I get asked a lot, especially as a guest on podcasts or in interviews, about how my interest in comics started. And I tell the truth: My father collected comics, and when he heard about a new show called Sailor Moon, he thought I’d like it and he helped me tape it off of TV, later giving me the first volume of the manga and thus starting my own collection. That is, however, a hugely simplified version of the story, and it causes people to heap praise on my father that he maybe doesn’t completely deserve. My father is not a bad man, but he did leave when my sister and I were both still very young. So while he sparked the interest in anime and manga that would follow me into adulthood and into my professional life, he was one cog in a very large animanga machine that was making its way to North America regardless of his efforts.
The person I don’t get a chance to talk about much is my mother, because she doesn’t personally have an interest in comics. But if anyone has encouraged my interests and bolstered my abilities, it is her. My mother was happy to buy me whatever books I wanted growing up, never demanding to know why or what for. When I began to experiment with drawing, she was the first person to give me sketchbooks and markers, gladly and graciously. She never involved herself in my hobbies, but she always knew what I was into and who my favorite characters were. She was always ready to help me put together an amateur cosplay, always ready to add her sewing and crafting advice to the pages of online tutorials I had printed out to aid in my endeavors.
And perhaps most importantly, my mother never tried to pull me away from a hobby that her ex-husband had partaken in, sometimes to the detriment of our household. She didn’t see my interest as an extension of him — or if she did, she never mentioned it at all. She saw me as myself, a creative person with hobbies that helped feed that creativity. And that is the greatest gift anyone has ever given me, just the chance to pursue the things that make me happy for the sake of it.
So yeah, when I talk to my dad now, we can chat about how great The Sandman is, or I can tell him that no, really, he should check out Junji Ito. But the fact remains that he wasn’t there when I was frantically putting another coat of paint on my cardboard cosplay bass guitar; he doesn’t know the names of all the friends I’ve made through comics. He did something great in helping me find a series that has remained important to me throughout my whole life, and I have always been very appreciative of that.When I worked at Comicopia, I used to see dads trying to get their daughters into their hobby to varying degrees of success, and it made me smile to know that they want to share that aspect of themselves with their children.
But even more than that, I would always love to see the moms who would sheepishly admit that they don’t know anything about comics, but they’re still out there helping their kid figure out which volume of Fairy Tail they left off at. They’re asking their kid if their friend borrowed that one book, or if they returned that other one to the library yet. They’re doing the oft-unthanked work of motherhood: keeping track of responsibilities and friends, helping their child grow in their interests, and caring enough to provide advice and feedback.
It’s not glamorous, really, being a mother. It’s a lot of toil, a lot of worrying, a lot of second-guessing your choices — especially if you’re a single mother, like mine was for a long time. But even with the anime zeitgeist and the manga boom of my adolescence, I’m not sure I’d be doing what I’m doing today without the constant support of my mother. To this day, she remains always ready to support me without trying to control my choices, offering what advice she can and helping me through my uncertainty.
And maybe that’s part of the reason that now I crave comics about women like my mother. I crave comics where women are working through all the typically-unseen work of partnership, or motherhood, or even just the pressure of society to excel at their jobs when the odds are stacked against them. Because there were so many odds stacked against my mother, trying to find her way, single with two little girls and no college degree. And despite that, she raised my sister and me into two very different women on our own paths who will always know that no matter what, we have our mother’s care to lift us when we need it.
So let the record show that at the core of my interest in comics — and my interest in history, and my love of tea, my desire to write, and just about everything else in my life — is my mother frantically working to make sure I can pursue whatever weirdness tickles my fancy. I am so incredibly grateful for her constant, steady, powerful love.
Graphic Novels
The First Week
My last day at Comicopia was a week ago now. I wrote a bit about it and posted it to Twitter, but now that some time has passed I guess I have some more thoughts.
Not getting up to go to work every day has been a weird adjustment. I do still wake up naturally around the same time, give or take half an hour. I may decide to continue setting an alarm for myself, just to provide a sense of structure to my day. And structuring my day has been the hardest part of this transition. I left my job without a new full-time job lined up, but I’m not “unemployed.” I have paid work that I need to get done, but not having much outside structure other than a deadline means that I need to figure out what a “work day” looks like for me now.
