If you’re interested in writing about comics for a website that already has a sizable readership, there are a number of great outlets looking for contributors. Nola Pfau, Editor-in-Chief of Women Write About Comics (WWAC), took to Twitter earlier this week to encourage writers submit pitches. WWAC has won three Eisner Awards for Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism, and welcomes “pitches from anyone along the marginalized gender spectrum—women, NB, agender, trans men.” You don’t need experience to submit an idea; WWAC prides itself on publishing new voices, and has “a proven track record of training new voices in comics journalism and helping them achieve success at other outlets.” Interested? Take the first step by visiting WWAC’s Pitch Us! page.
Also looking for writers is The Fandom Post, which is in need of an Anime/Manga Reviewer, and Anime Feminist, which is always receptive to pitches.
NEWS AND VIEWS
If you’re curious about Glacier Bay Books’ latest project, click over to The Comics Journal, which has just posted an excerpt from PANDORA, a collection of short stories by Hagiwara Rei. The stories, which are rendered in delicate watercolors, “simultaneously reflect on current events as well as the 10th anniversary of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster.” [The Comics Journal]
Tony Yao reflects on the Cool Japan Fund‘s flawed efforts to promote Japanese pop culture here in the US. [Drop-In to Manga]
Journalist Madeline Blondeau posts a thoughtful reflection on transfeminine desire in Eguchi Hisashi’s Stop!! Hibari-kun. [Anime Feminist]
Get your holiday off to a good start by entering The Manga Test Drive’s Annual Holiday Review Giveaway! The winner will receive a $25 Right Stuf gift certificate. [The Manga Test Drive]
ICYMI: Justin shares his thoughts about “the good, the mixed, and the bad” at Anime NYC 2022. [The OASG]
The latest episode of Shojo & Tell focuses on Wotakoi: Love Is Hard for Otaku. [Shojo & Tell]
The Reverse Thieves name Rumiko Takahashi’s Urusei Yatsura their Manga of the Month. “For better or for worse Rumiko Takahashi’s later series always have a much tighter theme and flow,” Alain notes. “You have a fairly good idea what your going to get in any chapter of Inuyasha or Maison Ikkoku. But Urusei Yatsura feels much more like jazz in its freeform nature. One chapter could be a sexy comedy about aliens, the next is nothing more than a giant set up for a pun with folk creatures, and the next chapter a touching romantic interlude. The only main theme is that the Urusei Yatsura cast are horrible people who are very amusing when they are horrible to each other.” [Reverse Thieves]
REVIEWS
This week’s must-read review is Sarah’s take on The Gay Who Turned Kaiju, a collection of short stories about a teenager struggling to come to terms with his sexual orientation. “Some manga are so compulsive a read that you just have to keep feverishly turning the pages until you get to the end. The Gay Who Turned Kaiju is one of those special titles: well-written and aptly drawn,” she observes. “Even though several of the protagonists are far from sympathetic, especially in the way they treat Takashi, nevertheless they resonate as believable, complex individuals.”
- Aria the Masterpiece, Vol. 5 (HWR, Anime UK News)
- ATOM: The Beginning, Vol. 1 (Kara Dennison, Otaku USA)
- Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?! (Rebecca Silverman, Anime News Network)
- Coffee Moon, Vol. 1 (Brett Michael Orr, Honey’s Anime)
- Daughter of the Emperor, Vol. 1 (Noemi10, Anime UK News)
- Daughter of the Emperor, Vol. 1 (Danica Davidson, Otaku USA)
- Fly Me to the Moon, Vol. 14 (Josh Piedra, The Outerhaven)
- Hirano and Kagiura, Vol. 1 (Sarah, Anime UK News)
- I Can’t Believe I Slept With You!, Vol. 3 (Erica Friedman, Okazu)
- Kamen Rider, Vol. 1 (Megan D., The Manga Test Drive)
- Kowloon Generic Romance, Vol. 1 (Adam Symchuk, Asian Movie Pulse)
- Mahjong Parlor of Love (Rebecca Silverman, Anime News Network)
- The Men Who Created Gundam (Megan D., The Manga Test Drive)
- Play It Cool, Guys, Vol. 4 (Krystallina, The OASG)
- Romantic Killer, Vol. 1 (Renee Scott, Good Comics for Kids)
- The Skull Dragon’s Precious Daughter, Vols. 1-2 (Rebecca Silverman, Anime News Network)
- Touring After the Apocalypse, Vol. 1 (Claire, Beneath the Tangles)
- Unicorns Aren’t Horny, Vol. 1 (SKJAM, SKJAM! Reviews)
- You Like Me, Not My Daughter?!, Vol. 1 (Danica Davidson, Otaku USA)
- Yowamushi Pedal, Vol. 21 (Krystallina, The OASG)