Summer reading

For some reason, the internets always seem to serve up lots of good reading on a Friday. Today is no exception.

Top of the list: At Okazu, Erica Friedman discusses her hate mail and then writes a thoughtful essay on what is and isn’t yuri.

Shaenon Garrity’s last few Overlooked Manga Festivals have been about manga that wasn’t very overlooked, but this week she’s back to form with a post about Katsuhiro Otomo’s Domu: The Dreams of Children. By freakish coincidence, I picked up the Japanese edition of this in a secondhand store in Burlington, Vermont, two weeks ago; now I know what it’s about. Thanks, Shaenon!

Fools Gold creator Amy Hadley talks about her new series, Madame Xanadu, at Newsarama. Interestingly, although her art definitely has a manga feel to it, this comic will be published under DC’s Vertigo imprint, not a traditional manga line. And it will be in color. (Via Andre.)

At his blog, The Visual Linguist, Neil Cohn analyzes Mark Crilley’s comment about manga being the comics of a new generation. (Via Journalista.)

News has been making the rounds about a Japanese doujinshi artist who was arrested for publishing obscene material. Naturally, our go-to guy on this subject is Simon (NSFW) Jones, who has an analysis and links roundup at his Icarus blog.

Becky Cloonan was a finalist for the Japan Foreign Ministry’s International Manga Award, and she’s showing off her certificate.

Sweatdroppers Sonia Leong and Emma Vieceli lure teenagers into a UK library.

The publisher Tynsdale House is planning on releasing some Bible-themed manga. I took a look at their previews a while ago and they looked pretty good, although their Flash-heavy website makes it anything but easy to find them. I think the Bible actually lends itself pretty well to the manga style; it’s original stories like Serenity that give Christian manga a bad name.

At the Vertical blog, new blogger Kerim scratches his head over the latest otaku style—bandage chic—and then is informed in comments that it is already passe.

If you’re in LA this week, check out the Little Tokyo Anime Fest: Broccoli will be there!

Reviews: At the Manga Maniac Cafe, Julie reviews vol. 6 of Yakitate! Japan. Miranda reviews vol. 1 of Tetragrammaton Labyrinth at Prospero’s Manga, and Matthew Alexander reviews it as well at Anime on DVD. Sakura Kiss checks out Spicy Hot Life at The Yaoi Review. About Heroes posts short reviews of a handful of manga. At PopCultureShock’s Manga Recon blog, Katherine Dacey-Tsuei reviews vols. 1-4 of La Corda d’Oro. At One Potato Two, translator Satsuma reads the first Kindaichi light novel (in Japanese) just for fun. Michael Aronson thumbs through The Art of Yasushi Suzuki at Manga Life. Holly Ellingwood reviews vol. 8 of Kamui at Active Anime.