As you already know Comic-Con this year was cancelled because of COVID-19, which led, after some time, to the creation of Comic-Con@Home. For the next five days entertainment enthusiasts can stay home and check out a number of panels and events online for free.
And, welp, I will be a part of one of them!
The Best and Worst Manga series has been a thing for a while now, and I was invited to take part in the 2020 edition of it. Since there are certainly some manga I’d love to give a shout out to and it would be an online recording, I couldn’t pass it up. So feel free to give that a look this Saturday, 6PM EST, and then subsequently yell at me for all my terrific picks!
All seriousness, it’s about an hour long recording done back in June, where the rules were pretty simple:
- We talk about our best (and worst) series in a certain category.
- We attempt to explain in a minute why it’s our best (and worst).
…Even I wonder if I was able to do that last one. You’ll have to see on that, but in any case, I hope some manga that’s discussed in the panel by all the panelists intrigue you enough to give them a look. Anyways, some notes:
- Aside from Most Wanted (unlicensed) manga, I picked titles covered on TheOASG in some form or fashion.
- There, admittedly, was one work I forgot to shout out in a certain section….
Now aside from that, there are other anime, manga or potentially manga-related panels that are taking place at Comic-Con@Home that may have some announcements. Here’s hopefully a useful list if you need it (times in EST, grabbed panel descriptions from the website):
Thursday, July 23
1PM: Crunchyroll Industry Panel https://youtu.be/XNuq-FBuxpM
Hear about all the latest and greatest anime & manga coming out of Crunchyroll straight from the source, panelists Adam Sheehan (director of events, Crunchyroll) and Lauren Stevens (events manager, Crunchyroll). Special prize giveaway and virtual goodies available during the panel. For everything anime, go to crunchyroll.com.
5PM: Shaman King panel https://youtu.be/uIFlQ2O-ykA
To celebrate over 10 years since the finale of the original Shaman King series, Kodansha Comics experts Misaki Kido, Ben Applegate, and Ivan Salazar take a look back and bring you a in-depth look at Hiroyuki Takei’s supernatural battle manga masterpiece, past, present & future. Fans of the manga, anime and newcomers alike won’t want to miss this panel full of exclusive announcements, sneak peeks, and general excitement over the shonen classic Shaman King!
7PM: Manga Industry Roundtable https://youtu.be/gerWLm3hru4
While COVID-19 negatively impacted most book and comics publishers, one of the few bright spots in book sales in Spring 2020 was . . . manga!? What are the factors contributing to manga’s resiliency, and what are its prospects for the future? Get a taste of what’s hot, what’s not, and what’s next from the perspective of top publishing pros, including Ben Applegate (director – publisher services, Penguin Random House), Kevin Hamric (vice president – marketing sales, VIZ Media), Mark de Vera (sales and marketing director, Yen Press), Masaaki Shimizu (general manager and publisher, book publishing division, Square Enix), Ed Chavez (publisher, Denpa Books), Tomo Tran (marketing director, Kodansha USA / Vertical), Erik Ko (chief of operations, Udon Entertainment), Dallas Middaugh (executive editor and co-founder, Mangamo), and Matt Alt (translator and author, Pure Invention: How Japan’s Pop Culture Conquered the World). Moderated by Deb Aoki (Publishers Weekly, Anime News Network).
Friday, July 24
3PM: TOKYOPOP panel https://youtu.be/y7c8cQMTCHk
Kae Winters (marketing), Stu Levy (CEO and founder), Lena Atanassova (editor), and Janae Young (editor) discuss TOKYOPOP’s latest manga lineup with titles for kids, teens, adults and ongoing initiatives to highlight LGBTQ+ stories and titles by women and people of color.
10PM: 32nd Annual Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards https://youtu.be/iSUgRvQPdj0
The “Oscars” of the comics industry honors comics creators and their works in 32 categories, including the Will Eisner Hall of Fame. Hosted by Phil LaMarr, the actor/voice actor/comedian known for roles in animated series including Green Lantern/John Stewart and Ed Reiss in Justice League and Justice League Unlimited, Hermes Conrad in Futurama, and the title characters on both Samurai Jack and Static Shock. His film and TV acting credits include Pulp Fiction, Free Enterprise, Veep, Get Shorty, and Supergirl. The recipients of the 2020 Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award will also be announced.
