New York Times has a Graphic Books Best Seller Lists

I thought this was awesome and wanted to share it with you guys. Yeah I know they call it "Graphic Books" instead of "Graphic Novels," but they got their reasons. Regardless, the fact that the NYTimes has a list such as this that includes manga say a lot about out place in the American pop culture world. BTW there is A LOT of Naruto on this list...

Check out the list Introducing The New York Times Graphic Books Best Seller Lists

Here are a couple of articles on it:
New York Times Introduces Graphic Books Bestseller List from Diamond Bookshelf March 6, 2009

'New York Times' Adds 'Graphic Books' Bestseller Lists Hard, Soft, Manga ICv2 Published: 03/05/2009, Last Updated: 03/06/2009 11:20am

© 2009 Linda Thai

Anime Day At Kinokuniya Sunday, March 15th!!

MediumAtLarge.net has a LONG list of items and information about Anime Day.

Flyer from Kinokuniya bookstore. Click on it for more information about the event.

Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. Wins Preliminary Injunction Against The Upper Deck Company

Ruling Bars Upper Deck and its Agents from Holding Themselves Out as the Authorized Distributor of the Yu-Gi-Oh! TRADING CARD GAME™

El Segundo, CA – (March 2, 2009) – In December 2008, Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. (KDE) was forced to notify its distributor, The Upper Deck Company (Upper Deck), that the parties’ agreement for distribution and marketing of Konami’s Yu-Gi-Oh! TRADING CARD GAME™ (TCG) had terminated. At that time, KDE filed an amended complaint in federal court in Los Angeles, alleging that Upper Deck had distributed counterfeit cards from the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG. Upper Deck refused to accept the termination of the parties’ agreement, and issued a press release stating that it was maintaining “business as usual” and “fulfilling orders” for Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG products.

In orders issued the afternoon of February 27, the federal court granted KDE’s motion for a preliminary injunction against Upper Deck, prohibiting Upper Deck from using Konami’s trademarks and from claiming that Upper Deck is an authorized distributor of Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG. The Court found that KDE made a “clear showing” that it is likely to prevail on its claims that Upper Deck, while acting as the authorized distributor of Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG, distributed counterfeit Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG cards.

The ruling re-affirms that KDE is the sole authorized distributor for Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG in North America, and represents a significant victory for Konami, its partners, and the public.

“This is a great victory for Duelists, distributors and our hobby and retail partners and protects the integrity of the Yu-Gi-Oh! TRADING CARD GAME for future generations,” commented Kazumi Kitaue, Chairman and CEO of Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc.

Under the terms of the Court’s ruling, Upper Deck and all persons acting in concert with Upper Deck will be prohibited from using Konami’s trademarks and the copyrighted artwork from Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG, from holding itself out as “an authorized distributor or rights holder to the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG,” from “referring to the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG as one of Upper Deck’s brands,” and from distributing unsold Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG products obtained from Konami during the term of the parties’ distribution agreement.

