The Map Shop

  Special thanks to NetGalley and Europe Comics for a copy. I am an affiliate with Z Publishing House. For more information, see the link at the bottom of the page. Tokyo Underground, the first in the Otaku Blue series, is written by Richard Marazano and published by Europe Comics. It will become available in the US on April 17th. Marazano is a French author of graphic novels, titles including The Chimpanzee Complex series, the Dream of The Butterfly series, the S.A.M. series, and Milo's World, among others.  Otaku Blue follows Asami, a Japanese sociology student who is studying the otaku culture for her thesis. As she tries to understand the phenomena and reasoning behind this subculture, with the help of cosplayer Maiko who suggest she looks for Buntaro, the elusive otaku expert. Meanwhile, Asami's boyfriend Kotaro is working on a J-horror flick with the hopes of starting his film career, yet he is frustrated by Asami's insistence of pursuing Maiko's le...

  Special thanks to NetGalley and Europe Comic for a copy.  I am an affiliate with Z Publishing House. If you're interested in reading the works of emerging writers, see the link at the bottom of this post. Animal Jack is a comic written by Kid Toussaint and illustrated by Miss Prickly. Toussaint is french comic writer with a variety of comics including the Magic 7 series and Holly Ann series. Miss Prickly is a french comic artist whose work includes the Mortelle Adele series. Animal Jack was originally published under the title Le coeur de la foret by Dupuis publishing in February 2019 and will be published in English by Europe Comics on April 17th, 2019. Animal Jack is a cute story about Jack, a kid who doesn't speak and has the ability to turn into any animal that he chooses. He has trouble making friends because of his abilities, though no one is outright mean to him. Even if they were, however, he is more than capable of standing up to bullies, as seen when h...

  #notsponsored.  I am an affiliate with Z Publishing House. See link below. The Color of Heaven was written by Kim Dong Hwa and published by First Second in 2009. It was previously published in 2003. This is the beautiful conclusion to his coming-of-age manhwa trilogy, The Color of Earth. Note there is some sexual content in this volume. Compared to the first two volumes, Color of Heaven is a bit slower in story. Duksam leaves the village after burning his master's fields in revenge of the old man trying to buy Ehwa's marriage when he knew Duksam wanted to marry her. Afterwards, both Ehwa and her mother spend most of the book waiting for their men to return. There is a lot of talk about waiting and longing, and a woman's curse is "planting love in our hearts." We also see pieces of other people's relationships. Ehwa's friend, Bongsoon, is having sexual relations with one of the village boys, Dongchul, complete with euphemisms. We also see...

  #notsponsored.  I am an affiliate with Z Publishing House. See link below. Locke & Key is written by Joe Hill, illustrated by Gabriel Rodriguez, and published by IDW Publishing. I read the Master Editions which was published in 2017 and includes Locke & Key: Welcome to Lovecraft issues 1-6 and Locke & Key: Head Games issues 1-6.   Hill has also written novels including Heart-Shaped Box (winner of the Bram Stoker Award for Best First Novel), Horns—which was made into a film starring Daniel Radcliffe—and NOS4A2 and The Fireman.   Rodriguez is an artist and illustrator working with IDW Publishing. He has worked on The Great and Secret Show, Beowulf, and Land of the Dead to name a few. Locke & Key won the Eisner Award for Best Writer. IDW Publishing was founded in 1999. It now includes IDW Games, IDW Entertainment, Top Shelf Productions and the Sand Diego Comic Art Gallery. It is considered one of the top four comic book publishers in...

  #notsponsored  I am an affiliate with Z Publishing House. See link below. Locke & Key is written by Joe Hill, illustrated by Gabriel Rodriguez, and published by IDW Publishing. I read the Master Editions which was published in 2017 and includes Locke & Key: Welcome to Lovecraft issues 1-6 and Locke & Key: Head Games issues 1-6.   Hill has also written novels including Heart-Shaped Box (winner of the Bram Stoker Award for Best First Novel), Horns—which was made into a film starring Daniel Radcliffe—and NOS4A2 and The Fireman.   Rodriguez is an artist and illustrator working with IDW Publishing. He has worked on The Great and Secret Show, Beowulf, and Land of the Dead to name a few. Locke & Key won the Eisner Award for Best Writer. IDW Publishing was founded in 1999. It now includes IDW Games, IDW Entertainment, Top Shelf Productions and the Sand Diego Comic Art Gallery. It is considered one of the top four comic book publishers in t...

  #notsponsored. I am an affiliate with Z Publishing House. If you're interested in reading the works of emerging writers, please see the link at the end of this post. Blissful Land volume one is written by Ichimon Izumi and published by Kodansha Comics (2018). From what I can find, Izumi is a new manga artist and author with only two title (Blissful Land volumes one and two) credits. Little is known about the author.  I was given the opportunity to read a digital copy of Blissful Land volume one (thank you Kodansha Comics! Thank you NetGalley!). The opinions below are my own. Blissful Land takes place in 18 th century Tibet when Khang Zhipa, a thirteen-year-old doctor in training, arrives home to discover the bride his parents have arranged for him to marry. While the wedding is still a few months away, his bride—Moshi Rati—begins living with him and his family. She is not from their village and has learned their language but is still learning their local...