I’m trying not to get too angsty about the fact that I don’t have it all figured out yet. I trust that as I take on more paid writing work, I will get better about streamlining the process of getting things done in a timely manner. A day goes by far more quickly than you think when you’re not looking at the clock! Maybe that’s why a more traditional work day seems so long sometimes.
Other than writing, I’ve been doing some much-needed decluttering of my home, specifically of my work space. My desk is an old drafting table that my husband found waiting to be thrown away, and it has no drawers of its own. As such, I have two sets of plastic drawers and a bookcase around the desk that all needed to be thoroughly searched and cleared of excess nonsense — you know, anything that doesn’t “spark joy.” ;3
I did do a good chunk of writing in the library this week, which I’ve always enjoyed doing. Our branch of the BPL here is a super tiny Art Deco building whose furnishings and floors are probably all part of a 1950s or 60s remodel. It’s quiet and warm, and about a ten minute walk from my apartment, so a very ideal place to get some work done. Besides, if I’m around other people I feel more of an impetus to actually work since I don’t want anyone to catch me slacking off!
I stopped in to Comicopia on Wednesday, actually, to pick up February’s Previews catalog. It didn’t feel weird to be there, though it did feel odd to just kind of pop in and pop out again after I was done, lest I run out of time on my parking meter. It still doesn’t feel like I’m doing anything more than taking a vacation, so I wonder if the realization that I’ll never be the manager again will even sink in!
All in all, it’s been a good week, though I do regret that in my flailing attempts to arrange my schedule, I haven’t had a ton of time to do any reading that wasn’t pertinent to something I was working on. There is a different work/life balancing act that goes on when what you do for pleasure is so very linked with what you do for money. I’m curious to see how I’ll navigate that going forward. I’m learning a lot about myself and how I work, what it takes to motivate me. I think that’s a very valuable lesson, regardless of whether this writing full-time thing pans out or not.
I want to quickly thank everyone who has given me well-wishes as I start this new phase of my career, such as it is. I know a lot of people are a bit sad that I’m no longer in the shop, but as I’ve said time and time again, I have absolutely no intentions of leaving the world of comics. As I get older, I’m able to more clearly see where my priorities are heading, and retail was no longer able to provide me the space to pursue a lot of things, including writing. It’s really, really nice to know that I will be missed, though! Y’all know how to make a lady feel special, for sure.
Anyway, I promise to start writing about manga and stuff that y’all actually care about soon. I just wanted to give a little bit of a life update since my last post so you can all see that I haven’t abandoned this space. I’m going to learn how to incorporate it into my routine somehow, and I’ve already started planning some work that I hope you will all look forward to! <3
The First Week
My last day at Comicopia was a week ago now. I wrote a bit about it and posted it to Twitter, but now that some time has passed I guess I have some more thoughts.
Not getting up to go to work every day has been a weird adjustment. I do still wake up naturally around the same time, give or take half an hour. I may decide to continue setting an alarm for myself, just to provide a sense of structure to my day. And structuring my day has been the hardest part of this transition. I left my job without a new full-time job lined up, but I’m not “unemployed.” I have paid work that I need to get done, but not having much outside structure other than a deadline means that I need to figure out what a “work day” looks like for me now.
I’m trying not to get too angsty about the fact that I don’t have it all figured out yet. I trust that as I take on more paid writing work, I will get better about streamlining the process of getting things done in a timely manner. A day goes by far more quickly than you think when you’re not looking at the clock! Maybe that’s why a more traditional work day seems so long sometimes.
Other than writing, I’ve been doing some much-needed decluttering of my home, specifically of my work space. My desk is an old drafting table that my husband found waiting to be thrown away, and it has no drawers of its own. As such, I have two sets of plastic drawers and a bookcase around the desk that all needed to be thoroughly searched and cleared of excess nonsense — you know, anything that doesn’t “spark joy.” ;3
I did do a good chunk of writing in the library this week, which I’ve always enjoyed doing. Our branch of the BPL here is a super tiny Art Deco building whose furnishings and floors are probably all part of a 1950s or 60s remodel. It’s quiet and warm, and about a ten minute walk from my apartment, so a very ideal place to get some work done. Besides, if I’m around other people I feel more of an impetus to actually work since I don’t want anyone to catch me slacking off!
