Yuri Miscellany

Comic Ryuu, home of any number of random Yuri-ish manga over the last few years, has announced that it is going on hiatus after the August issue (on sale in June) to plan for a big relaunch in December.

Prism Comics is looking for queer artists to appear at their booth at San Diego Comic-Con. Contact them directly if you’re planning on being there and want to sign in an openly LGBTQ space. They are looking for folks who are already planning on attending with Professional credentials, and there is a charge to partner. Prism Comics list the benefits of partnering as:

— You get 100% of all sales

— We keep inventory and sell your books when you aren’t at the table

— We handle credit card transactions

— You get backdrop display art space at the booth that’s up during the entire show

— You get more than half a full table space to display your stuff while you’re at the table

— Having a lot of LGBT stuff in one area helps introduce your work to new readers!

I’ve worked with Prism several times and have always found them to be a fantastic, down-to-earth group of people, with a very minimum of drama. I’ve also met some insanely cool folks through Prism, like Jennifer Camper, JD Glass and Alison Bechdel. So, if you’re going to be at SDCC as a Pro and want to maximize your LGBTQ visibility – go ahead and contact them. Tll them I sent you.

From YNN Correspondent Ashi, Epsiode 7 of Battle Girls – Time Paradox, has a scene with several scrolls of classic stories. But one volume was written by the keeper of (the scrolls, and she called it Yuri Monogatari.

(Lawsuit!!! Joke, joke. ^_^)

On Twitter, fan translator AXYPB approached me looking for help – he did a fan translation of Sono Hanabira ni Kuchizuke wo, and is looking for feedback from anyone who might have played it. Drop him a line if you can help.

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Not-Yuri Miscellany

I’m not in the habit of posting whole press releases here (because they usually make incredibly boring reading as they repeat the headline three times, each time with more detail,) but I am far too lazy right now to abstract from this one – and I am very pleased to see a manga company not my own recognize the role libraries have played in getting manga to young people:

VIZ MEDIA OFFERS LIBRARIANS FREE HEROES OF MANGA LIBRARY KITS

New Kits Highlight Popular VIZ Media Manga Properties And Help Foster Literacy And A Love Of Japanese Pop Culture Among Library Patrons Of All Ages

San Francisco, CA, June 2, 2011 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), the largest distributor and licensor of anime and manga in North America, gives librarians across the country a useful new tool to promote reading, literacy and love of manga (graphic novels). The company has made available Heroes of Manga Library Kits, full of items to entice patrons to explore the exciting world of Japanese pop culture and comics.

Manga is one of the most requested categories in libraries today. The Heroes of Manga Library Kit features some of VIZ Media’s most popular properties, such as NARUTO, FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST, NURA: RISE OF THE YOKAI CLAN and POKÉMON, designed for a range of readers from All Ages to Young Adult. Each library kit contains 50 book covers, 300 bookmarks, 50 buttons, 5 assorted VIZ Media bags, and a full-color poster featuring NARUTO, and is available for FREE to library professionals. For more information, or to receive a kit, please submit information here before June 8, 2011. Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery.

“VIZ Media celebrates its 25th Anniversary this year and throughout our history, we have made it our mission to help fans of all ages foster a love of reading through manga,” says Candice Uyloan, Director of Marketing. “Our latest campaign provides librarians with a free Heroes of Manga Library Kit that contains a variety of fun premiums that highlight some of our most popular properties. Our first efforts to promote the kits resulted in such an enthusiastic response that we have decided to extend the program and increase the number of kits produced. We invite librarians to send in for their free kit today and use the goodies exclusively created for them to inspire their patrons to explore the exciting world of comics from Japan!”

VIZ Media manga titles are regularly recognized by leading library associations for their imaginative stories and high quality. The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) recently recognized several notable VIZ Media manga titles recommended for those ages 12-18, meet the criteria of both good quality literature and appealing reading for teen readers. For more than 50 years, YALSA has been the U.S. leader in selecting books, videos, and audio books for teens.

For more information on VIZ Media manga titles, please visit www.viz.com/manga.

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Katherine Dacey, aka The Manga Critic, has a wonderul review of Rica ‘tte Kanji!? up, and it’s motivated me to get back to work on it, after a week or two of not, because day job sucked my time away. I am more committed than ever to getting this delightful book in front of everyone who wants to read it. Thanks Kate!

And last up in this collection of goos and gaws, my monthly article on Hooded Utilitarian aroused incoherent rage and some rather interesting, and some cognitively dissonant commentary and I made a new friend. Oh, the column is about how sick to death I am of fans dismissing open discussion about racism, sexism, homophobia and other topics in comics by telling people trying to point out the *obvious* racism, sexism and homophobia in comics “Don’t take it seriously, it’s just a comic…” as if images and words have no effect. Read here. I don’t rant, but I do pound my fist on the table a bit. ^_^

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That’s a wrap for this week.

Become a Yuri Network Correspondent by sending me any Yuri-related news you find. Emails go to anilesbocon01 at hotmail dot com. Not to the comments here, please, or they might be forgotten or missed. There’s a reason for this madness. This way I know you are a real human, not Anonymous (which I do not encourage – stand by your words with your name!) and I can send you a YNN correspondent’s badge.

Thanks to all of you – you make this a great Yuri Network!