I think I’ll wrap up this semester by giving out a few recommendations. I read an awful lot of books, manga and comics, so for a nice bookend, I’m recommending some of my favorite series. As a side note, I’ll probably be more on my main blog from now on, though I’m not shutting OB down just yet.
So without further ado, here are some comic series and manga series to get a reader started. Remember, almost all these series contain mature subject matter, so be cautious if you are easily offended.
In alphabetical order would be the easiest I suppose, so that's what I'll do.
100 Bullets
Azzarello, Brian
A Contract with God Trilogy
Eisner, Will
Transmetropolitan
Ellis, Warren
Preacher
Ennis, Garth
Great Teacher Onizuka
Fujisawa, Tohru
1602
Gaiman, Neil
The Eternals
Gaiman, Neil
The Sandman
Gaiman, Neil
Uzumaki
Ito, Junji
Black and White
Matsumoto, Taiyo
300
Miller, Frank
Sin City
Miller, Frank
Berserk
Miura, Kentaro
Nausicaa of the Valley Wind
Mizaki, Hayao
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
Moore, Alan
V for Vendetta
Moore, Alan
Watchmen
Moore, Alan
Strangers in Paradise
Moore, Terry
Akira
Otomo, Katsuhiro
Bone
Smith, Jeff
Saikano
Takahashi, Shin
Welcome to the NHK
Takimoto, Tasuhiko
Phoenix
Tezuka, Osamu
Blankets
Thomson, Craig
Y the Last Man
Vaughn, Brian
Remember, most of these can be found at either Amazon.com or your local library.
Happy Reading!
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Manga Lecture #7
There is also a sub genre known as hentai. This is quite literally translated as pervert, and it is the label for what you can probably guess. I don’t really want to focus on this genre, as it’s pretty much one of the major reasons manga is frowned upon in other countries. People believe manga is either all for children, or all pornography. (don’t ask me to explain the gap, it’s just there). But it is worth mentioning, simply because it is how many artist make their start.
It’s a bit odd, so let me explain. There is a huge fan base for series in Japan, of which many young artists and writers produce fan-comics, or dojinshi. These fan-comics use established storylines and characters to tell their story, in the way they think the story should go. And while it is nowhere near 100%, many of these “directions” involve sexual relationships, usually in graphic detail. It actually makes a lot of sense. Just look at the fan base for shows here. Lost has multiple characters that fans wish to see hook up, the same can be said for most series produced the world over. The difference is that Japanese fans took matters into their own hands and produced the results they wished for, and sold it as a profit. Dojinshi is actually a lucrative business for some, with many fans following certain doujin artists for their latest release.
I mentioned that many manga-ka (artists and writers) get their start producing these, of which there are many famous examples. Kouta Hirano, the manga-ka of Hellsing fame (one of the more influential series being produced right now) actually got his start producing hentai dojinshis. In terms of how that relates to our culture, imagine if someone like J.K. Rowling or Michal Crichton got their start by writing Harlequin Romance Novels.
Freaky, isn’t it?
But this is the norm inside Japan’s culture. The adult industry, while heavily restricted, is not frowned upon as it is here. This is not to say that normal people like or support it, but they are more tolerant toward the producers of it.
But enough about that.
It’s a bit odd, so let me explain. There is a huge fan base for series in Japan, of which many young artists and writers produce fan-comics, or dojinshi. These fan-comics use established storylines and characters to tell their story, in the way they think the story should go. And while it is nowhere near 100%, many of these “directions” involve sexual relationships, usually in graphic detail. It actually makes a lot of sense. Just look at the fan base for shows here. Lost has multiple characters that fans wish to see hook up, the same can be said for most series produced the world over. The difference is that Japanese fans took matters into their own hands and produced the results they wished for, and sold it as a profit. Dojinshi is actually a lucrative business for some, with many fans following certain doujin artists for their latest release.
I mentioned that many manga-ka (artists and writers) get their start producing these, of which there are many famous examples. Kouta Hirano, the manga-ka of Hellsing fame (one of the more influential series being produced right now) actually got his start producing hentai dojinshis. In terms of how that relates to our culture, imagine if someone like J.K. Rowling or Michal Crichton got their start by writing Harlequin Romance Novels.
Freaky, isn’t it?
But this is the norm inside Japan’s culture. The adult industry, while heavily restricted, is not frowned upon as it is here. This is not to say that normal people like or support it, but they are more tolerant toward the producers of it.
