You’d be surprised at how manga works — while it may be new to a lot of U.S. readers, it’s actually old news to Japan, who see the original printings long before we do. (Kind of like astrology and stars, no?)

Well, Viz Media is making a quantum shift with Rin-Ne, the first manga to come out in the U.S. through www.TheRumicWorld.com, at the same time as Japan, through Weekly Shonen Sunday. The book is due out October 20th.

The book, by Rumiko Takahashi, follows student Sakura, who has long had the ability to see ghosts. Her sixth sense takes her on an adventure, however, when a long-absent classmate is much more than they seem.

For our jet-setting readers, as well as those across the pond:

The Bristol International Comic Expo has announced their guest list, as well as a special one-day event: Small Press Expo 2009. The main expo will take place in the Ramada Plaza Hotel on May 9-10, while the Small Press Expo will take place at the Mercure Holland House Hotel. You learn more (and order tickets) by clicking here.

And now — THE GUEST LIST!

Kevin O’Neill (in association with Top Shelf and Knockabout)
Alan Davis (with exclusive new DR & Quinch print only available at the Expo)
Dave Gibbons
Mark Buckingham
John Charles
Mike Collins
Rob Williams & John Higgins (in association with Com.X)
Gary Frank
Ian Gibson
David Hine
Lee Garbett
John M Burns
Lee Bradley
John Watson
Ian Culbard
Phil Winslade
Hunt Emerson & Gilbert Shelton (in association with Knockabout)
Simon Bisley & Mike Ploog (in association with Reed Comics)
Charlie Adlard
Sean Phillips
James A. Hodgkins
Duncan Fegredo
Neil Edwards
Gary Spencer Millidge
Dylan Teague
Tim Pilcher
Joel Meadows
Shaky Kane
Boo Cook
Al Davison
Laurence Campbell
John McCrea
Dave Shelton
Martin Hayes
Jock
Asia Alfasi
Ian Sharman
Tony Lee
Ferg Handley
Peter Hogan
Steve Cook
Robert Deas
Kris Justice
Kat Nicholson
Liam Sharp
Dan Boultwood
Andie Tong
Emma Vieceli
Ian Edginton
Paul Grist
Graham Bleathman
Henry Flint
Lew Stringer
Lee Townsend
Andy Diggle
Siku
Roger Langridge
Jim Boswell
Gary Erskine
Bambos!
Jon Davis-Hunt
Cy Dethan
David Baillie
Kirsty Swan
Paul Gravett
Ilya
Stephen Baskerville
Jason Cardy
Emily Hare
Mike Carey

Plus SP Expo comics from:
Steve Tanner (Time Bomb)
Howard Hardiman (Cute But Sad)
David Goodman (Zip Gun)
John Anderson (Soaring Penguin)
Paul Rainey (There’s No Time Like The Present)
Tom McNally (Semiotic Cohesion)
Willie Lengers (Itch Publishing)
Tom Meddings (Unedible)
Will Morris-julien (Butternut)
Michael Burness (Unico Comics)
Stephen Paul Coffey (Best of What’s Left)
Luke Paton (The Adventures Of Kez And Luke)
Andrew Cheverton (Angry Candy)
Dan Barritt (Ragadabah)
Nic Wilkinson (Insomnia Publications)
Isaac E C Lenkiewicz (Duh Brain Comics)
Amsel Von Speckelsen (Underfire Comics)
Chris Denton (Massacre For Boys)
Chin-Hsuen Lee (Tpcat Comic)
Steve Tillotson (Banal Pig)
Geoffrey Banyard (Fetishman)
Richard Scott Butler (Cherubs Comics)
Sally Jane Thompson (IndieManga)
Mathew J Pallett (Stir Fried)
Samantha Borras (Inspired)
Chris Lynch (Monkeys With Machineguns)

Joystiq got tipped yesterday that Sony Computer Entertainment Europe is testing the waters on a major new addition to their online store: a dedicated section for Comics. The selection process, seen in the video below, shows a system remarkably similar to Apple’s “cover flow” used in iTunes, OSX.5, and the iPod/iPhone family. They also remark on a panel by panel system, similar to how many comics have been presented on the iPhone already, which gives an easier way for readers to view the comic on such a small screen. Sony has been touting that they have big plans for the struggling handheld this year. Would an “iTunes for comics” that’s limited to the PSP be appealing to you? How about if you could also view them on your PS3? It sure seems like the technology world is certainly interested in being the first to mainstream-ize comics on e-devices.

Fantagraphics has announced that it will be releasing a series of hardcovers featuring the work of French cartoonist Jacques Tardi.

In August, the publisher will release West Coast Blues, a hard-boiled crime thriller, and the surreal and satiric You Are Here.

