The Eastern Edge

All the feedback is great.
No sarcasm or cynicism here, I mean that sincerely.
Thank you all!

What it all seems to boil down to, however, is a great big collective yawn with a couple Frank Miller insults tossed in for fun (some just can't resist, can they?).

I'm no plagiarism expert, but I wanted to see what people thought of what appears to be tracing of Frank Miller work. I'm a Frank Miller fan and it concerned me. But because it seems to have only happened once by an artist who otherwise draws all his own stuff with an honest Frank Miller influence, and the fact that it was 14 years ago are big strikes against this being something that anyone will lose sleep over.

I can live with that, I guess. I'm still left to wonder, though, what would have happened if those copied panels had been published 14 days ago instead of 14 years ago. Maybe the reaction would be the same "so what?" reaction it is now? But all the talk about how long ago it was makes me wonder if this is the same as forgiving someone who stole a pack of gum from the corner store when they were a kid, but never did it again and turned into a responsible adult. Maybe trying to make someone admit they stole that Bubblicious 14 years ago is pointless and it's time to just forgive and forget - assuming, of course, it hasn't happened since and there are no straight up lies about not having done it at all.
Maybe that's how I should be looking at this too? I'm not sure if I'm ready to think of it quite that way yet, but in the end this whole thing doesn't seem to matter very much to most people.

Yeah, I can live with that... I guess.
I wanted to put it out there and see what would happen. I did and I got lots of feedback, so it was worth it.

In the end my little gripe got shot in the balls!

Yeah, both of them.

But it was still worth it.

Case closed.
Thanks, everyone!

Actually, I think "Frank Miller Recognition Day" may be more appropriate, but anyway...

First of all, to everyone who has commented on my post yesterday so far,
thanks for the feedback. It's very much appreciated! My intention was to start talk, and the power of a Robot6 via MangaBlog link (to the tune of over 1600 views of the post in less than 20hrs) has sparked some.

Thank you all!

In case there is doubt as to my intentions, the reason I wrote that post is not because I care about what happens to Nick Simmons, or because I have anything against Battle Angel , Yukito Kishiro, or any other Japanese comic or artist. I do not wish to compare how much was or wasn't copied or traced, who is more guilty, or what the consequences for 'tributes’ that cross the line should be. My intention was to get this out there, plain and simply because I am a Frank Miller fan.

People went absolutely nuclear over a relatively obscure comic in order to defend Bleach and the other comics that were copied. Obviously a lot of people care about Bleach et all that have been, uh, ‘paid tribute to’ by Nick Simmons. That’s great. But who’s standing up for the artists outside Japan that get ‘paid tribute to’ without their knowledge in Japan?
I've never heard anyone stand up for Frank Miller in what appears a very similar case that's been around a very long time.

My big problem with this is that unlike Battle Angel, Incarnate never was or ever will be in any danger of being made into a Hollywood movie that could be worth billions! For that matter, it’s in no danger of being made into any kind of movie, cartoon, book, coffee mug, or bootleg t-shirt design that would make anyone any money at all!
Over the last decade or so it's become cool to be influenced by Japanese style. Unfortunately, it also appears to have become cool to make fun of Frank Miller. This is despite the fact that long before the manga/anime boom he was one of the first to incorporate Japanese style into the mainstream and promote Japanese work such as Lone Wolf and Cub. It’s become cool to suggest that Frank Miller has gone off the deep end. That he’s become a parody of himself. That he is done.
Meanwhile, I also see updates every so often on Battle Angel movie development and I just can’t help but wonder why, even though Battle Angel has become so high profile, no one seems to know or care about Frank Miller.

I realize that even 5 years ago the internet didn't have the reach it does now, but was 1999 (the date on the post I cited that put up the images) really that long ago, or is it just that uncool to stick up for Frank Miller? Even if you think Elektra Lives Again is not one of Miller's more famous, or even best work; even if you think it can't be compared to Bleach because it was a lifetime ago, that doesn't f*cking matter because the James Cameron movie is in development RIGHT NOW and there will be nothing old or obscure about it. At the very same time as the Bleach community was up in arms and urging fans to write to the publishers to bust Incarnate – again, a comic that isn’t going to make anyone rich - Battle Angel rolls along in movie development without so much as a peep about Frank Miller - ever! The images I found appear to have been up for at least 10 years. I've heard little about it and no one seems the slightest bit upset. I've read many reviews of Battle Angel comics that talk about similarities and the obvious Frank Miller influence in Kishiro's art, and the pics I’m reposting here are nothing new. So, where have all the Frank Miller fans gone? Was All-Star Batman and Robin really that bad!? Doesn’t a line-up of stunningly bold and original work over an industry revolutionizing 30 plus year career at least warrant a tiny spark of interest in the fact that work that include elements taken from him is about to become a blockbuster franchise!?

Look, maybe I’m wrong about all this. Maybe if asked Frank Miller would come out and say, "I know he copied those panels and I'm cool with it." Maybe he just wouldn't give a shit. Or, maybe Yukito Kishiro would say, "I showed my work to Frank and he said it was cool." I doubt it, but that would be great, wouldn't it? My only question then would be, “Why the hell didn't you say so!?"
Hell, maybe Kishiro did 'borrow' a couple parts but then felt really guilty and never did it again.
If something like that’s the case I will shut the f*ck up, go out and buy every issue of Battle Angel Alita avalibale (new, not used!) and never blog another word about this.
But is that that case? Is the fact that so little has been said before mean that I'm wrong and this is all a big misunderstanding on my part? Or could it be that there are so few people that have read Elektra Lives Again that no one noticed even after all these years?!

For some reason Elektra Lives Again seems to be one of Miller's more obscure and least often mentioned works. Personally I think it's one of his best - at least it's one of my favorites – and it pissed me off to think that it might have been ripped off. If it's relatively obscure in North America, imagine how many average comic readers in Japan might have heard of it? How many average Japanese do you think have even heard of Frank Miller?

