One of my absolute favorite comics right now, without a doubt? NANA, a modern day "odd couple" story starring two Japanese women by Ai Yazawa. And now, the movie is going to hit North America in early 2008. It's a simple premise; Nana Komatsu is a young, innocent girl from the country who falls in love a the drop of a hat, while Nana Osaki is a punk rocker who's tough enough to face the world ...

While reading the latest Usagi Yojimbo collection this week, I was reminded yet again how much I enjoy Stan Sakai's series, and thought to myself, "Maybe I should start reading the book monthly again? Now that the latest collected edition is out, surely it's not that far behind the single issues." So then I did a little research. Usagi Yojimbo Vol. 21: The Mother of Mountains collects issues ...

When I first heard the news that Viz Media was releasing a limited-edition pair of Bleach shoes (only 360 pairs being made!), my first thought was, "That's pretty cool." Take a hot property in animation, video games (and what amazing timing, new Bleach games for both the Wii and the NintendoDS are released today), and comics and create a snazzy looking piece of clothing around them. (The full ...

Unless you've been living under a rock, it's hard to ignore the immense amount of manga that's been translated into English over the past couple of years. While comics from Japan have been published in English for some time before then, the boom of material in the 21st century has bordered on the level of staggering. So, enter Jason Thompson's Manga: The Complete Guide. Thompson's work at Viz on ...

There are some actors who have the reputation of being a "show-killer." As soon as they're brought on board a television show, the program is doomed for failure. So when you tally up the roll call of show-killers, we have a new addition to stand alongside such illustrious members as Sean Maher (Firefly, The $treet, Ryan Caulfield) and Rena Sofer (Blind Justice, the US version of Coupling, Just ...

Picking up where yesterday's post left off, this is a look at ten books being published in October 2007 that you might otherwise miss. From art school girls to gun-toting library police, there's a little something for everyone to enjoy here. RIVERHEAD BOOKS GORILLAZ: RISE OF THE OGRE TP by Gorillaz The graphic novel meets the rock & roll celebrity tell-all! Gorillaz - bass-slayer mastermind ...

I know what you're thinking. Summer is barely over and I'm trying to get you to think about October? Well, my local grocery store is already putting out Halloween candy, and even more terrifyingly the solicitations for the November books are being released even as I type. So here's a dip through ten books that you might otherwise miss, all scheduled for an October release. From rock stars to ...

This may seem like a setup for a bad joke, but the majority of comic book readers I know are also big fans of food. No, I'm not throwing daggers about stereotypes involving weight. I'm saying that for whatever reason, comic book reading seems to also make people hunt out really good food, either at a restaurant or for them to create in their own kitchen. (As far as I'm concerned, a nice way to ...

Picking up where yesterday's article left off, these are five more books from the "back of the catalog"-titles not published by Dark Horse, DC, Image, or Marvel-that you may otherwise have missed. Check them out! SCHOLASTIC INC. THE ARRIVAL GN by Shaun Tan In a heartbreaking parting, a man gives his wife and daughter a last kiss and boards a steamship to cross the ocean. He's embarking on the ...

When the comic book industry releases its upcoming solicitations (two months in advance), there's always a lot of buzz and fanfare over the announcements for the four "front of the book" publishers: Dark Horse, DC, Image, and Marvel. The thing is, some of the most exciting books due to hit are actually the ones from the other publishers. This, then, is the second in a series of monthly rundowns of ...