Here’s a quick run-down of my favorite manga-related posts from the week, plus a few special extras! Danielle Leigh reads volumes 1-7 of Naoki Urasawa’s Monster, then deconstructs Dr. Tenma’s saintliness… David Welsh interviews Sexy Voice and Robo editor Eric Searleman and shines the spotlight on Japan Tengu Party Illustrated, another work by Iou Kuroda… [...]

First things first: if you requested a book from me, it’s in the mail and on its way to you. All of the manga I listed earlier in the week have been claimed, but please stay tuned, as I plan to give away more books in March. Second, thank you to everyone who voted in [...]

Here’s a quick run-down of last month’s most popular posts and reviews: POSTS On Criticism: Why Editing Matters The Best Manga of 2009 The 2009 Manga Hall of Shame Inductees My Manga Wish List for 2010 The Manga Hall of Shame REVIEWS 20th Century Boys, Vols. 1-6 Sinfest, Vol. 1 One Fine Day, Vol. 1 [...]

David Brothers kicks off Black History Month at 4th Letter with a review-essay of Judgment Day, a controversial 1953 comic that earned the ire of the Comics Code Authority… over at Ain’t It Cool News, Scott Green posts meaty reviews of Ultimo, Deadman Wonderland, and Black Jack… fellow Good Comics for Kids blogger Snow Wildsmith [...]

Just a few odds and ends to report… on Wednesday, Dark Horse will be releasing the first issue of Devil, a Western-style comic written and illustrated by manga-ka Torajiro Kishi. The plot sounds a little ho-hum — something about a virus that transforms humans into crazed bloodsuckers — but the artwork has a crisp, noir-ish [...]

Drumroll please! The three winners of this week’s Post-Christmas Giveaway are as follows: Abby won volumes 14-16 of Love*Com; Matthew J. Brady, a.k.a. Warren Peace Sings the Blues, won volumes 18-20 of NANA; and Frey won volumes 1-2 of Rin-ne. Congratulations to the winners, and thank you to everyone entered! I’m suffering from a little [...]

This week’s contest winner is Jen Dunbar, who nabbed copies of A Distant Neighborhood and Summit of the Gods. Congratulations, Jen, and thank you to everyone who entered. Next week is my final Post-Christmas Giveaway, so check back on Monday to see what’s on offer! I’ve been busy this week, posting a review of RE:Play [...]

The folks at Pink Tentacle just posted a fascinating blog entry about mermaids, sharing several arresting nineteenth-century Japanese illustrations. Though a few images conform to Western ideas of what these mythological creatures look like, the majority resemble characters in Rumiko Takahashi’s Mermaid Saga, a collection of claws, sharp teeth, and monster parts grafted onto a [...]