Consequences for plagiarism in Japan are tough, as they should be. I'm not arguing that. So when I suggest a double standard I am not referring to publishers or the industry in general. I am referring to the fans. The fans in Japan just don't know, but what about the fans in America? Is Frank Miller that unknown or uninteresting to 'manga' fans? that can't be the case, can it? The fans are absolutely right in defending Bleach. I would too. But why is so much time and effort being put toward ruining a nobody, while no one wants to go to bat for Frank Miller? If it's just that people didn't know, well now you know! So now what? Does this get looked into a little further, or swept under the rug?
I'm saying this simply because I don't know if I can endure anymore geekgasms over the possibility of a James Cameron Battle Angel movie, which I admit will probably be really f*cking cool, without at least bringing this topic up for debate.

Like I said, maybe I've got this all wrong. Maybe I’m making a big deal about nothing. But maybe it goes further than only the image I posted yesterday and this other one that I linked to:

If Yukito Kishiro's intentions were nothing more than a tribute to a creator he admires – and I honestly hope that’s all it is - then why not let it out in the open? Let’s get Kishiro himself to talk about it. Maybe some of that talk will even permeate back to Japan and fans over there will discover Frank Miller too, not to mention the younger generations everywhere that will watch the Battle Angel but don't know anything about Frank Miller. Better yet, do the ultimate homage and ask him to be involved in the movie development. He does movies too now, ya know!

Wouldn't anyone want the honor of having the person who inspired their art personally make the movie based on it?
Hey, it's just a thought…

So how about it, Kishiro?
If you're worried about the language barrier, then put it in writing! I will happily volunteer my time to translate your message to Frank Miller into English and return it to you for personal delivery. Alternately, I can arrange to have a bilingual native Japanese translate your words and I will simply proof read it!
(is if that'll happen...)

Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that I completely understand the people who love Bleach, etc., and want to protect it. Well, I grew up loving Frank Miller’s work. My intention is not to compare this case with the Nick Simmons case, because Battle Angel is obviously original work. The creator is a good artist and has created an extremely popular comic, and that just wouldn't have happened if he wasn't skilled. However, I do think he had more than a little help once in a while. I'm not saying that's wrong necessarily either, but does the amount of copied material matter? Maybe it does. Maybe most people think it's okay if it's only once or twice in a much larger work. Maybe most people see it as a tribute. But I felt compelled to at least bring up the possibility that some credit is not being given where it is obviously due. Because I'm a Frank Miller fan.

To say I’m protecting Frank Miller might be a bit of a stretch. But I definitely would like to see him get some long overdue recognition for his contribution to a comic that is probably going to become James Cameron’s next mega hit.

Frank Miller is a legend and he deserves at least that, doesn't he!?

UPDATE: Please have a look at the comments here and on yesterdays post.
It looks like I've gotten what I wanted (or at least all I can) out of this.

CASE CLOSED!

Thanks to everyone who took the time to comment!

The post you are looking for has moved here!

I've been paying about as much attention to comics as can be expected by a hockey mad Canadian leading up to an Olympic gold medal, but even I know about the Incarnate fiasco. It has shown me a lot about fan community behavior and the consequences of plagiarism as it pertains to Japanese comics. Here's the simplified version of two tings I've concluded from all I've seen and read over the last few days.

First, if you're American and you rip-off Japanese comics...

American fans of those Japanese comics will not only expose you, they will rip you and new one and make sure the world knows what a scumbag they think you are. The reaction by fan communities to this kind of plagiarism, which really is a heinous artistic crime, is quick, decisive and brutal. Interestingly many of the pitchfork and torch welding internet hordes also pirate the work they claim to be protecting, but many - I hope the majority - are also genuine fans and supporters who have a right to be upset. Industry people will of course follow with detailed reports, commentary to put things into context, and provide opinion on both the plagiarism itself and on the reaction of the fan communities. It really has stirred some interesting debate, especially when the subject is stealing vs. thieving, or - if you prefer - plagiarism vs. pirating.

But I'm not going to get into it because I have little to add that hasn't been said. If you want to read what people have been saying and writing about all this and some of the more interesting and notorious cases of plagiarism, mangablog is a great place to start.

Does Nick Simmons deserve to be virtually hunted down and beaten to death by the angry cyber mobs? Well, I don't know, but at the very least he does deserve a damn good thrashing, and I think he got it when his publisher immediately pulled his comics.
At the very least I think he deserved that.

Aside from the pirates, who rarely if ever actually pay for their entertainment - after all, pirates complaining is just one type of thief calling out another, ostensibly to protect the source of their own stolen goods and the artists they are also ripping off who supply those goods - it's hard to argue against the anger of genuine fans who are seeing someone steal their favorite things and get paid while doing so, especially when it appears to be blatant tracing.
Hell, I would be angry too and want the thief to pay for their sins, preferably in cold hard cash directly into the pockets of the creator(s) of the work they ripped off!

Which brings me to the second thing I learned about plagiarism and Japanese comics:

From Frank Miller's "Elektra Lives Again", page 25 (1990)
(And one of my all time favorites!)

From Yukito Kishiro's "Battle Angel Alita" Part Six num.1, pag. 24 (1996)

(found via this tweet)

UPDATE (about 2 hours after I first posted this): I just found even more evidence here!!

If you're Japanese and ripping off an American legend such as Frank Miller, not only do you get away with it, if you did it well you might even be in line for a major Hollywood rub and tug by the worldwide king of the box office himself!

Sometimes life will just 'dance, dance all over your face' while arguably undeserving others laugh, laugh all the way to the bank.

Right, Yukito?

Dear USA;

You can have the most medals.
You can have the most money.
In fact, you can have the rest of the world...

But, USA, you can't have Hockey!!

HOCKEY IS OUR GAME!!

Team Canada 2010

Forwards
37 Patrice Bergeron
87 Sidney Crosby
51 Ryan Getzlaf
15 Dany Heatley
12 Jarome Iginla
11 Patrick Marleau
10 Brenden Morrow
61 Rick Nash
24 Corey Perry
18 Mike Richards
21 Eric Staal
19 Joe Thornton
16 Jonathan Toews

Defensemen
22 Dan Boyle
8 Drew Doughty
2 Duncan Keith
27 Scott Niedermayer
20 Chris Pronger
7 Brent Seabrook
6 Shea Weber

Goaltenders
30 Martin Brodeur
29 Marc-Andre Fleury
1 Roberto Luongo

Head Coach
Mike Babcock

Assistant Coaches
Jacques Lemaire
Lindy Ruff
Ken Hitchcock

Executive Director
Steve Yzerman

See you in Russia in 2014!!!