But enough about that.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Manga Lecture #6
I’m going to tackle seinen and jousei together, as while they tend to be large and important in their own right, they tend to discuss the same subjects.
These are the two mature manga sections, where much of the best material (in my own opinion) is created and located. While these often have subject matter meant for mature audiences (sex, violence, gore, cursing, drug use, and a whole host of other crazy stuff), this is also the place where authors tend to discuss religion, philosophy, world views, politics, and other issues that would not be appealing to young boys or girls. The way that seinen and jousei differ is slight, usually resulting in a difference of focus. Both are character and thematically driven, unlike their action counterparts, and both tend to focus more on the grey areas of choice and decision, as aside to the black and white world view presented in shonen or shojo.
There are also several sub genres within the two mature genres as well. Gekiga is a subgenre that can best be described as Japanese style noir and more grounded pieces as well. Detective stories, gangster tales, and common everyday occurrences would fit into these categories, These are almost without fail a serious telling of a story, with little to no humor, and a darker tone. It usually encompassed only what could be found realistically, not the fanciful tales of the other genres.
Shonen and Jousei Manga
Phoenix*
20th Century Boys*
Hellsing*
Nodame Cantabile*
Honey and Clover*
These are the two mature manga sections, where much of the best material (in my own opinion) is created and located. While these often have subject matter meant for mature audiences (sex, violence, gore, cursing, drug use, and a whole host of other crazy stuff), this is also the place where authors tend to discuss religion, philosophy, world views, politics, and other issues that would not be appealing to young boys or girls. The way that seinen and jousei differ is slight, usually resulting in a difference of focus. Both are character and thematically driven, unlike their action counterparts, and both tend to focus more on the grey areas of choice and decision, as aside to the black and white world view presented in shonen or shojo.
There are also several sub genres within the two mature genres as well. Gekiga is a subgenre that can best be described as Japanese style noir and more grounded pieces as well. Detective stories, gangster tales, and common everyday occurrences would fit into these categories, These are almost without fail a serious telling of a story, with little to no humor, and a darker tone. It usually encompassed only what could be found realistically, not the fanciful tales of the other genres.
Shonen and Jousei Manga
Phoenix*
20th Century Boys*
Hellsing*
Nodame Cantabile*
Honey and Clover*
Thursday, April 1, 2010
The Joy and the Pain
Every so often the stars align to make my bank account cry. This year a tremendous number of my favorite authors are publishing books. In fantasy alone, there is a massive list of books coming out, and that’s just from my top authors. That’s not taking into account other authors I read, or even authors in different genres. So far, the list reads:
Jim Butcher - Changes - April 2010
J. V. Jones - Watcher of the Dead - April 2010
Terry Brooks - Bearers of the Black Staff – August 2010
Brandon Sanderson - The Way of Kings - August 2010
Stephen R. Donaldson - Against All Things Ending - October 2010
Brandon Sanderson - The Towers of Midnight - Late Fall 2010
George R. R. Martin - A Dance with Dragons - ?
Then there is this one, which contains a large number of great authors:
Songs of Love and Death – edited by George R.R. Martin – November 2010
The lineup:
-Jim Butcher, "Love Hurts" (a Harry Dresden story)
-Jo Beverly, "The Marrying Maid"
-Carrie Vaughn, "Rooftops"
-M.L.N. Hanover, "Hurt Me"
-Cecelia Holland, "Demon Lover"
-Melinda M. Snodgrass, "The Wayfarer's Advice" (an Imperials story)
-Robin Hobb, "Blue Boots"
-Neil Gaiman, "The Thing About Cassandra"
-Marjorie M. Liu, "After the Blood"
-Jacqueline Carey, "You and You Alone" (a Kushiel story)
-Lisa Tuttle, "His Wolf"
-Linnea Sinclair, "Courting Trouble"
-Mary Jo Putney, "The Demon Dancer"
-Tanith Lee, "Under/Above the Water"
-Peter S. Beagle, "Kashkia"
-Yasmine Galenorn, "Man in the Mirror"
-Diana Gabaldon, "A Leaf on the Wind of All Hallows" (an OUTLANDER spinoff)
Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go console my wallet, which is weeping in the corner at the abuse it’s going to suffer the rest of the year.
