With Black Friday just around the corner, you may be trying to think up gift ideas for greed season, and some people on your list may be open to receiving the gift of manga. Here are some possibilities for your consideration. I stress that friends don’t give friends comics unless that friend has expressed an interest in receiving them. If friends insist on doing that, they at least keep the receipt.

For the House fan in your life: Osamu Tezuka’s Black Jack (Vertical). Decades before Hugh Laurie’s fictional physician was saving lives and alienating people, Tezuka’s outlaw surgeon was wrestling with bizarre maladies and guaranteeing that just about nobody liked him any better for it. You can pick up any volume of this series and not worry about being lost, since it’s all largely episodic. If you know someone with a taste for the medically gruesome and interpersonally abrasive, look no further.

For the foodie in your life: Oishinbo (Viz), written by Tetsu Kariya and illustrated by Hanasaki Akira. Aside from its microscopic attention to Japanese food and drink, this series lets you subdivide the recipient’s interests even further. Do they tipple? Try the Sake volume. Do they hold forth on buying locally and sustainably grown produce? There’s a volume for that. When you ask what they want for lunch, is their answer always “Sushi”? Do they blanch at the idea of a low-carbohydrate diet? Voila! As with Black Jack, there’s no real order to any of these volumes, so you can pick at random.

For the comic strip fan in your life: Kiyohiko Azuma’s Azumanga Daioh (Yen Press). I think I recommended this in a previous gift guide, but it’s still awesome, and Yen Press is coming out with a freshened translation and production in December, so I think I’m allowed to repeat myself. This massive tome collects Azuma’s very funny strips about a group of classmates making their way through high school, and it’s a great mix of the recognizable and the absurd.

For the autobiography buff/young artist/cultural historian in your life: Yoshihiro Tatsumi’s A Drifting Life (Drawn & Quarterly). Tatsumi was one of the progenitors of gritty, grown-up comics in Japan, and the story of his evolution as an artist (and the associated evolution of comics publishing in Japan) is fascinating. For bonus points, Tatsumi opens a window on the economic and cultural evolution of postwar Japan as a whole.

For the fan of films in limited release in your life: Jiro Taniguchi’s A Distant Neighborhood (Fanfare/Ponent Mon). So you’re thinking of buying a graphic novel for someone you know who likes to read but isn’t entirely familiar with the whole “words and pictures” category. You know that Asterios Polyp is brilliant, but it’s so dense with visual reference that the recipient might not make it past the title page. Stitches is great, but it’s non-fiction and a big downer. But you’re determined. So why not try this beautifully drawn, undemanding tale of a middle-aged guy who gets the chance to relive his adolescence? It’s flipped, so there’s no barrier there, and the story should be very familiar from a number of similar examples. It’s smart but not too literary, it’s only two volumes long but still hefty enough to count as a decent gift, and the publisher deserves your money.

For the freak in your life: Junko Mizuno’s Little Fluffy Gigolo Pelu (Last Gasp). Do you have a friend who’s forlornly waiting for the next installment of Prison Pit? Do you want to help them pass the time? Then really, anything by Mizuno qualifies for recommendation, but Pelu is her newest available-in-English work. I don’t know if this book is remotely appropriate for anyone not wholly conversant in alternative comics, but man, how could such people not love it? I certainly do. I think it’s my favorite comic of 2009.

For the Death Note fan in your life: Motoro Mase’s Ikigami: The Ultimate Limit (Viz). In her review of the series, Johanna Draper Carlson astutely noted the crossover potential between this series and the shônen mega-hit. Death Note has been over for a while, and many members of its audience may have reached the recommended age for this largely winning tale of government-sponsored murder. Try and keep it out of the hands of Glenn Beck fans, though, as they’ll turn it into a book of prophecy.

