Time for a little link-blogging!
First of all, it’s probably obvious that I enjoyed the Girls and fandom roundtable with the Good Comics for Kids folks over at the Robot 6 blog, considering that I’ve been commenting up a storm. I wanted to be sure to pass on the link, though, because it’s important and exciting discussion. Sparked by the recent spate of fanboy hostility towards teen girl fans of Twilight, the discussion continues and expands in comments to adult perception of the novels and more. Many thanks to everyone at Good Comics for Kids for speaking out on behalf of young female fans.
Speaking of girls and women in comics fandom, thanks to Deb Aoki’s efforts, the Women Make Comics t-shirt is available now (in many shapes and sizes!) at Cafe Press. Profits go to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, the Cartoon Art Museum, and Friends of Lulu. Buy them for all your friends!
Deb has also posted her 20 Manga Must-Sees / Must-Do’s at San Diego Comic-Con 2009 at about.com, which I am linking to mainly out of envy. What a great lineup of events! Special mention must be made of item #3, the Women in Manga panel with JuYoun Lee (Yen Press), Lillian Diaz-Pryzbyl (TokyoPop), Leyla Acker (VIZ), Becky Cloonan, Robin Brenner, and Deb herself. Oh how I wish I could attend!
While I’m making impossible wishes, I’ll also add (in the category of Jobs I Wish I Was Qualified For) Viz Media’s advertisement for a Brand Manager. Check it out for yourselves, especially if you live in the San Francisco area.
As a little post-script here, I’d just like to mention how much I enjoy and appreciate the manga blogosphere as a whole. The bloggers are seriously fantastic and discussion is almost uniformly thoughtful and invigorating. I’m constantly impressed by this community and immensely grateful to be a part of it. I think I’ve expressed things along these lines before, but it bears repeating. Thanks, manga bloggers!
Lorena says
July 22, 2009 at 12:01 pmI’ll admit, I’m not looking forward to the fanboy hate for the Twilight fans. I read the books myself, and while I wasn’t super impressed, I can’t begrudge their fanbase. Vamps have ALWAYS been popular, so just because it’s teenage girls that are excited why should that be any different?
And I wish there was a way to get the Women Make Comics T-shirt in time for Comic-Con! Alas, maybe I’ll order it as my Comic-Con T-shirt this year (each year my husband and I buy a random fannish T-shirt to commemorate our experience). Very cool and it goes to a great cause, too!
I saw Deb’s list and am going to try and attend as much of her suggestions as possible. We’ll see how it all works out with the lines and other conflicting programming (and I SO wish there was a way to be in two places at once, just so I could go to the IKKI party at the Model Railroad Museum!)…
Lastly, I’ve enjoyed the manga blogging community’s welcome since I started in May. It’s a really great group of people. So, I’ll chime in with a “thank you” of my own, too! :)
Melinda Beasi says
July 22, 2009 at 1:08 pmHave a great time at SDCC! I really am envious, so you need to have enough fun for me too! :D
Do you think you’ll make it to the Women in Manga panel? I’m so interested in that one.
Lorena says
July 22, 2009 at 1:21 pmWomen in Manga is one of those on my to-see list. We’ll see — I’m going with my husband, so we try to go to panels of mutual interest. Since it’s early, I’m just hoping we can get to the Convention Center in time for it.
If nothing else, I promise to have loads of fun! And I’ll see about getting up con reports in a timely fashion, too.
Sara K. says
July 23, 2009 at 12:40 amQuite frankly, I find your job more interesting than being a brand manager for Viz. Though I am sure Viz would offer greater financial stability. I can understand why Viz needs a new brand manager – they’re launching Ikki, Haikasoru, Shonen Sunday, and who knows what else.