It's a real shame that Ponyo is getting little recognition outside Japan, and even less by people over the age of eight.
I wrote about that here yesterday and then watched Ponyo again last night after a 5k run.

Something about running on a cold night along a polluted river made me think again about how few things are handmade or done manually anymore, how we try to make everything comfortable and easy, and how cavalier we are about the damage our laziness causes.

I just felt like watching Ponyo again.



I'm all too aware that I'll never ever get a job as an artist at Ghibli, but I couldn't help but scrawl a quick Ponyo in my notebook before dashing out of the coffee shop this morning.

Here are the 2009 Golden Globe nominations for Best Animated Feature:

•Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs — Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation; Sony Pictures Releasing
•Coraline — Laika, Inc.; Focus Features
•Fantastic Mr. Fox — American Empirical Picture; Twentieth Century Fox
•The Princess and the Frog — Walt Disney Pictures/Walt Disney Animation Studios; Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
•Up — Walt Disney Pictures/PIXAR Animation Studios; Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

Here are the nominations for the same category at the Annie's - animation's biggest award:

•Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs — Sony Pictures Animation
•Coraline — Laika
•Fantastic Mr. Fox — 20th Century Fox
•The Princess and the Frog — Walt Disney Animation Studios
•The Secret of Kells — Cartoon Saloon
•Up — Pixar Animation Studios

If you follow animation at all, then you already know that Up won both awards.

Now, here are the Academy Award nominations for Best Animated Feature:

* Coraline, Henry Selick
* Fantastic Mr. Fox, Wes Anderson
* The Princess and the Frog, John Musker and Ron Clements
* The Secret of Kells, Tomm Moore
* Up, Pete Docter

The Oscars picked the same films except that they chose to nominate The secret of Kells over Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. That's a bold move, and "The Secret of Kells" is an excellent animated feature that got very little exposure. In the end it doesn't really matter because none of the above have a prayer against Up. But if there were only five slots in the category the fifth should have gone to the one film that everyone ignored.
I have no complains about Up winning two of three so far, or the fact that it's the Oscar favorite. Up is genius and I think it also deserves the best picture and screenplay nominations it got too. But I listed all three of the big sexy animation awards here not because of what won or was nominated, but because of what wasn't nominated. Not one of them included one of the last brilliant examples of the dying art of hand-drawn cartoons for kids, Ponyo.

The Annie's nominated Miyazaki in the Best Director category, but even if he had won, which he didn’t, that wouldn’t recognize the brilliance of the overall production and production team, or even fully recognize Miyazaki because he didn’t just direct this movie he personally drew a lot of it - something that is extremely rare for a production on this scale.

So, why was Ponyo not nominated? I think it's because the selection committee is too 'old'. I suspect that most of the selection committee members are the type to lean toward the view that Ponyo's story just lacked substance compared to other films that were selected. It's the same criticism as Miyazaki fans that wanted something more along the lines of Laputa, Nausicaä or even Spirited Away have. Again, they are just too 'old'. Of course when I say old, I don't mean age. I mean that they are old at heart.

Even here in Japan where Ponyo was a massive hit, fans of Ghibli and Miyazaki tended to be disappointed by Ponyo. Meanwhile, kids absolutely adored it. I don't know what the older fans were expecting, though, because Miyazaki said he was making a movie for kids and that's precisely what he did. Ponyo's theme song should have given it away because it is exactly the same type of simple, repetitive and catchy song as the theme for Totoro is. It’s the kind of song that little kids love and will sing incessantly until everyone over the age of 8 can't stand to hear it anymore.

Ponyo is a beautifully animated picture-book fairy tale for young children who haven't yet learned adult concepts like logic or reason, which is why, for example, the arbitrariness of Ponyo's magic makes perfect sense. People who nitpick at silly details like that, or analyse the plot to death are missing the point. It's a fairy tale in a fantasy world and kids don't worry about things like that. No one has yet told the kids who love Ponyo to be realistic or to put things in perspective, so they haven't stopped dreaming about being a spaceman, or an explorer who will actually discover a real Ponyo on some far off beach, or maybe a big friendly forest spirit living in their own backyard.

Ponyo is a movie that doesn't lecture on it's themes, like the environment, the strong role of the mother in the story, or on any other moral themes because it doesn't have to. Only 'old' people blinded and deafened by cynisism and simpletons need to be hit over the head for messages that should be intrinsically understood to get through. That's already a strike against it in Hollywood, where you have to wear a ribbon and pimp a website for every cause you support, and get in everyone's face with your message via every media outlet possible. Sublty is nearly as endangered a species as hand-drawn animated features are, which is actually two strikes against Ponyo getting recognized for anything. I don't even want to talk about the fools who dismiss Ponyo before they've even seen it because it's probably just another one of those 'Japanese anime things', or some of the demented anime geeks who've filled up on a steady diet of cheaply made, limited animation 'anime', fast-food genre crap and have no clue what they are watching when shown a movie like Ponyo. Some of those people are the same misinformed bunch who think "Yotsuba to!" is moe, which it isn't. (By the way, if you like “Yotsuba to!” and also like great animation then I recommend giving Ponyo a look.)

Outside of fringe 'anime' fan groups and people who are just too cool or too adolescent to be able to see a kid's movie for what it is, only someone old at heart could possibly say that Ponyo lacked substance if they'd ever seen the face of a child totally captivated while watching it, and the excitement and wonder that lingers in them long after it's over.

There is a small, seemingly insignificant scene in the movie of Ponyo nodding off and then falling asleep while eating a bowl a ramen with Sosuke that just made my jaw drop. It became one of the defining moments of the movie for me. The reason it struck me is because it looked almost exactly like my 2 year old when he nodded off at the kitchen table while eating dinner only a few months before I saw Ponyo.

Ponyo is full of scenes like that. The interaction between the kids, and the kids with the mother is incredible and the subtle detail in every scene is remarkable. No wisecracking talking animals or digital effects either, only the warm, organic qualities that can only be achieved when something is handmade by people who love their work and understand a child's sense of wonder.

It's not difficult to see why Ghibli also build a nursery around the same time as Ponyo was being made.

