As if we needed more evidence: Vnunet.com reports that Naruto is No. 4 on Yahoo’s annual search list, behind Britney Spears, WWE and Paris Hilton — and ahead of Beyonce.

The list that Yahoo presents is broken into categories, but the website apparently has access to the master rankings.

(Via theOtaku.com)

It’s a quiet week for Publishers Weekly Comic Week, but they do have a few manga-related gems, especially an interview with show organizer John McGeary about the upcoming New York Anime Festival:

PWCW: What kind of show is this going to be? Is it for the fans? Is it a trade show?

JM: It’s going to be several things; part professional, part fan. The day before the show [trade news Web site] ICv2.com is going to have [an anime and manga] conference. And the first day, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., is for professionals only: retailers, licensors, librarians, educators, producers. And we’re going to have sessions just for them—some of them basic. We see ourselves teaching the community—especially from the librarian’s standpoint. They understand what it’s all about. They see NYAF’s educational value and can recommend titles depending on what a reader’s interests are. We specifically want to be more helpful to that group. And to retailers as well. We consider ourselves as a place to learn [more about anime and manga] and where to sell it.

There’s also an interview with Milton Griepp about the ICv2 conference that will be taking place before the convention; an interview with Slam Dunk manga-ka Takehiko Inoue;  and a profile of author Christine Feehan, whose first manga, Dark Hunger, just hit the charts.

A high school senior at a Richmond, Va., public school was suspended after school authorities discovered a homemade “Death Note” containing the names of some of his classmates in his possession:

The student is a senior at Franklin Military Academy in the city’s East End. The principal there sent a letter to the parents after a teacher spotted the student reading a list of his classmates’ names in the book called “Death Note.”

The student who got in trouble was not in class today He’s suspended pending an investigation.

Senior April Hopkins says she’s friends with the student. “He doesn’t really say much, he just stays to himself,” she said.

Hopkins’ name wasn’t on the list, but some of her friends’ were. She says they don’t fear him, and neither does she.

Now waiting for more cases to surface, along with the inevitable moral hand-wringing, in three, two, one …

Slam Dunk and Vagabond manga-ka Takehiko Inoue was at Kniokuniya Books in New York City recently to promote his books and paint a mural. Chris Butcher and Heidi MacDonald have pics of the event. Viz has a press release about the event and Inoue’s upcoming books that you can read after the jump.

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That’s the question Will Moss asks, looking at the success of Dark Horse’s ongoing Buffy series and looking at other similar big-name ventures coming down the pipeline:

California-based comic book publisher IDW, which puts out comics based on Buffy characters Angel and Spike, is following suit in November by relaunching its Angel series in a model similar to the way Dark Horse is handling Buffy Season 8. The new 12-issue series, Angel: After the Fall, will directly follow the last season of the Angel TV show, and Whedon will oversee the story, though in a less direct manner than with Buffy. He won’t, for instance, be writing any of the comics; rather, he will be working with writer Brian Lynch, who will handle the actual scripting duties.

Also in this week’s newsletter: A profile of Iron Wok Jan publisher DrMaster; an interview with Danny Fingeroth about his new book; an interview with New Yorker cartoonist Mort Gerberg about his new book; and an explanation of what exactly “TekkonKinkreet” means.

The English-language dub of Death Note debuts tonight at midnight on Adult Swim. If you can’t wait until then, you can watch several extended clips from the premiere episode at the Adult Swim website.

In its second week of release, the 21st volume of Naruto climbs 30 places to No. 39 on USA Today’s Top 150 Books list. It’s followed by Vol. 20, up 23 spots at No. 54, and Vol. 19, up five places at No. 77.

The three volumes of Masashi Kishimoto’s hit fight manga are the second wave of Viz Media’s “Naruto Nation” campaign. The initiative continues through the end of the year, with three volumes released each month to catch up with the Japanese series in time for the start of a major new story arc with Vol. 28.

The 21st volume of Tite Kubo’s Bleach, which held the 109th spot last week, fell off the chart.

The USA Today list tracks all genres and types of books sold in some 4,700 brick-and-mortar and online stores.

Related: ICv2.com’s “Top Ten Manga Properties”

Viz Media has launched a blog — called, appropriately enough, VIZBlog — which will be “written by various employees at VIZ Media, from lowly interns to executive types.”

According to Sean Williams’ introductory post, “We’ll be telling you about manga we are reading – both professionally as well as personally, anime we are watching – again, for money or for fun, games we are playing, our co-workers and their habits, what we ate for breakfast, the contents of our handbags, hell, all kinds of really, er, interesting stuff.”

The second wave of Viz Media’s “Naruto Nation” campaign stakes its claim on USA Today’s Top 150 Books list as volumes 19-21 of Masashi Kishimoto’s hit fight manga make their debut: Vol. 21 at No. 69, Vol. 20 at No. 77, and Vol. 19 at No. 82.

