Category — Comics

I’ve just heard about Manga : The Complete Guide which is a new book (set to be released in October 07) written by former Viz editor Jason Thompson. I haven’t flicked through it, but it sounds like a fantastic resource for both newcomers and seasoned readers on the genre.

The book will contain:

• Reviews of more than 900 manga series
• Ratings from 0 to 4 stars
• Incisive, full-length reviews of stories and artwork
• Guidelines for age-appropriateness–from strictly mature to kid-friendly
• Number of series volumes
• Background info on series and artists
• Profiles of the biggest names in manga, including CLAMP, Osamu Tezuka, Rumiko Takahashi, and many others
• The facts on the many kinds of manga–know your shôjo from your shônen
• An overview of the manga industry and its history
• A detailed bibliography and a glossary of manga terms

Jason Thompson has over ten years’ experience as a manga editor, working at SHOHEN JUMP magazine and other publications. His writing has appeared in Animerica and The Comics Journal.

Read an interview with Jason Thompson here

Get Manga: The Complete Guide at Amazon…

Technorati Tags: book, comics, culture, Japanese, Jason Thompson, manga, Manga : The Complete Guide

Fans of Storm Riders will love these two icons sets from The Icon Factory’s Talos Tsui.

Download Storm Rider Characters Icon set from The Icon Factory
(Mac and PC)

Download Storm Rider Swords Icon set from The Icon Factory
(Mac and PC)

Technorati Tags: comics, Hong Kong, icons, Storm Riders, Talos Tsui, The Icon Factory

I just came across the frank, witty and more importantly, damn funny, Asian American comic strip “Secret Asian Man” by Tak Toyoshima.

It’s a cult comic strip, which will launch on 16th July in US newspapers nationwide under syndication service United Media:

“A brilliant artist and wonderfully succinct writer, Tak Toyoshima opens a window on topics that the comics have ignored until now. Most importantly, you don’t have to be Asian to love ‘Secret Asian Man!’ ”

You also don’t have to be based in the USA. I found the strip very clever and as Fallout Central put it, “politically incorrect in a way that doesn’t demean.”

Below are a few of my favourite strips from Tak’s archive. More on his site…

Technorati Tags: Asian American, comics, Secret Asian Man, Tak Toyoshima

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Sweatdrop Studios are a group of over twenty UK-based artists working to create manga-styled comics. In the four years they’ve been around, they’ve produced over one-hundred titles and several anthologies, aiming to produce completely original stories with their own characters and ideas.

Nice to see UK-bred manga flourishing! Buy from Sweatdrop online, or if you live in the UK and create your own comics, join them!

Sweatdrop Studios

Technorati Tags: comics, manga, United Kingdom

Virgin Comics (Virgin of Richard Branson fame) was launched last year and based in India, they bring together creative talent from around the world, tapping into the vast library of mythology to re-invent the rich indigenous narratives of Asia. I wish I had discovered this earlier so that I can catch the complete issues to date of Asian-mythology titles like “Devi” and “Snake Woman“.

However, Virgin Comics has a “Director’s Cut” series where they’ve approached film makers to collaborate with a team of artists and writers, in order to develop an idea, a story, into a comic book and beyond. Their fantastic debut is with John Woo on a tale called “7 Brothers“. If you’re quick, you can still pick up issues one and two, as issue three (cover below) is now in the shops. In the UK, try Forbidden Planet.

Technorati Tags: art, comics, culture, entertainment, John Woo, Virgin Comics

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