A few notes on the Christopher Handley case: Matt Thorn had to remove the correspondence with Handley’s lawyers and mother that he posted yesterday; there seems to be a gag order in effect. Before it disappeared, though, Simon Jones caught something:
Interesting clue as to which titles lead to the charges against Handley… the counsel had asked Matt Thorn if they could get in touch with ero-mangaka Henmaru Machino. If you are not familiar with his work, they’re usually quite insane, catering to the most esoteric of fetishes and grotesque imagery in all of manga. But they’re also humorously absurd, astoundingly creative, and bordering on the surreal. Machino is the Magritte of the ero manga world.
ICv2 runs a snippet of the correspondence with Handley’s mom, in case you missed it.
NYC Graphic Novelists has a nice interview with Becky Cloonan, creator of East Coast Rising. She doesn’t really work in a manga style, but it was an important early inspiration:
“As much as I love X-Men,” Becky admits. “but when I read a Shojo comic that’s a little more girly—it’s nice to feel catered to, that it’s a story made for my gender.”
Inflation watch: After years of stability, manga prices seem to be on the rise. ANN notes price increases for some Viz and Dark Horse titles; Shonen Jump manga, which were $7.99 each since forever, went up to $9.99 as of vol. 46 of Naruto, and Shojo Beat titles go up a buck to the same price point. Official statement from Viz:
“Viz Media made the decision to stay consistent with the pricing in the marketplace for this industry, which, in some cases might be a slight increase from previous years.”
Percentagewise it’s not really a slight increase, but Viz books have been a bargain for years so it’s hard to begrudge them. At Comics Worth Reading, Johanna Draper Carlson did an informal survey and concluded that people are going to buy the books anyway. More reactions at Anime Vice and Japanator.
Lori Henderson has more thoughts on mothers in manga at Manga Xanadu.
Gia has video of the Dark Horse panel at Fanime (part 1, part 2).
Erin Finnegan files her con report on Anime Boston for PWCW.
Kaoru Kurimoto, author of the Guin Saga series of novels, which inspired the manga of the same name, has died at the age of 56.
News from Japan: Shinobu Ohtaka, creator of Sumomomo Momomo, is launching a new series, Magi, in the June 3 issue of Weekly Shonen Sunday. Two Flowers of the Dragon, published here by CMX, is ending its run in Japan. Shion no Oh creator Jiro Ando is also starting a new series, Bushido Sixteen, based on the novel of the same name, in Kodansha’s Monthly Afternoon. Canned Dogs reports that the original Dragonball tankoubon has been re-released with a new cover. And today’s news of the weird feature comes from Japanator; it’s the tale of a man who disposed of his dirty manga by tossing it in a rice field—and got caught.
Reviews: Carlo Santos presents his thoughts on a variety of current manga in his latest Right Turn Only!! column at ANN. Brad Rice checks out a handful of Yen Press titles at Japanator.
Lissa Pattillo on vol. 1 of 13th Boy (Kuriousity)
Laura on Absolute Boyfriend (Heart of Manga)
Clive Owen on vol. 26 of Bleach (Animanga Nation)
Erica Friedman on vol. 2 of Click (Okazu)
Bill Sherman on vol. 1 of Detroit Metal City (Blogcritics)
Ysabet Reinhardt MacFarlane on Dogs Prelude (Volume 0) (Manga Life)
Lori Henderson on vol. 1 of Fairy Idol Kanon (Manga Xanadu)
Melinda Beasi on vol. 18 of Fullmetal Alchemist (Comics Should Be Good)
Ed Sizemore on vol. 1 of Future Diary (Comics Worth Reading)
Carlo Santos on vol. 11 of Hayate the Combat Butler (ANN)
Tiamat’s Disciple on vol. 1 of Higurashi When They Cry: Cotton Drifting Arc (Tiamat’s Manga Reviews)
Joy Kim on The History of the West Wing (Manga Life)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 2 of Honey Hunt (Comics Worth Reading)
Julie on vol. 1 of Jack Frost (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Kiara on vol. 1 of Kujibiki Unbalance (Manga Jouhou)
Katherine Farmar on vol. 2 of Mister Mistress (Comics Village)
Danielle Leigh on Object of Desire (Comics Should Be Good)
Emily on Otonari wa XX (Emily’s Random Shoujo Manga Page)
AstroNerdBoy on vol. 12 of School Rumble (AstroNerdBoy’s Anime and Manga Blog)
Phil Guie on vol. 1 of Welcome to Wakaba-Soh (Manga Recon)
Ack! You’re a bit early on the videos; I’ve been having a heck of a time with ‘em (originally it was three 15-minute videos, which nearly broke everything!). Now I have a total of 6 instead, and I’m upping them and posting the whole thing later.
And yes, it is the entire panel, minus a few minutes at the beginning that I missed by virtue of being late ^_^;
I wouldn’t begrudge Viz for the price hike if they used higher quality paper for their print runs. As it is, I think I’m getting an inferior product at the same price (nearly) as Yen Press and Del Rey, which have licenses for manga that are just as good, and much higher quality.
[...] we don’t actually know what manga titles were problematic for Handley, though some have their ideas. So should you be worried about your own manga collection? If there is anything that might possibly [...]
That’s interesting about contacting Henmaru Machino, could some of his work be part of what Handley was being prosecuted for? Or perhaps he is an expert on the artistic merit of translating manga culture into what artistic bigwigs in the west will understand in court?