CLUBBING

Overall Rating: B
Synopsis: CLUBBING is an original graphic novel written by Andi Watson (Geisha, Paris, Skeleton Key) and illustrated by Josh Howard (Dead @ 17) and done in the manga format (size, style, etc.). The story follows Charlotte "Lottie" Brook, a rich kid who lives in London, is into goth music, and platform shoes who lives a life of luxury. Then she gets caught with a fake i.d. and is "exiled" to her grandparents country club in the middle of the English countryside, which is to say, the middle of nowhere as far as Lottie is concerned. However, everything is not as it seems, as murder is afoot at the country club. Will Lottie save the day? Will she fall in love with the groundskeeper?

Murder mysteries involving golf courses would normally not interest me, but the cover of the book drew me in. I'm a sucker for goth girls, and I love Andi Watson's writing. CLUBBING is also the third book from DC's female-friendly Minx> line of comics, and I was interested in seeing what it was like. So, I flipped through the book a little, and decided to pick it up.

The book is a fun read, and worth the cover price if you enjoy all things gothic. The humor value of a club kid out in the English countryside is hilarious enough, but throw in the satanist goths she meets out there, her hapless grandparents, an evil cult, and you've got a pretty good book. Unfortunately, the story is a little too predictable, but if you're not looking for something too deep, check it out.

East Coast Rising Volume 1

Overall Rating: A
Synopsis: Becky Cloonan writes and draws East Coast Rising, a story about punk rock pirates in a world where New Jersey is submerged in water.

East Coast Rising is one of those books I have been meaning to pick up for awhile, but for one reason or another, I haven't gotten around to it. Fortunately, I finally picked up the first volume, and am glad I did. Becky Cloonan has created an alternate universe full of punk rock pirates (my favorite kind).

The series follows Archer, a young pirate whose ship is destroyed at the beginning of the first volume. He's rescued by Cannonball Joe, the Captain of La Revancha, and Archer soon joins the ship as a cabin boy. Along with Joe, the La Revancha is home to Deathsnake, a man who loves trouble, Deathsnake's adorable niece El, and Abby (she's crazy good at fishing).

The crew is in search of a legendary treasure, but they have a number of obstacles to overcome. Not least of which is Lee, the reckless and vicious captain of the Hoboken, whose crew runs most of New Jersey. Punk rock may be dead, but it's a pirate's life for me.

The first volume is charming and fun, and the second volume is scheduled to come out in October.

Lolita Shopping Online

A lot of us in the States are now into the lolita style that has been spreading like a cute and dastardly climbing rose. In my case, I have a hard time finding any of the clothes locally, and must rely entirely on online shops to feed the cuteness. I haven't found a good list of lolita shopping bookmarks online, so I compiled my own. And now I'm going to share.

Lolita Shops Online
(All shops located in the U.S. unless otherwise indicated)

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Pegasus Maiden - $70 - $90 for a dress, All loli-styles, original designs (also accepts custom orders)
Stocking Shock (U.K.) - All loli-styles, original designs (also accepts custom orders), will send price quotes on request
Rakuen Fashion - $120 - $150 for a dress (usually includes petticoat and headress), all loli-styles, tons of dresses to select from, original designs (also takes custom orders)
Candy Violet - $140 - $170 for a dress, all loli-styles, small selection, original designs
Blasphemina's Closet - $125 - $180 for a dress, mostly sweet loli style, small selection of handmade items (including accessories)
Starry Petals - $210 - $280 for a dress, mostly Elegant Goth loli style, a small selection of very good dresses, also carries cosplay uniforms
Fan Plus Friend (Asia?) - $50 - $130 for a dress, all loli-styles, wide selection and price ranges, also carries cosplay items
Momo's Handicrafts (Canada) - $35 - $85 for a dress, all loli-styles, eBay shop, wide selection and price ranges, handmade/custom items, carries tons of accessories
Retroscope Fashions - $50 - $150 for a dress, mostly Elegant Goth loli style, a small amount of really nice dresses, lots of accessories, some really nice menswear also
In the Starlight - $80 - $100 for a dress, all loli-styles, lots of selection separates, new and original designs (will take custom orders)
The White Peacock - $40 - $90 for a dress, all loli-styles, small selection of some basic dresses, lots of accessories
Shattered Glass Designs (Canada) - $80 - $150 for a dress , small selection of constantly changing dresses
Capsule Tokyo (Europe) - $200 for a dress, all loli-styles, some different designs, mostly ordered from Japan
Nique Tour (Japan) - $40 - $50 for a dress, all loli-styles, custom made dresses, eBay store, also carries cosplay items & loli accessories
Neko Works (Singapore) - $130 - $150 for a dress, Pre-order goth loli clothing items

Here's a few places not in English, so if you're multi-lingual, this may work for you:
Lucky Pinky - All loli-styles, in Japanese though
Pinky - Mostly gothic lolita, all in Dutch?
Metamorphose (Japan) - All loli-styles, tons of selection, $200 for a dress

Mostly Accessories:
Victorian Trading Company - a fun place to look for accessories like fans and other Victorian style items
Gloomth - A few goth loli clothing items, mostly goth accessories, regular shop and eBay shop
Black Alice (Singapore) - Only goth loli accessories, some Baby the Stars Shine So Bright branded things, also carries cosplay items


I even made a guide on Amazon, for anyone who's not interested in venturing very far into new online stores:
Amazon.com Goth Lolita guide

Note: Measure yourself! One of the things you're going to have to do if you're going to order any lolita dresses is get accurate measurements for the various requirements that they request. Have a measuring tape handy, and happy shopping!

