March 2011

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Sailor Moon Returns For Love and Justice

March 23, 2011 in Sequential Art | Permalink

By Jeremy Kahn

Starting September 2011 on a bimonthly release basis, Kodansha will be releasing a new print of Sailor Moon. Sailor Moon last saw a run in the English under the TokyoPop label. Eventually the license expired and Kodansha acquired it. Kodansha is moving forward trying to publish manga in the west by acquiring as many catalogue titles as they can. Recently they even acquired the U.S. publisher Vertical as well as buying back many of their title rights from publishers previously licensed them to companies such as Del Rey. In addition to releasing the Sailor Moon run, they are going to be releasing Code Name: Sailor V, a prequel title to Sailor Moon that never saw an English-language release. Sailor Moon was an important landmark in manga and anime as it help spark interest among those at the time who normally wouldn’t be interested in the genre. This among other titles help create the manga/anime boom that eventually came about.

Read the press release from Kodansha regarding this title’s release/re-release.

Week in Comics

March 10, 2011 in Uncategorized | Permalink

Week in Comics

by Jeremy Kahn

The New York Times bestsellers lists are pretty much the same old lists compiled of the same old books from previous weeks. Scattered in a few places though are some new titles sure to grab some attention. For starters, in the paperback graphic books list at number eight is Bone: Quest For the Spark. Bone: Quest for the Spark is not quite a sequel but stays in the same universe created by Jeff Smith in his now famous Bone series. Unlike his Bone series this book starts a whole new series that tells of a new casts’ adventure in a novel form instead of a comic book. The novel itself is written by Tom Sniegoski with Jeff Smith providing illustrations (about 20 full bleed color illustrations in all).

The New York Times manga bestseller list.

The New York Times paperback graphic books bestseller list.

The New York Times hardcover graphic books bestseller list.

Week in Comics: Weekly Article

March 2, 2011 in Uncategorized | Permalink

Week in Comics
by Jeremy Kahn

This week The New York Times bestsellers lists are topped by Naruto, VOL. 50, Scott Pilgrim: Precious Little Life, Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne. Every week The New York Times lists the best selling manga, paperback graphic books, and hardcover graphic books, reflecting sales for each week.

Looking at the paperback graphic book is like looking at a series of reruns with over half the entries on the list having been there for over 40 weeks continuously, and not a one below ten weeks. The reigning champ on the list, being on there for a total of eighty one weeks is Watchmen. If you’ve yet to read this outstanding graphic novel by Alan Moore then you only have yourself to blame (warning: not to be compared to movie).

The hardcover graphic books have quite some interesting items on it. Among which is the classic Mouse Guard. This series harks back to the Sandman comic as in it is comprised of a variety of artists and writers collaborating on the same work (in other words, an anthology).

Returning to the top ten list for Manga sales this week for the 5th week in a row is Fullmetal Alchemist, vol. 24. With series drawing near to a close (having already ended its run in Japan), you definitely don’t want to miss these last few volumes.

The New York Times manga bestseller list.

The New York Times paperback graphic books bestseller list.

The New York Times hardcover graphic books bestseller list.