I stopped in to Comicopia on Wednesday, actually, to pick up February’s Previews catalog. It didn’t feel weird to be there, though it did feel odd to just kind of pop in and pop out again after I was done, lest I run out of time on my parking meter. It still doesn’t feel like I’m doing anything more than taking a vacation, so I wonder if the realization that I’ll never be the manager again will even sink in!
All in all, it’s been a good week, though I do regret that in my flailing attempts to arrange my schedule, I haven’t had a ton of time to do any reading that wasn’t pertinent to something I was working on. There is a different work/life balancing act that goes on when what you do for pleasure is so very linked with what you do for money. I’m curious to see how I’ll navigate that going forward. I’m learning a lot about myself and how I work, what it takes to motivate me. I think that’s a very valuable lesson, regardless of whether this writing full-time thing pans out or not.
I want to quickly thank everyone who has given me well-wishes as I start this new phase of my career, such as it is. I know a lot of people are a bit sad that I’m no longer in the shop, but as I’ve said time and time again, I have absolutely no intentions of leaving the world of comics. As I get older, I’m able to more clearly see where my priorities are heading, and retail was no longer able to provide me the space to pursue a lot of things, including writing. It’s really, really nice to know that I will be missed, though! Y’all know how to make a lady feel special, for sure.
Anyway, I promise to start writing about manga and stuff that y’all actually care about soon. I just wanted to give a little bit of a life update since my last post so you can all see that I haven’t abandoned this space. I’m going to learn how to incorporate it into my routine somehow, and I’ve already started planning some work that I hope you will all look forward to! <3
The Maven in 2019
Happy New Year, everyone! A little belated, but I had some things to tie up before I was able to share this post. I want to talk about what’s ahead for me and this little website in the coming year. But first, a little retrospective.
I started mangamaven.com in April of 2018, just after Anime Boston and my 28th birthday. It’s not even a year old yet, but I am proud of all the work I’ve been able to put into it. Through this site, I’ve been able to reach a larger audience than just my small social media groups. I’ve been asked to be on a couple podcasts: Manga Machinations and Manga Mavericks. (And I had a great time of it, too; podcasting is fun!) I’ve been able to promote my newsletter, which I also launched in 2018. It was quite the year!
A lot of things have changed and developed in my personal life, as well, and because of this I’ve had to make the very hard decision to leave Comicopia. It’s been a really transformative three and a half years, and I will still be involved with the store, shopping there, organizing and working conventions, et cetera. I will also still be maintaining my monthly newsletter, so no need to fret about that. I don’t have any plans to leave the comics world, I’m just going to be stepping out of retail for a while as new and exciting things start to fall into place!
And what are some of these new and exciting things? Firstly, a lot more writing! I’d like to really focus on building my writing portfolio, and I want to keep talking about manga. With the manga publishing industry looking more healthy and diverse than ever, and as Viz Media’s new Shonen Jump subscription service begins to grow and evolve, I foresee that I will have plenty of opportunities to do just that. And I promise to keep everyone updated on other new and exciting developments as they arise.
It’s looking like 2019 is going to be a year of a lot of big changes for me, but I really think it will be a positive growing experience. Thank you all for reading and coming along on this adventure with me — may we all find joy and new opportunities aplenty in 2019!
My Favorite Reads of 2018
It’s that time of year again, where every single nerd news site tells you what the best-of-the-best comics of the year are. I’m always wary of trying to make blanket statements about literature, but I did want to share a few of my favorites from this past year. I’ve done a LOT of reading, and I feel as though I’ve branched out more than usual (or more like, there have been more titles in Western comics that have appealed to me than there have been in the past).