For the environmentalist in your life: Daisuke Igarashi’s Children of the Sea (Viz). Have you ever noticed how some pro-nature stories can be really preachy and shrill and have next to no attractive drawings in them? Do you know of someone who enjoys tales with this kind of message and want to support them in their interests, but you’re still scarred by Captain Planet and don’t know where to turn? Look no further than Igarashi’s gorgeous, seaside fable.

For the young fan of romantic fantasy in your life: Natsune Kawase’s The Lapis Lazuli Crown (CMX). If I had a teen-aged daughter (or son), I’d absolutely support them in just about whatever they chose to read. I’d probably voice my opinion about Black Bird, but I wouldn’t stop them from reading it. And my expression of that opinion might possibly spoil their fun in reading Black Bird, but I certainly couldn’t be held responsible for their overreaction to harmless, well-intended remarks that are entirely within my rights to state. And while they could spend their allowance on anything they wanted, they’d find this two-volume charmer in their stockings.

For the hardcore Japanophile in your life: Koji Kumeta’s Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei (Del Rey).This is one of the densest licensed comics from Japan you’re likely to find on a bookstore shelf. It’s packed with cultural references, scrupulously annotated in extensive end notes. It’s also very, very funny. I only get about a third of the jokes, and I still think it’s hilarious. Plus, I enjoy reading the annotations, so it’s really like getting two books in one. If you know someone who loves, loves, loves Japan and is still willing to giggle at its foibles, this is the gift for them.

Over at Okazu, Erica Friedman is tracking the various gift guides that will be unleashed upon an unsuspecting world over the next week or so.

Chandeliers by Kim Songhe at NEW PEOPLE's Tokyo Creators Market (Photo by: Umi)

On November 20, Lydia and I attended a private party at San Francisco’s NEW PEOPLE complex to celebrate the opening of the Tokyo Creators Market exhibit in the art gallery. One of the artists featured in the gallery is Kim Songhe who transforms kitschy knicknacks into artistic chandeliers and other pieces of home decor. Our favorite piece was the chandelier at the forefront of the picture above which was decked out in flowers, tea cups and saucers, teddy bears, beads, crosses, skeleton keys and even a few skeleton charms. It would surely be a lovely addition to the home of any Lolita.

It reminded me of a do-it-yourself project I saw a while back on making a teacup chandelier. It also gave us one heck of an idea. Why not make our own chandeliers and personalize the designs to make it all our own. And thus, the challenge was born!

Lydia and I are crafty girls, but chandelier makers we are not, so it’s a fair competition. We’ve set a deadline for January 1st and we’ll have you guys be the judge via online poll. In case anyone is interested in participating as well – here’s an open call for your submissions. Email us with a description and photos by January 1st.

Hit the jump for additional photos of the chandelier by Kim Songhe from different angles.

Egy óvódai levelezőlistán merült fel annak a kérdése, hogy vajon milyen víztisztítót, vagy esetleg forrásvizet szervezzünk-e a gyereknek inni. Andrást megkértem, fejtse ki véleményét.  E levél előtt előző nap mentünk el hozni egy kannányi forrásvizet a békásmegyeri Bründl vagy Attila forrás csobogó langyos vizéből…A következőket írta:

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_-3lqC8oFqNA/SwxPMGwMFiI/AAAAAAAABFw/akkJjN9mbew/s288/P1040029.JPG

 

a Lajosforrás forrásvizét sajnos nem ismerem. Ha valóban igazi forrás, és a forrásvíz származási területén csak erdő van mondjuk, akkor ennél egészségesebb dolgot kitalálni sem lehet…(most akkor olyanokról nem is beszélve, hogy egy szabadon kifolyó forrás vize már miért lenne klóros? (az csak a csapvíznél fordul elő). Paraziták? meg baktériumok? az a jó!! Valamennyinek muszáj lennie (mellékesen jegyzem meg) hogy az ioncserélt desztilláltvíz életveszélyes (senki se igya). A sima csapvízzel tényleg gáz van…már ahol…de ezt pontosan megmondani nem lehet.

