The Guardian’s Book Blogs columnist Ned Beauman recently commented on the death of Minx, DC’s attempt to woo Western teenage girls away from the manga racks. Beauman raises some interesting points.

But that specific audience is Japanese, not American; and the odd result is that just as British kids of my generation grew up watching so much Saved By the Bell and Sweet Valley High that we talk about “jocks” and “proms” even though these barely exist within our direct experience, tomorrow’s Americans will be looking around for the otaku and bishonen that are supposed to populate every school. It’s nice to see cultural colonialism happening in reverse, and of course teenagers love to plunge into an esoteric world that makes no sense to their parents, but at the same time it does seem a bit ridiculous that an American 16-year-old can’t pick up a comic that more closely reflects her own life. So there was room out there for Minx; and if it failed, it may just have been that – boring issues of marketing and distribution aside – the quality wasn’t actually very high.

Yes, well - Minx failed because it sucked. Pretty simple assessment, I suppose.

I should point out that the U.S. has a perfectly legitimate alternative to manga - we call them comic books (or for the more intellectually demanding crowd, graphic novels). When we in the U.S. describe manga, more often that not what we’re talking about is the idiom of Japanese comics, the way they tell stories in comic format. We in the U.S. have our own idioms, and while there is a gulf between the U.S. and Japan with regards to how we express ourselves, it’s important to understand the distinction between the form and the content.

If I remember correctly, Scott McCloud likened this to confusing a pitcher of liquid for the liquid. One contains the liquid, one is the liquid. I know it probably sounds like I’m splitting hairs here, but I think it’s important to make the distinction. American comics will always be American comics, even if we take some cues from the Japanese. Just as Italian comics are Italian comics, and French comics are French comics. It’s all just words and pictures, people.

Speaking as a life-long comics reader, I should point out that I’ve more or less abandoned the activity since both Marvel and DC seem intent on bludgeoning us with multi-title ‘events’ that require one to invest inordinate amounts of time and money to follow properly. This is exactly the kind of thing that drives people like me to download said books off the internet rather than blow all my spare cash on superhero rags.

And before anyone gets uppity - yes, I do know independent comics exist. And yes, I do occasionally read them.

Speaking of Taro Aso, the International Manga Award was handed to Hong Kong manga-ka Lau Wan Kit today for his manga Feel 100% , which has been adapted into several feature films and a television series.

Hopefully my upcoming manga, Sluggo the Garbage-Eating Dwarf will earn me similar accolades when its’ published later this year…

When Japanese publisher Yohan went belly up earlier this year, its’ passing was scarcely noted in Western media. Not that I would have expected any of them to run with the story - but Japanamerica author Roland Kelts points out that Yohan’s death is the tip of the iceberg revealing a disturbing trend towards cultural isoaltionism amongst Japanese youth.

But the demise of Yohan in the 21st century may signal something broader and even more worrying: a Japanese public turning increasingly inward, becoming more provincial and less global at a historical moment when it can ill afford to do so.

My colleagues at Tokyo University frequently complain that the English language skills of the current generation of Japanese youth pale beside those of students 10 or 20 years ago. Foreign studies departments at Japan’s major universities are now battling to keep enrollment numbers respectable.

A surge in support for nationalistic behaviors such as the compulsory singing of the national anthem and reverence for the flag at schools, combined with political leaders who sometimes dismiss well-documented evidence of wartime atrocities, has given the rest of the world a portrait of a Japan hopelessly out of touch with reality and gruesomely unhip.

VIZ Media is kicking off a slew of new releases celebrating the Shonen Jump’s 40th and 5th anniversaries (40 in Japan, 5 in the U.S.). Lots of goodies for the fans - read on…

VIZ MEDIA CELEBRATES TWO HISTORIC SHONEN JUMP ANNIVERSARIES WITH EXCITING NEW COLLECTOR’S EDITONS

40th Anniversary Of Japan’s Weekly Shonen Jump And 5th Anniversary Of SHONEN JUMP Magazine Commemorated With Special Collector’s Edition Of Top Manga Anthology’s Articles And New Hardcover Presentations Of Several Most-Loved Manga Series

San Francisco, CA, July 10, 2008 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry’s most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, has announced several exciting new releases to coincide with the 40th anniversary of Weekly Shonen Jump, one of the longest-running and widely read manga (graphic novel) magazines in Japan, and the 5th anniversary of VIZ Media’s domestic counterpart, SHONEN JUMP magazine, which continues to be North America’s most successful comics anthology.

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Reading this Daily Yomiuri piece (’Through Otaku Eyes / Lawsuit exposes mangaka-editor relations‘), I’m reminded of the creator-rights squabbles that erupted in the 80’s and 90’s, leading to more formal declarations of responsibilities between comics creators and their publishers.

Mangaka (manga artist) Mokoto Raiku alleges that Shogakukan, Inc. is offering him sub-standard compensation for artwork the publisher seems to have misplaced. While Shgakukan offered him 500,00 yen for the missing pages, Raiku wants 3.3 million, a figure he arrives at based on going prices at various auction sites.

With a discrepancy that large, I wonder if the real value lies somewhere between. Speaking as someone who has done freelance work, I can understand the impulse to put a high price on your product, but 3.3 million (even in yen) seems damn steep.

At any rate, I suspect the lawsuit will be a good thing in the end.