[Here’s the categories involving manga to look out for, manga in bold:
Best Humor Publication
- Anatomy of Authors, by Dave Kellett (SheldonComics.com)
- Death Wins a Goldfish, by Brian Rea (Chronicle Books)
- Minotäar, by Lissa Treiman (Shortbox)
- Sobek, by James Stokoe (Shortbox)
- The Way of the Househusband, Volume 1, by Kousuke Oono, translation by Sheldon Drzka (VIZ Media)
- Wondermark: Friends You Can Ride On, by David Malki (Wondermark)
Best Adaptation from Another Medium
- Giraffes on Horseback Salad: Salvador Dali, the Marx Brothers, and the Strangest Movie Never Made, by Josh Frank, Tim Hedecker, and Manuela Pertega (Quirk Books)
- The Giver, by Lois Lowry, adapted by P. Craig Russell, (HMH Books for Young Readers)
- The Handmaid’s Tale: The Graphic Novel, by Margaret Atwood, adapted by Renee Nault (Nan A. Talese)
- HP Lovecraft’s At the Mountains of Madness, volumes 1–2, adapted by Gou Tanabe, translation by Zack Davisson (Dark Horse Manga)
- The Seventh Voyage, by Stanislaw Lem, adapted by Jon J Muth, translation by Michael Kandel (Scholastic Graphix)
- Snow, Glass, Apples, by Neil Gaiman and Colleen Doran (Dark Horse Books)
Best US Edition of International Material—Asia
- BEASTARS by Paru Itagaki, translation by Tomo Kimura (VIZ Media)
- Cats of the Louvre by Taiyo Matsumoto, translation by Michael Arias (VIZ Media)
- Grass, by Keum Suk Gendry-Kim, translation by Janet Hong (Drawn & Quarterly)
- Magic Knight Rayearth 25th Anniversary Edition, by CLAMP, translation by Melissa Tanaka (Kodansha)
- The Poe Clan, by Moto Hagio, translation by Rachel Thorn (Fantagraphics)
- Witch Hat Atelier, by Kamome Shirahama, translation by Stephen Kohler (Kodansha)
Best Archival Collection/Project—Comic Books
- Alay-Oop, by William Gropper (New York Review Comics)
- The Complete Crepax, vol. 5: American Stories, edited by Kristy Valenti (Fantagraphics)
- Jack Kirby’s Dingbat Love, edited by John Morrow (TwoMorrows)
- Moonshadow: The Definitive Edition, by J. M. DeMatteis, Jon J Muth, George Pratt, Kent Williams, and others (Dark Horse Books)
- Stan Sakai’s Usagi Yojimbo: The Complete Grasscutter Artist Select, by Stan Sakai, edited by Scott Dunbier (IDW)
- That Miyoko Asagaya Feeling, by Shinichi Abe, translation by Ryan Holmberg, edited by Mitsuhiro Asakawa (Black Hook Press)]
Saturday, July 25
1PM: Udon panel https://youtu.be/9I6HwWsX1ZM
UDON Entertainment is celebrating it’s 20th Anniversary! Join UDON chief of ops Erik Ko and the UDON crew to see what new projects the company has to bring in 2020!
6PM: Best and Worst manga panel https://youtu.be/KwGuCjXjzG8
There’s a lot of manga available in English now, but what’s REALLY worth reading? Join a panel of opinionated manga bloggers and comics curmudgeons as they share their picks for the best new manga that hit the shelves in the past year. In rapid-fire rounds, see them rave about their favorite continuing series! Watch them rant about the excruciatingly mediocre manga that they were forced to read (so you won’t have to)! Find out what Brigid Alverson (SmashPages, School Library Journal), Justin Stroman (The OASG), Morgana Santilli (The Beat, MangaMaven.com), Eva Volin (supervising children’s librarian, Alameda Free Library), Megan Peters (ComicBook.com), Rob McMonigal (Panel Patter) and Deb Aoki (Publishers Weekly) loved and loathed to read in the past year, hear about their picks for the most anticipated upcoming releases for Fall 2020 and beyond, plus discover their favorite under-appreciated manga gems that are worth picking up.
6PM: ComiXology Originals panel https://youtu.be/eUgrjmF-nMA
Are you currently reading digital comics? Are you familiar with comiXology’s exclusive digital content program – comiXology Originals? Join comiXology’s Head of Content, Chip Mosher and a cast of beloved comic creators and rising-stars including, writer Chip Zdarsky and artist Jason Loo (Afterlift), artist Claudia Aguirre (Lost on Planet Earth), writer Curt Pires (YOUTH) along with some surprise guests, to get the scoop on the latest comiXology Originals series direct from the creators making them! They’ll intrigue you with behind-the-scenes stories about the process of bringing comics from concept to the page and what it’s like pushing the envelope with digital comics, and beyond.