I didn’t give myself a limit to the number of books I chose, nor any kind of guideline as to theme, tone, etc. I just picked the ones I felt strongly about! These are listed in roughly the order I read them in, and by no means in order of quality. They’re all top-notch, anyway!
The Prince and the Dressmaker, by Jen Wang
Prince Sebastian has a BIG secret: sometimes he likes to wear dresses and go out on the town as Lady Crystallia. In addition to keeping this part of himself hidden from Parisian society, he has to deal with his parents determinedly seeking out a bride for him. Enter Frances, an extremely skilled seamstress with dreams of fashion design whom Sebastian employs to outfit him for all occasions, public and secret. The story of these two growing together and learning to be their best selves is captured incredibly in Wang’s bright, flowing artwork. Plenty of humor helps to balance out the heart-rending moments that remind the reader to never lose sight of the things that make them unique.
Brazen: Rebel Ladies Who Rocked the World, by Pénélope Bagieu
I genuinely did not expect to adore this book as much as I do. I’m not well-versed in the non-fiction graphic novel, and I’m often suspicious of cheery, pink-emblazoned “girl power” books — not because I don’t believe in girl power, but because it’s hard to encapsulate in one book what it is about womanhood that is so unique. That said, I was truly fascinated and enthralled by the stories that Bagieu, in her whimsical style, has presented in this hefty tome of awesome and awe-inspiring women. Women from all backgrounds, in all types of careers, with differing needs and goals, and with all sorts of romantic entanglements and personal dramas, are presented for the reader with reverence, joy, and good humor.
Go For It, Nakamura!, by Syundei
I have been seriously reveling in the increased publication of good, sweet, not-super-fetishistic BL manga this past year or so. In this exquisite example, young Nakamura knows for sure that he’s gay, and also knows for sure that he’s in love with his classmate, Hirose. The problem is, he doesn’t even know how to become friends with Hirose, never mind try to ask him out! Between caring for his pet octopus, perusing questionable BL for romance tips, and just generally trying not to act overly weird, will our stalwart hero ever secure Hirose’s friendship? A familiar story for anyone who was shy in high school, Go For It, Nakamura! uses awkwardness, hilarity, and genuine heart to create a sweet and fuzzy one-shot that will make you yearn for more. Syundei’s artwork is adorable, and very reminiscent of that of manga powerhouse Rumiko Takahashi.
Tokyo Tarareba Girls, by Akiko Higashimura
I wrote about my initial reaction to volume one of Akiko Higashimura’s forays into 30-something woman angst back when the print version first came out. The series is now three print volumes in (with all volumes available digitally), and it has not stopped being maybe the most anticipated title in my pull at work. Higashimura’s ability to poke fun at the stupidity of a woman’s society-bred anxieties while treating the same character with sympathy and understanding is so incredible to me. I often find it hard to articulate what it is that makes this series so good, because it’s really everything. Please…I don’t often make demands, but read Tokyo Tarareba Girls.
Claudine, by Riyoko Ikeda
I find this manga hard to recommend, even though I love it. It is a quick read; I read it from start to finish on my half-hour bus ride home from work one day. But it is also a dramatic and sad read, in true 70s shojo fashion. Our protagonist Claudine is assigned female at birth, but knows in his heart that he is a man. Even his own father embraces Claudine as more of a son than a daughter, going riding with him and treating him like his older brothers. Society in early 20th century France, however, is not as kind. To the rest of the world, Claudine is a girl, and the tragedy here lies in the outmoded concept that any woman he might love will never lead a fulfilled life with a “woman” partner. So in many ways, this is a fantastic achievement, being a trans story from 70s Japan; but it is also a story about a trans man from the perspective of a cisgender woman, writing at a time when shojo manga was about deep, dramatic personal struggles and utilizing queerness as a vehicle for those struggles. If you can go into it with the understanding that it is a sad story (and yes, I did cry on that fateful bus ride home), it is a simply gorgeous and heartbreaking work of tragedy.