The 21st volume of Tite Kubo’s Bleach (Viz) also leaps onto the chart in its second week of release, coming in at No. 109.

The “Naruto Nation” campaign continues through the end of the year, with three volumes released each month to catch up with the Japanese series in time for the start of a major new story arc with Vol. 28.

The USA Today list tracks all genres and types of books sold in some 4,700 brick-and-mortar and online stores.

I’ve pointed to the ever-growing wave of manga in previous installments — including a time when the number of titles from Tokyopop outnumbered those from Marvel — but this week retailer/blogger Christopher Butcher notes what may be a watershed moment in the “manga/comics” divide: When you remove variant covers from the equation, there are more new manga released this week than new Western comics.

It’s a difference of just one book — 63 to 62, by Butcher’s count — but it’s still pretty remarkable. First, the American dollar and the Canadian dollar reach parity, and now this. Will wonders never cease?

So, yeah, that’s a lot of manga.

To see what comics — manga and otherwise — Chris Mautner and I think are worth mentioning, just keep reading. As always, let us know your choices in the comments below.

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You can now pre-order a pair of “limited edition Bleach street shoes” through the Viz Media online store. Per the press release, they are $65 a pair, were made by T.U.K. Shoes and are limited to 360 pairs.

It looks like I was wrong: The second wave of Viz Media’s “Naruto Nation” didn’t hit USA Today’s Top 150 Books list this week.

Instead, we get to watch the first wave recede as Vol. 18 of Naruto plummets 53 spots to No. 127, Vol. 17 drops 49 places to No. 149, and Vol. 16 falls off the chart completely. Still, it’s been a decent five-week ride.

And Vols. 19-21 of Masashi Kishimoto’s hit fight manga should take their place on the chart next week. I mean it this time.

The “Naruto Nation” campaign continues through the end of the year, with three volumes released each month to catch up with the Japanese series in time for the start of a major new story arc with Vol. 28.

The USA Today list tracks all genres and types of books sold in some 4,700 brick-and-mortar and online stores.

Ah, the seesaw that is New Comics Day: Two weeks ago, there was a barrage of “big” comics, followed by a fairly low-key week. This go-around is light on major releases, but filled with plenty of solid comics.

Like what, you ask? Another issue of Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8, another installment of the popular Sinestro War in Green Lantern Corps, the first issues of Jonathan Lethem and Farel Dalrymple’s Omega the Unknown and Ty Templeton and Juan Bobillo’s Howard the Duck.

Oh, and manga. Lots and lots of manga. Katherine Dacey-Tsuei counts 77 new releases this week; I’ll take her word on that.

To see what other titles Chris Mautner and I think are worth mentioning, just keep reading. As always, let us know your choices in the comments below.

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TCJ.com posts Andrew Farago’s lengthy interview with Jason Thompson, cartoonist, editor and author of Manga: The Complete Guide. In the Q&A, they discuss the growth of Viz Media, Thompson’s comic The Stiff, and the genesis of his manga encyclopedia:

Way back in 2000, when I was working full-time at Viz, I had the idea that someone should do a manga encyclopedia, listing all the artists who had been translated and all the important artists in Japan. When I was writing for PULP Magazine and Animerica, one of the signs of my immaturity as an employee, perhaps, was that I really believed I could work to make manga more popular and respected in America. In the indy comics circles in which I also traveled, there was very little interest in manga. With a few exceptions, like Scott Pilgrim, the situation is probably even worse today. Manga no longer even pretends to be American comics, and has sort of branched off into its own thing entirely. It’s increasingly a background influence for everybody, but people no longer feel that Ranma 1/2 has to be on a shelf next to Peepshow or whatever.

So I came up with an idea for a guidebook to manga by artist, to make people recognize the styles and contributions of different manga artists, and not think of it as this mass of stuff created by people who all draw the same. I pitched that, but at the time it got lost in the shuffle. Viz was sort of going out of the business of doing original prose books, which they’d done in the past with things like Japan Edge [a collection of essays on Japan]. At that time, I did a lot of the basic groundwork, looking up all the titles that had been published prior to that point.

In late 2005, I was approached by Dallas Middaugh [head of manga publishing for Del Rey]. He knew about the idea because he was working at Viz when I initially pitched it, and he suggested that I work on the book for Del Rey. Del Rey had already assigned someone else to write a manga guide, but that person hadn’t delivered a manuscript. They told me that they wanted me to do the guide, and I was pretty much allowed to do exactly the book that I wanted, with the one exception that they wanted it to be organized by title, not by artist. That was fine by me, because frankly it’s easier to speak about titles than artists. It’s often hard to get personal information on Japanese artists. It sort of evolved in the direction of, say, a book about movies rather than a book about film directors.

I’ve only skimmed the interview, but it looks to be a fascinating read — particularly the look behind the curtain at Viz. Thompson’s Manga: The Complete Guide is due in stores next week.

