(UPDATE: THERE’S A NEW, MORE USER-FRIENDLY WAY TO GET THE COMIC THAN REGISTERING. SEE BELOW OR JUST FILL OUT THE FORM OVER ON THE FREE COMIC PAGE.)

Well, howdy!

So let me tell you, we’ve been awful busy lately putting together the book — super busy, crazy busy, so busy, in fact, that I haven’t had a chance to mention yet that the first story in the book. “A Shot in the Dark,” is completely finished and ready for public consumption. Well, all that is going to change right now. I’ll be posting its final pages up here (like I’ve done with its in-production pages ) sometime soon, but in the meantime, I’d like to give out a preview PDF of this complete full-color yaoi comic to those readers who’ve registered their email address with this blog. Just as a special treat. :-)

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July 27, 2007, 3:18 pm o'clock

Hoping to see more guys in their underwear from Yaoi 911™? Then wait no longer! The pencils for the second comic — the 90-page sci-fi action-romance “Artifice” from our upcoming book Yaoi 911™: Firsts — are finally complete. So we can now give everyone a taste of what’s to come — something I’ve been wanting to do for a long time! :-D

(Oh, and I should say that one of these preview pages is even without the underwear — so read no further unless you are over 18, please!)

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June 24, 2008, 8:00 am o'clock

Art and Character Design: This is Yukine Honami’s artwork and I’ve always found her sweet, sketchy style appealing. No real surprises here, though, except that her boys look a little older than usual — and by that I mean late as opposed to early teens. Their appearance really doesn’t seem all that different from the characters I’ve seen in her other books — they, in fact, could easily be older versions of those characters, so it doesn’t feel like she’s really stretching herself here. And again, there is little in the way of background or other details, with almost all of the attention being focused on these sweet looking guys.

Characters: The male characters are all three dimensional, each with complicated layers of depth. Our hero is uke-to-be Mizuho, who is a self-pitying, over-reacting, passive blockhead, but other than that he’s a nice guy. His cousin En-Chan, is suitably grumpy for his seme role, but the reasons for his crankiness are ultimately understandable and a vulnerability is shown often enough so that he doesn’t seem one-note. (Quite the opposite, actually — we get a full range of emotions and he seems like a believably conflicted, if taciturn young gay guy.) Best friend Issei is level-headed enough to help these two star-crossed lovers get past their internal drama without seeming like a mere device of the author’s when it’s his time to do so. Full-on adult and openly gay Yoshimi serves as a believable rival — and a subtly creepy one to boot. So subtle was his toying with the innocence of the younger guys around him, that I wondered for a time if the authors actually realized that he was behaving rather badly. But in the end, I felt assured they knew what they were doing. Only the women characters (and there are actually a lot of them for a yaoi book) come off as simple and familiar types — which is a bit of a shame given how present they are .

Plot: Remember how I said our protagonist Mizuho is a passive, self-pitying blockhead? Well, it’s his astounding levels of density that drive much of the conflict, so I spent most of the book waiting for best friend Issei to find out what was going on and deliver the smack-down on his buddy’s head so we could have our happy ending. There were definitely a couple of chapters that tried my patience as I watched Mizuho so clearly miss and misunderstand romantic overtures and feelings that would be painfully obvious to most other human beings over the age of 12. But unlike in other, lesser yaoi books, our authors are quite aware of their protagonist’s shortcomings and, in fact, his developing of a clue and a spine is the real character development of the book. In addition, the manipulative wrenches that rival Yoshimi throws in the works feel believable, motivated and, for me, fresh — if not, as I said before, more than a little creepy as well.

Romance: It doesn’t get too deep — these guys remain stuck in their own internal drama for so much of the book that all we really have time for in the romance department is a mutual admission of love, a quick roll in the hay and a hope for the future. Besides a common love of the starry night and shared childhood memories, we only get glimpses of them really connecting with each other as young adults — and that mostly consists of longing looks, brief exchanges and a first-person narrator reminding us that this relationship is important. But this is a love that first took seed when they were little boys, and here is where Honami-sensei’s sweet art works its special magic. After seeing them in flashback, it’s hard not to want those two adorable kids who loved each other so much as children to find their way back to each other as young adults. The love we do see in the present always seems sweet and kind-hearted — in part because the characters are just drawn that way. And what the book delivers when all is said and done doesn’t feel overpromised.

Sex: There’s only one real sex scene at the very end that’s just suggestive and long enough to earn this book its 18+ rating, but you don’t get to see much, so sex ain’t the reason to buy this book. It is kinda sweet, though, and feels narratively satisfying. There’s also one scene previous that veers dangerously towards gratuitous non-con territory, but thankfully it pulls away at the last second and feels at least somewhat motivated as we learn more about the characters later on.

Overall: It’s an enjoyable if sometimes frustrating read. Writer Chisako Sakuragi is skilled enough to give us believable characters and avoid cliché. Artist Yukine Honami’s art is as sweet as ever. Had the protagonist been less passive and a little smarter, this story of kissing cousins could have been a lot more fun. As it is, it’s a pleasant diversion. A must for Honami-sensei completists; one the rest of us should buy only if you can’t borrow it from a friend.

