From the stack: Twin Spica vol. 2

I haven’t seen the final list of this week’s comic book arrivals, but I feel fairly comfortable in naming the second volume of Twin Spica (Vertical), written and illustrated by Kou Yaginuma, book of the week. I was very taken with the first volume, which traced young Asumi’s efforts to win enrollment in astronaut school. The second shows her early days as a student and throws some new obstacles in her path.

Some of those obstacles have real sting to them, particularly a discouraging teacher with his own agenda. It’s tricky to portray an adult targeting a child for reasons that have little to do with the child’s own behavior, as is the case here, but Yaginuma’s skill and delicacy in rendering a number of awkward and tense situations put my mind at ease. I feel certain that the fraught situation will yield satisfying dramatic consequences. It seems certain that the results will be more interesting than the average “bad teacher gets his comeuppance” outcome.

I’m also interested by my reaction to Asumi’s budding friendships. I’m not surprised that I wholeheartedly endorse the tense relationship between tiny, open-hearted Asumi and frosty, elegant Ukita. If there’s a friendship dynamic that I can call my favorite, it’s the old “meet ugly” where two characters get off on the wrong foot and gradually build a bond. What’s surprising to me is my budding dislike of Asumi’s instant chum Kei. She’s the loyal but emotionally tone-deaf type whose support seems somehow less meaningful because it’s so unqualified. It will be fun to see how this triad develops, since Kei is already demonstrating jealousy and impatience towards Ukita. (Something tells me Kei is used to winding up the odd girl out.)

There’s a lot of emotional meat here, both in the main story and in the glimpses of Asumi’s early childhood. Those flashback stories aren’t just nice bonus passages, as they help outline both Asumi’s passion for space and her father’s moody reluctance. They contribute to the emotional fabric that Yaginuma is building, which is becoming progressively more complex. I look forward to seeing how the back stories of the supporting cast – their goals and anxieties and their origins – are woven into the whole.

(This review is based on a complimentary copy provided by the publisher.)

Previews review July 2010

The July 2010 Previews catalog is out. Here are a few highlights:

I don’t really understand the concept of Hidekaz Himaruya’s Hetalia Axis Powers (Tokyopop), but it’s generated a lot of excitement, so I’ll just copy the solicitation text:

“Germany is the bully, Italy is the pest, and Japan is the exotic new friend from the East! When this bad boy club clashes with the hamburger-loving America and stodgy old Great Britain, it’s all-out war – WWII, that is – portrayed in hysterical, politically incorrect 4-panel comic strips!”

Oh, manga. (Page 328.)

Speaking of titles that triggered joy when their licensing was announced, there’s Mitsuru Adachi’s Cross Game (Viz). Sports manga (baseball, in this case) doesn’t do spectacularly well over here, but there’s a lot of fondness directed at this particular work. (Page 338.)

I loved the first volume of Yumi Unita’s Bunny Drop (Yen Press) so much that I reserve the right to mention every time a new volume is due to arrive, mostly because it doesn’t seem like on the fast-track release system. Anyway, the second volume is listed here, so pre-order it and make it the huge hit it deserves to be. (Page 344.)

Relatively awesome

I’ve mentioned this before, but the Komikusu roundtable over at The Hooded Utilitarian makes for really interesting reading. Noah Berlatsky offers a conclusion of sorts that explores the potentially touchy nature of promoting awesome comics and the fact that encouraging people to read awesome manga is less of a minefield than other kinds of awesome comics advocacy:

“Nobody in the roundtable says that the problem is that readers’ tastes suck. Nobody says the problem is that bloggers aren’t doing enough to promote the right kind of manga. Both Shaenon [Gaerrity] and Deb [Aoki] mention Naruto in a ‘yep, the manga we’re talking about aren’t going to sell like that’ kind of way — but they don’t seem resentful of Naruto’s success, the way Sean Collins seems resentful of superheroes (despite the fact that he reads them himself). In fact, unless I’m missing something, nobody in the roundtable says anything mean about mainstream, successful genre manga at all.”

I think he nails it when he makes the point that there can be a crusader component when people try and convince fans of super-hero comics to read what might be considered more literary material, that there’s a moral imperative involved. It has the strange effect of turning the act of reading comics into something like eating five servings of vegetables or flossing twice a day or something equally virtuous but not intrinsically pleasurable.

It’s sent me off on a mental tangent, and I wonder how people would define their comics reading tastes if circumstances forced them to do so? I would categorize mine as eclectic, though I would be extremely reluctant to do so precisely because that adjective, neutral as it should read, feels somehow like I’m congratulating myself for liking more than one kind of thing. So I’d love to hear people’s thoughts on categorizing their tastes and the potential pitfalls and moral implications of doing so.

Updated to add this very entertaining rant from Emil Petrinic‘s Twitter feed:

@MangaCur Eclectic really is a terrible word because in people’s minds it doesn’t mean “varied” it means “snobby, out of mainstream”.

@MangaCur It reminds of “Best American Comics” collections, which of course are in fact “Comics by my friends that you aren’t reading…”

@MangaCur “…because you have no taste you stupid peasants.”

@MangaCur I also hate the very notion of “literary comics” like the plague. It’s something asshole New York literati concocted…

@MangaCur …so they could easily tar all else as complete shit. All else being pretty much all comics. Rant concluded

Updated again, as Noah Berlatsky has taken a moment to characterize his own tastes and give me the vague sense that I’m being ridiculed for reasons I don’t fully understand.