Comic-Can’t
Comic-Con International starts today, and for the first time in 9 years, I won’t be attending. This will be the first summer since I left college that I won’t be sitting industry panels about manga or standing around the Tokyopop booth handing out bags or waiting in line to see the latest DC superhero cartoon premier. But you know what… I don’t really miss it. I am sad that I won’t get to meet up with friends I’ve made through work over the years who I only get to see at San Diego, but as for the show itself, this is an overdue break. Not only am I glad to skip out on the crowds and hype, but I welcome a chance to distance myself from the manga world and reflect on my career and priorities.
After 5 years at Tokyopop and 4 years freelancing with Viz, GoComi, CMX, and even a tad of Seven Seas, it’s hard to let go of manga. I’ve spent so much time following the industry moves and fan opinions, I’ve tried to stay abreast of tastes and trends – it’s hard for me to believe that manga has been part of my daily routine for almost a decade. I still comment on my favorite blogs, and from time to time still do interviews and articles (like this one posted on Newsarama a couple days ago), but increasingly I wonder – do I really have anything to say, or is it just habit?
In writing Return to Labyrinth, I am certainly influenced by my exposure to and admiration for manga, especially when it comes to melodrama (this comes out even more in volume 3 than previous volumes, I think you’ll find). Manga sites occasionally cover the books, as publisher Tokyopop has historically insisted that everything it puts out is manga, and I am grateful for the coverage. At the end of the day, though, RTL isn’t really part of the manga sea, so there’s no reason for it alone to anchor me there. I used to edit/adapt 4+ manga series at any given time, but now I’m down to just 1 (Fullmetal Alchemist) – hardly the active resume of an industry insider.
So this year, while my old colleagues and friends talk about bursting manga bubbles or debate the anthology model or pontificate on the impact of Borders’ financial woes, I’m going to spend this Comic-Con weekend at home and turn off my industry news feeds. Maybe I’ll reopen the crate of 50,000 LEGO bricks that I dragged out of my Grandma’s basement last week – bricks that have gone unplayed with since I first joined Tokyopop. Perhaps I’ll be responsible and get cracking on the final volume of Return to Labyrinth! In any case, it’s nice to know that I can shut my eyes and ears to manga for a week and the world will keep on turnin’.
24. July 2008 at 4:26 am :
I’d love to go to the Sandiego Comic-Con one day, I love checking out all the goodies and costumes. Unfortuantly I’m in the wrong country, and will probably not ever be that far into the States to go.
And I’m slowly letting go of manga too…there used to be a time where I was anxiously awaiting the new releases of multiple manga titles…but now it’s just trickled down to one (Other than RTL).
I think it’s due to the fact that not only am I going to University (And thus, I have to save my money), but the city where my U is doesn’t have a lot of stores to buy manga in (Just chapters, which never seems to have anything other but the incredibly over-hyped mainstream manga).
There just aren’t a lot of manga titles out there that I’m interested in (There never was really). The series I’m reading now is a sequel to a Tokyopop title, ‘Petshop of Horrors’…when it finishes I’m not sure if I’ll continue buying manga.
Enjoy your alone time! Maybe if you have nice weather you can enjoy a little bit of the Summer!
24. July 2008 at 11:28 am :
Comic-con is definitely worth the trip, nerd Mecca that it is. I have many great memories of the show, as well as one harrowing post-show experience trying to keep my drunken Scottish friend out of jail when the Padres secrurity guards were threatening to deport him (are MLB guards now part of homeland security or something?)
27. July 2008 at 9:40 pm :
I just got back from ComicCon- my first one ever! I was bummed to hear you weren’t going to be there, but I can imagine it getting pretty taxing year after year.
I loved it, though! There’s something wonderful about so many people gathered to celebrate their nerdery together.
28. July 2008 at 10:15 am :
Dorcas,
Glad to hear you had fun at the con. Hopefully I’ll make it down next year and can celebrate the conclusion of Return to Labyrinth in style. So much went on this year on the movie side — by any chance, was there any Henson news this year?
29. July 2008 at 2:52 pm :
I think there was a panel on the Fraggle Rock movie that I didn’t attend, but other than that I didn’t see anything. I did see Jennifer Connelly at The Day The Earth Stood Still panel, though. What a pretty (and tiny!) woman.
Other than that, it was Watchmen and Twilight mania. The whole Twilight thing baffles me. I mean really, obsessing over a story about a human girl and a dangerous-yet-uber-hot magical man-creature? PLEASE.
4. August 2008 at 3:13 pm :
I agree, Dorcas, people make too big a deal out of Twilight =/ They’re good books, but not something to be obsessed over
Lucky! I’ve always wanted to go to a Comic-Con of any sort, but since I live in the middle of nowhere, they’re pretty scarce
dangerous-yet-uber-hot magical man-creature…*Jareth immediately comes to mind* haha
12. November 2008 at 1:45 pm :
7tzyb04n1pxokcwl