In the political blogosphere, blogs helped bring down both Trent Lott and Howell Raines. I know that the comicsphere is a lot smaller, but if the right people have been reading us lately, do you think all this manga talk will have a similarly positive effect?
Anyway, yeah, the manga conversation continues. Forager’s comment sections are extremely informative, populated as they are by people who, like Forager himself, (get this) actually read this manga stuff we’ve all been talking about. The debate centers around such issues as the relative variety of style and tone in manga vs. American comics (or even just American artcomics), the quantity of quality (sometimes synonymous with “grown-up,” sometimes not) manga available in the States, the chicken/egg question of manga and its ancillary card games, video games, anime, etc., and more. Go here and here for the conversations, with a brief follow-up and a promise of more by Forager here. (And when you do, ask yourself: why doesn’t Shawn Fumo have a blog?) (And also, Forager, thanks for the kind words: I’d return them, but I’m still too busy laughing about that “Battle Royale: a bargain. Wolverine: a scam” caption.)
Speaking of promises, Jim Henley swears on a stack of bibles that he’s got a post on manga in the oven. A little bird told me what the crux of his argument will be, and it could reframe the whole debate, folks.
Finally, Bill Sherman clarifies where he’s coming from when he approaches manga titles for his new review series. Which only whets my appetite further for his take on Battle Royale…