Ezzel kapcsolatban a legnagyobb gáz az az hogy abban (a csapvízben) fürdünk, és a bőrön át ugyanúgy fel tudnak szívódni káros anyagok sokkal nagyobb koncentrációban, mintha meginnánk. Vannak ásványvizek, amelyek tényleg jók, de szerintem kicsit paranoia figyelhető meg ezen a téren. Két dolog ezzel kapcsolatban: az ásványvíz drága, fenntartunk vele egy brutális iparágat, és néha érthetetlen divatoknak hódolunk (ld baby víz, meg alacsony sótartalom kíméletlenül érthetetlen elvárása)…. fel kell fognunk egy picit azt hogy a természetes források többnyire csak max a néhány hétig a felszín alatt tartózkodó vizeket vezetik a felszínre. A több ezer éves vizeket tartalmazó ásványvizek mind fúrt kutakból jönnek..nem természetes formában törnek fel, egyiksem!!!…magas a sótartalmuk… az ember számára olyan távoli múltak vannak bennük “kódolva”, ami nem jó!

És akkor a sótartalomról. Erdélyben, pl Kovásznán több ezer mg/l sótartalmú vizet iszik mindenki évszázadok óta..az ottani szénsavas forrásokból. És nagyon sok ember a mai napig makk egészséges, (és kisgyerekek ugyanúgy isszák azt mint a felnőttekl és öregek)… (mintha az számítana..hogy mihez szoktunk hozzá, azon a klímán, és abban a földrajzi közelségben….. tehát baromira nem kéne nekünk horvát ásványvizet (ideszállítva) inni.

Ha már az alacsony sótartalomnál tartunk…van egy igazán természetes, csodaszámba menő megoldás…és a legmodernebb, legkeményebb EU-s elvársoknak is ez felel meg…amit a természet ad…(csak nem reklámozza senki)…ez pedig az ESŐVÍZ! Ausztráliában ezt isszák az értelmes emberek. Alacsony a sótartalma, hiszen párolgással került a levegőbe a víz, minimális a szennyezőanyaga (az is szűrhető porszemekként van jelen, egy jobb szűrővel kiszűrhetően)..és ingyen van. Bakteriálisan pedig teljesen steril…. (ugye milyen furcsa, hogy senki sem reklámozza??? Egyébként ha a víz körforgását úgy tekintjük, mint az életet, vagy az ereinket a testünkben…akkor csak és kizárólag esővízet szabadna innunk, mert az jelképezi a “belélegzést”, az élettel teli, verőerekben pumpált vért, ami az óceánokból felpárolog..és a légkör szétszórja azt a szárazföldeken és életet ad…. miden egyéb  (pl folyók, felszín alatti víz, de még a források is bizonyos fokig…de a fúrt kutak vize egészen biztosan)…a már elhasznált..lassan összegyülekező, az óceánokba visszatérő (a vénákban áramló vérhez hasonló) “elhasznált” vizeket tartalmaz. Ezekeet igazából nem kéne inni, mert olyan anyagokat (információkat….azaz oldott anyagokat tartalmaz) mely nem nekünk való, és nem jó helyről származik, nem az életet szolgálja, hanem egy “elfáradt” vízről van szó.

És mégegy (ha már csapongok)…a szóda nem véletlen magyar találmány…bár sokan utálják…bár a mócsingos pörköltet zabáló disznószerű emberek ódákat tudnának zengeni arról..hogy egy brutális zabálás után..milyen megkönnyebbülés neki meginni egy phár jó kemény szódát vagy fröccsöt..és egy oltári nagyot böfögni…ami kb úgy néz a gyomorban..hogy felkenik a gyomor falára..a teljes mócsingos pörköltmenyiséget..és stb-stb

—na félre a tréfával…

szóval szóda::

A szénsavas víz minden bacit megöl, mert nem tudnak életben maradni..ethát nem véletlen a szóda… mert a szemét csapvizet éppen a baktériumok miatt klórozzák..és furcsa mód a klór a nagyobb baj…ellenben ha veszünk egy sima kútvizet (ami ha nem nitrátos a sok műtrágyától..akkor csak egyetlen baja lehetne…és ezek pont a baktériumok…amit viszont CO2 gáz feloldásával el lehet tüntetni úgy, hogy semmi más baja nem lesz a víznek…és még egy kicsit üdítő jellegű is lesz.