To say Ponyo lacks depth is to completely miss the point. It's also sad, because if only the ‘old’ people could see the stunning depth and beauty in its simplicity, and understand that every visually stunning second of the movie was handmade - much of it my Miyazaki himself - maybe Ponyo would get the recognition it deserves. Instead, it's dismissed as a simple cartoon for kids.

At first even I didn't think Ponyo should be nominated for an Academy Award because it was a simple cartoon for little children. Then I watched it again and wondered what the hell was wrong with me for thinking that. "Best Animated Feature" shouldn't mean "Best Animated Feature that is also for adults." In Ponyo we have a well written story and characters that appeal greatly to the target audience, top notch voice acting, excellent music, sound and editing, and the animation is absolutely breathtaking. What else does a "Best Animated Feature" need!? In that sense, Ponyo deserved at least a nomination. Pixar would still win, but there is a reason that even the geniuses at Pixar hold Miyazaki in extremely high regard. The 'old' people who ignored this movie instead of celebrating it don't seem to realize this.

Ponyo reminded me that cartoons were once made for children. Cartoons were also handmade...

...by old people who are probably younger at heart than any of us are or ever were.

Weekly Morning came out a day early because of Thursday's national holiday in Japan, and Vagabond introduced a couple of important historical figures to the story who are yet more definite signs that we really are inching towards the grand finale.

No spoilers here, though, only a few samples of Inoue's awesomeness via my iPhone camera.
Not a lot of action this week, so I'm posting some art from last week's episode.

I hope some will take notice of the striking lack of "manga-isms" in the art, while keeping in mind that this is one of the great Japanese masters of our time who isn't following the rules of what makes something "manga" as opposed to a "comic".
Takehiko Inoue is a true artist who lives well outsides the manga box that the self-styled otaku built and feel so safe inside in the confines of.

Manga...? Comics...? Who cares!?
This is art!

Enjoy!

Right off the bat (ehem), I must admit that I have no clue what's going on with Billy Bat anymore. I tried following it, and even aspired to providing commentary and historical context on this blog, but the story is going off in more directions than pedestrians crossing the Shibuya scramble, and I just don't have the patience for Urasawa's notoriously irregular schedule. As a serial, Billy Bat is a disaster so far. In fact, I'm beginning to worry that the way Urasawa stumbled across the finish line with 20th Century Boys has carried over into Billy Bat. I hope I'm wrong but I'm worried.

However, whether Urasawa's grand plan will begin to reveal itself and make me ashamed for ever doubting him, or if I'm in for the biggest let down since Jodie Foster's father was at the end of the wormhole in Contact, remains to be seen. I still hold out hope and will see how it goes as the tankobon come out.

Even though I've long since abandoned the serial, every so often Billy Bat appears with Vagabond in Morning and I have a quick look at what's going on. Well, today is Thursday and there is a Vagabond episode this week, so that means I bought Weekly Morning. This week's issue has the latest Billy Bat, which, of course, I didn't read because the episodes on their own now make about as much sense as a Japanese government policy speech. But skimming through it was worthwhile because of this gem on the last page;

Genius!

However good or bad Billy Bat ends up becoming, there's no doubt that Urasawa will still have his moments!

Despite Takehiko Inoue suggesting a little over a year ago that he couldn't see the story in it's current state ending up anywhere near Kyushu, he opened 2010 with a colour section in Weekly Morning of none other than Funajima.

"Funa" (meaning "boat"), of course, is the island (shima, or when used as a suffix jima, means "island") that was renamed "Ganryu" following the legendary duel between Kojiro Sasaki and Musashi Miyamoto that took place there.

Funajima was a small, uninhabited island in the strait between honshu and kyushu. Today Ganryujima is considered part of Yamaguchi prefecture, known as "Nagato" and the domain of the Mori clan during Kojiro's time, and is accessible by ferry from Shimonoseki city. On the Kyushu side of the strait, which is now Fukuoka prefecture, was Buzen, the domain of the Hosokawa clan and Lord Tadaoki Hosakawa, under whom Kojiro "Ganryu" Sasaki was employed.
Kojiro was extremely well respected and had many followers, evidenced by the fact that the island where he died was renamed after him and not Musashi, whose legend only gained popularity relatively recently when his "Book of Five Rings" was retranslated and applied to modern business strategy for the self-styled "Samurai" Salaryman of the 70's and 80's.

Eiji Yoshikawa's novel, on which Vagabond is based, is often the standard around which portrayals of Musashi and Kojiro are modelled. Kojiro is portrayed as a narcissistic, womanizing pretty-boy, and Musashi as the tough, grizzled anti-hero who becomes the legendary "sword saint". Even minimal research, however, shows the fictionalized versions of Kojiro and Musashi resembled the actual people about as closely as modern-day Ganryu island resembles Funa island circa April 13th, 1612.

This is Ganryu island today.

It is no longer the remote, uninhabited island where one of the most famous duels in Japanese history took place on a sandy beach nearly 400 years ago. It is now a developed, well-manicured tourist attraction with a number of contrived "historical" monuments (even the monument to Kojiro that resembles a burial site in the last picture above, was only built in 1910 and is not Kojiro's grave) and even more tacky souvenirs at the shops. Much like the legends of Kojiro Sasaki and Musashi Miyamoto, much as changed since the days that these two men actually lived. There are precious few actual historical records, and the few that do exist give wildly varying accounts of events in the lives of both men. Add in the interpretations, speculation, and personal biases of the people who wrote about them after, and all we are guaranteed is that we will never know what these men were really like, or what really happened in their duel other than the result.

Maybe it's better that way. Clouded history and vague accounts of legendary events make for really, really good fiction!
In case you are wondering what the "official" play-by-play of the duel would look like, here's the Ganryu island tourist attraction's version of events:

Tough act to follow, eh!? Call me crazy, but I have a gut feeling Vagabond's final duel might just outdo it.

I was kind of hoping that Inoue would end Vagabond in April of 2012 on the 400th anniversary of the actual duel. But ending it right is much more important than ending it on a certain date, and if it must end this year then it must end this year.

If this really is the final year of Vagabond, and if Inoue can stick the landing on this, he might just solidify his own legend too!

I had some very interesting comments from readers - all of whom I thank very much for sharing their thoughts - about the Japanese weeklies and the industry in general.
Obviously you're going to get various reactions when you state that an up-to-now successful status quo has now got a choke hold on creativity - especially when you're talking to fans – but it’s really interesting to see what people think.

