Precocious Curmudgeon

There’s a wonderful interview with Del Rey’s Dallas Middaugh (conducted by Dirk Deppey) over at The Comics Journal. Middaugh has considerable experience in and knowledge of the manga publishing industry, and he's a really engaging conversationalist. The combination of these qualities results in memorable quotes like these:

On Random House’s cautious entry into the manga market and the resulting hit ratio:

“Those titles went on to sell in good quantities, and bookstores responded appropriately, so even though we were beginning with just a fraction of the output that Tokyopop and Viz were offering, we entered the market with an immediate clout that might not have been available otherwise.”

On offering a diverse line of titles:

“If we only bring over titles that we know there is a demand for, how will the readers be exposed to anything new?”

On the possibility of a “manga bust”:

“It happened a little over a year ago, but it was relatively minor, didn't make that much of a bump and didn't really get noticed by many people outside the industry itself. What you have to understand is that the novelty around manga has largely worn off; it's still got a respectable rate of growth in sales, but not the 150-percent rate that you saw three or four years ago. It's now largely perceived as a category of book sales like any other, like mysteries or cookbooks.”

He and Deppey talk about super-heroes, age ratings, Diamond, scanlations… I could go on, but you should really just go read it yourself. (Extra points to Deppey for adding relevant links to the text, not just to archival TCJ material but to other sites as well.) Or you could buy the print edition of TCJ that’s due out tomorrow and also enjoy interviews with such individuals as :01’s Mark Siegel, Top Shelf’s Chris Staros, Fred (Megatokyo) Gallagher, Chynna (Strangetown) Clugston, and many others.

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I can’t really do justice to the excellence of Naughty Ninja’s thoughtful examination of Ai Yazawa’s Nana over at Bento Physics. Again, just go read it. It’s spectacular. And go read Brigid’s response over at MangaBlog.

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Oh, I’m so relieved. I thought there was some kind of… I don’t know… estrangement, or something. It was unnerving, because they had seemed to be so in synch, and then… well… nothing. But not to worry… they’re back together and as close as they ever were.

Oh, high-speed, wireless internet, how did I ever live without you?

Well, okay, I managed fine, but it did make surfing easier over the weekend.

I had lots of fun checking out the Hikaru No Go anime at Toonami Jetstream. It seems like a solid adaptation of the manga, and there’s some nice voice work. (As I may have mentioned, voices are often the death of an anime for me. None of the voices in the HNG clip made me want to die… or kill.) Of course, the last thing I need is another excuse to waste time on the web, but hey, I have to check these things out. It’s my responsibility as a nerdy blogger.

The high-speed also made putting together this week’s Flipped a whole lot easier, what with e-mails and web pages to sift through to try and find the manga highlights of this week’s San Diego Comic-Con International. Multiple windows used to send my computer into a state of deep malaise and lethargy, but it was positively sprightly this time around. (To be honest, MangaCast has been doing such a good job covering manga at SDC-CI that my efforts are entirely superfluous, but likely superfluity has never stopped me before.)

Because I know you're all dying from suspense, I'll let you know that the pesto risotto turned out really well.

What I ended up doing was leaving the onions out of the risotto and using a couple of extra cloves of minced garlic instead. With the pesto, I cut way back on the oil, just adding enough to make it a thick paste rather than a sauce. Then, when I added the last of the chicken stock to the rice, I added the pesto paste as well so it would break down in the stock as it was all getting incorporated.

I probably should have stopped the cooking a little earlier so the risotto was a little soupier, but it tasted really good. We had it with grilled chicken.

I’m so glad Television Without Pity is recapping Top Chef. Keckler, the recapper, seems to have contempt for exactly the same people I did as I watched it, which is always a good sign. It’s a nice way to pad out their offerings during the slower summer months and give me something to read between episodes of Project Runway and that utter train derailment, The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency. (I know I should try and better myself and rise above entertainments that basically just point the camera at the crazy person, but have you seen her?)

Speaking of Project Runway, I think it’s off to a good start. Michael Kors seems to be taking a somewhat higher dosage of anti-depressants than usual, which is unnerving, but Nina Garcia fails to conceal a smirk better than anyone else on television, Tim Gunn is adorable, and there’s something inexplicably delightful about watching Heidi Klum having the time of her life. Oh, and the contestants are okay, but I’m really just in it for the hosts and judges.

(On Klum: does anyone else suspect that she has a line tattooed on her thighs that only appears under ultraviolet light but lets designers and tailors know exactly where her hem should fall? Because it’s always the same, whether it’s a skirt or a top over slacks, and it’s always at an impeccably becoming length. “It’s not that I don’t trust you, Michael, but please just use the light as you pin the hem, okay?”)