Nem véletlen, hogy palackozók is azért vannak bahban, azért kell ez a fenenagy sterilitás, mert hogy vannak szénsavmentes vizek forgalomban…amelyek rendkívül kényesek a bacik megtelepedésére, pedig egy kis szénsavval meg lehetne akadályozni az elszaporodásukat…hát röviden ez a történet.

Az igaz, hogy az ásványvízgyártók nem kezelhetik a vizet vegyileg, de pl sokan ózonnal kezelik (extra oxidáció) hogy minden vasat pl csapadékként ki lehessen szűrni..ezt az ózonozást nem kell feltüntetni a palackon..és egy elég kemény beavatkozás a vízbe.

Vagy tudom mondani aazt hogy kétféle víz van forgalomban a polcokon: van olyan hogy ásványvíz, és van olyan hpogy forrásvíz (nézd majd meg)…na akkor eloszlatom kételyeket, a forrásvíz egyáltalán nem forrásból ered, hanem ugyanúgy fúrt kútból nyerhető..csak ez egy kiskapu az ásványvízforgalmazóknak…hogy ne kelljen mindenféle összetevőt (annak koncenrtációját) ráírni a palackra)..ha van néhány alkotó, amivel gáz van..és nem lehetne eladni mint ásványvíz, mert mondjuk rá kéne írni a palackra, hogy a fluoridtartalma miatt gyermekeknek korlátozottan (vagy nem) adható…SEMMI BAJ, majd akkor nem úgy adjuk el mint ásványvíz, hanem mint forrásvíz..és abban az esetben nem kell feltüntetni a fluoridtartalmat…ÉS KÉSZ!!!

szóval ilyenek….

Csapongtam..de néhány gondolat hátha megmarad

(a víztisztítókról nem nagyon tudok nyilatkozni…szerintem a szódáspalack a legjobb víztisztító…a többi nem nagyon ér semmit..esetleg egy nagyon hatékony (nagyon nagyon kislyukú szűrőt) érdemes beszerezni… mondjuk én sem iszok szódát….)

Chris Mautner published an appreciative primer on the great Osamu Tezuka over at Robot 6, and it’s nicely timed. This week’s ComicList offers new volumes of one of Tezuka’s enduring classics and a series based on another of his icons.

Vertical keeps the medical madness coming with the eighth volume of Tezuka’s Black Jack. Mautner notes that the comic is “not for the squeamish, and like Astro Boy it’s very episodic, with Jack pulling off one fantastic operation after another. Those who can handle the occasionally bit of surgically sliced organs and flesh will find this to be a worth their time however.” I tend to fall into the squeamish category, and I find Black Jack to be a continuing source of delight, so take that for whatever it’s worth.

The very talented Naoki (Monster, 20th Century Boys) Urasawa’s re-imagining of Tezuka’s Astro Boy classic, “The Greatest Robot on Earth,” continues in the sixth volume of Pluto. It’s a nifty blend of science fiction and murder mystery, and it’s my second-favorite Urasawa series currently being published by Viz.

Of course, it’s not all Tezuka this week. There’s also Oishinbo: The Joy of Rice, written by Tetsu Kariya and illustrated by Akira Hanasaki. I’ve really been looking forward to this volume, since I’ve never been able to consistently cook rice well, and I’m hoping it has some good advice mixed in with the toxic father-son posturing. Even if it doesn’t help me with my rice issues, I’m sure I’ll enjoy reading it.

