A few days ago on Twitter, @gottsuiiyan, (a.k.a. Ian, the translator / blogger of The Eastern Edge fame) made mention of an exhibit of artwork by manga artist Takehiko Inoue that would be displayed at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo this month through March 2010.

Now, since I'm headed to Tokyo later this week, this news was very intriguing! Would this be an retrospective of artwork by the creator of Real, Slam Dunk and Vagabond? Would it be an exhibit of his color and black and white illustrations from Vagabond, as seen in the Sumi and Water artbooks? Or would it be new artwork created just for the museum?

The English version of the MOT website unfortunately doesn't have information about the Inoue artwork -- however, the Japanese version of their site does. And, thanks to yet another blogger/DJ, I got pointed to this page, which is a rough translation of a post and photos posted on Fukuhen, another Japanese blog, which got its info from Brutus magazine. In any case, this online journey led me to some photos and more details about Inoue-sensei's new mural at MOT, which I hope to see in person next week.

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While mid-month tends to be slow for new manga, there's lots of intriguing series and one-shots making their debut this week from CMX Manga, Drawn and Quarterly, TokyoPop and VIZ Media.

Topping this week's list of new releases is the VIZ Big edition of Inu Yasha, which collects the first three volumes of Rumiko Takahashi's long-running adventure series in a larger format. With 56 volumes in the regular run of Inu-Yasha, we can look forward to at least 18 more VIZ Big volumes to come.

Also new and well-worth picking up is Red Snow, a new gekiga gem by Susumu Katsumata from Drawn and Quarterly. Like their prior releases of manga by Yoshihiro Tatsusmi, D and Q pulled out the stops to give this award-winning collection of short stories of rural Japan the deluxe, hardcover treatment.

If hard-boiled action is more to your taste, VIZ Signature has Jormungand, which is chock-full of gun-slinging and international intrigue, ala Black Lagoon.

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Thanks to a recent press release and a tweet from Frederick Schodt (author of The Astro Boy Essays , manga scholar and translator), I got wind of a new way to read and enjoy stories by the Godfather of Manga, Osamu Tezuka. Developed by D'Arc Inc. in conjunction with Tezuka Productions, Astro Boy Weekly magazine aims to deliver new some of Tezuka-sensei's most beloved comics creations to iPhone users all over the world.

While not live yet, Astro Boy Weekly is due to debut in the iTunes App Store sometime in the next few weeks, both as a free sample, and in 100-page weekly installments for 99 cents each. You can get a taste of what's in store at this preview site for Astro Boy Weekly magazine. Read more...

Now that their manga / manhwa adapation of James Patterson's Maximum Ride is a confirmed success (Maximum Ride Volume 2 recently debuted in the New York Times Manga Top 10 Bestseller List), Yen Press and Hachette Book Group USA recently announced that they'll next be tackling the graphic novel adaption of another bestselling young adult novel series by Patterson, Daniel X.

Like Maximum Ride, the graphic novel adaptation of Daniel X will be done by a Korean artist -- but while Maximum Ride is illustrated by NaRae Lee, this new series will be illustrated by Seung-hui Kye. In Korea, Kye has 13 manhwa series to his credit, but he is best known to American fans as the creator of Recast, a 6-volume fantasy manhwa series published by TokyoPop.

Calling all aspiring manga artists! Shonen Jump magazine is looking for entries for their Super Fannies Fan Art Awards. Entries will be later be posted and voted upon by Shonen Jump readers, and winners will be published in the May 2010 issue of Shonen Jump. Best of all, according to Shonen Jump's recent tweet, the deadline for entries has been extended to November 15, 2009.

Artists age 13 and older are encouraged to submit their best renditions of Shonen Jump manga characters in these six categories:

• Best Action Scene
  Draw a kick-butt fight scene between any Shonen Jump characters from any series.
• Best Shonen Jump Shindig
  Draw a group of your favorite Shonen Jump manga characters hangin' and having a ball at a party.
• Best Character Dancing Pose
  Draw your favorite Shonen Jump manga character showing off their flashiest dancefloor moves.
• Scariest Character
  Draw your favorite Shonen Jump hero, villain or side character looking scary or fierce.
• Best Rendition of a Shonen Jump Character From a Non-serialized Manga
  "Non-serialized" means Shonen Jump manga that is not featured in the monthly magazine. So this can mean anything from Gin-Tama to Hikaru no Go, Death Note, Eyeshield 21, etc.
• Best Character Mash-up
  Mix and match characters from various Shonen Jump manga series, even those from stories that aren't featured in monthly Shonen Jump magazine.

