Just to be a bit contrary today amid this soup of Spandex types, Transformers and Dick-hating bloggers, one of my pals from the Fine Arts Guild sent me this interesting link about Mechademia, an annual academic journal launched last year by the University of Minnesota Press.
While the focus of the journal is manga and anime, we see these not as objects but as arts whose production, distribution and reception generate networks of connections. Thus, our subject area extends from manga and anime to game design, fashion, graphics, packaging and toy industries as well as a broad range of fan practices related to popular culture in Japan, including gaming, cosplay, fan artwork, anime music videos, anime improvisations, etc., according to the description.
Sounds a lot like a Comics Journal for the anime/manga fan in some of you. What also caught my attention: One member of the Mechademia’s editorial board is C.B. Cebulski whose Wonderlost from Image is a fine book indeed.
Anyways, issue #1 is already out, and they’re looking for papers too, so start writing…
February 20th, 2007 at 7:06 pm
It’s an interesting collection, mostly scholarly but not inaccessible. There are some fan sociology pieces, some in-depth looks at specific properties, and a mix of other stuff. I don’t know if I’d read it if it came out every month, but once a year? Why not?
February 21st, 2007 at 4:35 am
Ahh, no, not really a Comics Journal for manga, unfortunately.
I found this to be very empirical and dry, veering too much towards the academic and not enough towards good & interesting writing.
Still, it´s not bad; it´s just not very good either.
March 26th, 2007 at 2:31 pm
Late to the game, I know… but I agree with the commenters above, it’s dryish and academic, but still reasonably readable and fairly interesting. I wrote a longer review of it on my blog:
http://comments.deasil.com/2007/03/26/review-mechademia/