The Eastern Edge

Although I haven't written a full post in a while, I seem to have accumulated a lot of disembodied drafts and bits and pieces that never quite became anything.
I think I'll have to offload all that brain lint before I can really start writing full entries again, so here goes another Clearing the Cache post:

First of all, I'm still in Inoue/Urasawa withdrawal. I also still haven't found the actual Dylan comic (okay, I only checked two bookstores, but it isn't exactly the most in-demand book in the country either).
I did, however, get my hands The Joker and the first collection of Mouse Guard I wanted. I am also finally reading my copy of Identity Crisis that's been collecting dust on my shelf for a while now, and some more All Star Batman & Robin nonsense - just to remind me that Frank Miller isn't perfect. I hope the rumor that Holy Terror, Batman! won't actually be Batman anymore is true. Miller has done enough damage recently to the same character he did such brilliant work on back in the 80's.

While working on those new comics, I'm re-reading 20th Century Boys and sinking deeper into a bizarre paradox in which I become more amazed at the work overall, while simultaneously growing more disappointed with the ending (of 21st Century Boys).
I'll explain more about why in a special spoiler laced post in the near future, complete with proper tags so I won't be the asshole that ruins it for someone after an ill-fated Google search, or something.


⇒　Via The MangaBlog, I followed a link to NPR's Best Graphic Novels Of 2008 and discovered some comics I have to read by Yoshihiro Tatsumi.

I hadn't heard of him, but it sounds like this guy is Japan's answer to the late, great Will Eisner!
Speaking of whom...

⇒ Frank Miller may be doing weird stuff with Batman, but I have high hopes for his movie adaptation of Will Eisner's The Spirit. Possibly even more than the movie, I can't wait to see the storyboards and concept art!

⇒ If you need any more reasons to believe that the term "otaku" does not refer to fun-loving fanboys, take a look at the what more and more Japanese think an otaku is. That is only the latest in a string of similar cases involving children. Take note, guys, before you come to Japan and loudly profess to be an "otaku".
Girls are lucky because they don't have the same stigma.
Instead, they have Shokotan.

⇒ And finally; Neil Gaiman has made me see why I may have to think again before I rant against the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund for defending smut depicting children when he hit me over the head with this big blunt instrument of a blog post .
I haven't quite changed my mind on the issue, but I see tht it isn't that simple.
Damn you, Gaiman, for making so much sense and causing me to waver and wobble on my stance like a bowl of Jell-o in an earthquake!

⇒　By the way, Gaiman is writing a two-issue tribute to Batman, starting with Batman #686, and tentatively titled Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?. It's due in February 2009 and cover is stunning.


I'm not a big Alex Ross fan, but I love this piece!

Well, that about does it for now.
At least until I’ve fleshed out a few other bare bones draft entries and/or finished reading some of the comics I’m working on.