Giant Robot Store and GR2 News

I went to Comic-Con and actually came back with comic books. Go figure! Above, Congressman John Lewis with his graphic novel debut. Below, some reviews.

Brian Ralph, Reggie-12
Giant Robot readers who lovingly recall the two-color strip that owned the back page for years should be stoked about this. I know I am. With jumbo proportions and a very cool spot-UV job on the cover that has to be seen to be believed, this deluxe collection makes the strips look better than they ever did in the magazine. Bigger, bolder, and run side-by-side, the craftsmanship and storytelling are revealed to be every bit as masterful as the strips that inspired them–Felix, Atom, Nancy. Essential not only for fans of vintage manga but classic comic strips in general. [Drawn and Quarterly]

John Stanley, Nancy
I was already familiar with (and smitten by) Ernie Bushmiller’s strips via the Kitchen Sink reprints, and these stories from the Dell comic books are similarly essential. The four-color reprint gloriously captures the Little Lulu writer’s take on Nancy from 1957 through 1958, and is loaded with surrealism, class consciousness, and classic storytelling. Can be read by children and dissected by art majors with equal enjoyment and gusto. [Drawn and Quarterly]

Shigeru Mizuki, Kitaro
For EC Comics freaks and Takashi Miike junkies alike, this is the holy grail of Japanese horror comics and it is finally being made available to the mass market. Somewhere between The Addams Family and The Twilight Zone in character and tone, the classic manga series which began running in 1959 follows a one-eyed monster boy and his equally whimsical and monstrous yokai friends. Too creepy, fun, and culturally pervasive for words. Just go get it already. [Drawn and Quarterly]

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I went to Comic-Con and actually came back with comic books. Go figure! Above, Congressman John Lewis with his graphic novel debut. Below, some reviews.

Brian Ralph, Reggie-12
Giant Robot readers who lovingly recall the two-color strip that owned the back page for years should be stoked about this. I know I am. With jumbo proportions and a very cool spot-UV job on the cover that has to be seen to be believed, this deluxe collection makes the strips look better than they ever did in the magazine. Bigger, bolder, and run side-by-side, the craftsmanship and storytelling are revealed to be every bit as masterful as the strips that inspired them–Felix, Atom, Nancy. Essential not only for fans of vintage manga but classic comic strips in general. [Drawn and Quarterly]

John Stanley, Nancy
I was already familiar with (and smitten by) Ernie Bushmiller’s strips via the Kitchen Sink reprints, and these stories from the Dell comic books are similarly essential. The four-color reprint gloriously captures the Little Lulu writer’s take on Nancy from 1957 through 1958, and is loaded with surrealism, class consciousness, and classic storytelling. Can be read by children and dissected by art majors with equal enjoyment and gusto. [Drawn and Quarterly]

Shigeru Mizuki, Kitaro
For EC Comics freaks and Takashi Miike junkies alike, this is the holy grail of Japanese horror comics and it is finally being made available to the mass market. Somewhere between The Addams Family and The Twilight Zone in character and tone, the classic manga series which began running in 1959 follows a one-eyed monster boy and his equally whimsical and monstrous yokai friends. Too creepy, fun, and culturally pervasive for words. Just go get it already. [Drawn and Quarterly]

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Tottori’s prefectural government has announced they will hold events in Tokyo leading up to its  International Manga Expo later this summer. Tottori on the west coast of Japan is well known as the hometown for famous Japanese manga artists such as Shigeru Mizuki (Gegege no Kitaro), Gosho Aoyama (Detective Conan), and Jiro Taniguchi (Distant Neighborhood). First. the prefecture will host a manga event in Tokyo’s Akihabara “Electric Town” district on July 1, officials said. The Tottori prefectural government lsat year came up with a regional promotional program called “Manga Kingdom Tottori” to capitalize on the prefecture’s ties to the roots of manga and anime. The prefectural government then concluded an agreement with the ATPA to hold an event in Akihabara. The Akihabara promotion will be followed by Manga Kingdom Tottori August through November 2012. Then, in November, it will host the International Comic Artist Conference to bring together comic artists from overseas. Sakaiminato City, Tottori Pref., shot to fame after it served as a location for the Japan Broadcasting Corp. (NHK) drama series “Gegege no Nyobo” (The Wife of Gegege) that aired in 2010. The story follows the lives of manga artist Shigeru Mizuki, the creator of the “Gegege no Kitaro” horror manga series, and his wife. The birthplace of Mizuki, the city also boasts the Mizuki Shigeru Road. More than 130 bronze statues of “yokai” ghouls and hobgoblins from the manga line city streets. At least 3 million visitors are attracted to the sightseeing spot every year. Meanwhile, the “Conan Street” was completed in 1999 in Hokuei, the hometown of “Detective Conan” manga series author Gosho Aoyama. Bronze statues of the manga characters are placed along the streets. The town office also opened the Gosho Aoyama Manga Museum, in which the artist’s illustrations from his childhood diaries are on display. His studio was also reproduced in the museum. Jiro Taniguchi is also a world-famous manga artist from the prefecture. He has been critically acclaimed in Europe for his elaborate drawings and was named a chevalier (knight) of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French government. Taniguchi has earned the nickname of “Yasujiro Ozu” in the manga industry. Although the artist was born in the prefectural capital, his “A Distant Neighborhood” is set in the city of Kurayoshi, which retains beautiful rows of traditional white walls and storehouses. [The Asahi Shimbun ~ Tottori Celebrates Manga Heritage ~ Manga Kingdom Tottori]          
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