Poison Candy Volume 1

Overall Rating: B+
Synopsis: Written by David Hine and with art by Hans Steinbach, Poison Candy is a science fiction manga. The South Korean Adolescent Virus is the newest plague humanity has to face. Sam Chance, a wanna be rockstar becomes infected with the virus, and wakes up a century later to find out that his girlfriend killed herself, and everything has changed.

I heard a little about this manga at Comic Con, and it sounded interesting, so I thought I would check it out. After reading the first volume, I like the plot (even if the full name of the virus sounds a bit ridiculous), and the characters are interesting. I especially like Yusuf, Sam's friend, who is a 1950s-obsessed, video game playing, Indian. David Hine is traditionally a comic book writer, who is trying his hand at manga. His attempts to write in a manga-style stumble at times, but overall it works. This is a good one for anyone trying to make the transition from comics to manga.

What happens next is completely up in the air, and I'm interested in finding out more.

Battle Royale Volume 1

Overall Rating: A
Synopsis: Battle Royale began life as a novel by Koushun Takami, which was then turned into a movie and most recently, a manga. The series has become infamous in Japan and throughout the world. In it, Japan is a police state, and every two years fifty 3rd year junior high (grade 9) classes are chosen to forcibly fight against one another until only one student remains alive. The results of the battles are then aired on television. The series follows Shuuya Nanahara and six other characters as the try to stay alive and find a way out of the "Program".

I first saw the movie version of Battle Royale a few years ago, and was blown away by it. It has a unique plot, is brutally violent, funny, and shows just how far humans will go to survive. I picked up the first volume of the manga recently, and it was just as good as the movie. The manga version is a little more explicit than the movie, so be forewarned, but it's an interesting read.

If you can take some graffic scenes of sex and violence, I highly recommend both the movie and manga versions of Battle Royale. It's definitely fucked up, but in a good way.

Shakugan No Shana Volume 1

Overall Rating: C-
Synopsis: A manga series by Ayato Sasakura based on the light novels by Yashichiro Takahashi. The series follows the stereotypical protagonist, a seemingly normal high school boy named Yuji Sakai as he learns about the existence of demons (called Denizons of the Crimson Realm), Demon Hunters (Flame Hazes), and Torches (this one's hard to explain, but basically spirits that temporarily replace humans that have been killed). When Yuji meets Shana, a Flame Haze who wields a sword and dresses in black, he has his first encounter with this strange world, and learns that he is a special kind of Torch called a Mystes. He contains within him a "treasure", a device that gives the bearer special abilities, but they do not get in to what that is in the first volume. Shana then decides she must protect him from the Denizens.

When I originally heard about this series, I thought it sounded promising. Then I read it. It still sounds promising, if a little stereotypical, but the first volume really didn't get me excited about the series. I hope the second volume turns out to be more interesting, but I probably won't pick it up without at least flipping through it first.

The biggest problem I had with the series is it seems like I've already read it. It follows so many of the standard plots and character types you see in manga these days that it doesn't seem to have much life on its own. I am interested in checking out the light novels to see if they're any better.

People in Manga to Know About: Osamu Tezuka

Osamu Tezuka
(also called "The Father of Anime")
1928 - 1989
Manga Career Started 1946

Famous works include:
Astro Boy
Buddha
Phoenix
Black Jack

Quick Bio:
(Look at that, he had a stamp! More than one!)
Writer/artist Tezuka literally invented the "large eyed" character style typical in Japanese animation. In his lifetime, he drew over 150,000 pages of manga (80,000 of those being for published work), started the animation studio Mushi Pro (which pioneered TV animation in Japan) and had his medical degree (which lent him expertise in his series Black jack).

Style/Forte:
Osamu Tezuka's style is very similar to what we would refer to as "traditional Disney". He loved to do stylized Japanese adaptations of western literature, but his stories covered nearly every type of genre. Some of his work that includes Africans and Vietnamese has been criticized as racist, with exaggerated manners and underdeveloped homes.

Effect on Hobotaku:
It's interesting, but Hobotaku (and other Western otaku) are having an influence on publishers so that they are finally translating Tezuka's works into English and distributing them in America. Which means we'll finally be able to get a much fuller understanding of one of the most innovative and influential people in anime history.

In Conclusion:
Osamu Tezuka is called the Father of Anime because he essentially built this city of manga and anime that we love so much. The next time you're stretched out reading some manga under a table or watching a new AMV, spare a moment to think of the kindly looking dude in the beret up there, because a little bit of him is in there.

Check out Tezuka lectures and exhibitions at the Marvel of Manga Blog