Staying home and catching up

First of all, some bad news: I won’t be at NYAF after all. I was really looking forward to it, but with everything that has gone on over the past two weeks, I need to spend a weekend at home with the family. I’ll miss being with you all, but I’m sure that Gia, Deb, Heidi, Kai-Ming, and the PWCW crew will do a great job of covering it without me. Casey, Erin, Ed, Erica, and Melinda will be there too.

Of course, I will be missing Yaoi-Con as well, but Kanara Ty, of the UCLA Asia Institute, gives some background on yaoi and why Yaoi-Con will be awesome.

This week’s big story is the demise of Minx, and in her latest Manga Before Flowers column, Danielle Leigh asks the logical question: Is CMX next?

Lori Henderson is not impressed with Digital Manga’s new online manga service, eManga.

Carolyn Ryder explores the world of yuri at Advocate.com.

There seems to be a lot of talk about moe lately. The Star of Malaysia weighs in, and I think this one sentence captures the whole thing:

It’s a “one-way” word used only to describe emotional attachment to something, not to describe how the object itself is.

The Star also helpfully provides a catalog of moe stereotypes. Over at Manga Widget, Alex Hoffman thinks it is a form of escapism, but admits that can be a mixed bag. (No, that’s not me, it’s a random pic of a moe girl swiped from The End of the World—which, interestingly, posted it as a random pic of a moe girl. Great minds, etc.)

If the commenters are to be believed, the Manga Recon YaoiCast may be more entertaining than the manga themselves.

Jason Yadao analyzes the ICv2 top 25 manga properties list and questions whether Batman belongs on it.

Dave White is struck by the beauty of a page from Honey and Clover, and he can explain why, too.

Chris Mautner has a nice article on Takehiko Inoue, creator of Slam Dunk and Real, at PennLive.com.

Brenda Gregson writes about writing shoujo manga and Hiro Takashi discusses storytelling at Animanga Nation.

Ypulse writer Alli has brief summaries of some recent Tokyopop titles and is looking for suggestions for graphic novels for the middle grades.

Creator Misako Rocks! will be holding a panel and book signing at NYAF. Josh Elder, creator of Mail Order Ninja, will be at the Poughkeepsie Public Library on Oct. 3.

Reviews: Sweetness or moe? Manga Recon’s Erin Finnegan smells more of the latter than the former in vol. 1 of Sunshine Sketch. Jason Thompson reads vol. 1 of Faust at comiXology. Ai Kano reviews the illustration book Flamboyant and Kiki Van De Camp enjoys vol. 1 of Knights at Animanga Nation. Dave White analyzes vols. 1-3 of Dororo at 741.5 Comics. At Comics Village, Dan Polley finds the last story in vol. 3 of Hell Girl a welcome change but not enough to lift the series above formulaic mediocrity. Erica Friedman reads vol. 1 of Tokimeki Mononoke Gakuen at Okazu. Lissa Pattillo whittles down the stack at Kuriousity with posts on Solfege, vol. 6 of Black Sun, Silver Moon, The Aluria Chronicles, vol. 24 of Bleach, World’s End, vol. 1 of Tenshi Ja Nai!!, and vol. 2 of Tea For Two. New reviews at Manga Jouhou: Snow Wildsmith on Caged Slave and The Color of Love, D.M. Evans on vol. 1 of Psycho Busters and vol. 2 of Dorothea, Lissa Pattillo on vol. 3 of Can’t Win With You!, Connie reads vol. 14 of Saint Seiya, vols. 2 and 3 of Honey and Clover, and vol. 13 of The Law of Ueki at Slightly Biased Manga. Julie checks out vol. 5 of Dragon Eye, The Devil’s Secret, vol. 1 of Kyo Kara MAOH!, and vol. 1 of Blank Slate at the Manga Maniac Cafe. Christina Koh reads the unspeakably sweet vol. 1 of Koi Cupid and P-Chan checks out vol. 1 of Monkey High at The Star of Malaysia. Katie Trattner reveiws vol. 7 of Tarot Cafe at Blogcritics. At The Comic Book Bin, Leroy Douresseaux looks at The Arina Tanemura Collection: The Art of Full Moon. Alex Hoffman reviews vol. 19 of Negima and vol. 1 of Eden: It’s an Endless World! at Manga Widget. Oyceter hearts vols. 1-4 of Azumanga Daioh and so do her readers at Sakura of DOOM. Sesho has podcasts on vol. 1 of xxxHoLiC, vol. 1 of Rave Master, and Goth, and text reviews of vol. 10 of The Law of Ueki, vol. 2 of Rave Master, and vol. 2 of Zombie Powder. At the Boys Next Door blog, they’re talking about vol. 2 of The Crimson Spell, Ruff Love, and vol. 4 of Totally Captivated. Michelle Smith reviews vols. 17 and 18 of Boys Over Flowers at Soliloquy in Blue. New at Emily’s Random Shoujo Manga Page: Iinchou no Himegoto, Junai Sensation, LoveHo no Ojousama, Dakara Ore ni Shina yo, and Kiken na Honey. Ferdinand checks out vol. 1 of Fate/Stay Night, Ghostbusters: Ghost Busted, vol. 1 of Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo, and vol. 1 of Black Lagoon at Prospero’s Manga. Tangognat reviews Time Stranger Kyoko. Tiamat’s Disciple shares his thoughts and impressions on issue 3 of Yen+, vols. 1-5 of Revolutionary Girl Utena, and vol. 5 of Heavenly Executioner Chiwoo.

Did you enjoy this article? Consider supporting us.