Jim Butcher - Changes - April 2010
J. V. Jones - Watcher of the Dead - April 2010
Terry Brooks - Bearers of the Black Staff – August 2010
Brandon Sanderson - The Way of Kings - August 2010
Stephen R. Donaldson - Against All Things Ending - October 2010
Brandon Sanderson - The Towers of Midnight - Late Fall 2010
George R. R. Martin - A Dance with Dragons - ?
Then there is this one, which contains a large number of great authors:
Songs of Love and Death – edited by George R.R. Martin – November 2010
The lineup:
-Jim Butcher, "Love Hurts" (a Harry Dresden story)
-Jo Beverly, "The Marrying Maid"
-Carrie Vaughn, "Rooftops"
-M.L.N. Hanover, "Hurt Me"
-Cecelia Holland, "Demon Lover"
-Melinda M. Snodgrass, "The Wayfarer's Advice" (an Imperials story)
-Robin Hobb, "Blue Boots"
-Neil Gaiman, "The Thing About Cassandra"
-Marjorie M. Liu, "After the Blood"
-Jacqueline Carey, "You and You Alone" (a Kushiel story)
-Lisa Tuttle, "His Wolf"
-Linnea Sinclair, "Courting Trouble"
-Mary Jo Putney, "The Demon Dancer"
-Tanith Lee, "Under/Above the Water"
-Peter S. Beagle, "Kashkia"
-Yasmine Galenorn, "Man in the Mirror"
-Diana Gabaldon, "A Leaf on the Wind of All Hallows" (an OUTLANDER spinoff)
Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go console my wallet, which is weeping in the corner at the abuse it’s going to suffer the rest of the year.
Reading Rainbow WTF
Today I thought I would show you something that has been circulating around the internet recently. Most people remember the show Reading Rainbow, but funnyordie.com has a series running right now about Reading Rainbow’s “banned books”. These are “probably” false, but I have no idea who put this together. If you’ve read any of these (I have, all three of them) then you’ll probably find this hilarious. If not, well, these books being reviewed by children are some of the most heinous and disturbing books around, even if two of them are considered “classical” literature. Enjoy.
Guess I’d better warn you now, these are not necessarily NSFW, but they might be borderline.
“American Psycho”
“Mein Kampf”
“Lolita” (Yeah, this one’s disturbing)
Guess I’d better warn you now, these are not necessarily NSFW, but they might be borderline.
“American Psycho”
Reading Rainbow Banned Book Review #1 - watch more funny videos
“Mein Kampf”
Reading Rainbow Banned Book Review #2 - watch more funny videos
“Lolita” (Yeah, this one’s disturbing)
Reading Rainbow Banned Book Review #3 - watch more funny videos
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Manga Lecture #5
Shojo, on the other hand, are what is known as girl’s comics. They normally center around relationships (and all the sappy, drippy love stereotypes that go with them). They tend to be more about the relationships between boys and girls, or girls and girls. Friendship and love, instead of world saving and action are often what separates shojos from shonen. However, it is a certain type of relationship, one that is not often very deep in interest. Those are usually addressed in senien and jousei manga, simply because of who the shojo audience is made of. It tends to be an age range of about 8-15 year olds, which means deeper points are often lost in favor of cute/romantic aspects. It is not about mature relationships, but rather about puppy love, crushes and making friends.
It also differs from shonen in the way it handles relationships. Often, shonen will have a “love interest” but one that always takes a back seat to the main story of good vs. evil. In shojo, the relationship is often the main storyline, while the action of the plot takes a back seat to puppy love. In all honesty though, shojo is not what you would want to read if you were looking for a deeper, more mature storyline. The characters and reactions are about what you would expect to find in a book aimed at little girls. (Think Sailor Moon)
In addition, the way friendships are developed are often vastly different when shojo and shonen are compared. Shonen will have the “boy’s method” of friendship, where friends are mostly old rivals that have been defeated, brotherly love, etc. Shojo tend to be more childhood friends, classroom buddies and mentor/mentees.
If what I’m saying seems a little stereotypical to you, well, that’s because it is. Shonen and shojo are pretty much what you would think of in America as sterotypes. Girls play with barbies, boys play football. That kind of thinking will explain all you need when knowing what sterotypes you will encounter when looking though either genre.
Though shonen tends to be much larger in scope and sales, shojo has a very large market share. It is avalible wherever manga is sold, you just have to look at the descriptions to understand what type of series it is.