Okay, now to the real reason behind this post. I made some really good pesto the other weekend, and I want to make it again (because we have tons of basil), but I want incorporate it into risotto this time. I’m thinking that I should just mix it in at the last minute when I would have added the grated parmesan, as it probably wouldn’t do too much for the basil to actually cook it. Has anyone out there made pesto risotto, and can you offer any suggestions as to timing or proportions?

David Taylor contemplates some thoughts from Queenie (The Dreaming) Chan on just what the hell shôjo means anyways. Or at least what shôjo means outside of its original context, as a way to identify itself to its target audience.

Both note that the shôjo-shônen categorizations aren’t especially useful, as there’s considerable crossover in terms of audience as books are licensed and translated. Queenie cites Naruto as an example of a theoretically shônen title that seems to have about a 50-50 male-female ratio in its audience. (She could just have easily used Fullmetal Alchemist or Fruits Basket, which certainly can’t sell as well as they do by only appealing to one gender.)

Chan raises an excellent question in response to all of the recent examination of feminist (or anti-feminist) principles in shôjo manga:

“My point is: are you sure it's a ‘shoujo’ thing, and not a ‘genre’ thing? In my experience, most romance stories aren't teeming with strong role models, male OR female. I've read both shounen and shoujo romance, told for both male and female audiences, and I've NEVER felt like imitating any of the people in most of them them. A typical romance story is a fantasy in itself - it's not meant to simulate real-life relationship issues. A story that simulates real-life relationship issues isn't a ‘romance’ story; it's in another genre altogether. Most teenage girls are aware of this.”

It’s a nice echo of Dirk Deppey’s description of manga (and by extension shôjo) as a meta-category, though I don’t think the selection of shôjo available in English nearly reflects the diversity that apparently already exists in Japan. It would be great if it did, obviously, because “shôjo” need not be synonymous with “romance,” as Queenie suggests.

I put together a poll for MangaTrade the other day, asking responders what categories of manga they’d like to see more of now that shônen and shôjo already have such well-established footholds. Looking back on the options, I see a lot of room for improvement, as I muddled genre and target demographic together as choices. Because just as there are mysteries and adventures and romance stories, there are josei, seinen, shônen and shôjo variations on all of those genres as well. And asking people if they want, say, more josei titles doesn’t really indicate what kind of stories they want to read. I’ll be more specific next time.

And this, I guess, brings me to the part of the lunar cycle where I ramble on about shelving by genre instead of demographic and integrating graphic novels in with prose. As David T. puts it:

“Am I the only one that thinks selling books by genre, you know historical, fantasy, comedy, rather then girls books and boys books makes more sense. You know the idea that we can read a story because we happen to like the topic without the false idea that it should be targeted at the opposite sex.”

I find that to be absolutely true. I also like the idea of graphic novels filtering in with the genre-sorted prose books so that you can find Kindaichi Case Files with the mysteries and Fun Home with the autobiographies and Castle Waiting in fantasy and so on. It’s already happening to a limited extent, particularly in the young adult category, and I fully expect the practice to expand over time.

But I would be lying if I said I wanted to see an end to the graphic novel sections of bookstores, because it’s so convenient for a manga omnivore. I like seeing Absolute Boyfriend next to Antique Bakery, Nana next to Naruto, and Bambi and Her Pink Gun near Boogiepop. It’s at least partly a result of my own laziness, but I also find a certain democracy to the genre-blind, alphabetical system. There’s a cumulative effect to seeing all of those different kinds of books side by side, and I find it pleasing.

Yesterday’s trip to the comic shop led to coincidental purchases that got me thinking about Reese’s Cups, of all things. I bought the new issue of Hero Squared (written by Keith Giffen) and the The Cryptics (drawn by Ben Roman). I enjoyed both, but it occurred to me that Giffen and Roman might be two great tastes that taste great separately.

You see, I really didn’t like I Luv Halloween (Tokyopop). Both Giffen and Roman are tremendously talented, and I think it depressed me to see their talents serving a story that I found so excessively violent, crude, and mean-spirited. I know there’s an audience for it, as it’s one of the better-selling OGM titles, but wow, that audience did not include me.

So from an entirely selfish perspective, I’m glad to see them working on projects that are more to my liking.

Hero Squared #2 is a lot of fun, and I’m always a sucker for stories that bring psychiatrists into the realm of super-heroes. (My all-time favorite would have to be Doc Samson’s visit to X-Factor in issue #87.) Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis write some of the densest scripts in comics, funny and satirical but still maintaining a reasonable grasp on character and plot. There were a few moments when the script came dangerously close to “Who’s on first” territory, but it never succumbed entirely. I particularly liked the dignified neutrality of the shrink in the face of complete absurdity.

