TOKYO ZOMBIE IN OTAKU USA (UPDATE)

As mentioned last week, the first print review of Yusaku Hanakuma's Tokyo Zombie has been published in the August 2008 issue of OTAKU USA Magazine. My GF picked up a copy at Borders (thanks hon!) and I wanted to share a few pics.


Getting reviewed on the same page as Red Colored Elegy is never a bad thing.


My name is Tokyo Zombie and I approve this message.


Chapter Two: the zombie holocaust begins in style.

If you want a little taste of the book before Comic-Con, please stop by your local shop and check this issue out.

COMIC-CON 2008 PLANS (TOKYO ZOMBIE UNLEASHED!)

Let the countdown begin... Only a few more days until San Diego Comic-Con madness begins!


I'm assuming that everyone going already has their passes and lodging already figured out, right? Evan and I will be driving down from San Francisco on Thursday, and attending SDCC 08 from Friday to Sunday. We're cheap and forgot to plan ahead, so we're staying north of SD in Escondido, CA (at least for the first night).

I'm supremely geeked to hang out and drink booze (and sing karaoke?) with a rad contingency of Bay Area and LA friends, and embarass myself in front of assorted cartoonist legends and famous folks (Jim Woodring! Simon Pegg & Jessica Hynes (Stevenson)!! Mindy fucking Kaling!?). I'm bringing the autograph book again, and on the prowl for sketches.

But most importantly, Comic-Con marks the debut of TOKYO ZOMBIE by YUSAKU HANAKUMA!


I strongly, strongly encourage you all to come by the Last Gasp booth (#1614) and pick up a copy of the manga! To sweeten the deal(?), Evan and I will be working the Last Gasp booth on Friday from 2pm - 7pm and would love to meet as many of you guys as possible. Please stop by and hang out, and check out the book in person! Anyone gonna be in town?



For everyone that won't make it out to SDCC, I'm happy to announce that the Tokyo Zombie shipment has landed, and you can now purchase Tokyo Zombie directly from Last Gasp's site or from Amazon. YES! I'm dying to hear what you think of it!

[UPDATE]: Here is the Last Gasp booth books and appearances:
New books you probably won't find anywhere else:
Sweet Wishes - the new book by Mark Ryden
Tokyo Zombie - horror/comedy martial arts zombie manga
Museum of Love and Mystery - the new book by Jim Woodring

Signing Schedule, featuring...
Emmy-award-winner GARY BASEMAN
Eisner-award-winner CRAIG YOE
the infamous RON ENGLISH
and photographer extraordinaire CARLOS BATTS

Thursday
1:30pm – 2:30pm - Craig Yoe signing Clean Cartoonists’ Dirty Drawings

Friday
12 – 1pm - Carlos Batts signing posters and DVDs for Kiss Attack
2pm – 3pm - Ron English signing his new book Abject Expressionism
3pm – 4pm - Gary Baseman signing his new book Dying of Thirst

Saturday
12-1pm - Carlos Batts signing posters and DVDs for Kiss Attack
1:30pm – 2:30pm - Craig Yoe signing Clean Cartoonists’ Dirty Drawings

SPOT THE IMPISHLY GOOD-LOOKING MANGAKA

Hey all, I'm back from a weekend in St. Louis and already heading out again (this time to Michigan for a wedding). Somehow July turned out to be the busiest, most exhausting month of 2008. My apologies for the lack of updates-- I do have some drafts simmering, I swear to god.

In the meantime, here are a bunch of pictures from Kazuo Umezu's Picasa Web Album.


Umezz as a young man; He looks like an angel and his friends all look like gangsters.


The gang all together, at あやめ池遊園地 (Ayame Pond Amusement Park?) in Nara Prefecture.


Umezu in high school, back row and 5th from the right.


High School group photo again, Umezu's in the 2nd row, 3rd from the left.


Umezu in high school art class! Umezu = back row, 2nd from the right.


From 1955, class signatures in the album. Umezu's early illustrations grace the corners of the pages!

TOKYO ZOMBIE REVIEW IN OTAKU USA!

Exciting news for us-- the first review of Yusaku Hanakuma's Tokyo Zombie hits shelves this week! You can read the review and see a preview page in the August 2008 of Otaku USA Magazine!



Their site includes details on the other content of this issue. I hear that Tokyo Zombie got a "glowing review" and includes at least a few panels from the book unseen until now. The issue also includes an excerpt from Black Jack Volume 1, if you need another incentive. Thanks to Jason and Otaku USA for writing up the book!

Has anyone picked up the magazine yet? Please check it out! My local shop's shipment of new stuff was delayed by a day because of the July 4th holiday, but I'll try to post a scan once I get my copy.