Making Friends, by Kristen Gudsnuk
I’ve been in love with Kristen Gudsnuk’s work ever since I read the first issue of Henchgirl, back when it was released by Scout Comics. Her artwork is fun, her dialogue is funny, and she makes plenty of obvious anime references that I feel are speaking directly to me and my sense of humor. So of course I was thrilled when Making Friends came out, and I was not disappointed. Protagonist Dany is starting middle school, where she is separated from her friends and everything that was familiar to her. She turns inward and begins to draw in the sketchbook she recently inherited from her recently deceased great-aunt. Soon she discovers that anything she draws in the sketchbook — including the head of her favorite anime badboy — comes to life! She quickly devises a plan to create a new, perfect best friend. But as we all know, magic has serious consequences, and Dany is going to have to figure out how to fix the mess she’s made. Gudsnuk does an excellent job of keeping this story about friendship and responsibility from becoming saccharine or tropey, instead treating every character with equal weight and relying on her uncanny knack for coming at a story from a slightly sideways perspective.
Satoko and Nada, by Yupechika and Marie Nishimori
This was absolutely one of my most anticipated titles of the year, and man oh man did it hit a home run for me. Upon initially receiving it I was uncertain, as it is laid out in 4-koma format, which I usually find cute but not particularly compelling. And yet in this easy gag style, with simple illustrations, Satoko and Nada manages to be a profoundly intimate story of friendship between women and across cultures. Nada is a college student from Saudi Arabia who is looking for a roommate. Satoko, a student in the same school, has recently arrived from Japan and chooses to become that needed roommate. Thus begins this tale of two people from very different backgrounds as they live together and learn all about each other and about their multicultural friends. Warm-hearted, informative, and full of meme references, this manga really surprised me in the best possible way. I want everyone to read it!
(Just an honorable mention here: I reread two of my absolute favorite series this year: Pet Shop of Horrors, by Matsuri Akino, and The Wallflower, by Tomoko Hayakawa. One day, I’d like to write at length about both of these series, but as they’re old and hard to find, I opted against adding them to this list. Look forward to an analysis of them one day, because I am very attached to them both!)
As you can see, I read a lot of very heartwarming stories by or about women this year. I have been immensely impressed by the range in stories and creators I’ve had access to, and that’s something I want to see continue to grow year by year. My reading list has been a bright spot in what has been a very tumultuous year otherwise (personally and in the world at large), and it gives me hope that more differing voices are being tapped to tell more and varied stories.
Looking forward to reading more in 2019!
What It Means To Manage A Comic Shop
There’s a Tweet going around lately by @Gigs_and_hills that asks folks to state the most common response they receive upon telling someone what they do for a living. It’s been really interesting to see how wildly people misinterpret all kinds of jobs — and how I have also misinterpreted them! And it brought up the response I’ve been getting a lot lately when I say that I manage a comic shop:
“You must have the coolest job in the world! I bet you read comics all day!”
I know there’s no malice in comments like this, but that idea is so far from my reality that I wanted to give a bit of a breakdown of what, exactly, goes into comic shop management. A lot of it will be the same as any other retail management position, but there are certainly some….quirks in the comics retail industry! And I’m only going to be speaking from my personal experience, as the manager of a fairly small shop (three whole employees!) in a decently big city that has a glut of excellent comic shops.
Ordering
A good deal of my job revolves around ordering, whether that’s ordering brand-new books, or reordering books that we’ve sold within the past week. I do the former once a month, and the latter at least once a week. I place orders across multiple distributors, including Diamond Comics Distribution, Simon & Schuster, Penguin Random House, Hachette, Macmillian, and Baker & Taylor. Occasionally, I also place orders with individual artists or wholesalers, which is a separate process that involves more of a time investment since there isn’t necessarily a system already in place to process those orders.
Once these orders come in, I’m sometimes the person who then has to check them in, pull copies for subscribers, and put them out on the shelves. Which brings me to the next topic…
Maintaining Subscriber Pulls
I’m lucky in that I don’t do a ton of the unpacking and processing of our weekly Diamond shipments, but there is always a good deal of subscriber maintenance to deal with. Adding new subscribers, physically filling the pulls, getting in touch with subscribers who have lapsed, sending comics to subscribers who live a little further afield, keeping track of special orders — these are tasks that my boss and I split, but in reality we could have one employee just doing this, that’s how much work it can be.