Speaking of things I’ve been enjoying, it’s nice to be able to get in on the ground floor of Yellow Tanabe’s Kekkeishi over at Viz’s Shonen Sunday site. The print version of the series is up to its 19th volume. The Shonen Sunday site has added some other fun series like Yakitate!! Japan (over-the-top bread-baking battles) and Case Closed (teen sleuth trapped in the body of a little kid).

The cheap among us will rejoice at the arrival of the softcover version of Rick Geary’s Treasury of XXth Century Murder: Famous Players, the Mysterious Death of William Desmond Taylor. I read a prose version of the story a long time ago, so it will be interesting to see Geary’s telling. Of course, it’s always interesting to see Geary’s telling of anything.

This week’s Flipped is up, examining Inio Asano’s perfectly likable, accomplished What a Wonderful World!, a two-volume set of loosely interconnected stories about the kind of people pictured above.

Viz Top Tips

Total genius, in bite size chunks. For example:

“SAVE ELECTRICITY by shortening the cables to all your household electric appliances.”

or

“FOOL WORKMATES into thinking that your father hails from Italy by walking around saying things like ‘Mama mia!…as my dad would say.’”

My recent favourite:

“SHOE BOMBERS. Increase your payload by becoming a clown.”

Az üvegben gáz van, amelynek tulajdonsága, hogy ötször nehezebb a levegőnél.

There aren’t very many debuts in the November 2009 Previews catalog, but there are plenty of new volumes of excellent ongoing series. Let’s start with the new arrivals, though:

Dark Horse releases Okimono Kimoni, written and illustrated by Mokona with assistance from the rest of CLAMP. “a fun and lavishly illustrated book full of drawings and illustrations, interviews (including an interview with Ami of the J-pop duo Puffy AmiYumi!), and even short manga stories from the CLAMP artists.” So that’s your “eye-popping-ly pretty” alert for the month. (Page 43.)

I like Greek Mythology, and I thought George O’Connor’s Journey Into Mohawk Country had a lot of strong points. So I’ll definitely give O’Connor’s Olympians Volume 1: Zeus, King of the Gods (First Second) a look. “In OLYMPIANS, O’Connor draws from primary documents to reconstruct and retell classic Greek myths. But these stories aren’t sedate, scholarly works. They’re action-packed, fast-paced, high-drama adventures, with monsters, romance, and not a few huge explosions.” (Page 232.)

Alice in the Country of Hearts (Tokyopop), written by QuinRose and illustrated by Hoshino Soumei (Tokyopop) is triggering my “weird but crack-y” sensors: “Alice, who has fallen asleep in her garden, wakes up to find a white rabbit wearing clothes?! The rabbit forcefully drags Alice into the rabbit hole, where he turns into a young man with rabbit ears and leads her into a frightful world where the fairytale-like citizens wield dangerous weapons for an insidious cause… Unable to return home, will she be able to find happiness in a world full of danger and beautiful young men?” (Page 263.)

I can’t say that Mohiro Kitoh’s Bokurano: Ours is my favorite title in Viz’s SIGIKKI initiative, or even in the top five, but I’m always glad to see these titles see print, since it reassures me that the ones I really enjoy will follow sooner or later. “One summer, fifteen kids innocently wander into a nearby seaside cave. There they meet a strange man who invites them to play an exciting new video game. This game, he explains, pits one lone giant robot against a horde of alien invaders. To play the game, all they have to do is sign a simple contract. The game stops being fun when the kids find out the true purpose of their pact.” (Page 273.)

And now for the new volumes and new editions:

As if to provide additional evidence that “Best of…” lists might be a wee bit premature before Thanksgiving or, you know, New Year’s Day, Viz sent out the following press release:

VIZ MEDIA OFFERS AN EMOTIONAL MIX OF THE REAL AND IMAGINARY IN THE DEBUT OF TAIYO MATSUMOTO’S GOGO MONSTER

New Manga Release Blends Bold Art And A Clever Story Of A Young Boy Who Tries To Balance His Own Lonely World With a Fantastic Supernatural Realm Only He Can See

San Francisco, CA, November 10, 2009 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry’s most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, has announced the upcoming release of Taiyo Matsumoto’s celebrated manga GOGO MONSTER on November 17th. GOGO MONSTER will be published by the company’s VIZ Signature imprint, rated ‘T’ for Teens, and will carry an MSRP of $27.99 U.S. / $36.00 CAN.

