The Manga Review, 11/18/22

Last week, ICv2 publisher Milton Griepp sat down for a lengthy conversation with Dark Horse Comics’ CEO Mike Richardson. The two discussed the company’s history–particularly its early investment in manga–as well as current trends in graphic novel sales. Among Richardson’s most interesting revelations was that a significant portion of Dark Horse’s business is happening outside of comic book stores. “85% of our sales are found in traditional bookstores,” he notes. “We’ve been told by PRH (Penguin Random House) that we consistently outsell Marvel and DC in bookstores and it’s bookstores that have pushed Dark Horse sales over nine figures.” Richardson also expressed his frustration with the media’s tendency to report Diamond Distributor figures as an accurate indicator of comic book sales. “Last I checked, we had sold almost five million copies of Berserk,” he notes. “Yes, that’s what I said, and we have a number of books that have sold seven figures.  None of them are included in the Diamond market share because we don’t distribute our books through Diamond.”

NEWS AND VIEWS

Jocelyne Allen explains the appeal of Asada Nemui’s Sleeping Dead, a new entry in the growing sub-genre of zombie BL. “I honestly love every page of this,” she notes. “There’s really not a wasted panel, and while I’m not one hundred percent on board with the explanation for the zombie effect, I am here for the actual zombie action. The developing relationship between mad scientist and zombie is fascinating, especially with the bumps in the road as they each discover things about themselves, and I seriously can’t wait to see how this story resolves in the second volume, which came out only recently.” [Brain vs. Book]

VIZ has just added a new Shonen Jump title to its line-up: The Ichinose Family’s Deadly Sins. The story focuses on a middle-school student who’s reunited with his family after an accident wipes his memory. The catch? His family seems to harboring some big secrets from him! The first chapter is available online. [VIZ]

On the fifteenth anniversary of its original publication, Kara Dennison revisits the first volume of Takashi Okazaki’s Afro-Samurai. [Otaku USA]

Congratulations to SKJAM! Reviews for ten years of thoughtful manga, movie, television, and book reviews; that’s a milestone worth celebrating! [SKJAM! Reviews]

Morgana Santilli leads a spirited roundtable discussion of three shojo titles: MARS, Midnight Secretary, and Ouran High School Host Club. [Manga Machinations]

In the latest installment of Multiversity Manga Club, Walt Richardson, Emily Myers, and Zach Wilkerson recap chapters 956-981 of One Piece. [Multiversity Manga Club]

ICYMI: Hagai Palevsky deconstructs Yuichi Yokoyama’s Plaza. “Such a project is perfect for Yokoyama, as a cartoonist who is interested in the temporality and kinesis of comics and completely uninterested in narrative components such as emotion and character development,” Palevsky observes. “It is elevated by his careful balance between the overall simplicity of lines and the density of objects: he does not bother with overwrought rendering, making do with economic recognizability of objects and putting most of his efforts into a ‘clutter’ both tangible and sensory. There is a lot going on in every single panel, but there is always an order to it, a clarity that rearranges the space in the eyes of the cooperative reader.” [Solrad]

REVIEWS

Over at Okazu, Erica Friedman explains how you should read Tatsuki Fujimoto’s Look Back. “Read it slowly. Pay attention to the details,” she advises. “It’s a slim volume, and not terribly complicated in terms of concept. In fact, I’d call this a very typical ‘the second story a manga artist does after their series goes mega-hit and they need to write about creating manga’ manga. But it is loaded to the gills with feels.” Also worth a look: Sarah offers a frank (and fair!) assessment of The Poe Clan‘s second volume, while Bradathon Nu critiques Tatsuki Fujimoto’s newest one-shot Just Listen to the Song. On the capsule review front, Masha Zhdanova looks at three new VIZ titles, while the gang at Beneath the Tangles offer short-n-sweet assessments of Rooster Fighter, The Remarried Empress, and Tower of God.

• Aria the Masterpiece, Vol. 4 (HWR, Anime UK News)
• Avant-Garde Yumeko (Demelza, Anime UK News)
• The Beginning After the End, Vol. 1 (Sara Smith, The Graphic Library)
• Call of the Night, Vol. 9 (King Baby Duck, Boston Bastard Brigade)
• The Fiancée Chosen By the Ring, Vol. 2 (Krystallina, The OASG)
• A Galaxy Next Door, Vol. 3 (Josh Piedra, The Outerhaven)
• Getter Robo Devolution (Megan D., The Manga Report)
• The Hunter’s Guild: Red Hood, Vol. 1 (Sara Smith, The Graphic Library)
• Josee, The Tiger and the Fish (Harry, Honey’s Anime)
• Kaiju Girl Carmelise, Vol. 6 (Krystallina, The OASG)
• Kubo Won’t Let Me Be Invisible, Vol. 4 (Josh Piedra, The Outerhaven)
• Magu-chan: God of Destruction, Vol. 5 (King Baby Duck, Boston Bastard Brigade)
• Nana & Kaoru, Vol. 1 (Jean-Karlo Lemus, Anime News Network)
• A Sign of Affection, Vol. 3 (Sara Smith, The Graphic Library)
• SHOKU-KING, Vols. 1-5 (Krystallina, Daiyamanga)
• The Summer You Were There, Vol. 1 (Eleanor W., Okazu)
• Wandance, Vol. 2 (Sarah, Anime UK News)
• Watamote, Vol. 20 (Josh Piedra, The Outerhaven)