Twilight Graphic Novel
Come on, you knew this was coming! Entertainment Weekly has a brief article.
I could only make it through half of the first book and I haven’t seen the movie but I’m willing to give the graphic novel a try – if nothing else to avoid the saccharine writing that made me drop the book. I would much rather see Edward drawn like this than read about his “flawless” face.
Here’s what others are saying:
ICV2 sums it up perfectly by stating it’s “the closest thing to printing money that we’ve heard about this year.”
Melinda Beasi counts this as a win but not for the reasons you might think. (link via MangaBlog).
Deb Aoki collects some fan/not-so-fan reactions, plus a poll!
Mobile Comics
Want to read comics on the go? Manga Xanadu reviews some mobile options.
I have none of these nifty devices. Actually, no, I have a DS but it’s currently broken. I have to admit that I’m a bit baffled by the whole reading books on tiny screens bit. It solves a non-problem. Last I checked, books are fairly mobile. You can actually drop a book and not freak out. You can spill coffee on a book and only slightly freak out. I guess burning a book is a little easier than burning a Kindle but I haven’t tested it
Or maybe I’m just jealous of all the cool kids with their iPhones.
For anyone who’s tried the technology – how did you like it? Which device would you go with? What comics do you read?
Best Manga of 2009
2009 is halfway over! Not wanting to finish out the rest of the year The Manga Critic presents the Half-Time Poll: Best New Manga of 2009.
Best of polls are always fun. It got me thinking about the manga that I consider “the best”. Monster is definitely on the list. I have soft spots for Death Note and Absolute Boyfriend, then there’s MW which kind of freaked me out. I don’t have a set checklist of what’s required to earn the title of “What Sadie Thinks is Best” but I do notice that the manga/graphic novels I really like have some things in common.
First, the artwork doesn’t have to be amazing but I do like when people present their own style. For example, the artwork in Nana really floors me because there is such a sensuality in the lanky characters. Just the way they lean against a wall makes me want to run to Tokyo and make out with the whole cast! It transcends the regular safe, shojo knock-kneed teenagers while also using the conventions like watery eyes and androgynous men.
Second, I have to care about the characters. I don’t necessarily have to like them but I do need to care and care deeply. Solanin has no real plot yet the characters pull me through until the end.
Finally, I have to feel some kind of emotional resonance. If a book stays with me, as they say, then I know it was worth reading.
If a manga has all those things, I usually proclaim it my favorite of all time for the week. There is no shortage of great manga out there. Heck, The Manga Critic’s list is 11 books long and it’s only the middle of the year!!! What qualifies a book as the “best” for you?
Spiderman Does Broadway
No, really. Evan Rachel Woods is Mary Jane.
The official website for Spiderman: Turn off the Dark doesn’t offer much explanation. It will be a “new take on the mythic tale”. Oh, and Bono is involved. It’s all so bizarre. But they have made some pretty amazing musicals out of unconventional material. Dr. Seuss. Monty Python. One of my favorite books, Wicked, was adapted to the stage.
So, on the one hand, it could be really great.
On the other hand, Bono.
Tickets go on sale in September. Will you go? If it comes to Oklahoma City, I most certainly will!
In Defense of the Shojo Heroine
When I first met T0hru Honda she was standing in a tent and I was curled up on my couch, searching for something to contribute to the library I had just been hired at. She was an orphan. I had just graduated library school. She needed a home and desperately wanted to please the men who allowed her to live with them. I had just moved through four states and desperately wanted to thrive at my job. We had nothing in common.
Ugh, who is this girl?, I thought. With her cloying sweetness and submissive nature I couldn’t understand why any teenager would want to read her story or worse, emulate her behavior. After all, this was America. Where our women kick ass, take names and would stomp all over Kyo the minute he pulled his pay attention to meeeee routine. Yet, for some reason, I couldn’t give up on Tohru anymore than she could give up on Kyo.
After a few volumes, I wasn’t just hooked on Fruits Basket, I was hooked on the shojo heroine. A couple years later when I first served on the Great Graphic Novels for Teens committee I would go to bat for women like Nana’s Hachi. The yasashi girl. I would admire these qualities in the young women that attended my monthly anime club meetings. They were a new generation, defining feminism and rearranging the cultural norms to fit their ideals.
So what makes the yasashi or “don’t rock the boat” girl so unappealing to our American sensibilities? Is it the idea that by bending to those around her she somehow gives up her individuality? But, these days, how overrated is individuality anyhow? What I notice is a woman who takes her strength from herself then offers that to her friends, her lovers, her parents and her community at large. The shojo heroine consciously makes the choice to be better every day.
