What to look out for in July 2004
by Chad Boudreau

10. Apocalypse Meow volume 1
ADV Manga
by Motofumi Kobayashi

Manga-ka Motofumi Kobayashi was the artist who illustrated the first manga written by a North American writing team. Alan Grant and Tony Luke were the writers and Psychonauts was the comic. It started in 1987 and was published by Marvel Comics Japan, with the idea being it would be a cross-cultural hit.

Kobayashi is also known as the creator of this here story called Apocalypse Meow. It's a pseudo-historical account of the Vietnam War in which rabbits, cats and other animals represent the various nationalities. It's the story of a special operations unit lead by Sergeant "Perky" Perkins. Yes, yes, "Perky", and yes, rabbits and cats. Interestingly enough, I found a few references to this series where the title is actually Cat Shit One. I wonder if that is the direct Japanese translation?

9. Abenobashi volume 1
TOKYOPOP
by Satoru Akahori

Sasshi's best gal pal, Arumi, is about to move away and his neighborhood is being demolished in the name of urban renewal. However, this little neighborhood has some surprises under its concrete -- it's actually a portal to parallel universes. When the community is leveled, the portal is cracked wide open and Sasshi and Arumi find themselves being hurtled from one strange world to the next. Making matters even more surreal is the fact these worlds seem to spoof and mock popular movies, video games, manga and anime. This sounds too crazy to miss.

8. Paradise Kiss volume 1
TOKYOPOP
by Ai Yazawa

I've not taken an actual survey of the translated manga hitting the market, but it seems to me there is a lot of shojo manga ("girl's manga") on the shelves, perhaps even enough to have surpassed shonen manga ("boy's manga") in terms of quantity. This is, of course, due to the fact that shojo manga is proving to be very popular among western girls. Mostly forgotten by North American comics publishers since the dawn of time, young girls are finding stories that appeal to them in shojo manga.

Paradise Kiss has shojo written all over it. Marketed as "a fashionable story about young love" this series follows Yukari as she becomes a fashion model for the fledgling clothing label, Paradise Kiss. The thing is, Yukari also attends college and is having a tough time balancing the life a student model with that of a model student.

7. Iron Wok Jan! volume 9
ComicsOne
by Shinji Saijyo

If you've been to our manga review section a few times, you probably know I'm a big fan of Iron Wok Jan! It's like the best kung-fu movie you ever saw, but instead of weapons and fighting, the story is filled with fresh vegetables and cooking techniques. The premise sounds completely silly, but Shinji Saijyo makes it work by taking the characters, the story and the cooking very seriously. Plus, you actually learn something about Chinese cuisine-- its history and its art-- while reading this series.

6. Et Cetera volume 1
TOKYOPOP
Tow Nakazaki

I'm a little wary about Et Cetera. I hear it appeals to fans of Cowboy Bebop and Trigun. I love Bebop, but Trigun is definitely not my bag. Even so, I'm including Et Cetera on this here list because even if it's only half as good as Cowboy Bebop, it's still a far cry better than Trigun.

Mingchao lives in the American West with her grandfather, who leaves her with a mysterious gun after he dies. Mingchao has always dreamed of going to Hollywood to be a star, so she packs her bags and heads off to find fame and fortune in Tinseltown. Along the way, however, she learns about another gun that has a powerful connection with her grandfather's pistol. A sinister organization wants both weapons and sets off to track and capture Mingchao.

5. Warriors of Tao volume 1
TOKYOPOP
by Shinya Kuwahara

In this sci-fi / action story, life exists throughout the universe, but there aren't enough resources to support everyone. Instead of fighting full scale wars, delegates from the various worlds get together and decide there will be a big tournament to determine who gets to feed on the meat of the losers. Yup, the winners get to be the feeders and the losers get to be the cattle that will sustain the other races. Suguri Toma is a Kendo champ who haplessly stumbles his way onto the team representing Earth.

This sounds like it could be darkly funny, especially when you consider that manga-ka Shinya Kuwahara is a new talent with a style that has been described as "fresh and outrageous".

4. Legend of Chun Hyang
TOKYOPOP
by CLAMP

It's hard not to sound like a broken record in the manga installment of Hundreds of Pages Huh. There seems to be a new series from CLAMP debuting every month, and since I've not yet met a CLAMP series that has failed to please their fans, I'll just keeping adding the new titles to this here list. Legend of Chun Hyang is the story of a beautiful warrior princess. She's the only one who can save her land from a tyrannical ruler. This particular story is set in ancient Korea and features a brushwork style that is reminiscent of CLAMP's Shirahime-syo. It's also a bit of departure for CLAMP in that it is a stand-alone, one volume story.

3. Nambul: War Stories volume 1
CPM Manga / CPM Manhwa
by Hyun se Lee

CPM Manga's foray into English translated Korean comics (called manhwa) continues in July with another first volume from Korea's most renowned manhwa creator, Hyun se Lee. As the second Middle Eastern war drives the world economy toward crisis, Japan decides to invade Indonesia in search of a new source of oil. This could be some very timely reading considering the crisis currently unfolding in the Middle East.

2. The Walking Man
Fanfare Ponent Mon
by Jiro Taniguchi

I first encountered Jiro Taniguchi as the artist of the most excellent Samurai Legend graphic novel. I then again encountered his artwork in Icaro, a two volume story written by the legendary Moebius. Fanfare Potent Mon releases the English translated version of Taniguchi's very own graphic novel, The Walking Man. This 156 page solo effort is described as a quiet reflection on life in modern Japan. Taniguchi has a very vivid style of art that is almost overwhelming in detail at times. I wonder what his writing is like.

1. Detective Conan volume 1
Viz Communications
by Gosho Aoyama

Detective Conan is an extremely popular television anime created by Gosho Aoyama. How popular is popular, you ask? How about more than 300 episodes and seven movies. Starting in July, Viz Communications begins publishing English translated versions of the equally popular manga of which there are currently thirty volumes.

Seventeen year old Shin'ichi Kudo is a brilliant mystery solver. Nothing can keep him off a case, until one night when he follows a mysterious man into a park only to be accosted from behind and forced to eat a strange chemical that knocks him unconscious. When he wakes up he discovers he's been transformed into a puny little kid. Even this, however, won't keep him from solving every mystery that comes his way.

This is one manga and anime that has a strong buzz around it. I've been hearing about it for months now so it's exciting that the day will soon arrive when we can check out the manga and see what all the fuss is about.