“Tardi has always been one of my top favorite European cartoonists,” said series editor Kim Thompson, who will also be translating the books. “I’ve wanted to do this for many years — pretty much as long as we’ve been publishing — and I think the time is ripe. In today’s graphic-novel world, the audience is finally ready for Tardi.”

In Spring 2010, Fantagraphic will release It Was the War of the Trenches, a graphic novel set in World War I.

Tardi, who is best known in the U.S. for his Dark Horse-published heroine Adèle Blanc-Sec, has won every French cartooning award including the Grand Prize of Angoulême, and has created over 30 graphic novels in a wide variety of genres.

Yea-yea-yeaaaaa-wow!!!

Marvel has announced that it will be streaming episodes of the Japanese live-action “Spider-Man” show from the late ’70s.

For those who haven’t seen it, well…it’s pretty unique. While the best Peter Parker could come up with is a motorcycle (and a short-lived Spider-Buggy), Takuya Yamashiro has a motorcycle… and a Mega Zord. Hm. And awesome.

Marvel will post a new episode up every Thursday.

As we continue to see the decline of editorial cartoons in newspapers and we raise questions about appropriate political satire, a story in the New York Times’ blog about a South African political cartoon reminds us of the power in a sketch.

Jacob Zuma, leader of the ruling party in South Africa, has been accused of corruption and even rape. (He was acquitted of the rape charges in 2006.) But it appears he’s more bothered by the work of top political cartoonist Zapiro.

Zapiro drew a vicious, almost disturbing image of Zuma unbuckling his belt, looking down on a woman labeled “Justice System,” blindfolded and held down by leering men. (Check it out here.)

From Zapiro’s Web site:

On Wednesday 17 December the Sheriff of the Court served Zapiro with a letter of demand claiming R7 million - R5 million for injury to Zuma’s reputation and R2 million for injury to his dignity ‘ to be paid within 2 weeks, failing which Zuma will take Zapiro to court.

Zuma also cites The Sunday Times in his claim. The Sunday Times and its editor, Mondli Makhanya, have stated they are fully behind Zapiro. They are prepared to stand by their decision to publish the cartoon and will contest the case through their legal representatives. . .

. . . Zapiro is also convinced that, if this case does go to court, freedom of expression will be upheld. He feels that the courts will uphold his right as a satirist and as a cartoonist to criticise public figures harshly, even when the images he produces are offensive to some.

The U.S. has decisions like Flynt v. Falwell to uphold the rights of cartoonists and satirists to lampoon political and public figures. I won’t pretend to know the first thing about South African speech laws, but I can certainly hope that Zapiro will not end up in jail for a cartoon.

Like Zuma and Nelson Mandela, Zapiro was a political prisoner during the apartheid regime. Yet more reminders that political cartoons can have more impact, and of the importance of free speech.

Check out more of Zapiro’s work at his site or at the excellent Mail & Guardian newspaper’s site.

Today’s Financial Times has a column on the ethical responsibility of a London banker who received a bonus from a U.S. bank bailed out by taxpayers. There are a number of suggestions–give the bonus back, send it to the government, buy a Porsche–but one reader anecdote suggests that the bailout may also be helping the comics industry:

My husband–whose bonus is mere couple of hundred pounds–spent it on Batman comics and sent them to a children’s ward in New York, which I thought was a really nice touch. Mind you–he’s a good man. If it was my couple of hundred pounds, I would have spent it on shoes.

From the Mail & Guardian, information on the glamorous Angouleme comics festival, now in its 36th year.

Subjects range from sci-fi, superheroes and children’s fantasy, to ambitious graphic novels on politics, war or the legacy of slavery, all the way to romance, erotica and social satire — with offerings from around the planet.

“A comics strip is always a window open on the world,” said the festival’s art director Benoit Mouchart…

A special exhibit focuses on the South African authors of Bittercomix, a cult comics fanzine that violently attacks Afrikaaner culture and the lasting legacy of racism more than a decade after the end of apartheid…

A jury of industry professionals will award its coveted Golden Lion for the year’s best album on Sunday, with separate prizes for runners up and for best youth and classic albums.

Further prizes will single out the best comics blogs, a fast-growing sub-genre and hotbed of young new talent.

Known in the French-speaking world as Bande-Dessinee, or BD — pronounced “Bay-Day” — comics are big business in France, with about 4 700 new titles hitting the shelves in 2008, a third of them manga, up from 1 500 in 2000…

But so far, experts say, comics have held up well against the economic slowdown, with a turnover of €350-million ($450-million) in French-speaking Europe in 2008.

And with on-screen adaptations on the rise — from Persepolis and Tintin to the brooding hero Largo Winch, the Roman-bashing adventures of Asterix or the sharp-shooting cowboy Lucky Luke — the future of comics looks bright.

Nice to know that comics are still holding up in the rest of the world. I’ll try to follow up on the winners here, and see if they’re available in translation…