix of action and emotion, it does just that.

Released in a very slim, no-muss-no-fuss book format, Zuko’s Story still manages to slip in some extra content. At the end of the book there is about a chapters ‘worth of the original script for the book next to the rough pencil drawings. For those interested in the comics-making process, this offers a neat look at the connection between writer and artist and the interpretations of their material. It’s too bad they couldn’t add in the original outline the writers were given too, just to allow readers a quick peek at the process start to finish. As far as the book itself, the cover artwork used is definitely y eye-catching (in a good way) but the back of the book looks like a cheap last-minute throw-together. Not a big deal, just not a very attractive one either.

Despite having the name splattered on the front, Zuko’s Story is a book that doesn’t require any interest or knowledge of the live-action film – in fact, you could despise the live-action film and still enjoy this faithful rendition of the original series. Though some of the film’s design elements are present, they’re so fluently moulded in (and made quite loveable) with the speech and style of Avatar that it all just works. Kudos to the writers and the artist – it may not blow anyone away but that makes it no less worth having on the bookshelf of any avid Avatar fan.

Review written July 22, 2010 by Lissa Pattillo
Book purchased from Strange Adventures

Writers: M. Night Shyamalan/Dave Roman/Alison Wilgus
Artist: Joon Choi
Publisher: Del Rey
Rating: Teen (10+)
Release Date: June 2010

Synopsis: “Waging a devastating war, the Fire Nation destroyed the harmonious balance among the four nations. The Air Nation isNomads are no more, and the Water Tribes and Earth Kingdom are on the verge of collapse. In such dire times, the Avatar, master of the all four elements, is expected to return bring balance to the world. But the Avatar has been missing for a hundred years. When teenagers Katara and Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe rescue a young boy frozen in an iceberg sphere, their lives—and his—are changed forever.”

Word is out and it isn’t pretty – M. Night Shyamalan’s live action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender is a big whopping flop. A rushed plot, inaccurate details and beyond lacklustre acting has left both fans of the show and lovers of movies leaving the theatre in disarray. While the movie may’ve been a spirited stinker, it did at least inspire a few graphic novel adaptations that could yet make a little good of the enterprise. This book, The Last Airbender, is a direct take on the film’s version of the story and cast. Despite being bound by the screenplay of the film, could there yet be hope for this 128 page spin of the fan-favourite series? Eh… not so much.

The book follows a very familiar timeline for those who’ve watched the original animated series. Young water tribe siblings, Sokka and Katara are fishing up in their icy homeland when they come across a huge glowing orb. Realizing someone is trapped inside, they smash it open to release the child within. Swiftly they find their entire village under assault from the Fire Nation, an empire who has moved to take over the world in the absence of the world’s uniting force of balance, the Avatar. The young boy, Aang, is promptly kidnapped by the Fire Nation’s young Prince out to regain his honour, easily deduced to be the Avatar and thusly prompting Sokka and Katara to drop everything to fly off and save the world with him.

The whole story takes a very tell-but-don’t attitude about everything, which is extremely disengaging, making it hard to care at all about what’s happening. From start to finish Katara speaks out the story via first-person narrative in boxes across every page. It does successfully manage to give the story a more personal feeling but also leaves everyone else feeling very disconnected from what’s happening. Most jarring however is the amount of events that take place ‘off-page’ only to be divulged in light detail later, switching the role of the speaker to someone else without any real transition or visual note. How would Katara know all that if she wasn’t – oh wait, Aang is in control of the thought boxes now. And what’s this? Aang disappears! But he’s back and tells us how he was kidnapped. Aang disappears again! But returns to tell us how he was captured… again. And oh no, he’s gone again! Wait, he was just thinking about stuff somewhere but he’s back now. Meanwhile other people were doing other apparently important stuff. It’s painful watching the same formula repeated.

Throughout this short book there are a few other relevant characters introduced and the story attempts to make some relationships happen in this short framework of time. Sokka in particular has not one but two love interests, both of whom he’s seen on page with maybe a handful of times. That boy gets attached really fast. There are several scenes that by concept should be emotionally moving but in execution are just another notch in the book’s ‘stuff’s-happened’ belt – including Aang’s discovery of the death of his people and a Princess’s sacrifice to save the world.

Joon Choi isn’t a name most will recognize coming into this work and there doesn’t seem to be any other books out under her name. Still, she illustrates the book with a fairly evident level of previous illustrative experience. Her art style favours the movie’s visual design more-so than the original material, notably including the white-washed actors on the book’s still-predominantly attractive front cover, and characters are easily recognizable from their live onscreen-counterparts. With delicate featured eyes and rounded features, the female characters are drawn with more consistency and appeal than the males who sometimes suffer from some extra lines on the face that make them suddenly age 40 years and hair that doesn’t know where’s it going, most notably Prince Zuko’s. It is a generally complimenting art style though and one that’s able to tell the story with a combination of action and drama. The amount of detail does waiver throughout the book however when randomly the inking becomes thicker and details more sparsely utilized, making the art look uneven from start to finish plus some pages seem to confuse the reading order of the panels. When it’s good it’s good, when it’s not, well, you turn the pages faster and hope you’ll get back to the good stuff.

