The American Library Association has released its list of Great Graphic Novels for 2008, and ADV, TOKYOPOP, Del Rey, Go! Comi, CMX, VIZ, Dark Horse, Vertical, and Digital Manga Publishing all took home prizes this year.

For Del Rey it was Pumpkin Scissors 1, Alive 1 and 2, and Mushishi 1 and 2 (natch).

TOKYOPOP got honors for King of Thorn 1 and 2, VIZ’s Love*Com 1 and Kekkaishi 7 and 8 are mentioned, and ADV’s Yotsuba& volume 4.

CMX wins for Emma, of course, volumes 1-5. Dark Horse took home one for the well-received shoujo manga Translucent, and Vertical’s prize is for To Terra 1-3. Digital Manga Publishing got awards for Flower of Life, by Fumi Yoshinaga (who is an amazing mangaka, best known for her BL– unfortunately for her non-BL titles like Flower or Antique Bakery, which are phenomenal).

I think Go! Comi wins for the actual number of books mentioned: Train+Train 1-3 and After School Nightmare 1-5, a total of 8 books (versus Del Rey and CMX who got 5 each).

And finally, the well-regarded manga Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms by Fuyimo Kouno also made the list.

Also of note: Mark Crilley’s extremely manga-inspired graphic novel series Miki made the list for three volumes, and the first volume of SoHee Park’s manhwa Goong gives some last-second acclaim to the defunct ICE Kunion.

Original source: ALA
Secondary source: Blog@Newsarama

Sorry about the weekend quietness, but I was at a RennFaire. I’m back now!

The American Library Association has nominated another round of books for its Young Adult Library Services Association Award, and as usual, some manga made it to the list of “great graphic novels.” A lot of them are OEL, but here goes:

Let’s see, going down the list from top to bottom:

Current Mood:  DO WANT

First! I have a new layout! One that actually lets people be logged in so that you don’t have to fill out your stupid info every time you want to leave a comment. Randall is my god of WordPress.

Okay, let’s see, merch from AX… Read the rest of this entry »

Current Mood:  Tired

…But not much! I picked up some manga at the Go! Comi booth (Train + Train volume two, After School Nightmare volume four), and then I headed to Hen Da Ne! for some doujinshi ♥

I would like to note, for the record, that as usual I bought more het than yaoi. Two yaoi Geass doujinshi (and one’s just gag, not smut), two het Geass doujinshi (one CC, one Viletta), and two het Gurren Lagann doujinshi (one Yoko, one Nia - yay for Hen Da Ne being fast, even if that guy who does all the yelling about the yaoi is a complete asshole).

I have a friend of mine keeping a watch out for my Geass figure that I want, though I don’t hold a ton of hope that he’ll be able to find it, but beyond that, all I have left to buy is…a big stack of manga. I should make a list of stuff so I actually know what to look for. *grumble*

Anyway. I’ve covered VIZ, Seven Seas, Bandai Visual USA, and the Haruhi seiyuu panels so far, and I’m hanging around waiting for the Aurora Publishing panel, after which I will meet my boss (and, quite possibly, my coworker Dale, who I have yet to actually meet in person).

No really major news so far; VIZ didn’t announce a single new license, amazingly. It looks like they’re saving up for Otakon. 7S is broadening their ranges to include both yaoi and children’s books - go figure. BVU snagged Super Robot Wars and a CG Gundam spinoff called MS Igloo. They SAY they’re not going to start taking over the Gundam franchise from Bandai Entertainment, but we’ll see.

Alrighty, just a few minutes until Aurora. I’ve declined to wait in line for a raffle ticket and swag bag. (Hopefully I can get the swag later, and I’m not sure I’m even allowed to enter raffles. I’m so well-behaved I can hardly stand myself!)