It doesn’t always have the most obvious benefits to the character. Hachi’s romance with that jerk Takumi is an example of an unhealthy relationship perpetuated by Hachi’s “weak” sense of self. Yet, she stays for her child which is a much better reason than that of “strong” Nana who stays with her trainwreck Ren simply out of fear.
When standing beside a shojo heroine the ultimate goal is happiness for everyone. If they are happy, so will she be happy. And that, is not a bad thing. Yes, there are complications with the formula and I would have a hard time telling anyone to be as submissive as some of these characters are – yet, I can see how the shojo heroine would thrive in America if she were just given a chance. How her spirit can help pull others up and challenge everyone to be their best.
.
The End of Shojo Beat? – Update rumor confirmed
Oh man, this rumor sucks – Shojo Beat Ending » Comics Worth Reading.
Update - rumor has been confirmed.
Is it true? Is Shojo Beat ceasing publication in July???? First I can’t get my subscription to Yen Plus to come nor can I get anyone at Yen Press to respond and now Shojo Beat is leaving?
I wonder what the rationale is. Considering that most of the shojo titles that land on the NYT Graphic Books bestseller list are SB series you would think they would really try to keep the magazine going. Are times this tough?
Does anyone know of any campaign to save the shojo?
The other thing that bothers me is that, according to the blog post, I’ll get Shonen Jump for the duration of my subscription. Ummm, I didn’t sign up for SJ. I don’t WANT SJ. There is absolutely nothing of interest (besides maaaayyyybeee Bleach) in there.
Now I’m off to try and get someone to talk to me about my Yen Plus subscription….again.
UPDATE – in case you care, apparently I was supposed to have gotten my first issue Yen Plus issue this month but I didn’t…grrr. Anyway, July’s issue is supposed to be here by June. We’ll see. I left a snarky comment on their blog which I now feel kind of bad about…
Top 5 Manga Characters I would Hang out with In Real Life
I would really love to know fictional characters in their day to day lives. Mainly cause it would probably mean my day to day life was way more exciting. Here’s my top 5.
1. L – Death Note Sure Light might be charismatic and good looking. But L had a mystique and an intensity that made you wonder just what was really going on his head.
2. Ginji Amano – Getbackers His partner-in-crime Ban has better hair and is smoother, it’s true. Still, Ginji has such a big heart that he’s probably a better friend.
3. Nana O. – Nana Make me cool Nana!!!!
4. Yuko Ichihara – xxxHolic I just want to hang out with her to find out where she gets those amazing clothes.
5. Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin – Ouran High Host Club Getting two gorgeous, scheming men for the price of one – sign me up!
Why “Sex and the City” should never be a template
I don’t hate Sex and the City so much as squirm uncomfortably when it comes on. Although, I don’t exactly change the channel. Because some things are funny and because I feel the need to figure out just what the hell people mean when they declare themselves “a Carrie” – as if it’s a badge of honor. There’s no denying the show made some kind of cultural impact but my god, enough already!
Then you get this:
We fight crime and have bad taste in men - tee hee!
There’s a lively discussion going on over at Comic Book Resources about the new Marvel Divas that promises to be:
“Sex and the City” in the Marvel Universe, and there’s definitely that “naughty” element to it, but I also think the series is doing to a deeper place, asking question about what it means…truly means…to be a woman in an industry dominated by testosterone and guns. (And I mean both the super hero industry and the comic book industry.) But mostly it’s just a lot of hot fun.”
Wow. Really? A lot of hot fun? Cause last I checked working in a male dominated field wasn’t so much “hot fun” as “cold shoulder” but whatever. It may actually be an interesting endeavor with a terrible pitch. After all, one of the reason I really like X-Men is because the interpersonal relationships are more fleshed out than, say, Batman.
But here’s why they shouldn’t use “Sex and the City” as a template or model.
1. The endearing quality of Sex and the City was NEVER about the characters as they appeared on paper. If you were to describe each of these characters most women would cringe. An aging sex kitten who uses her sexuality to get ahead in her career to little or no success? But the actresses who played these characters gave them heart, a silliness or awareness that I think translated to the screen. It wasn’t the characters themselves women related to but the what the actresses made them.
2. Fashion is central and spandex is soooo not there. Spandex has never been there.
3. Sex and the City is inherently irritating to most people. The grating whininess of selfish women will get on even the most “a Charolette”’s nerves. So this series can’t last very long.
4. Sex and the City wasn’t hot fun. If they really want to use the Sex and the City model then the sex needs to be awkward, drunken and hidden by strategically placed bed posts. Lame.
So I’m not against giving the Marvel superheroines romantic lives or exploring the concept of “what being a woman means” (barf, ok I am against that because it’s somewhat insulting to suggest that being a woman means constantly surrounded by this weird mystique that separates you from the “norm” despite being half of all populations in the world) – sorry, ok back on track – I’m not against Marvel Divas (oh god the title is just terrible, worse than Minx) -
One more time here, I really and truly am not against this idea. But please please Marvel do NOT use the Sex and the City template. If you are going to go that route, take note that all of the City ladies were a B cup or smaller.