Organizing Sales and Events
One of the simultaneously most challenging and most rewarding things I do is organizing events. We vend at a couple conventions, the largest of which is Anime Boston. Preparation for this starts a couple months before the actual event with ordering. We have to assess past sales at conventions, make some educated guesses about what’s going to sell well this year, and plan out table displays. Once the orders are placed, they have to get processed as they come into the store, which I usually do because I am intimately aware of what we’re supposed to be getting, and because I need other folks to run the register and help customers. I’m also the one who does a good deal of the packing, though I am glad to say that I have lots of strapping young folks to help move the boxes of about 10,000 manga to and from the store!
And that’s just the ordering and selling aspect! We have a contractor (and friend of the store!) help with organizing the volunteers, figuring out meals, scheduling breaks, and making sure I drink water and get rest. (Bless you, Jasmine, I could not do any of this without you!)
After the cons are over, there is the job of returning all those books that we are able to and don’t need in the store (this is a project I’m working on right now, in fact). This process means paying close attention to the inventory as it comes and goes, which is somewhat easier when you’re already doing orders once a week!
Outside of the conventions, there are other events to organize: Free Comic Book Day, in-store signings, local outreach events, sponsorships, etc. I don’t get to just be the paperwork jockey, I have to also serve as the face of the business in many instances.
The Day-To-Day
When I’m doing all these other tasks, I don’t have a separate office. I’m doing all this at the front counter, which means that I also have the duties of anyone else in the store: I deal with customers, give recommendations, run the register, clean the store, run the social media, and all those other menial tasks that have to get done. Of course, I don’t have to do all this alone, and I have excellent staff who help by alleviating some of these duties — as well as assisting me with some of the others mentioned above! There’s plenty of work to go around for everyone. (And scheduling that staff is also one of my duties!)
I’m not going to pretend that I never read while on the job. At the end of my work week, when I’ve finished any major tasks and it doesn’t make sense to start a new project before I’m off for two days, I will definitely get some reading done. This is partially pleasure since I obviously love comics, but this is also a part of my job! I need to know what we’re selling in order to be able to recommend it. Sometimes, I’m granted advance copies of books that I read during work hours so that I can decide whether or not we should be ordering it to begin with. (And in some cases, I will advise other retailers stock those books in my monthly newsletter.)
I don’t want to crush any dreams here — I do genuinely enjoy my job! I get to meet awesome people all the time, I get to help promote work that I care about, and I get to be part of a really diverse creative community. But there is a blurred line between business and pleasure when you work in the entertainment industry. My husband and I went to Montreal last weekend for our anniversary, and I had to drag him to the Drawn & Quarterly stores. I went as a customer and a fan, but I found my comic shop manager brain yelling at the back of my head saying things like “check out this display, this is a good idea!” or “we already stock this, right?” I read a lot for pleasure, but a good chunk of that reading is manga, which is very relevant to our shop in particular. I have to be very careful about burning out or being overwhelmed by every aspect of my life being overtaken by my job. It can be a challenge!
So in short: No, as a comic shop manager, I don’t get to read comics all day. There’s a lot of labor involved in keeping a comic shop chugging along, especially in the age of the Internet. And while not every comic shop employee will have to do all of these tasks, there’s a chance that they will have a hand in some of them, even if they’re not involved in management. Unless you work for a large store with a lot of upper management, a shop will need all hands to balance as many plates as possible. This is the nature of small business!
When all is said and done, I take pride in the work that I do, and I know that I’m good at it. I think that’s perhaps more rewarding than being able to just read all day — though I honestly wouldn’t mind having more time for that, as well!
LadiesCon 2018, Women in Comics, and Community Engagement
This past weekend, I tabled for the store at LadiesCon, an annual event organized by the Ladies of Comicazi. As can probably be surmised from the name, this community event (free and open to the public!) focuses on the many non-cisgender-men who work in comics in some capacity. The featured guests this year were Marjorie Liu, Erica Henderson, Ming Doyle, and Kristen Gudsnuk. I even got to be on two panels! “Women In Comics Retail,” which I’ve been on a couple times before, and “Manga and the Women Who Make It,” which I debuted there with my good friend Juliet Kahn.