I think that the current serial formats, especially the weeklies, and the lack of collaboration among creators is slowly choking the life out of Japanese comics. What I wrote previously and the comments from readers who were kind enough to share their thoughts are here
and here and here. Please check those out - especially the comments.

I agree that there are still some great weeklies and the format isn't going anywhere yet, especially not as long as the successful ones continue and creators feel that they need to release content on a regular basis to stay relevant in the minds of a fickle, and increasingly fragmented fan base.
Whether the weekly serial format is the problem or not may be debatable (I still think it’s a major problem because only a few creators can really do it well and do it consistently), but there is no debating the fact that the Japanese comics industry overall has seen its sales decline for over a decade with no end in sight. Yes, I realize that Weekly Shonen Jump's circulation increased slightly last year, but it's by far the biggest and boasts cross-over mega hits like One Piece. Jump is the exception to the rule, and even it only saw a small increase and remains well below the circulation numbers of the 80’s glory days.

Comics are still in trouble over here and I think fans and creators alike need to talk about what the problems might be, not pretend it’s not happening, cry about it, or get defiant and retract into ever more insular otaku turtle shells and wait for the second coming of Tezuka to usher in a new golden age of manga. The comics industry must win back the readers they alienated when they started making comics more for themselves and the nerdy sub-groups they identify with, and less for regular people. Like I mentioned before, I think comics need to broaden their appeal like Nintendo has done with games. There's nothing wrong with catering to hardcore fans, but they alone cannot sustain the industry. It’s time to start looking outside Akihabara and "otaku" and ask regular people what comics they read and why.

Almost all of my Japanese friends currently read at least one comic. That sounds promising until you also learn that not one of them follows the serial. This is just my own little survey, but I asked a bunch of friends who are currently reading an ongoing comic, or have read a comic in the last few years that was serialized at the time they were reading it, if they followed the serials. The serials were 0 for 40! Another thing my friends have in common is they are not considered "comic fans" and they are far from being anything close to "otaku". In fact all of them (except one!) would be offended at the term "otaku" being used to describe them. They are "normal" readers who just enjoy a good story. Most of them also used to read more comics than they do now, and none of them - yes, that's zero again! - learned about the comics they do currently read by picking up the serial anthologies. They are the type of reader the industry seems to have forgotten about while they continue to desperately fight for a larger piece of the dwindling, and ever weirder, hardcore fringe.

Part of the reason, as I mentioned before when I wrote that creators should have a life instead of 24/7 comics to meet a weekly deadline, is that too many comic creators are in their own little world and have lost touch with the rest of us. Creators and publishers don't just cater to the fringe, they are the fringe and they seem to think that they have to be the hardest of the hardcore to survive.
The gaming industry was plagued by the same type of thinking until Nintendo slapped everyone around by showing us all that you can make games for non-gamers and they're good they will sell like crazy. We learned that it wasn't that non-gamers didn't like games; it was just that there weren't many that appealed to them. I think the same goes for comics. There will always be a hardcore fan base, and that’s all well and good. But it's the so-called "cross-over hits" that make the money and ensure that the self-indulgent nerdy stuff gets made too. Nerds will call it a sell out, but if you don't branch out you risk going bust. When that happens no one gets what they want.

The nerdier and more insular you get, the less likely you'll be able to create something with broad appeal. That makes the industry even more fragmented and will cause readership to continue to fall, major hit titles become fewer and farther between, and the door is opened for the Third Horsemen of the Apocalypse; "Famine". There just won't be anything big left.
It's time to take the milk from the cash cows now, while they are still producing, and do something with it other than just make more nerd cheese!

It doesn't matter how many teenage girl "ambassadors" the Japanese government dresses up in bunny ears, school uniforms, or creepy goth-loli costumes and sends overseas, the industry will live and die on quality content with wide appeal, not fad and fetish. Japan has to quit looking deeper inward for new ideas and start looking around and thinking in new ways. That's why I think Japan needs more collaboration. I think creators need outlets to focus on their strengths, hone their craft and learn the industry without their careers hanging in the balance right from the get go. You shouldn't have to serve time as an uncredited slave at another artists' studio just to get experience, or have to have your own comic idea and be able to do it all yourself in order to launch your career. Creator should get together more and brainstorm, experiment, and do joint and collective projects. I think that will open the floodgates and a ton of suppressed, pent up creativity and innovation will just pour out. That's one reason I will never be fully against publisher owned properties, like the Marvel and DC model. They offer creators a chance to showcase their skills, try new things, get full credit for their work and get paid for it. It doesn't matter if you don't hold the copyrights to everything you do, sometimes it's worth it to do work for hire, get experience, get exposure, and most of all get paid so you can afford to keep on creating!
Having said that, though, I do not think Japan should go to the American publisher owned superhero model necessarily. Superheroes won't save Japanese comics, but alternative platforms to work from might be all some creators need and I think it would improve the overall quality and originality of Japanese comics.

Maybe more groups similar to CLAMP is the answer? They came from outside the industry and were never assistants to published creators. CLAMP members focus on their strengths, collaborate, and create together. Maybe that's the answer. I’m surprised that more young creators aren't trying that model, but I’m not at all surprised that it has taken independent female creators to give us a glimpse of what an alternative Japanese creative collective might look like. Women have been leaders in creative endeavors in Japan ever since Heian times. While the upper-class men of the era compared literary penis sizes with each other by writing pompous showoff pieces in Chinese, the women, whom not much was expected of, wrote Japanese phonetically. Women of the Heian courts didn't have to impress anyone with how many Chinese characters they could write and were free to write how they felt. The result was that the women of the era produced the most beautifully poetic and historically important writing Japan has ever known - including some of the only literature using pure Japanese vocabulary instead of the Kango (Sino-Japanese language) that was so prevalent in the upper classes at the time. (Incidentally, many Japanese today have trouble communicating without using foreign loan words, and most couldn’t complete a sentence without using Sino-Japanese vocabulary).