Speaking of Death Note – and I do that a lot, don’t I? — I’ve been meaning to link to this all week: John Jakala spotlights a couple of upcoming releases, DH Publishing’s Death Note: Lethally Fun Facts, Mysteries and Secrets Revealed unofficial guide, and Viz Media’s encyclopedic Death Note, Vol. 13: How to Read.

I’d never heard of the former, but I’ll definitely be getting the latter, as it includes interviews with creators Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata and additional manga pages.

Unfortunately, Jakala points out, it’s not the deluxe collector’s set. Oh, how I want those little puppets/fingurines.

Oh, Naruto, is there anything you can’t do?

As Viz Media readies the next wave of “Naruto Nation,” ICv2.com casts an eye over the BookScan list of graphic novels sold in bookstores and discovers, unsurprisingly, that Vols. 16-18 of Masashi Kishimoto’s manga have held to top spots for all four weeks of their release.

What may be surprising is that Vol. 1 of the series, which was released in August 2003, clocked in at No. 8 at the BookScan chart for the week ending Sept. 23, an indication that the spiky-haired ninja is still attracting new fans — and in significant numbers. Naruto, Vol. 15, which was released in July, held the ninth spot.

ICv2 points out that 43 of the Top 50 slots were held by manga, including the first volume of Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata’s Death Note, which came in at No. 11. It’s worth noting that although Viz released the first volume of that series in October 2005, it, too, is drawing new readers. With the debut of the Death Note anime next month on Adult Swim, we’re likely to see the 12-volume thriller repopulate the chart.

Related: ICv2′s overview of fall graphic novel releases

We reported last week that Adult Swim has confirmed it will debut the Death Note anime on Oct. 20, but now Viz Media makes it really official with the announcement that it has licensed the series to the cable channel.

You can read the full press release below:

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Naruto continues its slide back down USA Today’s Top 150 Books list as Vol. 18 slips 24 spots to No. 74, Vol. 17 falls 28 spots to No. 100, and Vol. 16 drops 21 spots to No. 117.

Don’t cry too much for Masashi Kishimoto’s little ninja: The next three volumes from the hit international manga series likely will debut on the book chart next week as part of Viz Media’s “Naruto Nation” campaign. That initiative continues through the end of the year, with three volumes released each month to catch up with the Japanese series in time for the start of a major new story arc with Vol. 28.

The USA Today list tracks all genres and types of books sold in some 4,700 brick-and-mortar and online stores.

Wondering what all the fuss is about regarding Taiyo Matsumoto’s Tekkon Kinkreet? Well, then, IGN.com provides an overview of the series, recently collected by Viz in the 614-page Black & White edition:

Chances are you’ve heard about this book already. The hype machine has been hard and heavy to make sure that people know this book and anime are out there to be found. As with all things hype, we always proceed with caution, but it’s difficult to ignore the praise this series has already received. Paul Pope (THB, Batman Year 100) says “(Creator) Taiyo Matsumoto is a genre defying manga-ka with an approach unlike any other modern Japanese (or American) cartoonist.” As mentioned previously, Giant Robot’s Eric Nakamura calls Matsumoto’s work “a style that’s an evolutionary step of manga,” adding that “he diplays some of his European (art) training, fused with an indie comic style of imperfect lines.” [Viz Editorial Director Elizabeth] Kawasaki adds “I can’t remember the last time I read 600-plus pages in one afternoon. I couldn’t put it down.”

These are but a handful of quotes surrounding this book, and there are more than enough out there to make anyone believe this is the manga’s second coming. Is it manga 2.0? 3.0? It’s certainly a blending of what we’ve come to see as manga “conventions” with some of the style of Matsumoto’s Eurpoean artistic heroes like Moebius. Like his other work, Blue Spring, he paints an at-times honest and at-times surreal view of the urban decay going on around his central characters. “It’s powerful stuff,” adds Kawasaki. “It’s sad. It’s hopeful. It’s extremely violent. It’s a touching love story. And it’s a tale of survival.”

Unfortunately, I don’t have my copy of Black & White yet. Curse you, monthly comics shipments.

Related: Frames Per Second celebrates the release of the Tekkon Kinkreet DVD with three days of related content. First up, a gallery devoted to the look of the setting, Treasure Town, from reference photos to completed images.

After what was a fairly big week for releases, we shift back into low-key mode this Wednesday.

Like the swallows returning to San Juan Capistrano, this week brings another issue of All-Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder (the seventh issue since July 2005!). It also sees the first full and official issues of Dwayne McDuffie and Sean McKeever’s tenures on Justice League of America and Teen Titans, a hardcover collection for Archaia Studios Press’ edition of The Killer, and a couple of annuals from Marvel.

To see what other titles Chris Mautner and I think are worth mentioning, just keep reading. As always, let us know your choices in the comments below.

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