The Cryptics follows the suburban misadventures of a bunch of grade-school-aged monsters. It’s not the most original idea, but Roman and writer Steve Niles execute it with plenty of charm. And Roman is a seriously funny illustrator. His designs are hilarious but not so highly stylized that they keep the cast from being proper characters. He infuses his panel composition and body language with comedy as well, drawing chuckles out of even mundane moments. It’s great stuff.

I’m generally not a big fan of post-apocalypse fiction, but I found a lot to like in the preview of Wasteland that Oni sent my way. Antony Johnston has done some creative world-building, and Chris Mitten is proving to be a very talented and versatile illustrator. I really liked his work on Past Lies as well.

(If dystopian adventure isn’t your thing either, Oni gives you another chance to get a copy of Bryan Lee O’Malley’s really splendid Lost at Sea. And yes, I will mention this book every time it’s solicited, and probably on several occasions when it isn’t, because it’s just that good.)

The first issue of Mouse Guard (Archaia Studios) goes into its third printing, and it’s kind of thrilling that a really excellent, unusual book can attract this much attention. Never underestimate the appeal of mice in capes with swords.

It’s a big week for Digital Manga. The final volume of the lovely Antique Bakery arrives, which is almost certain to leave me smiling wistfully and wanting a piece of cake. No one would ever put Café Kichijouji De at the same level, but it’s slight, silly fun. Have you ever wondered about the secret origin of Cup Noodle? Wonder no more thanks to the latest installment of the Project X series. Only the Ring Finger Knows was easily one of the best shônen-ai titles to come out of DMP, so I’m curious about the novels that tie into the series. And since I’m a complete sucker for works by You Higuri, you could say that I’m not indifferent to the arrival of Gorgeous Carat Galaxy. Pace yourself, DMP, I beg you.

I was really taken with the Free Comic Book Day offering from Drawn & Quarterly, but I wish it had come out before Get a Life was solicited so I could have pre-ordered a copy. Ah, well. That’s what Amazon is for.

Tokyopop’s offerings for the week seem to be missing from the New Releases List, but two eagerly-awaited OGM titles are due to drop in bookstores this week: Mail Order Ninja and Fool’s Gold. David Taylor is particularly excited about the latter, which is always a good sign. There are threads on The Engine for each title.

(Edited to correct the spelling of Mr. Johnston's first name.)

At Blog@Newsarama, Michael May pegs Jodi Picoult as a Hero of the Week for signing on for a short stint writing Wonder Woman. It’s unlikely that I’ll be picking up WW any time soon, as I’ve successfully purged just about everything from Marvel and DC from my shopping list, but I’m extremely suggestible when it comes to authors.

So when Picoult’s run was announced, her name went on the list of “authors to sample.” Conveniently enough, there was an audio version of My Sister’s Keeper at the library. The book is built around an interesting emotional dilemma. Parents of a desperately ill child have another to provide a source of transfusion and transplant material to keep their older child alive. The younger daughter, who has been harvested for stem cells, marrow, and platelets roughly since birth, decides enough is enough when it looks like she’ll have to give up a kidney. She sues her parents for medical emancipation.

Picoult tells the story from a variety of perspectives – the spare-parts daughter, her parents, her alienated older brother, her lawyer. The idea is to create a complex moral landscape where everyone’s point of view is understandable if not entirely sympathetic, depending on your personal beliefs. But aside from the topicality of the plot, there’s not much to distinguish Picoult’s writing from a John Grisham or a Mary Higgins Clark. (If it helps, Stephen King listed her among the Academy of the Underappreciated he praised in his acceptance speech for – choke – his Distinguished Contribution to American Letters recognition at the National Book Awards.)

Picoult is given to flat pronouncements and tortured analogies, and she fails spectacularly in making some characters even remotely sympathetic. Her idea of moral complexity isn’t dissimilar to Brad Meltzer’s, another best-selling author snapped up by DC to write some comics. Instead of weighing between competing (and hopefully equally compelling) ethical perspectives, the reader is left to weed through them to find the least objectionable, if they can be bothered. (I’m a lot more tolerant of audio books than paper versions, so I’ll probably stick it out.) It’s potboiler stuff that carries the sheen of respectability because of the controversy of the subject matter.

Does that make her an unsuitable writer for WW? No, not really, and she certainly fits in with the editorial direction the company had been taking the last time I looked. Still, it’s always a little depressing to see another writer invested with quasi-legitimacy because they write books, whether or not the books are any good.