MADE IT TO NYC

Just a 30 second post to say I'm now in New York for MoCCA tomorrow. Right now, it's time to eat and then try to get Jason to sign his newest book, at this event tonight:


Let the awesome begin.

LOOKING BACK ON THE HORROR

Some of you have probably seen this already, but our friend and manga editor superstar Jason Thompson posted his thoughts on the process of adapting and editing manga. These are titles from his time working at Viz on early manga titles, and now as a freelance editor.

In addition to his OG editing cred, Jason is the author of the definitive and Eisner-award winning encyclopedia, Manga: The Complete Guide. In this column, Jason gives thought on editing not just SH favorites like Uzumaki, Jojo, and Drifting Classroom, but also YU-GI-OH! and Dragonball Z.



It's a great read, so check it out over at Comixology.

DANCE! KREMLIN PALACE! by SHINTARO KAGO (CHAPTER 3)

Wanted: Cheap Manga has just posted the latest chapter of Shintaro Kago's Russian bonanza, Dance! Kremlin Palace!



Featuring assassination plots and de-limbed, nude Russian girls as proletariat farming devices, this one was not quite my favorite, but still definitely worth checking out! As Rizzah describes this chapter,

Stalin is the hero in our newest installment. Not yet endowed with supernatural purging powers, Stalin shows off his bad-ass martial arts skills in protecting the values of communist farming! Totally NSFW, and maybe the most extreme chapter yet.

Click to download Chapter 3 from Wanted: Cheap Manga!


ENJOY!

ACTUAL COVER FOR NEW YOKOYAMA MANGA

Whoops, looks like I previously had it slightly off. From Amazon, here is the actual cover to PictureBox's upcoming release of Travel by Yuichi Yokoyama.



It's quite different from the Japanese release, but I think it's pretty great. Scheduled for release in November 2008, more details on their site.

CLIP FROM FIRST 20th CENTURY BOYS FILM

As some of you probably know, the manga 20th Century Boys by Naoki Urasawa (Monster, Pluto) is getting the film treatment too. Three films, in fact. The first of a movie trilogy adapting Urasawa's epic story (including the final chapter of the story, released as 21st Century Boys) will be coming out in Japan on August 30.



As Viz folks have hinted at on a few occasions, the plan is to release 20th Century Boy in English after the release of Monster has concluded. Urasawa specifically requested that they wait to serialize any new titles (including Pluto, the "Watchmen of manga" according to Carl Horn) until the current series is completed. By my count, that could theoretically mean us getting the series by mid-2009? Maybe?

I've only read the first volume (in Japanese) so far, but it's utterly fascinating, dense and exciting. I can't really do it justice, but it's a mix of SF, political thriller, coming of age story and post-apocalyptic futurism. Terrorist sects, weird interweaving plots and childhood memories, a giant robot and deadly viruses. A dude on some message board called the later sections of the series, "Pop culture reimagined as a totalitarian nightmare."

More production and cast details can be found on the 20th Century Boys official site. Enjoy this 4-minute clip, via our good friends at Twitch (the best film blog on the entire internet):

2 NEW UMEZU SHIRTS FROM UNIQLO

Great news to start the day! I read on Umezz's site that two new Makoto-chan shirts are being released by Uniqlo today, as part of their unending manga t-shirt deluge. Like the first Kazuo Umezu shirt, these are part of Uniqlo's Shonen Sunday Magazine's 50th anniversary celebration. You can see all the shirts to date here.

I wonder how soon they'll make it to the Uniqlo in New York? That would be tight to get a SABARA SKATE shirt this weekend when I'm in town for MoCCA!


A more interesting Gwashi! shirt, with the purple hand on yellow.


WHOA! A totally radical skater shirt, with Boku-chan on a board. Insane. I WANT.

TEZUKA'S MW BEING MADE INTO A MOVIE?

Hot on the heels of the successful Dororo adaptation and its already planned sequel, a film adaptation of Osamu Tezuka's dark opus of murder, priest sex and domestic terrorism has begun filming.



According to the Japanese film site, Cinema Today, the film will star Hiroshi Tamaki as the dark protagonist Yuuki, the sociopathic son of privelege who seduces everyone and schemes on taking revenge on the Japanese-US military industrial complex. Takayuki Yamada stars a Yutaro Garai, the conflicted priest who also survived the MW chemical leak as a child and alternatingly bangs and tries to murder Yuuki. Sounds awesome, although isn't Takayuki Yamada a little femme for the priest's role? I remember him with shorter hair and buffer...


(Why haven't you read this yet? Don't give me that it's an 800 page hardcover that costs 25 bucks nonsense! What kind of manga nerd are you?)

Filming of scenes in Thailand started on April 20 (probably the early MW gas leak scenes in an unspecified South Asian island), and MW is scheduled for release in Japanese theaters in 2009.

[Thanks to Nate for the tip!]

SAME HAT 2008 CON/EXPO/THINGY SCHEDULE

This coming Friday, I'll be busting out East in style (Virgin America in-flight chat room and DirectTV, here I come!) to attend MoCCA for the first time! It's a crazy short trip (Friday to Monday) but the first real big event for me of the 2008 Con/Expo/Nerdfest circuit. I thought I'd make a quick list of all the coming events and where we'll be...



Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art Festival 2008 (MoCCA)
When & Where: June 7-8, New York
Going as: fanboy extraordinaire. I'm planning to hang out with friends Anne, David, & Helene and meet Lynda Barry, Jason, PictureBox's Dan Nadel and other people cooler than I deserve to talk to...
GOAL: Buy tons of zines, get publishers to let slip their underground manga plans and show off the dummy copy and proofs of Tokyo Zombie!

SF Zinefest
When & Where: July 19-20, San Francisco
Going as: skeptical but spendaholic purveyor of the finest local zines and minis.
GOAL: I'm actually gonna be in the Midwest for a family wedding, but Evan will probably maybe attend and snatch up some new comics, talk up Electric Ant and whatnot.



Comic-Con (SDCC)
When & Where: July 24-27, San Diego
Going as: Pseudo-exhibitors with Last Gasp (We'll be there for the debut of Tokyo Zombie by Yusaku Hanakuma, and to show off advance copies of Electric Ant #1 on the side)
GOAL: Get as many people as possible interested in the manga and debut preview copies of the complete, final product. High-five Johnny Ryan and other big time cartoonists. Also, try to find a hotel room and not have to sleep on the floor in nowheresville, CA.



Small Press Expo (SPX)
When & Where: October 3-4, Maryland
Going as: I have no idea. I hear that tables sold out a few weeks ago (already?). Also, gas prices and flight by then might be totally off the charts. But I hear it's actually pretty fun-- Any truth to that rumor?
GOAL: Hang out on the East Coast with the cool kids, and start a whisper campaign about our next secret project.



Alternative Press Expo (APE)
When & Where: San Francisco
Going as: Exhibitors with the Bang Gang for the third year in a row. This year's crew includes: Me & Evan, Hellen Jo, Derek Yu, Anthony Wu and Calvin Wong.
GOAL: Have the nerdiest weekend of the year hanging out for 48 hours straight with our favorite people. Selling copies of Electric Ant and checking out what our favorite cartoonists and zinesters have whipped up for this year's APE (Hellen, I'm looking at you!).

Are any of you going to any of these? If so, let me know in the comments!