Boing Boing » manga

Japanese teen trend: "Dragon Ball attack" selfies

Xeni Jardin — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 14:30:52 +0000

"Numerous Japanese teens, it seems, are uploading photos of themselves doing the Kamehameha attack from popular manga and anime series Dragon Ball," writes Kotaku's Japan-based correspondent Brian Ashcraft. There's a photo gallery and it's awesome. Brian had an earlier post at Kotaku about the broader trend in Japan of young women staging photos with manga-style martial arts. Below, one such image found on 2ch, Japan's largest bulletin board, with the heading, "Schoolgirls Nowadays lol".

(Thanks, Brian Lam!)

Steve Jobs Manga

Rob Beschizza — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 19:08:18 +0000

Posted online is a preview of the first installment of Manga Taishō and Mari Yamazaki's manga bio of Steve Jobs.

Mark Crilley's how-to-draw videos

Mark Frauenfelder — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 01:41:35 +0000

Cartoonist Mark Crilley has made over 200 high-quality videos showing how to draw people and animals in a semi-manga style. My daughter Jane and I like to watch them and sometimes we draw along with him. Even if you don't draw along with Crilley, his videos are a joy to watch, because Crilley is a very talented illustrator. He has interesting things to say about drawing, too.

The above video is called "How to Draw a Chibi: Winking, Peace Sign." To see all his videos, visit his YouTube channel.

Mark has a book out, too, called Mastering Manga with Mark Crilley: 30 drawing lessons from the creator of Akiko.

Manga plates turn your food into comics

Cory Doctorow — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 23:11:54 +0000

Francesco sez, "In my blog on Wired.it I posted a new series of wonderful 'manga inspired' plates created by the Japanese designer Mika Tsutai. Positioning the food in the right way Geek Chefs can tell a story or almost make the food more fun! Each plate costs 2980 Yen and for now is available only in Japanese design stores."

La cucina invasa dai manga!! (Thanks, Francesco!)

Westerfeld's Uglies continues in manga form: Shay's Story

Cory Doctorow — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 14:00:31 +0000

I've written several times here about Scott Westerfeld's Uglies series, a collection of outstanding dystopian YA science fiction novels about a world where everyone is forced to undergo cosmetic surgery at the age of 16. Westerfeld concluded the series in 2007, but now he is revisiting the world in manga form, co-creating a series of graphic novels with Devin Grayson and Steven Cummings.

The first of these volumes, Uglies: Shay's Story came out this week, and it's a fantastic, fast-paced addition to the Uglies canon. As the title implies, Shay's Story retells some of the key events in the series from the point-of-view of one of the minor characters from the novel, Shay, giving her her due (she was always one of my favorites). In so doing, Westerfeld and co illuminate more of the Uglies world -- and bring to it a set of visuals that flesh out and enhance the original novels.

You can certainly enjoy Shay's Story without reading the Uglies novels first, though each series (Shay's Story is the first of several volumes) contains a few spoilers for the other.

Uglies: Shay's Story

Comic Book Legal Defense Fund backs traveller arrested at Canadian border for "pornographic" manga on his hard drive

Cory Doctorow — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 01:05:49 +0000

Charles from the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund sez, "Comic Book Legal Defense Fund has formed a coalition to assist the defense of an American facing criminal charges in Canada for having manga comics on his laptop that Customs authorities allege are child pornography. He faces a minimum of one year in prison if convicted. CBLDF has also published an advisory about traveling through international borders with comics and a list of comics seized in Canada since 2002."

The images at issue are all comics in the manga style. No photographic evidence of criminal behavior is at issue. Nevertheless, a warrant was issued and the laptop was turned over to police. Consequently, the American has been charged with both the possession of child pornography as well as its importation into Canada. As a result, if convicted at trial, the American faces a minimum of one year in prison. This case could have far reaching implications for comic books and manga in North America.
The CBLDF's Board of Directors voted unanimously to aid the case by raising funds to contribute to the defense and to help the defense with strategy and expert resources.
Brownstein says, "This is an important case that impacts the rights of everyone who reads, publishes, and makes comics and manga in North America. It underscores the dangers facing everyone traveling with comics, and it can establish important precedents regarding travelers rights. It also relates to the increasingly urgent issue of authorities prosecuting art as child pornography. While this case won't set a US precedent, it can inform whatever precedent is eventually set. This case is also important with respect to artistic merit in the Canadian courts, and a good decision could bring Canadian law closer to US law in that respect. With the help of our supporters, we hope to raise the funds to wage a fight that yields good decisions and to create tools to help prevent these sorts of cases from continuing to spread."

CBLDF Forms Coalition to Defend American Comics Reader Facing Criminal Charges In Canada (Thanks, Charles!)

Final Scott Pilgrim volume: every bit as funny, but with a bunch of good emotional stuff and a satisfying wrapup

Cory Doctorow — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 06:59:56 +0000

After a long, long, long wait, Scott Pilgrim Volume 6: Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour, the concluding volume in Bryan Lee O'Malley's hilarious, ultra-geeky, manga-inflected, game-obsessed comic about a slacker who can only have his dream girl after fighting her seven evil exes, has finally come out.

I snuck out of the office today and got my copy at Forbidden Planet in London, where they were flying off the shelves. I've been sneaking peeks at it all day, and having just put the baby to bed, I was able to finish it.

Wow.

Finest Hour is everything you'd hope for in a concluding volume: more geeky, more funny, but with enormous heart and a really lovely emotional center that is brought out without being schmaltzy or obvious. Every loose end is tied up, closure occurs, things aren't perfect, but they are eminently satisfying.

If you've been waiting for the series to run its course before starting it, go. And if you've read books 1-5 and have been waiting on tenterhooks to find out how it ends, run.

Scott Pilgrim Volume 6: Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour

Old manga used to grow vegetables

Lisa Katayama — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 09:38:20 +0000

Japanese artist Koshi Kawachi uses old manga collections to plant and grow vegetables. [via Pink Tentacle]