Here in the Boston area, we’re really spoiled when it comes to the comics community. We have many excellent comic shops, all of whom staff women. And not only do we have the incredible, and incredibly important, LadiesCon, but we also play host the Massachusetts Independent Comics Expo (MICE), which is also family-friendly, free, and open to the public (and which this year is featuring, among others, the young reader powerhouse creators Vera Brosgol and Tillie Walden).
One of my favorite aspects of these shows is that they always remind me of the Artist’s Alley at an anime convention: full of passionate people of all genders, colors, and creeds who have come together to share their work with like-minded fans. Anime cons have always been some of the queerest, most diverse spaces I’ve ever had the privilege to be a part of, and it’s very gratifying to see that kind of representation making itself known to the general, curious public.
Needless to say, I’ve been thinking a lot about the community aspect of comics lately. To the outside observer, it can seem quite divisive — and it certainly can be! I know how lucky I am and have been to encounter mostly kind, open-minded individuals in this space who trust my judgment and who believe in uplifting instead of shooting down. I can’t overstate how important it has been for me to have friends within the comics community who have been able to share in my joys and commiserate when I encounter those aspects of comics that aren’t as pleasant.
In somewhat related news, for those of you who don’t follow my various social media maneuverings, I finally sent the first Manga Maven Monthly email, which you can find here. The response to this project has been very positive, even when I was just making super-long Facebook posts in various retailer groups. It’s very validating to have people you really respect, who have been working in comics retail a long time, sincerely thank you for your suggestions and talk about how they have positively influenced their businesses. It’s been really great to feel that, if nothing else, here is at least one thing I know I’m doing well. So thank you to everyone who has signed up! I hope to keep giving you fruitful suggestions for a long time!
LadiesCon 2018, Women in Comics, and Community Engagement
This past weekend, I tabled for the store at LadiesCon, an annual event organized by the Ladies of Comicazi. As can probably be surmised from the name, this community event (free and open to the public!) focuses on the many non-cisgender-men who work in comics in some capacity. The featured guests this year were Marjorie Liu, Erica Henderson, Ming Doyle, and Kristen Gudsnuk. I even got to be on two panels! “Women In Comics Retail,” which I’ve been on a couple times before, and “Manga and the Women Who Make It,” which I debuted there with my good friend Juliet Kahn.
Here in the Boston area, we’re really spoiled when it comes to the comics community. We have many excellent comic shops, all of whom staff women. And not only do we have the incredible, and incredibly important, LadiesCon, but we also play host the Massachusetts Independent Comics Expo (MICE), which is also family-friendly, free, and open to the public (and which this year is featuring, among others, the young reader powerhouse creators Vera Brosgol and Tillie Walden).
One of my favorite aspects of these shows is that they always remind me of the Artist’s Alley at an anime convention: full of passionate people of all genders, colors, and creeds who have come together to share their work with like-minded fans. Anime cons have always been some of the queerest, most diverse spaces I’ve ever had the privilege to be a part of, and it’s very gratifying to see that kind of representation making itself known to the general, curious public.
Needless to say, I’ve been thinking a lot about the community aspect of comics lately. To the outside observer, it can seem quite divisive — and it certainly can be! I know how lucky I am and have been to encounter mostly kind, open-minded individuals in this space who trust my judgment and who believe in uplifting instead of shooting down. I can’t overstate how important it has been for me to have friends within the comics community who have been able to share in my joys and commiserate when I encounter those aspects of comics that aren’t as pleasant.
In somewhat related news, for those of you who don’t follow my various social media maneuverings, I finally sent the first Manga Maven Monthly email, which you can find here. The response to this project has been very positive, even when I was just making super-long Facebook posts in various retailer groups. It’s very validating to have people you really respect, who have been working in comics retail a long time, sincerely thank you for your suggestions and talk about how they have positively influenced their businesses. It’s been really great to feel that, if nothing else, here is at least one thing I know I’m doing well. So thank you to everyone who has signed up! I hope to keep giving you fruitful suggestions for a long time!