KDE is very excited about the future of Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG and remains fully committed to marketing and promoting Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG, and to developing innovative Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG products for Duelists to enjoy.

~~~

From Konami Press Release

For previous news about this case please refer to this Legal Times: Old and New, Upper Deck Konami and YuGiOh

Graphic Novels and Librarians of Today

Librarians and graphic novels...How do libraries feel about them? Are the responses positive? Are they negative? Well, you do see a graphic novel section in your librarian, right? Doesn't that say something?

Check out the article Graphic Novels in Today's Libraries from Graphic Novel Reporter, who interviewed four librarians about their graphic novels in their respective libraries!

© 2009 Linda Thai

Library of Congress and Comic Books

Hey everyone!

Sorry for the lack of posting but school comes first (^_^) Lots of reading and assignments. I got a tip from my professor and I wanted to share it with you!

The Library of Congress has a challenging task to be dealt with. According to Preservation Technologies, "100,000 comic books in their collection were at risk for damage and deterioration due to their highly acidic paper and older housing." So to save the wonderful comics the Library of Congress is working with Preservation Technologies, L.P. and a manufacturer or enclosures "to create an effective preservation plan addressing the unique needs of comic books."

Go comic book preservation!!! Thanks Professor!

Read more at Preserving 100,000 comic books at the Library of Congress

© 2009 Linda Thai

Experiencing Bat Manga with Chip Kidd Part 2

Please read Part 1of the interview before reading Part 2.

Experiencing Bat Manga continuation

With what he had to go through to get Bat Manga to be a reality, how did he know what to do? Well it took years of experience and using the knowledge he obtained from those experiences. He explained to me “when doing any kind of official Batman book, you have to work it all out with DC Comics.” Mr. Kidd has done that on the other previous Batman books, “so I knew the drill.” Next was “understanding the scope of such a project,” which included how much work is involved, what has to be done and when. This understanding and preparation is used and needed in order to keep the whole project on schedule. “It’s actually quite a complex operation, especially since I didn’t have any assistants to help.”

Now with the work process of Bat Manga from the tour and to retouching, Mr. Kidd has one important Bat Manga experience that he will take with him for future projects. “Well, the most important and exciting experience, for me, was learning that Mr. Kuwata received some of his original Batman artwork back from the publisher, after forty years. This was as a direct result of us making this book. I realize that’s not what you’re asking, but it sure was exciting.” Actually, I think it is cool (^_^)

Putting the work process aside, there was something I felt that schools usually do not tell their students, but I felt that people should know and understand. When I did my research, I found out that some fans are not happy with the crediting of Bat Manga. I did not want to know what happen nor who the fans were. Knowing how to handle the situation is not something that is usually taught in school. My question was how did you know what was the right approach in handling such situations? How did you know what was NOT the right approach?

“Well, to strictly answer the question, I would say that in any situation where people are saying negative things about you on the internet, the best thing to do is ignore it and not respond. This can be very difficult, as one’s impulse is for self-defense. Especially when you know they are misunderstanding the situation. My mistake was that I did respond, with a very strongly worded statement, and of course that was like trying to put out a brushfire with gasoline. It only just incenses people who just want and need something to be angry about.

I would say though, that there were a good many people who I think were genuinely concerned that Mr. Kuwata was not being fairly treated, and I can appreciate that. But it was not the case, and he has been very grateful that we did this book.”

Bat Manga and Readers

Bat Manga contains history, not just the history of Batman, but also the history of Batman in Japan. It also reflects the Japanese perspective and interpretations of Batman. So does this mean that Bat Manga is worth preserving and archiving? According to Chip Kidd, “the book itself is the answer to that. It IS an archive, just not a complete one. I would very much like to see all of the Kuwata Batman stories archived in their entirety in both Japanese and English. I am working on making this happen.”

So what about for Chip Kidd? Would he preserve Bat Manga for himself? “Well, I think that’s what I did, right? I very much made this book for myself, because I love the material. I did think it would have the potential for a large audience, and of course I hope it does, but my artistic inspirations for it were very selfish. I talk more about this on my website, http://goodisdead.com/”
© 2009 Linda Thai

Thank you Vanessa Schneider and Chip Kidd for the honorable interview opportunity (^_^)!!!!
Photography by Charlie Kochman

Experiencing Bat Manga with Chip Kidd Part 1

