Was reading a local online news site today and came across the article Comic strip heroes take on al Qaeda. As European authorities grope for ways of combating the appeal of militant Islamism, one German security agency has hit on a novel idea: cartoon comics. Officials in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) had run a well received comic strip campaign against right-wing extremism in 2004 starring Andi, a schoolboy hero who stands up against xenophobia and racism. Drawing on that experience, they launched Andi last October into a second adventure featuring his Muslim girlfriend Ayshe and her...

As some of you will know, I have been a fan of the Japanese manga-ka Masamune Shirow since 1997. I have followed his work religiously and have been an active member of the online Shirow community, and for a very long space of time ran the most visited site on Shirow on the internet. So it is with much excitement that I report that Seishinsha has announced a 2009 Masamune Shirow calendar! After missing out on a calendar for 2008, and being blown away by the sheer goodness of the 2007 calendars (there were THREE!) having a new calendar come out with his newest work is very exciting! I haven’t made...

Something that amuses me greatly. As an occasional follower of trashy romances (usually read when my brain requires NON-intelligent, amusing entertainment) I was tickled pink when I learned that one of said trashy novels had been turned into a “manga.” I use the term manga loosely since it looks more like the Western idea of manga as opposed to something drawn by a Japanese manga-ka… but there you have it. Christine Feehan’s ‘Dark Hunger’ has been brought out in comic book format. I’ll be getting this, if only for the pure entertainment and novelty factor...

I’ve been a fan of anime & manga for almost 18 years now, and have lived as a fan in England as well as New Zealand. I have seen how the fandom has matured and grown world wide. New Zealand is definitely behind the rest by atleast 5 to 10 years as far as maturity, complexity and detail. We’re only just starting to see rabid fangirls. Only just seeing the fanboys who think they’re “all that” because they download anime online. (I do not count the early years of fandom in NZ when downloading was hugely prevalent, simply because we didn’t have a dedicated...

Currently at the Pataka Museum in Porirua, there is an exhibition of Japanese artwork featuring strongly manga/pop art influenced work, from the 1990′s onwards called Painting for Joy – New Japanese Painting in the 1990′s. It features the paintings of nine contemporary Japanese artists, including internationally acclaimed artists Takashi Murakami and Yoshitomo Nara. Definitely worth checking out if you’re near the area. There is also an interesting interview with Simon Morse, a local illustrator in Wellington on the exhibition on Radio NZ that can be listened to here. If you do...