Monthly Manga Mailing
I have some exciting news to share with everyone today! Part of my job is to advise fellow comics retailers on which manga they might be interested in stocking in their stores. Because the demand for this service has gotten so high and is causing me to cross-post in several groups, I’ve decided to create a mailing list! While it will be geared toward comic shop retailers, certainly anyone who would like to see my monthly thoughts on upcoming titles is welcome to sign up. I just ask that everyone bear with me as I slowly learn how to use MailChimp to its fullest potential, haha. The link to sign up is here, and I’ll be posting it in several locations over the course of today so that it reaches everyone who might want it!
In other news, I haven’t written much lately, but I assure you all that I’ve been reading a ton. I’ve been on a bit of a shojo romcom kick lately; I read seven volumes of Waiting For Spring the other day, and have slowly been working my way through High School Debut. I’m not sure why, but every now and then I just feel the need to read something sweet and positive, and shojo romances really fill that requirement for me.
My last post was a review of a middle reader graphic novel that isn’t a manga. This doesn’t mean I’ve abandoned manga (obviously), but I do want to mention that I probably will be doing more non-manga reviews in the future. I believe that middle reader and young adult graphic novels are among the best (and best-selling) graphic works right now, and I would be remiss if I didn’t mention them, especially as so many of them have been influenced by manga and are being read alongside manga. Media, after all, does not exist in a bubble. Works for young audiences are important right now, creating many new readers and strengthening visual literacy.
And that’s all to report right now! Just some little updates to tide you over until I post again — or until you sign up for my regular emails!
Ghosts & Grief: A Sheets Review
I’m a sucker for friendly ghost stories. As a kid, I was desperate to meet a ghost, dragging my best friend through her 300+ year-old house with a tape recorder ready to catch some EVP or find cold spots. I was also raised by my single mother and my tailor grandparents — so Brenna Thummler’s new middle reader graphic novel, Sheets, speaks to me on many levels.
Marjorie Glatt has recently lost her mother, and with her father overwhelmed by grief and depression, she is left to manage the family’s laundromat all on her own. Between that, her school obligations, her little brother, and their overbearing neighbor Mr. Saubertuck, Marjorie feels overwhelmed and adrift. Similarly adrift, a ghost named Wendell wanders into the Glatt Laundromat after his escape from the Land of Ghosts. Prone to mischief, Wendell turns the laundromat upside down one night, hardly endearing himself to Marjorie, who very much does not believe in ghosts. But with Mr. Saubertuck putting the pressure on Marjorie to give up her family’s land in order for him to build his new spa, Wendell and his fellow ghosts might be her only hope of keeping the business…afloat.
It is no secret that being a young teen is difficult; the chaos and uncertainty of puberty are exacerbated when a child is thrown into a tragedy like the death of a parent, or a divorce, or a debilitating illness. But while we try to shield our children from the harm of the world, we cannot prevent every bad thing from occurring. I sometimes hear complaints about media that depict untrustworthy adults, but the reality is that there are plenty of adults — even ones who mean well — who are not always up to the task of making things work so that their children don’t have to suffer. Sheets portrays that relationship well, with Marjorie’s father very clearly caring about his children only as far as his depression will allow; and those who have ever suffered from depression, whether chronic or episodic, will relate to the empty numbness that Mr. Glatt experiences.
Despite the heavy material, this book is not a downer! Thummler’s artwork conjures up the wonder of childhood autumns, each page reminiscent of faded photo memories. The action switched between the real world and the Land of Ghosts with a simple palette shift. The ending is positive without feeling saccharine, as the themes of grief, fantasy, and friendship are all tied together. A satisfying, engaging read that takes about as long as doing a load of laundry, perfect for the kid whose best friend is a ghost, or who would like some not-too-scary reading material for the Halloween season.
Sheets, by Brenna Thummler, is now available in print from Lion Forge.