The problem with collaboration, I think, is that putting a bunch of creators in a room together, male or female, won't change the social structure of Japan. Here there is still a very ridged top-down societal hierarchy, which in comics terms means that creators are called "sensei", assistants get little pay and no credit for their work, and social etiquette, customs, bureaucracy and red tape are so intrusive that most established creators can only get together professionally at arms length, if at all. Underlings rarely dare to express ideas even if they are encouraged to do so. CLAMP creators are different because they came from the independent scene and were never assistants on the sweatshop assembly line of another creator. But CLAMP’s success should at least hint at other possibilities for people. There should be more groups of a similar structure in the mainstream backed up by industry resources, organizational muscle and a little cash, where creators can pool their talents to create new things in new ways.

While I would personally like to see more international team-ups in Japan, too, creators don't have to team up with Stan Lee to collaborate. Even without international collaboration, all it'll take is a few successful mainstream creators to go maverick and unCLAMP themselves from the status quo to show everyone that there are other ways to make comics and other formats they can be successful in. If the big companies were smart they would start experimenting now before creators take it upon themselves and while they still have the money and resources to do so. Someone’s got to at least try and be the next Nintendo, or get the next CLAMP under their wing, otherwise they’ll all continue their downward slide together.

This is going to sound nutty, but what if, for example, Disney, with all their resources and muscle, can dream up a way to make Marvel a force in Japan? I bet many manga fans are snickering at the thought and wondering what I’ve been smoking, but just try and entertain the thought. Imagine the ramifications, because it’s not that far fetched. Who would have thought a few years ago that the iPod could come to Japan and immediately make Sony’s Walkman it’s bitch, or that the iPhone would become one of the top and still fastest growing mobile smart phones in the ultra high-tech and brutally competitive Japanese cell phone market where all other foreign products failed? Most Japanese didn’t thik so. (Sony sure as hell didn’t!)

On the flipside, I doubt very many people foresaw the sudden and massive impact that Japanese comics and cartoons would have overseas in the last decade, either.
What I'm trying to say is that if Japanese comic publishers keep running on hamster wheels at home, who’s to say they aren’t the next ones in line to be slapped around by a foreign competitor like Apple, or by an innovative domestic one like Nintendo, who has new ideas that capture the attention of the average consumer? Is it really that hard to imagine that the comics establishment may become vulnerable in the near future too?

Whatever happens, comics will change in Japan sooner or later. And just like with literature so long ago, don't be surprised if women lead the way again, too!

Vagabond 32 come out today with another outstanding cover.
The subtle difference in Musashi's expression on this cover compared to previous ones almost tells the story of his development by itself.
Musashi's expressions and demeanor have softened considerably over the last few years of the comic as Musashi matures and begins to realize who he is and the gravity of the things he has done. Inoue's ability to express that through the art alone is awe inspiring.

In fact, if you look back at all the graphic novels you can almost tell the entire story of both Vagabond and Inoue's progression as an artist just through the covers.

Take a look!

Takehiko Inoue's progression as an artist over the last decade is stunning and it's all there in the pages of Vagabond. Inoue is also sticking to what he said a couple years ago about ending Vagabond. You can actually feel the story moving in that direction. He most recently has said will end Vagabond within the year 2010. I will be very sad to see it end, but watching him steer the story toward the final act has been fascinating.
Even more than Musashi, I've been captivated by Kojiro's story. Only an artist of the highest quality could depict a deaf, mute character in a comic so expressively and with so much emotional depth. The only word Kojiro has ever spoken is "Jisai", the name of the man who raised him from infancy (Inoue better tell us what happened to him, dammit!).
Inoue has never cheated by giving Kojiro an inner monologue or adding narration. Inoue just draws it and you feel it. I don't think it's a stretch to say that Kojiro could be one of the best comic book characters ever!

The road to the end is going to be unbelievable! It's a shame that North America will barely notice, because I have no doubt the end of Vagabond will be the comic book event of the year in Japan!

Why do you have to prove to the world that you have no life in order to be a respected comic artist in Japan?

What would be wrong with making some of these weekly anthologies that many artists are killing themselves to appear in into monthlies? Couldn't they just add pages to the popular titles for the artists that can handle it? Creators could be given the option of doing a volume of work equivalent to four weeklies, or doing less pages and taking more time to do them in. In turn creators should then also be obligated to meet their deadlines or decrease their work load, and not allowed to keep erratic publication schedules just so they can have the status that comes with being in a flagship weekly (with the obvious exception of time off for unforeseen circumstances such as illness, etc).

I realize that the super nerds will still talk about how many pages a given artist produces in a month compared to everyone else as a mark of how hardcore that artist is, but who cares? Some artists take more breaks and miss more deadlines than others as it is, and that annoys fans both hardcore and casual. I think setting a firmer schedule within a more flexible format is a win-win situation.

Creators who need that extra little bit of time could have it without the problems that come with weeklies that aren't weekly, and people who are doing weeklies can still produce the same amount of work on the same schedule, just with a different release schedule for the anthologies. If longer episodes won't work for creators currently in the weekly format who do it and do it well, then they can make four episodes a month, with the only difference being they get released together. What's the big deal? The upside is that if they get the flu they can make three, even two, episodes for that month instead of four and still not miss having their comic appear in every single issue of the anthology like clockwork. There will be fewer excuses for extended flashbacks and the crap filler that plagues the weeklies now.

Creators would also not necessarily have to take such long breaks because they get burnt out, writers block, or * gasp! * they actually have something else going on in their lives! Heaven forbid these people have lives, right!?
I think comics would be so much better if their creators were allowed to have lives.

Just like this generation won't work overtime for a bowl of udon and drink until last train like their fathers did, or unwaveringly support the kids and household in the absence of said father and at the expense of their own interests like their mothers did, this generation - for better or worse - isn't as willing or able to suffer like their predecessors.
The post-war generation made doing the impossible a way of life. They had little choice and they made Japan what it is today. Hats off to them! I salute them and their achievements.
The fact is, though, that most of their kids simply won't or can't do what they did. Many of the post-war generation would say that they worked their asses off so their kids wouldn't have to be like them. Well, what's wrong with letting their work bare a little fruit by giving their kids a better life than they had?