Ok so everyone’s been talking about Bat Manga. Everything from how did the Japanese version of Batman get discovered to when is the next book tour date. Well, here’s the thing, before I interviewed Chip Kidd, I had to do research on what questions were asked in regards to Chip Kidd and Bat Manga. There was A LOT of things already covered, so I had to try really hard to come up with questions that Mr. Kidd may not have answered. So the approach I took was related to his perspective and experience with Bat Manga. As I said before, I just want people to understand Mr. Chip Kidd's perspective and hopefully they will learn about the work and process he went through. By the way there are a couple of questions related to library and archives ☺

The first couple of questions I asked Mr. Kidd were from his non-fan and non-authorship perspective. One was what makes the content of Bat Manga valuable that it had to be published in the United States? The other was what was the goal for the book in the US? Mr. Kidd said, “I think the work itself— that is, the cartooning of Jiro Kuwata—has been very much overlooked in the United States, and I wanted to try and correct that while he is still active. Also, for anyone who is interested in the history of Batman in the comics (and that is a lot of people), I felt that I owed it to them to reveal this work. These are really fun, entertaining stories drawn with tremendous skill.”

Speaking of the history of Batman, since the book has historical content, I felt that it could be used as a teaching tool. I was wondering if Mr. Kidd felt the same way and he does. Mr. Kidd thinks the book would be good for those who study sequential art. Along with these students, those who study the history of manga may benefit from Bat Manga.

Now Batman the character has been here for many years now, so it is part of US culture and comic history. I was wondering what about Bat Manga? Will it affect the US on a cultural or social level? The thing is the adventure had just begun. According to Mr. Kidd
“That’s impossible for me to say. It’s too early to tell, for one thing. All I know is the reviews have been excellent, and the level of enthusiasm for the project on the web has been great.”

Even though everything thing has just started, Mr. Kidd hopes the book would have enough success so that they could one day “publish a second volume of the same or greater length. We have found enough material in order to do that, and it would complete some of the story fragments that we didn’t have room to include.”

Experiencing Bat Manga

There maybe some fans out there who would want to do a project related to Batman. Whether it is big or small, it is still hard and it takes dedication and determination to get the job done. Another thing one would need is preparation. I have no idea what life is like when working on Bat Manga and there are probably those out there who want to do a project such as this and may not know either. So who is the best person to ask about experience as an author, graphic designer and working on Bat Manga? Chip Kidd.

One of the things I wanted to know was Mr. Kidd’s typical day when he has to work on the Bat Manga book, like does he have a schedule to follow and what activities did it involve. “The most tedious aspect of putting the book together was retouching out all the Japanese dialogue in Photoshop, which I did all by myself and I almost went mad with boredom doing it.” He thought the process of retouching would be done in no time, but to his realization “it didn’t, at all.” Another thing that was part of his schedule is the Bat Manga book tour. “The schedule for the tour last fall was pretty intense, but only for a few weeks, and I do enjoy meeting fans of the book and introducing people to Mr. Kuwata’s work. It was very worthwhile to do it.”

Since I never lived the live of a book author, another thing I wanted to know was the ups and downs during the whole Bat Manga process from discovery to touring. I know in any work and activity, not everything is picture perfect. What one may think or had in mind may not be what it is in reality or maybe things can get frustrating and stressful. “The most frustrating thing about putting the book together was going from worrying at the beginning that we would not be able to find enough material for a substantial book, to then gradually facing the opposite problem—we actually had too much, and I had to go back to the publisher and beg for an additional 100 pages. And we got them, but that wasn’t nearly enough to include everything.”

So from hearing what Mr. Kidd goes through, does that mean there is more to being an author and cover designer of the Bat Manga then just getting your work done and getting paid? “For me to do a book like this (one that requires a LOT of work and time), I have to absolutely love the subject matter or it’s not worth it.” He hopes that through the book it would show that he loves Mr. Kuwata’s work on Batman, along with the Japanese interpretation of Batman on all the items, such as toys and all the other things displayed in the book. In regards to getting paid to do the work, Mr. Kidd had to be honest with me. From what he told me, the pennies he earned did not go into his pockets. “I will be very honest and say that any money I or Saul Ferris got for doing this book, we put right back into making it, and a lot more of our own money beyond that as well. This was not about making a profit for us, because we know that’s not feasible. DC Comics has none of this material in its archive; we had to obtain it all on our own.”

The article is really long for a post, so tune in tomorrow for Part 2!
© 2009 Linda Thai

Happy Chinese New Year!!! 新年快樂

Happy Chinese New Year! 恭喜發財! This is the year of the Ox and in honor of Chinese New Year, I drew a Chinese New Year Lolita Lyntha in Qi Lolita! I wish everyone much success, happiness and good health!

Please do not mind the color, cause the red color did not upload right.
© 2009Linda Thai