Third grader Yuki Tachibana lives in two worlds. In one world, he is a loner ridiculed by his classmates and reprimanded by his teachers for telling stories of supernatural beings that only he can see. In the other world, the supernatural beings vie for power with malevolent spirits who bring chaos into the school, the students’ lives, and even nature itself.

“Taiyo Matsumoto’s clever stories and striking art have placed him among the best of a new generation of influential manga artists and we are privileged to present GOGO MONSTER to U.S. audiences,” says Gonzalo Ferreyra, Vice President Sales & Marketing, VIZ Media. “This story continues to show Matsumoto’s fascination with youth as he seamlessly blends themes of alienation with the paranormal. For anyone with an overactive imagination or has even just daydreamed during class, GOGO MONSTER offers an emotional tale that shows how what we see and imagine, whether real or imaginary, shapes our personality in profound ways.”

Taiyo Matsumoto made his manga debut in the Japanese magazine Comic Afternoon with the short story STRAIGHT. He went on to travel throughout France and became heavily influenced by the French comics he studied there including those created by pioneering European artists like Moebius and Enki Bilal. Matsumoto has become internationally acclaimed for stories that capture the essence of disaffected youth and adolescent alienation. His other notable works include BLUE SPRING, NO. 5 and TEKKONKINKREET: BLACK & WHITE, which are all published in North America by VIZ Media. TEKKONKINKREET won a prestigious Will Eisner Award in 2008 and was also adapted for an animated feature film. Another Matsumoto manga story, PING PONG, was turned into an award-winning live action film that is available from VIZ Pictures.

In her look at this week’s comics, Kate Dacey delivers a succinct takedown of the latest example of that just-won’t-die-or-evolve artifact, the list of recommendations to help comics fans convince the ladies in their lives to share their hobby. I don’t really have anything to add, but I will just note that most of the women I know online who read manga are omnivores. They greet new romantic shôjo and new blood-and-guts seinen with equal enthusiasm. To my way of thinking, this makes the frequent exclusion of manga from these chick-bait graphic novel guides even more baffling.

Anyway, here’s what looks good to me on the latest ComicList:

I read a review copy of Tamio Baba’s Deka Kyoshi (CMX), about a detective going undercover as a teacher, joining forces with a mildly psychic student, and helping kids with their often dangerous problems. My reaction to the book tracks pretty much exactly with Brigid Alverson’s: “The stories are nice little self-contained dramas, but they never veer far from the predictable.”

It seems to be a week where publishers who’ve had something of a low profile lately deliver some new goods. There are new volumes from DrMaster, Seven Seas, and Go! Comi. I’m most enthusiastic about the Go! Comi offering, the fifth volume of Takako Shigematsu’s Ultimate Venus. It’s about an orphan who learns that she’s the granddaughter of a very wealthy, very formidable woman, and must prove her worth to inherit the family fortune. I can’t say I yet love it in the way that I loved Shigematsu’s Tenshi Ja Nai!!, but I loved that series a lot and heartily recommend it to people who like wacky, mean-spirited romantic comedy. Ultimate Venus is a bit tamer, but it’s still very enjoyable.

Viz finally rolls out a VizBig version of Rumiko Takahashi’s long-running, much-loved InuYasha, which is a welcome development for people who might enjoy the anime but be a bit daunted by the 42 existing volumes of the manga.

