The Halloween weekend saw the appearance of the third annual Long Beach Comic Con (or as it is now known the “Long Beach Comic and Horror Con”), and I am extremely happy to report that it was the best year yet. What clearly sets the LBCC shows apart from its Southern California con counterparts is an actual emphasis on comics themselves, the writers and artists who produce them, and the greater illustrative art world that exists comfortably alongside the sequential medium itself. This is a very welcome and continued...

King City has a long and sordid history.  August marked the first run on King City in what Brandon Graham calls the “burly” 32 page over size book form.  This gives Brandon more space to play with, and that leads to some interesting inserts.  If you aren’t reading this book, you should be.  Amazon has the manga, but your local store might be carrying the Image stuff.  If the story is already written in the manga, which book should you fork over your hard earned internet dollars for? Following our protaganist,...

Any comic book artist, be that professional or hobbiest understands how difficult it is trying to make it and fitting into the ‘normal’ world and our geek world together truly is. Comic Party is a manga that focuses on just that. First let me explain quickly what the Japanese word ‘dōjinshi’ actually means. Well a dōjinshi artist is somebody who draws manga for a hobby or what they do while they are trying to make it famous. Any manga they do produce is often self-published and using the characters of other artist. Comic...

The undisputed master of the Japanese horror manga genre is Kazuo Umezu. Born in 1936, Umezu is part of the generation of artists and writers who grew up in the wake of the devastating atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki followed by the humiliating defeat of Japan in WWII. The generational shell-shock of these events undeniably shaped the future of their work and served as the starting point for what is now the massive Japanese pop culture landscape. Although he had started producing manga while still in high school,...

Now us comic book types, be that manga or otherwise, are often stereotyped to not liking sports and in  fact, being rather allergic to exercise all together. So I thought this manga would be perfect. Not only is it sports based but it is a Japanese manga that is based off an American sport. Football. Eyesheild 21 is a pretty big manga, concluded at a hefty 37 volumes, had a successful anime in Japan and even had a spin off TCG (trading card game) and video games. While American football seems to be an odd choice, even more so...

While thinking about the manga artist group CLAMP, I remembered another manga that I feel in love with early on in my addiction. The manga is known as Cardcaptor Sakura. It follows the story of 10 year old Sakura Kinomoto, who happens to stumble upon an old book. Upon opening the book she learns that she has released many magical cards into her world and she is now a Cardcaptor. Her new role as Cardcaptor means she has to use new powers granted to her to tame the now lose cards and then use the powers for herself. The cards...

I am finally back! After finishing off at university, going to PAX and getting sick while I was there, I can say I am back brining you Manga Monday even though I’m sure most of you skip it. Anyway this week we look at the super popular and slightly odd manga known as Chobits. Chobits was written by one of the most famous groups, known as Clamp. It was started in February 2001 and ran until November 2002 and spanned only 8 volumes. Now Chobits is a bit of an odd one as due to its romantic themes, hapless hero and ‘girly’...

Hey everybody!! Yatah! Hollie here with another MANGA MONDAY!!! No that isn’t true I can’t live a lie. This is Sheldon our good friend Hollie is taking a week off LARPING some place in a Fury costume. Zing see two can play at that! So any who! This week we are going to step away from the norm of MANGA and check out Marvel Comics foray into the wondrous world of Manga! Dubbed the Marvel Mangaverse it was intended to bridge the gap between popular Marvel Comics at the time and Manga , it was published from 2000 to 2002, with...

Manga comes in many different varieties and caters for many different people. This particular manga proves that you don’t have to have a manga 40 books long and an anime that spans 10years to create something with impact and something that you can fall in love with. Paradise Kiss is only 5 books and 12 episodes long. It is by my favourite artist Ai Yazawa and become so popular it was translated into at least 10 different languages. The anime has some amazing music; the opening is called ‘lonely in gorgeous’ and the ended...

Well Manga Monday is once again not on a Monday because I was once again delivering babies. Awesome, I know. If you were living under a rock them you probably didn’t know that Comic Con has just come and gone, which oddly enough gave me my inspiration for this week’s post. A lot of people go to this Con in San Diego, and many others dress up, or doing something we have come to know as cosplay, which you probably could have guessed is a word of Japanese origin. Cosplay is short for ‘costume roleplaying’, where both...

Here is some news from Marvel Animation at this year’s San Diego Comic Con: Fantastic Four: World’s Greatest Heroes moves to Nicktoons with a fall lineup of 26-episodes… some that have not been seen in the U.S. Iron Man Armored Adventures will also be on Nicktoons. Villains include Ultimo, Ghost, the Controller, Living Laser, and MODOK. Angel will become Archangel on Wolverine and the X-Men. Planet Hulk will make a direct to DVD movie in February. I can’t wait for this. Also I am sure Comic Impact staff member...

Right. I have dodged around it for as long as possible but this Manga Monday I am actually going to approach the subject of yaoi and attempt to make it relatively insightful. Yes, I said ‘attempt’. Right. If you actually recall from my very first post, yaoi is Japanese for homosexuality of a romantic nature specific to the male gender (yuri is female homosexuality). It is something that is featured heavily within the anime and manga world, but what always struck me as odd is that yaoi is actually a market dominated by women....

OK I know I am not Hollie and I know it is not Manga Monday, but I’m going to take a few minutes of your time here to talk with you about a new manga that’s due to come out sometime next year from Brazilian artists Fabio Shin and Rafael Kirscher, and writer Ledo Viera. It looks like The King of Child Molestation, Michael Jackson, is going to get his own Manga. Just so you know, this book was apparently in the works before his death (BULL SHIT ). This manga will  explore his dreams and nightmares, his inner conflicts...

