In his “Flipped” column at Comic World News, David Welsh gets reactions from editors and publishers to the increased presence of manga — 13 nods in seven categories — in this year’s Eisner Awards nominations:
Alvin Lu, vice president of publishing for Viz, suspects that, with books like Monster, which scored two nominations, it’s a matter of quality translating. “In the short time since it was published, it has already become recognized as a manga classic in Japan, so it’s encouraging to see it getting the same kind of recognition in the American comics community,” he said.
Lu is also pleased with the company Urasawa’s thriller is keeping. “We love that Naoki Urasawa’s Monster is being nominated in the ‘Best Continuing Series’ category, going up against Superman, Captain America, and Daredevil,” he said. “In an ideal world, that’s how it should be.”
There are several solid quotes, as Welsh also talks with Eisner judge Robin Brenner, Lillian Diaz-Przybyl of Tokyopop, Rachel Livingston of Digital Manga Publishing, Stephen Robson of Fanfare/Ponent Mon and David Wise of Go! Comi.