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Negima, the boy wizard wielded his magic on this week's New York Times Graphic Books list by knocking the latest volume of Naruto off the top of the charts. But perhaps more notably, three new volumes from superstar manga-ka team CLAMP have claimed spots in this week's top 10: two volumes of Tsubasa and the latest volume of xxxHolic.

Also new and notable: the second volume of James Patterson's Maxiumum Ride by NaRae Lee makes its debut in the #5 slot -- a strong showing for this series based on the bestselling young adult adventure novels. And that Death Note light novel I wondered about last week? It's still rackin' up sales to hang in there at #7.

Here's the rest of the New York Times Manga Bestseller list for the week ending October 31, 2009:

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While there weren't a whole lot of publisher-sponsored panels at Yaoi-Con 2009, the one that generated the most buzz was Digital Manga Publishing's Saturday morning session, where they crammed in announcements of 17 new manga titles, 2 new novels, plus the return of 5 previously announced but delayed titles, and the one announcement that got many fans cheering: the return of a fan favorite, Kizuna by Kodaka Kazuma in deluxe omnibus editions in late 2010, along with the publication of the long-awaited (but never published in the US) last volume of the series.

Other titles that got the crowd cheering included No Touching at All by Kou Yoneda, Seven Days: Monday -Thursday by Venio Tachibana and Rihito Takarai, Maiden Rose by Fusanosuke Inariya, The Tyrant Falls in Love by Hinako Takanaga (creator of Little Butterfly), and Bloody Kiss Tonight, a new vampire manga one-shot by Yaoi-Con special guest, Makoto Tateno.

While those were the ones that got the biggest crowd reactions, the rest of the list of new releases for 2010 is full of interesting and noteworthy attractions for shojo manga and yaoi manga fans. Check out previews of the covers and story summaries for these new Doki Doki, June Manga, Digital Manga Publishing and 801 Media titles to look out for in 2010: Read more...

With the Yaoi-Con crowd pumped up for new announcements of boys love manga, one tidbit of news that got a bit lost in the shuffle was Digital Manga Publishing's announcement that they'd be adding over 20 new Harlequin Manga titles at their eManga.com online manga rental website beginning in November / December 2009.

These josei manga titles are graphic novel adaptations of previously published Harlequin novels done by Japanese manga artists for the Japanese edition of Harlequin magazine, published by Ohzora Publications, the parent company of Aurora Publishing. While Harlequin manga have been previously published by both Harlequin and Dark Horse between 2006 - 2007, the titles announced at Yaoi-Con look like new offerings that are part of eManga's deal with Softbank Creative.

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If you've been anywhere near an anime convention, a Target store, a 7-11 or a comics shop, you've likely seen a raging brown... something screaming back at you, as a plush toy, a figurine, from a video clip or even a Slurpee cup. That critter is Domo -- and Domo is worldwide phenomenon that was created in Japan and has since made new friends all over the world.

The creator behind the ongoing "Domo-Nation" of America is Tsuneo Goda, a quiet but mischievous animator and director of the stop-motion Domo video shorts. Recently, Goda-san was TokyoPop's special guest on TokyoPop Insider, their semi-monthly online webcast.

With the original Domo doll in tow, Goda-san answered questions from TokyoPop Senior Editor Lillian Diaz-Pryzbyl and questions from fans who had gathered online last Thursday.

Find out what Domo's "Dad" had to say about how Domo was created, his experiences in the U.S. (including trying his first Slurpee), and his explanation about what Domo really is in this transcript of TokyoPop's Q & A with Tsuneo Goda.

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In honor of the boys love / yaoi manga insanity that was Yaoi-Con 2009, I asked a bunch of manga fans, connoisseurs and critics on Twitter: What are your picks for essential yaoi manga reading? What titles would you recommend to friends? Which manga give the phrase "graphic novels" new meaning?

I got responses from 29 tweeters, and the result is this list of 36 essential yaoi / boys love manga. Titles from #1 - 17 got 2 or more comments / votes, so they're listed by popularity. #18 - 36 got one recommendation each, so they're listed alphabetically.

Topping the list was Future Lovers by Saika Kunieda from Deux Press, a sweet and funny two volume series about two teachers, one straight-laced, one flamboyant. Despite being very different, the pair fall in love and learn how to make it last despite their fears and the resistance of their families.

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