Of more specific interest to me is the third volume of Motoro Mase’s Ikigami: The Ultimate Limit, from Viz’s Signature line. Though I’m ambivalent about the series overall, I’ve liked it enough to review the first and second volumes of this series about a draconian government program that targets random people for death to help the remainder of the citizenry better appreciate life. A government functionary must notify these unlucky learning tools of their fate, and readers get to watch the victims flip out during their last hours. I still feel like it needs to go somewhere beyond episodic individual drama, but I’m intrigued enough to stick around. And the third volume has an awesome tag line: “Sometimes people do shoot the messenger.”

What if you could bring your cat to school? What if you and your cat were given amazing powers, and all you had to do in exchange was keep horrible demons at bay? These are the central questions addressed by Yuji Iwahara’s Cat Paradise (Yen Press). The second volume is due out on Wednesday and promises more mystery and adventure at a purportedly feline-friendly institute of learning.

Karl - Rescue Diver Extraordinaire

Well hello everyone!  We would like to thank you for all your emails that have been firing through lately.

It’s really nice to hear from you all and that you are all still diving! AWESOME to see, loved the photos too.

Congratulations to Karl Johnson for completing his Rescue Course – Karl is going on to become Divemaster & a good DM he’ll make too, with his quick and ready wit he keeps everyone entertained!  Only problem is – he insists on all his gear being yellow & black!

Our winter maintenance on Molly is now completed and we’re back up and running – a well deserved break for both Molly and ourselves, now fully re-charged for the up and coming season, with maybe a few surprises in store?

The water temperature at the moment is fluctuating between 14.5 and 15.2 degrees, the average viz in the Bay of Islands and the Cavallis is approximately between 5 and 8 metres, we’ve had an average S to SW wind of 18 knots for the past month.

It looks to be a manageable lot on this week’s ComicList, at least for me. That’s just as well, as I used a Borders buy-four-get-the-fifth-free deal as an excuse to overspend on manga last weekend.

Fire Investigator Nanasd (CMX), story by Izo Hashimoto and art by Tomoshige Ichikawa, is the kind of book that makes me happy for a handful of reasons. It’s not brilliant, but it’s entertaining, and it combines mystery and adventure in pleasing ways. It’s got an appealing, highly competent female lead and puts her through the arson version of The Silence of the Lambs as she fights fires and looks into their origins with the aid of a serial arsonist. And, unrelated to the book’s quality but still welcome, the first search result for the series actually takes you to the publisher of the book, which almost never happens. I know. Weird things make me happy.

One of my Borders purchases this weekend was the first volume of You Higuri’s Ludwig II (Juné), which is… well… weird. As Kate Dacey noted in her review, it contains the holy trinity of Higuri historical fantasy: “beautiful people in beautiful clothes, political intrigue, and darkly handsome protagonists who are touched by madness.” The titular protagonist is one of those rulers every citizen of a monarchy should dread: a delusional opera queen. As is usually the case with Higuri yaoi (or near-yaoi), the gorgeous art and weird nuances are carrying me past the sordid but strangely listless seme-uke shenanigans between Ludwig and his devoted manservant. We’ll see if those features continue to offer sufficient compensation to make me want to track down volume two.

Do you miss the days when Greg Rucka did creator-owned work? Well, there’s good news for you, as he returns to Oni (home to his Queen and Country and Whiteout) with a new detective series, Stumptown, illustrated by Matthew Southworth. Once again, he seems to be following the gritty misadventures of a strong female protagonist, a private investigator named Dex in the midst of a high-stakes missing-person case. The art looks terrific, and Rucka certainly has a strong track record with undiluted noir.

Viz unleashes a thundering herd of titles, many of which I like very much, but I’ll fixate on one because it’s great and I feel like I’ve been neglecting it: Hikaru no Go, written by Yumi Hotta and illustrated by Takeshi Obata, which reaches its 17th volume. This looks to be a particularly eventful installment. Protagonist Hikaru has lost his ghostly go mentor Sai, and he faces off with his rival, gifted prodigy Akira. It’s a great series, smartly written by Hotta and beautifully drawn by Obata.