At ICv2, comics retailer Steve Bennett ponders the opportunities missed by the direct market when publishers and retailers turned their backs on manga.
It’s kind of interesting the way compulsive copycats Marvel and DC have studiously avoided learning anything from the success of manga. For example, DC wants to sell Supergirl brand merchandise to little girls but heaven forbid it produces a comic about her that instead of fighting focused on feelings and relationships (and super powered horses of course). Take for example Shonen Jump, the most widely distributed comic magazine in America (it’s easier to list the places where it’s not available). You’d think that by now both publishers would have their own comics out in that format, but the closest either has come is Marvel’s series of one-shot Spider-Man magazines.
David Welsh looks over this week’s new comics and joins the chorus of praise for Fairy Tail.
The latest RightStuf catalog (downloadable here) features an interview with Emma mangaka Kaoru Mori. (Via ANN.)
Tokyopop is upping the price of their mature-rated titles from $9.99 to $10.99, according to this thread at the AoD forum. (Via the Del Rey Blog.)
MangaCast’s Ed Chavez is going to be a panelist discussing the North American anime business at the Tokyo International Anime Fair tomorrow.
Reviews: PopCultureShock’s Chloe Ferguson is the latest reviewer to enjoy vols. 1 and 2 of Fairy Tail, and she explains why people keep commenting that it looks like One Piece: Mangaka Hiro Mashima was One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda’s assistant for a while. Leroy Douresseaux checks in with his take as well. Matthew Alexander reviews vol. 28 of Oh My Goddess, and Briana Lawrence checks out vol. 1 of Pet Shop of Horrors Tokyo at Anime on DVD. Ferdinand is unimpressed with vol. 1 of eV at Prospero’s Manga. At Okazu, Erica Friedman advises you to lower your expectations before reading vol. 1 of Battle Club; then it won’t seem too bad. Michelle awards an A+ to vol. 16 of Tsubasa at Soliloquy in Blue. Tiamat’s Disciple continues a week of CLAMP reviews with a look at The Legend of ChunHyang and Magic Knight Rayearth I. At the Manga Maniac Cafe, Julie takes an early look at vol. 21 of Red River and vol. 29 of Boys Over Flowers.
Great quote from Steve Bennett, thanks for that. I’ve often wondered why marvel and DC don’t adopt some of manga’s successful traits (consistency, variety) but I’d forgotten what serial followers they are… great observation!!
(Mangaka Hiro Mashima was One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda’s assistant for a while.)
I thought that too for a while but I have yet to come across any info that says he was an assistant to Oda or for that matter the names of any of his assistants who work on One Piece. Maybe one of the three untranslated Data Books has more info but I doubt Viz will ever get around to translating them.
Oda himself worked under three other artists (Kaitani, Tokuhiro, and Watsuki) who had series running in Jump before starting One Piece in 1997. Mashima started Rave Master in 1999, in a rival magazine, at a time when One Piece had become a bona fide hit for Weekly Jump spawning an animated series that same year.
I know for a fact that Mashima and Eiichiro both worked together under Nobuhiro Watsuki (so check one stylistically there) but I believe Mashima did toning or inking under Eiichiro briefly before Rave Master…that I’m not as sure of though, so there’s room for some speculation…
I have to say, the $1 price bump will be enough to keep me from buying a lot of those titles…
That may seem lame — but its the truth. When you buy a dozen books at a time, that makes a hell of a difference.
I’m surprised about the Mashima/Oda connection, since I’m big fans of both creators and I feel like I would’ve heard about them working together before. But I can believe it, I guess.
Still, I don’t think Mashima and Oda share more than superficial similarities. I’ve been reading One Piece for years and I’ve rewritten 10+ volumes of Rave Master for Tokyopop, and despite some art similarities and a general dedication to adventure over fighting, you definitely can’t mistake one for the other. Anyone who thinks Hiro Mashima RIPS OFF Eiichiro Oda (I’ve heard that one before) hasn’t read enough of either creator. You CAN’T rip off One Piece—it’s so random and brilliant and unique, no one can make it work but Oda. Mashima’s stuff is much simpler and straightforward, and his characters can’t hold a candle to the complexity of Oda’s. Mashima also employs magic in his stories in a completely different manner from Oda. His stuff is surprisingly romantic, though, while Oda decidedly has no romance whatsoever in One Piece.
Anyway, end rant. I’m just not terribly impressed with all these Oda/Mashima comparisons people are making. The art’s somewhat similar, yeah. Now can we move on?
Oh, I totally agree with you in terms of content; there’s certainly a different vibe from each work. I am of the opinion that they developed some stylistic similarities from spending time around one another, but it pretty much ends there. Not to mention that shonen titles have structural similarities when it comes down to it, so to say that the framework of the stories borrow from each other is a little extreme…