Why should a comic artist have to prove how dedicated they are by killing themselves to adhere to an impossible standard for the sake of a demanding, but dwindling, hardcore fan base - many of whom (meaning the hardcore "otaku" who complain the loudest) are single, often live with their parents, and don't know the meaning of the word work?
What I'm trying to say is that Japanese comic artists are people too. They should not be considered soft because they don't kill themselves for their craft, and they should not be deprived the option of having a life just because many of their readers don't!

People who have lives tend to be more interesting people, and will probably make more interesting comics, too. If more creators had lives outside of making comics, they may even make more comics that appeal to readers who have lives outside of reading comics!
Need a new fanbase? There it is! Want to know if that will work?
Just ask Nintendo how making games for non-gamers worked for them!

This came out yesterday and I just got my copy today.
And, oh yes, it shall be blogged!

Can't blog it until I've read it, though.
I'll be back in a day or two with some Takehiko Inoue and Vagabond goodness.

THE LAST DAYS OF AMERICAN CRIME #1 (of 3)

Synopsis:
The Last Days of American Crime Issue #1 (of 3)

ON SALE NOW!

In the not-too-distant future as a final response to terrorism and crime, the U.S. government plans in secret to broadcast a signal making it impossible for anyone to knowingly commit unlawful acts. To keep this from the public, the government creates a distraction, installing a new currency system using digital charge cards.

Enter: Graham Brick. A career criminal never quite able to hit the big score, Graham intends to steal one of the charging stations, skip the country and live off unlimited funds for the rest of his life. But the media has leaked news of the anti-crime signal one week before it was to go live...and now Graham and his team have just a few days to turn the crime of the century into the last crime in American history.

64-Pages, Full Color

Creator and Writer: Rick Remender
Artist: Greg Tocchini

"The Last Days of American Crime" series url @ Radical Comics

Eastern Edge review:

I'm not even sure what to say about this comic other than, "Wow!"
I love it!
While I'm familiar with many of the animation projects Rick Remender has been involved in, I didn't know much about his writing or comics other than hearing about his acclaimed run on Punisher. Unfortunately, I haven't read much Punisher since Klaus Jansen drew it way back when, but I'm starting to think I should be hunting down Remender's Punisher comics! I didn't know much of anything about artist Greg Tocchini either, but there's no way I won't be paying attention to both of these guys in the future.

The Last Days of American Crime appears on the surface to be your typical noir crime story with the usual cast of characters, but it doesn't feel unoriginal in the least. In fact, it's the complete opposite. The writing is outstanding, which right away sets it apart from a lot of comics that suffer from weak dialogue. I was also intrigued by the political landscape in the story, which put an interesting twist on the simple "great heist" concept and gives it a modern feel that many of this type of seedy underworld crime stories lack. The socio-political backdrop is a little vague on some things - like the "signal" the government is going to broadcast - but some of those things may come out in subsequent issues. I hope so, because I like the premise a lot and would like to see it fleshed out more. But the story appears to be really about the cast of very unlikable characters at it's core, so developing them is more important to issue one than explaining all the politics of the world they inhabit in fine detail.

Last Days of American crime #1 is extremely well-written, with beautiful cinematic artwork. It goes a little overboard in some places, but I like the washed-out water-colour look too. It makes some of the sequences seem almost dream-like until the hard-edged dialogue pinches you awake.
Only a really tight story can get away with showing you how it ends right from the beginning. Just in case you weren't already hooked, there is a nice reveal at the end of issue one to keep your interest.

Personally, I was into it from the opening few pages, which begin with a flashback of what appears to be our protagonist bloodied up and about to be killed.
I bet he deserves it, too, but I have to know what happens in between!

Preview copy of “The Last Days of American Crime #1” provided courtesy of Radical Publishing.

Today begins a three day weekend that will be jammed with 10 hours of Aikido. Most of the rest of the time will be taken up by a new addiction, reading Yotsuba To!
(albeit, no where near the dojo.)

If only we could all look at each day with the wide-eyed wonder and enthusiasm that Yotsuba does. Of course without all the bumping into things, falling down, and generally doing and saying things that would anyone but a cute 5 year old committed.

Then again, if we could all be in Yotsuba's world, we'd never realize how nice it would be to have a little bit of it. That's what makes Yotsuba so bittersweet to those of us that have accumulated cynicism along with age.

Sometimes it sucks to be a grown up...

HERCULES: THE KNIVES OF KUSH #5 (of 5)

Synopsis:
The stunning conclusion! After an explosive showdown of thunder and lightning on the battlefield, Hercules and his companions are set to end Egypt’s civil war. But even with a cunning plan to defeat Khadis, Lord of Lightning and the insurgent king Amenmessu, there still remains a traitor in the royal house of Seti II. When the dust has settled on the grounds of war, the future of Egypt is in the hands of Hercules.

Featuring two incredible covers from Clint Langley

28-Pages, Full Color

Writer: Steve Moore
Cover Art: Clint Langley
Artist : Cris Bolson
Colorist: Doug Sirois
Letterer: Todd Klein

"Hercules: The Knives of Kush" series url @ Radical Comics

Eastern Edge review:

In my previous review of issue 4, I talked a lot about my impressions and what I liked and didn't. Since then, I've read the back issues (which Radical kindly provided me) so I put critique aside and just sat back to enjoy the final issue.

Packed full of action, this was an enjoyable conclusion to an overall fun series. Certain things in a story of this type that end with a massive battle are enevitable, but there are some nice twists and turns, and a couple suprises to keep it interesting.

I'm looking forward to more of Hercules and his crew. Hopefully Steve Moore is already at work to tell bring us their further adventures in another action packed series!

Preview copy of “Hercules: The Knives of Kush #4” provided courtesy of Radical Publishing.

I don't know how I missed this, but a comment on my post yesterday about the weeklies pointed it out (thank you!)

From Takehiko Inoue's website, December 3rd, 2009:

This wraps up Vol. 32 which goes on sale 1/15. Unfortunately, there were a couple breaks during this series, as I had other work such as Real and the Museum of Contemporary Art. I wasn't able to meet the expectations of all the readers who follow me every week. I'm sorry. I'd love to have everybody continue reading every week, but I only have one body and it can only do so much. It's frustrating.

I had to make the most edits in a graphic novel ever for this one. It could be that the weekly issues aren't showing what the final version will be. In other words I haven't "completed" them in time. I feel that I may be nearing the end of my life as a serialized manga artist (although to be honest, I think I've been heading in that direction for a while now...).
Or if I want to continue, I have to change something.


