Readers' Poll: Best New Original English Language Manga

Here's another readers' poll for you! This time, I'm looking for your choice for the Best New Original English Language (OEL) Manga of 2008. Check out the 2008 Best New Original English Language (OEL) Manga Readers Poll page for plot summaries, cover artwork and links for more info about each nominee and choose your favorite there, or scroll down to vote now.

I didn't nominate the various Chinese / Korean manhua/manhwa that came out this year, because they seemed to deserve their own category. Besides, I feel like I still have much to read and much to learn about the finer points of manhua and manhwa, so maybe I'll tackle that next year. In the meantime, find out more about the 10 nominees for 2008's Best New Original English Language Manga poll and vote today!

Now, technically, not all of these stories were originally printed in English. Y Square Plus was first published in German. And Anima ? I'm not sure if it was originally published in creator duo Dany & Dany's native Italian before Yaoi Press brought out the English version. But hey, I'm willing to over look it if you are.

Another interesting trend with this batch of OEL or rather, global manga is that a few of them are done by Japanese manga artists who are illustrating stories by American authors, such as Kasumi, which was written by Surt Lim and illustrated by Hirofumi Sugimoto. Princess Ai: Prism of the Midnight Dawn was written by Christine Boylan and D.J. Milky, and drawn by Misaho Kujiradou.

Is your favorite global manga title not included in this list? You can put your favorite in the running by adding your write-in vote in the comment space below or post it in the forums.

Ready to pick and click ? You can click on the links below to vote, or if you'd like to know more about the nominees, visit the poll page to to see more about the 10 OEL manga nominated in this poll.. UPDATE: Polls closed on January 25, 2009, so stay tuned for the announcement of the winners to appear soon.

1. Anima by Dany & Dany (Yaoi Press)
2. Dæmonium by Kôsen (TokyoPop)
3. In Odd We Trust by Dean Koontz and Queenie Chan (Del Rey Manga)
4. Kasumi by Surt Lim and Hirofumi Sugimoto (Del Rey Manga)
5. Masque of the Red Death by Wendy Pini (Go! Comi)
6. Princess Ai: Prism of the Midnight Dawn by Christine Boylan, D.J. Milky and Misaho Kujiradou (TokyoPop)
7. The Reformed by Christopher Hart and Anzu (Del Rey Manga)
8. Warcraft: Legends by Various (TokyoPop)
9. Y Square Plus by Judith Park (Yen Press)
10. Yokaiden by Nina Matsumoto (Del Rey Manga)

Voting will be open until Sunday, January 25 at midnight, Pacific Time. I'll be posting the final results by the end of January 2009.

To qualify for this poll, the debut (first) volume of the manga must have an on-sale date between January 1 thru December 31, 2008, and it has to be a title that was released as a graphic novel in English in the U.S.

There's a few manga here that were nominated in other categories, but remember, if a manga that's nominated in two or more polls, only the highest total votes earned in any one category will count toward that title's chances to win the Readers' Choice for the Best New Manga of 2008.

Are you enjoying this little exercise in manga democracy? Well, there's good news for you, because there's still more polls to come. Next is Best One-Shot Manga, Best All-Ages Manga, Best Manga Magazine and more.

Image credit: © Monkey Square 2007