Unorganized Thoughts on Manga and Shonen Jump

I want to thank everyone who provided me with suggestions for Manga to try out. I had a very good time and have found a few "new" books to enjoy. It helps that I live near a great library, too. Part of the fun of reading Manga was all the different genres that were covered. Not a lot of superheroes in the pages of the books I read, but lots of great stories.

I'd also like to thank David Welsh for sending me a couple of issues of Shonen Jump to try.

Here's what I thought of Shonen Jump: The average issue is over 300 pages. There are usually six or seven regular features in each issue, and sometimes a preview or sample of another manga title.

The two issues David sent me just happened to contain the next two installments of Hikaru No Go after the second trade, which I just finished. The first issue, Sep 2004, had 41 story pages of Hikaru No Go. 41 pages. The second issue, Oct 2004, had 44 story pages. When I buy a good B&W indie book, I'm often willing to pay $2.95 for 22 story pages. Shonen Jump's cover price is $5, and Hikaru No Go's 40+ pages are only 1/6th of the book. By math alone, if there is one feature in Shonen Jump that I like enough to want to buy monthly, I should pick up the book.

I decided to read the other features to find out what they are like. The September issue had a preview of Whistle!, a soccer Manga, that looks decent. The October issue had a preview of Beet The Vandel Buster which was actually surprisingly good. Another feature that I liked a little was Shaman King. One Piece would appeal to fans of Scurvy Dogs, I think, although the humor is considerably more gentle and goofy. Yuyu Hakusho took me some time to warm up to, it wasn't until I read the October book that I could figure out what was happening. Naruto, about Ninjas taking an exam, was very strange. Dragon Ball Z and Yu-Gi-Oh! were both features I'd heard of but didn't know anything at all about, so it was kind of nice to learn. In short, I thought the book was a pretty nice deal all around. And you just cannot beat the price.

The price, by the way, gets even better if you subscribe via their website. $2.50 an issue. Less than most DC and Marvel comics. And well over ten times the content, even if it is in B&W. This is how Manga can defeat American comics.

And one more thing... Shonen Jump is Manga for boys. Viz is about to release a Manga for girls magazine called Shojo Beat. The cover price is slightly higher, but at the moment you can apparently subscribe through the website for the same price as SJ.

I've been told, by a DC editor, that anthologies just don't sell. Well, Shonen Jump sells. They just got a new subscriber in me, in fact. So I don't believe it anymore.