Sunday, August 23, 2009

NEW PEOPLE: JUNKO MIZUNO SIGNING

Follow up news to my Friday post about the Junko Mizuno signing at NEW PEOPLE in San Francisco. I headed over yesterday to make a second visit to the shop, meet Junko and get my Disneyland autograph book signed.

Junko was signing in support of her new manga from Last Gasp, Little Fluffy Gigolo PELU, Volume 1. Lots of local manga folks were in attendance, including Colin from Last Gasp, Otaku USA editor-in-chief Patrick Macias (whose jaPRESS did the English adaptation of PELU), About.com's Deb Aoki, and some editorial Viz friends.


Junko Mizuno recently moved to San Francisco earlier this year. She mentioned hating the summer weather in Tokyo and that SF was a way more comfortable place to work on art and comics.


A number of people lined up, bringing comics, toys and even a Junko Mizuno-designed skateboard deck for her to sign.


Deb Aoki brought Junko a bunch of presents :)

I mentioned this a little in my previous posts about NEW PEOPLE, but the shop is not the Viz/Shogakukan-centric store I expected. While they sell some Viz books (most notably, Naoki Urasawa's 20th Century Boys and Pluto), they carry lots of other publisher's book-- both English and Japanese editions.



The shop is pretty snazzy and all, but the main thing I like is having NEW PEOPLE as a place to host events, readings, and signings like this. Previously, I guess the Cartoon Art Museum would suffice, but it's great having a manga-centric gallery and store for when creators come into town.


NEW PEOPLE features two Junko-designed t-shirts, in addition to a new Yokoyama shirts and other designs.


And finally, the latest addition to the autograph book :)

UPDATE: About.com's Deb Aoki has now published her own signing scene report, along with an interview with Junko.

8 comments:

DLS said...

Haha I loved the way she autographed your book!

Ryan S said...

@DLS: Yeah, she has a cute signature/logo!

RSS said...

Fuck yeah. I'm about to order Pelu, it sounds good. And I'd probably wear one of those shirts. Mighty spiffy, w/ that octy on it & all.

Just finished 20th Century Boys #4 and it's pretty damn good.

Ryan S said...

@RSS: It's a weird read, I enjoyed it a lot. Junko's thick lines are righteous, and this one has a bit more narrrative heft to it than the fairy tale adaptation books from a few years back. Definitely a good book (and publisher!) to support :)

I just read 20th Century Boys 4 too. I freakin' loved it. OTCHOOOOO

David said...

If I'm ever in SF or the states for that matter, this will be one of the first places I try to get to.

Ryan S said...

@David: It's the place to be for manga nerds who come through the yay area. There and Comic Relief in Berkeley. Just check the Same Hat Guide to Everything!

Anonymous said...

not to brag but i brought her the bottle of raspberry lambic beer on the table there!!!! I wonder if she liked it

RSS said...

I think she'd rather have it pill form :P