Found In Translation: ‘Berry Dynamite’ and ‘Golgo 13’

This is the first Found In Translation column, a new feature focused on finding the best Japanese manga we in the West may not be reading just yet.

Comics Reviews: 1/18/2010

Comics Briefly

Heroes 4 Haiti: Comic Creators Organize Disaster Relief; Archie Inks Deal with Random House; New DC Weekly Comic Aimed at Gamers; Perez and Wolfman Together Again; Children's Charity Teaches Comic Creation; This Week @ Good Comics for Kids and This Week @ The Beat

Vertical Acquires New Tezuka License

Vertical, Inc., an independent publisher of Japanese science fiction, crime fiction, and manga, will publish Ayako, a newly licensed work created by the late, acclaimed manga-ka Osamu Tezuka, in October.

Panel Mania: Popgun Vol. 4

"Hamburgers for One," by Frank Stockton is a 24-page story taken from the latest volume in Image Comics’s ongoing Popgun series, an anthology of full-color comics. Popgun Vol. 4 also features work by Jock, Jeffrey Brown, Erik Larsen, and the cover is by Ben Templesmith. The anthology will go on sale on February 24.

A Shelf of One's Own: Shelving Graphic Novels in Bookstores

As graphic novels of all kinds make their way into the general bookstore market, issues of shelving and categorization have become more important. And with more literary works like Stitches, Fun Home and Asterios Polyp in the general bookstore marketplace—serious works of nonfiction/memoir and literary fiction—the question of just where a graphic book should be shelved has become a trickier proposition.

Out of Body Experience: Dash Shaw’s ‘Body World’

For those who followed BodyWorld as it appeared on Dash Shaw’s website from 2007 to 2009, it will come as no surprise that the book version, to be released by Pantheon in April, is out of this world. To those who haven’t read Shaw’s work since Bottomless Bellybutton, it just might blow your mind.

Disney Mum on Marvel Integration

New Year’s Eve 2009 saw the House of Ideas become the House of Mouse as Marvel’s stockholders approved the $4.3 billion purchase of Marvel Entertainment by Disney. Under terms of the agreement, Marvel shareholders received a total of $30 a share in cash plus approximately 0.7452 Disney shares for each Marvel share they owned.

Asterios Polyp Wins Fourth Annual PWCW Critic's Poll

Once again, a graphic novel exemplifying comics' ability to uniquely treat the themes of literary fiction has topped PW Comics Week's annual critics poll. David Mazzucchelli's long-awaited Asterios Polyp got the most votes, with six.

2009: The year in Manga

2009 was not a good year. In fact, many people are calling it the worst year ever. But in 2009, manga finished out one of its best years yet. More sophisticated content founds its way to American readers—and by way of the Internet, no less.

Abrams Collects Woody Allen Comic Strip

Woody Allen may be most famous as an actor and director, but he also had an eight-year run as the star of his own syndicated newspaper comic strip, Inside Woody Allen, that ran from 1976 to 1984.

Children's Comics Reviews: 1/4/2010

Hope Larson's Mercury, Jake Parker's new Missile Mouse and a new offering from Toon Books highlight this month's graphic novels for younger readers.

Comics Reviews: 12/21/2009

Starred reveiws of books from Justin Green, Gahan Wilson and Larry Marder plus a new manga by
Jun Mochizuk and a new Hellblazer original graphic novel.

New Books from Old: Turning Classics into Comics

Graphic novel adaptations of classic and contemporary prose works have surged in the past few years as more publishers explore ways to create book-length comics that can be used to encourage literacy and can also function as legitimate works of art in their own right. The earliest comic adaptations of classic prose works were Classics Illustrated, started in 1941 by Albert Kanter.

Smith's Rasl Explores Science and Formats

Bone creator Jeff Smith's eagerly awaited new story Rasl hasn't just been an entertaining yarn, it's an experiment in exploring publishing formats for specific book markets. Smith is best known for Bone, his bestselling kid-oriented fantasy-work. But Rasl, about a scientist turned art thief who builds a device to travel to parallel universes, deals with more adult themes and topics, fusing noir, scientific ideas such as string theory, and Native American symbolism.

Starstruck Shines Brightly Once Again

The cult classic comic Starstruck—well ahead of its time when initially released in 1985—has found a new life at IDW. An SF series that spanned galaxies and influences, Starstruck began as a stage play before its initial publication in Heavy Metal Magazine, later finding homes at Marvel’s Epic imprint and Dark Horse.

December Comics Bestsellers

Books 3 and 4 of Jeff Kinney’s hyrid comics and prose Diary of a Wimpy Kid series take the top two spots followed by R. Crumb’s Book of Genesis. Next is comics Viz’s Vampire Knight and Harper and Tokyopop’s comics adaptation of the Warriors series. Naruto is #6, followed by Bloomsbury’s Logicomix and Yen Press’s manga adaptation of Maximum Ride volume 2.

Joe Sacco Returns to Palestine

In his new book, Footnotes in Gaza (Metropolitan Books), Joe Sacco returns to the Gaza Strip to look into the shrouded history surrounding two little known and brutally violent events—massacres of unarmed Palestinian refugees by Israeli troops in November 1956—that took place in the towns of Khan Younis and Rafah.

A New Brooklyn Comics (And Graphics) Show

Organized by Dan Nadel, publisher of indie comics publishing house PictureBox, and Gabe Fowler of comics shop, Desert Island, the Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Festival was a whirlwind of intense comics activity and relentless crowds of fans that jammed the exhibition space at Our Lady of Consolation Church in Williamsburg despite the miserable weather.

Lobo Rocks Out with Ian and Kieth

Though Scott Ian has enjoyed a career in the entertainment industry that’s spanned over 25 years, the longtime Anthrax guitarist, TV personality and poker pro had never managed to meld his lifelong obsession with comic books into his work. So when DC Comics approached him about writing a mini-series, he knew he had to jump at the opportunity.