INOUE TAKEHIKO
3 December 2009

Note in particluar, "I feel that I may be nearing the end of my life as a serialized manga artist (although to be honest, I think I've been heading in that direction for a while now...)."

Inoue is only 42 years old.
'Nuff said!

I read about it at 4thletter!, then read the preview at AdHouse Books and watched this video I found via the creators site www.streetangelcomics.com

Now I must have this comic!!!

I'm not too likely to find this in Japan so I'm gonna have to go cyber-begging back home in Toronto, I guess. But sooner or later I'll get my Afrodisiac!
And when I do, just like Black Belt Jones, I'm going to take it to McDonald's to celebrate!

On a serious note; While Afrodisiac is a brilliant parody, I'm not joking around about Jim Kelly. He was massively cool and should have been a star.

Yesterday I wrote about the importance of the spirit of collaboration for Japanese comics in future, but I didn't really get into another major factor that I think is stifling creativity here - the weekly serials!
Let's get this kicked off with an excerpt from my translation of an article in which Urasawa talks a little about the weeklies:

Honestly, the situation in Japan where comics are released in weekly anthologies is a very abnormal one. Everyone has become accustomed to it and deals with it like it was nothing, but people overseas think that producing comics of this quality on a weekly basis is insane. ... Yeah, it really is insane.
50 years ago, knowing it was something extremely difficult to do, weekly comics were created on a trial basis for the first time. But even after that initial trial period, it continued and is still the way it is now. It’s actually impossible. But it’s going through the impossible that has made today’s manga culture prosperous. It's an amazing story!

It is an amazing story, but like he said it's also insane and impossible. You can only do the impossible so long before it catches up with you, and the fact the Urasawa isn't doing weeklies anymore is evidence of that. Weeklies got the industry to where it is, but it won't sustain it forever.
Urasawa's own current comic, Billy Bat, is serialized in Weekly Morning, but only appears every two weeks at best. If you factor in the time off he has taken already in this young series, it's practically a monthly.
Uraswa also took some notoriously long breaks from 20th Century Boys, so much so that the series is generally considered to consist of three different sections that roughly mark the long breaks and restarts in the serial.
In my opinion, that hurt the series because he appeared to get lost a few times and had trouble pulling it back together in the end. It could be argued that he never really did. The first third of the series is by far the best and 21st Century Boys was anticlimactic and didn't tie up loose ends well at all. A lot of my Japanese friends who were into the series said the same thing.

What if Urasawa had less pressure and more time between episodes to think things through? Maybe he would have stayed in a groove longer and not needed to go off on so many tangents and different directions. Maybe he wouldn't have taken such a long break from it. Maybe it would have turned out differently and ended brilliantly as it began.

At the same time as 20th Century Boys he was also doing Pluto. Episodes of Pluto took so painfully long to come out that following the serial became pointless. It is, however, brilliant when read all together in tankobon format and should have been released that way in the first place. Why it wasn't is because the industry generally won't allow it. Tradition, and the fact that the industry can't afford to lose the revenue that comes from selling you a comic twice, are difficult obstacles to overcome.
How long will it be before Japanese also start waiting for the trades like people are more and more in the U.S. with pamphlets? Especially for a shorter series like Pluto that is so often delayed, it makes sense to wait, doesn't it?

The only weekly serial I follow regularly right now is Vagabond. Vagabond comes out weekly for long stretches, but Inoue has taken some very long breaks from that too, partly to work on his other "weekly", Real. Real comes out so infrequently that it is barely a monthly, even though it is published in weekly Young Jump.

The big weekly anthology magazine, Weekly Shonen Jump, features extraordinary weekly hits like Naruto and One Piece, but also a revolving door of new titles, some of which stick but then get farmed out to Jump Square, which is a monthly.

Don't believe me that the weekly format is on it's last legs? American manga readers can check out the February 2010 issue of U.S. SJ and read what Takei has to say about doing Ultimo in the monthly format rather than weekly. He actually now has the time to work on the details of his own art. What a concept!! Let's see a little more of that, please!

Gifted creators who are excellent all around like Urasawa, Inoue, Oda and Kishimoto, just to name a few that I like, are a joy to follow. They always deliver and always leave you wanting more, which in turn makes you want to follow a weekly serial. They are also rare. Most creators are far stronger in either storytelling and writing, or in art. Few can do both well, and even fewer can produce their best work at such a breakneck schedule week in and week out.
I would like to see how some of these people do with more time, but less help from uncredited assistants. I'd also like to see more credits for inkers, colourists, background artists etc. Ultimo actually credits an inker and colourist, which is extremely rare! Unless everyone else is really doing the majority of their own work themselves - which they are often not once they have a regular serial - I'd like to see a lot more credit where credit is due. Either that or give the artists extra time, but force them to actually do it all themselves in exchange for taking all the credit! That would probably mean going to at least a monthly format for most.

Aside from the art, weekly formats also give creators little time to consider plot points, so when they get stuck or just need a little time to think about something, they either take time off or pump out boring filler or those incredibly annoying flashbacks that go on for pages and pages. I'd rather an asterisk telling me to see episode whatever if I don't remember, instead of paying for reprints of shit I already bought!
Weeklies pull stunts like that way too often, but there are only so many options for a creator when they can't or won't take time off to figure things out.
Some are just lazy, but most are just trapped by an industry that refuses to change with the times and explore new formats and ways of doing things. Like I wrote yesterday, the industry needs to free up creators to create, not just produce.

With apologies to the handful of awesome ones, that's why I think most weekly serials suck! Many aren’t even weeklies to begin with, and most that are shouldn’t be. Except for the ones that really deliver quality every single week, almost all of them should go biweekly or monthly and artists should get paid bit more so they can afford to. If that means also paying the top guys who really put out awesome weeklies more, then that's fine. They deserve the cash. Besides, with more time all creators will need fewer assistants that they have to pay anyway. In fact, instead of being let go, maybe those assistants could make comics of their own to support the creator/studio they work for? Just a thought.

Anyway, if the weekly anthologies stagger content well they'll be fine. In the end they'll probably also find that they will have more really solid titles with even higher quality production and artistic values than ever before to keep current readers hooked, and bring in new ones.