BLACK JACK MANIA BEGINS

I'm starting to get that crazy sensation again. Do you feel it too? It's time to start anxiously awaiting the newest Osamu Tezuka release from Vertical!



I'm still enjoying the hell out of their Dororo editions (just read Volume 2 last week, will post thoughts on that and other stuff I'm reading soon), but they've decided to start their onslaught of Black Jack buzz.

Everyone worth their manga mettle has at least heard the name of the expansive Black Jack serial already, which is considered by a lot of folks as the greatest series by the greatest cartoonist ever. A tall order, but not far from the truth. Viz took a shot at publishing this series previously, and managed to get two fantastic volumes out in the '90s before pulling the plug. Those books are short and hard to find, but still remain utterly shocking and thrilling collections.



Now, we're about to head off on an odyssey of awesomeness, as the first volume (of 15+ total?) is released by Vertical on September 23, 2008. The publication plan according to them is to:

...Release the Black Jack episodes in the order that Tezuka indicated for a hardcover “Deluxe Edition” planned before his untimely death in 1989 at the age of 60. Each 300-page volume of the Vertical, Inc. series will feature a dozen-plus stories, most published in English for the first time. The Vertical volumes will also embody the high production standards that readers have come to expect, not only from the publisher’s Tezuka output, but also its line of Japanese pop fiction.

I was dubious at first about the overly-busy cover designs, with a simple 4-color block slapped front and center; From this picture of the coming volume stacks, though, it looks like that's simply a slipcover over a crazy B&W collage of Tezuka panels. If that's the case, I think I'll be taking the slips off the books and stacking them up as pictured here:



The big finale here, Vertical has posted a preview of a new story from Volume 2-- about beach surgery on a Killer Whale! HUZZAH!



UPDATE: It sounds like Diamond will be offering exclusive hardcover editions of the first three Black Jack volumes via Previews, with an additional story thrown in to boot. Hmmmm. (Tip via kouros!)

IT'S HERE...

Holy crapola, what a strange feeling. Evan and I just got our copies of Tokyo Zombie last night from Last Gasp, hot off the presses!!

After working on it for so long, it's crazy exciting to see the finished product. I can't wait for you guys to read this book... Yusaku Hanakuma is gonna slay you!

TWO THINGS! 1) DUDES & 2) SWORDS

Kate Beaton is a rising star of webcomics, and creator of some of the funniest comic strips of the last year. Her latest comics have been a mix of historical biographies, daily life strips about her family, and retardo parodies of other comics.

The pacing and line work of her shit is phenomenally right on, and my recent favorites involve Nikola Tesla, Garfield, and the sacking of the Lindisfarne Monastery in 793 AD, for starters.

This week she's ventured into Japanese historicity for the first time. Enjoy this AMAZING retelling of the infamous(?) Miyamoto Musashi vs.Sasaki Kojiro duel!



Background information provided by Wikipedia:
"In April 13, 1612, Musashi had his most famous duel with Sasaki Kojirō who wielded a nodachi. Musashi came late and unkempt to the appointed place — the remote island of Funajima, north of Kokura. The duel was short and Musashi killed his opponent with a bokken that he had carved from an oar while traveling to the island.

Musashi's late arrival is controversial. Sasaki's outraged supporters thought it was dishonorable and disrespectful while many others thought it was a fair way to unnerve his opponent.

UMEZU PHOTO GALLERY UPDATES!

In the past few months, UMEZZ.com has updated Kazuo Umezu's Picasa Photo Album with three new galleries of awesomeness. Have I mentioned that I love this man?

The galleries each span a recent appearance/event in Tokyo:
1) UMEZU SUPER FESTIVAL 46
2) OME☆KOBOSHI 4
3) 17TH ANNUAL TOKYO SPORTS FILM AWARDS
(Tokyo Sports is a famous daily newspaper)


Please keep in mind, you are looking at a 71 year old dude. Amazing.


From the Super Carnival, tables of Makoto-chan goods.


The entire Umezu crew gets in on the fan dance. (That's webmaster/mangaka Demerin in the pink suit + silver boots)


Umezz signing autograph boards for fans. I missed this event by only a month.. DAMN!


A photo you didn't expect, right? Kazuo Umezu shootin' the shit onstage with Beat Takeshi, at the Tokyo Sports Film Awards.


Umezu looking dapper at the post-ceremony press conference.


Our patron saint hamming it up with his award and GWASHI hand in effect.

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MORE FROM NEW GALLERY 1: スーパーフェスティバル46


MORE FROM NEW GALLERY 2: オメ☆コボシ4


MORE FROM NEW GALLERY 3: 第17回東京スポーツ映画大賞