In the past Comic Impact readers have seemed shocked to find out that I don’t read comics, even though I write for a comic book website. My answer is pretty simple; I do read comics! Manga is, after all, translated roughly as the word ‘comic.’ I just don’t read western comics. So for Manga Monday this week, we will look at the history of manga and what helped create this style of comic book that is so close, yet so far away, from western comics. Many believe that manga as we know it today developed most rapidly...

In the publishing world it is extremely rare for a graphic designer to become an art superstar in their own right, but this is exactly what has happened to Chip Kidd. Beginning his career in the mid-80’s, Chip Kidd has earned a reputation for his highly innovative book covers for authors such as John Updike, Bret Easton Ellis, David Sedaris, Dean Koontz and Cormac McCarthy. So admired is his work that several authors have a clause in their contract stating that only Kidd be allowed to design their covers. His most well known...

So far on Manga Monday I have discussed the cult classics Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball Z, and odd ones such as Ranma 1/2, the girly ones like Nana, and the action ones such as Trigun. Typically I’ve stayed away from the more popular and mainstream manga but this week we will give it a go. However you can stop reading right now if you expect me, for even a second, to actually discuss Naruto. Instead, I choose Bleach. Bleach is a current and hugely popular manga and anime in Japan, the UK, and America. Like all popular manga it...

Chances are that if you spend quite a bit of time on the internet, at some point you have come across the meme ‘It’s Over 9000′! Did you know that meme originates from one of the longest running mangas ever made? Yes, Dragon Ball started life as a manga in 1984 and ran in the weekly magazine, known as Shonen Jump untill 1995. That is 519 chapters, or 42 books! Since Manga and Anime share a close relationship all 42 books were adapted into a well known,  long running anime that had three different series, known...

Firstly I apologize for not blogging last weekend, as mentioned I am a midwife and I spent last Monday knee deep in amniotic fluid and clunge. So without further delay, lets talk geek…. Manga fans, much like comic book fans, enjoy spending time among their own kind. Don’t say I blame them, nobody but our ‘own kind’ gets us. You know what I mean- your ringtone, t-shirt, and those little in-jokes you make. Yeah only your friends get it. This brings me very nicely to my theme for this Manga Monday which is of course, conventions. It...

Yes, if you are a gamer than chances are you know that E3 is taking place in L.A. right now. Due to this I have decided to make the theme of this Manga Monday about gaming. Now as you are probably aware (you do read my posts, right?) I went to London MCM Expo last weekend and I actually did buy some manga. Yes, I know its hard to believe but I didn’t actually spend all of my money on cocktails in China Town. The manga I bought caught my eye instantly because it is actually the manga version of my favourite video game! Now...

Yep happy birthday to me and because Simon has given me the ability to post what I want, I have decided to share the birthday love. Happy birthday to meeeeee! Hollie ‘Pheonix’ Bennett hollie@comicimpact.com

After debating heavily on what type of manga this Manga Monday should focus on I decided that I should leave the yaoi manga for a little while longer and bring you something a little deeper. This manga was introduced to me very early on in my manga addiction and it’s another that has left a huge impression on me. It started in 1996 and ended in 1997 and only totalled 5 volumes (relatively short in the manga world) yet it still spawned a successful anime, a movie and even live theatre. This manga brings together the simple...

Since I made you read through my suggestion of a Shojo manga last week, I’ve decided to bring you one of my favorite Shōnen mangas this week to balance it out. This manga Started in 1995 and was wrapped up only recently in 2007, with a anime airing in 1997, an animated feature film expected some time this year and was the top selling graphic novel of 2004. This particular manga has a strong steam punk theme as its an outer space meets wild wester shoot meets comedy meets hard core action meets heart aching moments. Yeah...

So spring is creeping upon us and with it comes sunshine, the birds and the bees and all that ‘love is in the air crap’, so what better way to kick off this weeks Manga Monday with than a true romance Shojo manga. This particular manga is one of my favourites and one I digest also most instantly from release. Before you roll your eyes and ignore this entire post, this manga is so popular it has two live action films based off it, an anime series and has sold over 22million copies world wide. Now while this is a romance manga...

So while last weeks recommended manga was fairly new, I thought this week we would look at something slightly more ‘retro’. While modern anime/manga is often summed up through mainstream programs such as Pokemon and Dragon ball Z and have become art forms many people recognize. This week’s manga takes us back to more simple times. This particular manga ran from 1987 to 1996 and was a shoene manga that was one of the first mangas to become popular with anime fans in main stream markets, like America. So this week I bring...

Well I have to apologise before I even begin. I have just returned from Minami con (expect a more in-depth post later this week) which is the UK’s longest running anime and manga convention. Between me and my group of 30 friends we consumed over £1000 worth of food and booze, had hentai parties in our hotel rooms and even had takio drum lessons. So as you can imagine I am not in a great state for any form of communication. Well I digress since this post is supposed to be about manga. After last weeks post into Sheldon’s...

Join Simon and Sheldon and our new ComicImpact staff writer (Hollie Bennett)  as we talk about Manga and what is it and why do we care  about it. This is a episode of ComicImpact you don’t want to miss as we talk about one of the new features. That will be on the site very soon. Simon Daoudi Simon@comicimpact.com DOWNLOAD EPISODE (Right-click and choose “Save As…” and save locally) HOW TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST Thank you to everyone who downloads, subscribes, listens to and tells their comic book stores about...