Since the holidays (and partially due to having less free time lately), I have amassed a big reading list of comics and manga. Here's the stuff I'm working on getting through right now:
+ 20TH CENTURY BOYS Vol. 1 by Naoki Urasawa (Shogakukan)
Viz apparently has an agreement with Urasawa to wait on publishing this series until Monster has been completed. I couldn't wait for that, so I started reading it in Japanese this past week. It's dense and deftly scripted, and even within the first few chapters the dread has started building. I'm dying to see what happens over the course of the 20+ volumes. link
+ THE DRIPS by Taylor McKimens (PictureBox)
I'm not so much reading this book, as trying to decipher McKimens' melted popsicle stew of amorphous podunks. Another visually impressive and sortof experimental title from PictureBox. link
+ PLASTIC GIRL by Usamaru Furuya (河出書房新社)
For our anniversary, I received Plastic Girl and Palepoli from my GF. Along with Lychee Hikari Club (which I borrowed from Mangacast's Ed), these two books have helped cement my belief that Furuya is the most creative dude currently working in Japan. Each page of Plastic Girl is painted/drawn/sculpted out of a different medium, each like a more ambitious Sandman cover by Dave McKean. It's gonna take a while to fully digest this one. link
+ NANA Vol. 2-8 by Ai Yazawa (Viz)
I'm a loser for not keeping up with Nana. I've borrowed all 8 volumes from my GF and getting heavily engrossed in the twisting lives of the two Nana's. I ain't afraid to admit I'm already heavily emotionally invested in this one. So damn good. link
+ PRESENTS Vol. 2 by Kanako Inuki (CMX)
More twisted retribution tales from horror manga queen Inuki. Like Volume 1, there's not much in terms of complexity or surprises, but each tale is brief, funny and violent, all with a morally jagged twist. I'm loving this short series. link
+ BAPTISM Vol. 3 by Kazuo Umezu (Shogakukan)
Just when you thought Umezu couldn't get any better. I'm reading his entire Baptism series now (had the books sent over to the Kinokuniya in SF) and it's probably my favorite thing by him. Fucked up brain transplants, Elektra complex done deadly, and statutory romance. It's everything horror manga should aspire to do (and more!) link
+ WEBCOMICS by Kate Beaton
I'd never heard of Kate's webcomics, but thanks to comics212 for recommending her. Recent gems include tales of hanging out with family back home for the holidays, and historical pope comics! Plus her line work reminds me of Hellen Jo (if she was a white Canadian girl)! Check out the archives! link
+ DRUNKARD CONDO SYNDROME by Shintaro Kago (Scanlation by Anonymous K)
I've been reading over the newest scanlation by Anonymous K-- wrong address sexcapades and improper couplings. You guys will love it. Check back on Sunday to read it!
Also trying to get through non-comics:
+ Erotic Grotesque Nonsense: The Mass Culture of Japanese Modern Times by Miriam Silverberg
+ The Portable Atheist, edited by Christopher Hitchens
+ The Book of Other People, edited by Zadie Smith
So, what are you reading? Any recommendations?
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