Choppy and dull, what proves the most disappointing about this book is that the talent of the creators behind it remains evident, save perhaps the man responsible for the screenplay it was based on. The writers, Dave Roman and Alison Wilgus, are no strangers to creating solid product and the artist shows off some good skill. However all three individuals are strangled irrefutably by the source-material – rushed, monotonous and with so much off-screen ‘oh yeah here’s what I did and-‘ that you can’t help but feel like Shyamalan threw it together before bed one night like a last minute school report. D-, Shyamalan.

Those who liked the movie version of The Last Airbender may in turn enjoy this adaptation of the adaptation but for anyone else, this book sadly isn’t worth the short time it takes to read it.

Review written July 3, 2010 by Lissa Pattillo
Book bought from Strange Adventures

A little change of pace today with a post about something near and dear to my fan-girl heart – fun, colourful comics and Avatar: The Last Airbender! And with so many great Avatar goodies out both recently and on the horizon, expect more ATLA here on Kuriousity coming up!

But today it’s about the comics – or lack there of.

This summer is a treasure-trove of releases for fans of Nickelodeon’s Avatar: The Last Airbender. The live-action film comes out next week and with it comes a string of graphic novel adaptations (the one of which I’ve read so far, Zuko’s Prequel, was fantastic), a special DVD boxset edition of the first season, word of another Avatar animated series going into production, and, perhaps most amazing of all, Avatar: The Last Airbender – The Art of the Animated Series. This… book… is… gorgeous. (On that note, expect my take on the graphic novels and the art book in the near future.)

The art, and sheer amount of research and detail behind it, has always been a huge part of what made Avatar so compelling. It had such a diverse collection of artists supporting it and along with the graphic novels, the artbook and of course the show itself, there was also the collection of short comics included with the DVDs and published in Nickeleon’s now defunct, NickMag.

Anyone who’s read the comics likely knows them as cute, fun, true-to-the-series shorts that highlighted the humour and character interaction. But did you know that there’s a whole treasure trove of comics that never made it to print because of the closure of NickMag? Well neither did I until recently and now I’ved joined the many others around the world looking to Nickeledeon for a printed collection of these comics, published and not.

Over on Facebook (which I don’t use but understand the seemingly boundless power of), fans have created a group called Avatar Fans Who Want a Printed Collection of All The Nick Mag Avatar Comics (name says it all!). Along with links to Nick Mag’s old LJ account – which can be spelunked for preview art of previous comics – they have a few example pages posted, links to some creators and related videos. Some neat stuff there and plenty more out there to check out for those curious about these little gems!

What’s better than ATLA? More of it of course! And with the artbook having apparently garnering very good success (already sadly sold out in most places), the demand for more shiny-Avatar art is obviously out there. Share the idea with friends, spread the word, send a nice e-mail Nickelodeon’s way and let the world know that you want more of the characters we adore with more of the comics we love to read.

Kuriousity’s first embedded-video! Avatar deserves a little break in tradition after all.

Some technical difficulties over the weekend put a bump in my final update regarding Anime North but while I await the retrieval of some material, I notice it’s been a while since we’ve had a news snippet post. Time for some boys’ love loving with news today.!There’s been a few tidbits the past while so here’s a quick round-up of each:

AnimeNewsNetwork is reporting the next Gakuen Heaven manga has been listed on Amazon by BLU (the boys’ love imprint of Tokyopop). The book was also listed in this month’s Preview catalog from Diamond Comics. The company has already released the first two of the Gakuen Heaven books. Based on a boys ‘ love sim game, each book follows the lead character being involved with a different character. The title of this third volume is Gakuen Heaven: Endo ~Calling You~. BLUManga has also posted on their Twitter account that the third volume of Voice or Noise has gone to the printers (yay!).

Yaoi Con has updated its website with a whole look and a bunch of new announcements. This year’s Yaoi Con, North America’s largest convention dedicated to boys’ love, is celebrating its ten year anniversary. They’ve updated their website with guest information – including Hinako Takanaga, Ayane Yamano, Jo Chen and Kano Miyamoto – as well as information regarding returning events such as their AMV contest.

Over at The Yaoi Review, blogger Jennifer LeBlanc has proclaimed June to be Global Boys’ Love Month. Over the month she’ll be covering boys’ love works from creators around the world. Should be lots of interesting stuff to come!

On the note of global boys’ love, there’s some related news to check out on that front as well:

Artist Jo Chen, whose gorgeous painted works can often be seen on the cover of Marvel comics and Buffy issues, has some new independently released books that are definitely worth a look. Firstly she’s completed her first doujin (noted by Yaoi Con) – In These Words. The work is 52 pages altogether and was sold at the recent Fanime, plus will be available at Yaoi Con. Secondly she’s also releasing an art book of her cover illustrations, restricted to only 1500 copies, that she’s selling through e-mail. The book is in Chinese, has 140 pages and costs $45.

Tina Anderson, GlobBL creator whose work include Only Words and the web comic, Whore of Turfan, has a new independently published work coming out with the pre-order date closing in. Loud Snow is  a story of “romantic ice-age hilarity” with art by Amelie Belcher. A digital edition is already available via Kindle with a version soon to be available on eManga. The print edition is coming out this July with pre-orders available for only $8.00.