InsaneJournal

My comic obsessions of '07
I was going to do books too, but my poor sense of time meant half the things I thought of were actually from 2006. So I had a sulk, and decided just to talk about comics instead. 2007 was the year I spent lots and lots of money on manga - at Borders, over the internet - when I discovered that despite a 2700 yen base shipping fee, if I ordered enough at once, it was cheaper to import translated manga through amazon.co.jp than to buy it in any shop in NZ. So I got huge amounts of Obata Takeshi's work all at once. That was nice.

Favourite comics to come out of 2007!

Tekkonkinreet, Matsumoto Taiyo

This surprised me in how much I enjoyed it - because, you know, gangsters and ultra-violence aren't really my thing. (I know some wouldn't believe me there.) But it proved to be as heartwrenching as I was told.

Probably I was also half in love with the presentation - not the three separate trades it was originally translated into, but one gorgous omnibus, full size and thick, colour pages and coloured inks. Matsumoto's art style is also distinct, being very indy - so of course I immediately thought, I have to lend this to Kim, who has it at the moment...

The Arrival, Shaun Tan

This is one of the ones I actually read in '06, but being as most of the world didn't get it till later, I'm going to plug it anyway! Because it is beautiful - a 128-page wordless graphic novel, all in pencil and sepia tones. And it is utterly engaging. I think he spent three years creating this, orginally intending it to be a 32-page picture book, but it kept growing, and growing, till the publisher had to put their foot down (to his relief, I expect).

The Arrival is the story of a man who arrives in a new country as a refugee, before he can bring his family over - and the stories of others like him. And the world Tan's created is a new one, foreign to us all, but incredibly detailed - there are little birdlike creatures that you see grow fur coats in the winter. Just tiny, amazing detail. It's an amazing book.

Death Note, Ohba Tsugumi & Obata Takeshi

My obsession for the middle part of this year, which I have been slowly forcing on the people around me. Five of them! And I dragged them all to see the movies with me! It was awesome! You can see my excitement in previous entries, even if they're not that enlightening about the story itself. Which is cracktastic and thought-provoking at the same time. Death Note even induced me to write my first fanfic in years, even if it was only a drabble.

Also, has gotta be the wordiest manga I've ever read. It's all the genius's trying to outsmart each other. At some point I am going to go reread the whole series (rather than just the first) and maybe it will drive me crazy. It'll be fun though.

Of course, I'll have to get it all back first. Once everyone else has finished with it.

Hikaru no Go, Hotta Yumi & Obata Takeshi

The manga that makes everybody want to learn go, even as we are convinced we would be absolutely no good at it... What is it about Hikaru no Go that we like so much?

Well, there's Sai, with his prettiness and his absolute love for the game. Who could not be charmed? There is the antagonism between Akira and Hikaru, which makes Kate and I go all why can't they just be friends at work, so that Kim gets annoyed at us. It is so nice having someone to geek out with.

I don't really know how to justify the awesomeness of it all. Copy of vol 11 please be in soon!

Confessions of a Blabbermouth, Mike & Louise Carey, Aaron Alexovich

I have already written about this - it was my favourite of the Minx comics I read this year. It's nice too to have a comic that's complete in itself!

I like Confessions because Tasha does things wrong but she admits to them and she fixes them. And I like how she might not like her mother's boyfriend (and he's pretty skeevy at the end of it) but her Mum's obviously made her decision and they just have to make the best of it. They have to work as being a family.

In other American comics aimed at a teenage, female audience...

Breaking Up, Aimee Friedman & Christine Norrie

I've been a fan of Christine Norrie's art since Hopeless Savages, the best comic about the children of ageing punk rockers I know of! Breaking Up is a more stereotypicaly girl story than that - but that the break up of the title isn't that of the protagonist, Chloe, and her secret geek boyfriend, but between her and her friends. The romance is just a catalyst; the story is about the way that friendships change.

Breaking Up is presented as if it were the work of Chloe herself, who is an artist, which works for the story. The art is gorgous, of course, and layout flows beautifully. It's probably the best debut graphic novel from an author who's usually a novelist that I've come across, especially in terms of taking advantage of the form.

Nana, Yazawa Ai

For a continuting series that I didn't read in a ginormous lump this year! I first read Yazawa's Paradise Kiss two years ago, and utterly adored it - about the time the first translated Nana trade came out. It's odd to think it's probably the only manga I've actually been following like that, eagerly waiting for the next volume. This year I had the advantage in that I was able to buy Shojo Beat - though of course I've been without my fix since Nana ended its run in the magazine in August.

I love the two Nanas. I love their intense, romantic friendship, and I love that we see their wider circle of friends too. I don't love Takumi! But the way he and Hachi relate is real, and all the stupid things she ever does are real. And they all make mistakes, they all screw up. That's okay. But at this point in the story, I think things are only going to get worse. There are going to be tears. Probably mine.

And if it does get vaguely soap opera-y, Yazawa's skill with her characters means I'm going along anyway, because I care about them, and I love watching them interact. Just don't break my heart too bad, huh comic?