Bought volume three of Black Hammer, read it this evening, and, given that the final issue publishes in two weeks, am debating buying the final individual issues. Damn this is a good series, I cannot recommend it enough.
Going through Jack Kirby’s fourth world at the moment and it maybe my pick for best totalitarian allegory Cosmologically in superhero comics
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A group of cartoonists have published an open letter to comics festivals against Amazon/ComiXology. The letter can be read here. Personally, I think this a very impressive letter as, if I am not mistaken, these festivals are very important to most artists as a vital means of income, networking, exposure, etc. I know this thread is primarily devoted to what we are reading but I thought folks would appreciate this.
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Finally got a copy of Emily Carroll’s When I arrived at the Castle at Small Press Expo this weekend and cannot recommend it enough. The most beautiful, creative, and unnerving horror comic I have possibly ever read. An experience similar to reading Angela Carter for the first time. I cannot wait to return to this book over and over and over again. I really cannot recommend it enough to y’all.
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Volume 3 of Head Lopper came out this week and it continues to be an incredibly fun, wildly colored sword and sorcery tale but now has a pretty interesting deeper plot/lore at work than just lopping heads. Highly recommend the series to anyone who wants a fun fantasy fix.
The Way of the House Husband came out last week and this is a hilarious story about an ex-yakuza guy very earnestly living his true life as a house husband. The character relationships are wonderful and hilarious, and the cross between mundane acts and old mannerisms are great.
Also started Delicious in Dungeon (Dungeon Meshi) and I love these good adventurers eating their way through a dungeon.
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Delicious in Dungeon is so good! I have been anxiously awaiting the next volume. I really hope you enjoy it.
I have been on the fence about The Way of the House Husband in that I am concerned that the premise and type of jokes I have seen on Twitter are going to eventually run out. Would you say the first volume sets up a somewhat interesting/charming story?
Yeah that’s my concern. Feels like a lot of comedy manga/anime. Where they have one really funny joke but like that’s it? I’ve seen it the worst In like one punch man
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I encountered this problem with the first volume of Skull-face Bookseller Honda-san (and was actually choosing between it and House Husband at the comic store on Friday); the book has a pretty interesting premise—Japanese bookseller in the manga/comics department—and it has received a lot of attention online because I think there is an anime or series of shorts online but I found it was sort of repeating the same jokes about halfway through the volume. It lacked a greater context; you don’t see anything of the characters’ lives or deeper personalities it’s just them in the bookstore reacting to a visitor for the most part. There is some pretty nice insights as to how a Japanese bookstore operates and some funny gags (a foreign dad cluelessly trying to buy his daughter an adult manga) but then it hits repeat as we get different zany customers and overstock/out of stock situations. I mean, I have no idea how one makes a successful comedy manga/comic but I agree with you that a lot seem to have one note they love to hit.
I’ve read more of the manga through scanlations. While the comedy is ultimately focused around him still being very yakuza in a civilian life, I feel there’s also a lot of heart and sincerity in the story and that’s the charm for me.
Also he’s incredibly supportive of his wife and they’re very cute together. That’s always nice to see. I don’t remember there being any relationship drama at all.
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Thanks! I am gonna see if I can check it out at my local library.
No problem!
I haven’t read Skull-face Bookseller Honda-san but I watched the anime when it aired. The story was originally a series of autobiographical comics posted on pivix about someone who worked in a bookstore and eventually everything was collected into a manga. Later episodes get into the ups and downs of customer service and other details about the book industry. I enjoyed the anime, but I can also see it working better as a short-form anime than a manga.
Added Head Lopper to my hold list, it looks very good.
Agree about Delicious in Dungeon, it deserves all the praise its been getting over the years.
As for me, still reading Tezuka. The Buddha series was a wild ride and I ultimately liked it. More of an adventure story than I thought it would be with a huge cast of characters and a lot of drama and tragedy. I guess I was worried it would be too preachy? Or too reverential of the the subject to interesting. But it wasn’t.
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First time posting! Just worked my way through the thread, writing down books to check out as I went. Good looking stuff.
This year I read through all of Barefoot Gen by Keiji Nakazawa and am currently working through the third volume of Shigeru Mizuki’s Showa: A History of Japan 1944-1953. Barefoor Gen was definitely a little repetitive, as far as storytelling goes. A lot of recapping (probably for the benefit of new readers during it’s serialization) and single-mindedly focused on it’s core subject matter of anti-war, anti-nuclear proliferation (though for good reason). Overall, however, I found it super engrossing and it was great to read a shonen story with a setting that’s so grounded, and with a main villain so abstract and difficult to pin down that is exists more in the actions and thoughts of people than embodied by them.
Perhaps my favorite book from this year has been On a Sunbeam by Tillie Walden, whose work is fantastic. An all-ages queer space romance that is beautifully illustrated and has very mood-focused coloring. The colors are so rich you can smell the ink coming off the page. (The whole thing is available online, as well, if you’re on a budget.)
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Showa is AMAZING, a great look at Japanese history and interesting autobiography intertwined in a very compelling way. I wish more history was told in this style; personal memoir intertwined with a look at the historical context of those events. I need to get around to reading more of his work!
I’ve been reading Showa as well, just finished the third volume. It’s a lot to take in. The shift between a more documentarian, dispassionate description of the war and his own personal experiences works for me.
Two volumes of Head Lopper came in, it’s a good book, my initial take is a mix between Conan the Barbarian and Hellboy.
Also noticed vol 4 of Monstress is out.
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Yay! Glad you enjoyed Headlopper!
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Thanks for the reccomend! Volume 1 has a very nice guest cover gallery…even a Mike Mignola (author/artist of Hellboy)
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Nonnonba by Shigeru Mizuki.
Autobiographical manga about his childhood in rural Japan, takes place around 1931.
There is some overlap with his other series, Showa, but this is much more focused on that specific part of his life.
Liked this book a lot: the magical realism, the drama mixed with humor, his art style, which is a mixture of stylized and realistic.
Love the character of his father, who is portayed as a goofball and dreamer but also a suprisingly great source of wisdom and support.
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