Recommended Shojo (though I’ll admit I don’t know many):
Fruit Basket
NANA
Princess TuTu
It also differs from shonen in the way it handles relationships. Often, shonen will have a “love interest” but one that always takes a back seat to the main story of good vs. evil. In shojo, the relationship is often the main storyline, while the action of the plot takes a back seat to puppy love. In all honesty though, shojo is not what you would want to read if you were looking for a deeper, more mature storyline. The characters and reactions are about what you would expect to find in a book aimed at little girls. (Think Sailor Moon)
In addition, the way friendships are developed are often vastly different when shojo and shonen are compared. Shonen will have the “boy’s method” of friendship, where friends are mostly old rivals that have been defeated, brotherly love, etc. Shojo tend to be more childhood friends, classroom buddies and mentor/mentees.
If what I’m saying seems a little stereotypical to you, well, that’s because it is. Shonen and shojo are pretty much what you would think of in America as sterotypes. Girls play with barbies, boys play football. That kind of thinking will explain all you need when knowing what sterotypes you will encounter when looking though either genre.
Though shonen tends to be much larger in scope and sales, shojo has a very large market share. It is avalible wherever manga is sold, you just have to look at the descriptions to understand what type of series it is.
Recommended Shojo (though I’ll admit I don’t know many):
Fruit Basket
NANA
Princess TuTu
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Manga Lecture #4
Manga, for the most part, is divided into four age categories. These are shonen, shojo, seinin, and jousei. Literally translated, boys, girls, men and women comics. These comics are divided into the categories by a number of different factors. But all of these have certain tendencies they follow. I’ll examine one of these today.
Shonen, boy’s comics, usually have a standard hero story, which is the most common type of manga created. It is a two dimensional story most often, with A great evil vs. a great good that must overcome the evil entirely. Shonen are very much a black and white tale that leaves no room for gray areas; they contain a number of heroes that are all righteous and good, usually down on their luck. The hero is special in some way, with a power or inheritance that singles them out for greatness. They are usually taken under the wing of a sage character, who trains them, and does not appear again until their death scene in the rain, usually killed by the main villain of the series. A young member of the opposite sex appears, which the main character gets on the nerves of. This character is usually the love interest in the story, made up entirely so the author can interject some romance into the plot. (usually boy-hero, girl-love interest). The hero becomes powerful, a leader of people, and inspiration. But as soon as he reaches his peak, the main villain will appear, destroying his hard work. The hero will attack the villain, who proceeds to hand the hero his ass. Thus begins the strength power up. (Think Dragonball Z, and you have the idea). The story arc will end when the hero becomes powerful enough to obliterate the villain, creating peace and harmony through violence. This then begins all over again when the next villain is introduced.
This is not to say all shonen are bad. Many are quite good, though they still have a number of stereotypes they fulfill.
Recommendations for great shonen (though most of these break the convention, that is why I consider them great):
One Piece*
Rurouni Kenshin*
Soul Eater*
Shonen, boy’s comics, usually have a standard hero story, which is the most common type of manga created. It is a two dimensional story most often, with A great evil vs. a great good that must overcome the evil entirely. Shonen are very much a black and white tale that leaves no room for gray areas; they contain a number of heroes that are all righteous and good, usually down on their luck. The hero is special in some way, with a power or inheritance that singles them out for greatness. They are usually taken under the wing of a sage character, who trains them, and does not appear again until their death scene in the rain, usually killed by the main villain of the series. A young member of the opposite sex appears, which the main character gets on the nerves of. This character is usually the love interest in the story, made up entirely so the author can interject some romance into the plot. (usually boy-hero, girl-love interest). The hero becomes powerful, a leader of people, and inspiration. But as soon as he reaches his peak, the main villain will appear, destroying his hard work. The hero will attack the villain, who proceeds to hand the hero his ass. Thus begins the strength power up. (Think Dragonball Z, and you have the idea). The story arc will end when the hero becomes powerful enough to obliterate the villain, creating peace and harmony through violence. This then begins all over again when the next villain is introduced.
This is not to say all shonen are bad. Many are quite good, though they still have a number of stereotypes they fulfill.
Recommendations for great shonen (though most of these break the convention, that is why I consider them great):
One Piece*
Rurouni Kenshin*
Soul Eater*
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