There's brains behind that beauty, I swear.
Deb Aoki gets together with various manga critics and compiles a list of the top manga that the Eisners missed out on. If I had been asked, I'd have submitted for Black Lagoon, Fujoshi Rumi, Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service, and the ever under-appreciated (for its actual intelligence, that is, since it obviously has its fans) Ouran High School Host Club. (You can see my explanation in the homework thread!)
Jason Thompson puts some thought into how manga in North America has changed since he published Manga: The Complete Guide a year and a half ago. The short version: “The immediate answer is, for the worse, obviously.”
Matthew Penney has an interesting essay on nationalism and anti-Americanism in manga-- and you thought everyone was supposed to look western.
On a lighter note, David Welsh talks about 4koma comic strips on Flipped, and plays matchmaker at Precocious Curmudgeon, where he comes up with what might be the quietest couple in the history of manga: Bleach's Chad and Azumanga Daioh's Sakaki. Wow.
And this weekend's homework questions:
1) Name some manga titles (as many or few as you want) that you think deserved an Eisner nomination but didn't get it, and why.
2) What changes have you noticed in manga releases over the last year and a half? Have YOUR manga-buying habits changed?
I have to disagree with the inclusion of the eighteenth and final volume of MONSTER. The storyline just unraveled and lost a lot of its edge. EDEN absolutely needs to be nominated.