Though a really interesting side story might be the decision to get surgically altered to better fit into the superhero world…
#amazonfail
Ah, the power of the internet. Or rather, the people behind the internet. I’m in love with how information, rumors, photos, speculations, data and fears move so quickly through so many anonymous lives. Then, when something like this happens how people band together to use the internet not only to react but to change minds.
It all started when author Mark Probst wrote on his blog about a curious incident in which all of his novels (which contain homosexual characters and themes) began disappearing from the sales rank numbers. That’s a problem because those numbers are used to generate lists and in turn those lists are used by consumers to purchase books. So…what’s up?
Here’s the answer he received when inquiring about his numbers:
Uh, no, you don't. -picture from Rocko's Modern Life, Nickelodeon
“In consideration of our entire customer base, we exclude “adult” material from appearing in some searches and best seller lists. Since these lists are generated using sales ranks, adult materials must also be excluded from that feature.
Hence, if you have further questions, kindly write back to us.
Best regards,
Ashlyn D
Member Services
Amazon.com Advantage”
Uh huh. Let’s be clear. Mark Probst novels are not ’steamy’ enough to be considered erotic and even if they were… In fact, as he points out, his novel The Filly is meant for young adult readers. But this post isn’t about how ridiculous or unfair the whole ordeal is – this is about what people did about it. What you can do about it.
Twitter exploded. Adding the hashtag #amazonfail to the end of their tweets, the public expressed their anger, shared updated news and blogs. The result, Amazon answered with this:
I’ll pause while you laugh. If you really want to continue the Amazon onslaught add #glitchmyass to the end of your tweets.
How does this effect the graphic world? So far, it hasn’t appeared to, which isn’t surprising. The amount of young children carried into Watchmen proves that the general public still thinks books with pictures are for kids. Yaoi and explicit graphic novels still have their sales rank as do Alex Sanchez and Nancy Garden -two young adult writers who focus on gay themes. Though a quick last check reveals that Alex Sanchez’s brilliant Rainbow Boys lost its ranking.
And it looks like it probably won’t ever spread. This censorship was cut off in a matter of hours!
Will there be another movement? One that pushes for Amazon to reinstate the “glitch”? Probably but I don’t see it being that strong. Usually the first outcry is the loudest, the strongest. Having something taken away from you is a powerful motivator and this weekend, we took it back.
On that note, get pumped about the power of the people with The Getbackers! Then read some yaoi – I’ve heard Red Blinds the Foolish is really good. Also, if you want a great overview of the situation plus updates plus blacklisted titles and shocking titles that still stand – check out this Jezebel post. – link via Precocious Curmudgeon.
Ban Erotic Comics?
Sometime around fourth grade, tucked in the school library, someone discovered the holy grail of titillating children’s literature. Judy Blume’s Forever made the rounds. My girl friends and I half giggled-half marveled at the “naughty” parts. Finally, an adult caught on and I believe the book was moved to the highschool library. But I never forgot it and when I entered highschool, I reread the book. It was still just as steamy as I remembered but this time I had a deeper understanding of a teenager’s sexual awakening and I appreciated the story. It never crossed my mind that the images I imagined might be considered child pornography had I drawn them on a page.
The U.K. is trying to pass a bill banning all “erotic” comics featuring “children”. (link via Journalista)
What’s the difference I wonder? Why are we so afraid of visual images? Is it because the privacy is gone? That we can sit on a subway and read Judy Blume without any glancing over our shoulder and being able to see into our mind’s eye?
Look, I’m not defending child pornography. I’m just seriously questioning if an artist’s expression can be considered as such. Who is harmed in Alan Moore’s Lost Girls? Can we track down Wendy Darling and ask her to testify against the evil man who gave her a sex drive?
The article states that “The Ministry of Justice claims that the Bill is needed to clamp down on the growing quantity of hardcore paedophilic cartoon porn available on the internet, particularly from Japan.”
Ok…so this is about the internet? Good luck clamping down on that.
I’m not a big fan of sexual explicit comics. However, I believe that free speech allows creators to draw what they want and readers to read what they want. I’ve personally never seen a “hardcore paedophilic cartoon” but I’m sure they exist. I will never buy one. I would never purchase on for the library and yes, I might think differently of you if I caught you reading one.
If fact, I might worry that reading those sorts of comics might lead to actual criminal acts. But this isn’t 1984 and we can’t prosecute artists for the effect they may or may not have on someone.
Am I missing the point? Should the bill pass? Maybe not in it’s current state but should the country of England find a way to ban hardcore erotic images featuring children?