Rated by the publisher “For Mature Audiences 18+”

Read the full review below the fold:

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June 19, 2008, 8:00 am o'clock

Art and Character Design: The kind of art my good pal Bill S. loves to pieces, yet most often leaves me frosty cold. Sketchy, ragged, messy are all the unfair words that spring to mind when I gaze upon the pages. And yet, even though I much prefer clean lines and naturalism, I can’t discount that the artwork is striking. This is not your traditional Tezuka-sensei inspired art: huge swaths of black take over the page, lines around the eyes seem to vibrate with energy and nothing seems solid or reliable — all of which is completely appropriate for the scenes that Est Em-sensei is shaping. Storytelling is for the most part easy to follow and compelling. And even I have to admit some of facial close-up are downright beautiful. What looks like amateur-hour at first reveals itself to be skilled and interesting work. And definitely the right choice for this material.

Characters: These are the protagonists that a far lesser work like Say Please pretends to promise, but can deliver only mere shadows of. These are truly complex and often difficult characters, who also always feel completely human to the reader and thus never feel unsympathetic. I throw around the words “credible” and “real” a lot when discussing characters in my reviews, but these characters are the first I’ve read for this blog that actually, truly seem like they could be real people. Real people who in a few words say the perfect thing to capture the mood or to comment on the interaction, but real none the less. In these five short stories, the characters’ motivations are as clear and understandable and messy and conflicted as yours and mine are. The dialog is natural everyday speech, but laden with meaning. And the characters are smart and insightful enough to always have something interesting to say, if perhaps ultimately not wise enough to actually find the love they seek.

Plot: So, you say you want something different than your “happy, pretty high school BL”? Then this is the real deal. Reading this book after coming from traditional yaoi is like walking into a Cassavetes film from an all-day Julia Roberts marathon. These are stories for grown-ups, my friends. Most of them concern hook-ups, but the sex is besides the point — it’s about the connections imperfect humans form: the ways we’re able to see each other, be with each other, and the ways we still always, ultimately remain alone. They’re pithy — volumes of character development are contained in just a few panels and one of the great pleasures of Est Em-sensei’s writing is the delightful contrast she creates between what the characters say and what they are thinking. Both sides of that coin have depth and both are used to help us fully understand who these people are. There are no huge payoffs for these stories, no big dramatic endings — just scenes of interesting people coming together and drifting apart. At the risk of overstating things, these stories have something to say about the human condition that is both subtly and compellingly executed. And most importantly, none of it feels contrived. (Well, actually one of the stories is tremendously contrived, but the payoff is so cute, you don’t mind being played with a bit.)

Romance: Sweet, wistful, sad — these stories evoke a variety of emotional responses, most of them ending with “alas!”. They’re too short and too raw for you to get swept up in the magic of love, but the humanity of the characters always makes you care. And overall, there is the mood of the book which you feel at the conclusion of each story — that to walk this earth is to be lonely but that none of us walk this earth alone.

Sex: Yes, there is sex. Yes, it feels necessary to the stories. Some of it is interesting. None of it is really hot. The sex is about the possibility and failure of human beings to connect, it’s not supposed to turn you on.

Overall: Well, hell, finally an 18-and-over book that you might honestly need to be over 18 to fully appreciate. These are thoughtful stories for grown-ups that subtly and compellingly share moments of human connection. It’s a book that you’ll read through and then immediately read through again just to savor the nuances. If you think that yaoi has the potential to be great literature as well as a great time, you need to buy this book. Hell, even if you don’t give a damn about great literature, buy the book anyway — it’ll be the best yaoi book you’ll read this year.

Rated by the publisher “Ages 18+ Mature” — motivated, one can only imagine, by the maturity required to truly appreciate this fine, tasteful work. Smut this ain’t. (This review is based on a complimentary copy supplied by the publisher.)

Read the full review below the fold:

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June 16, 2008, 8:00 am o'clock

I’ve been wanting to link to one of my favorite publishing blogs, Buzz, Balls & Hype, for some time now — it offers great information and links for authors and small publishers. Its creator, M.J. Rose, is a self-publishing sensation who in the late 90s parlayed some brilliant Internet marketing into literary fame and a string of book deals with mainstream publishers.

In addition to penning useful articles herself about writing and marketing in the 21st century, she’s also managed to gather an excellent stable of guest bloggers, including John Shableski of Diamond Book Distributors, writing as The Graphics Novel Guy. John is doing a great job of introducing and evangelizing the potential of the graphic novel to BB&H’s mainstream lit audience — both as an art form and also as something that is gaining greater mainstream appeal in the United States.

Age Ranges: Good For Business?

Recently, he has been writing about Age Ranges for Graphic Novels. In an article, he wrote on May 19th, he made this bold claim:
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June 12, 2008, 8:00 am o'clock

A conversation with Simon Jones of Icarus Publishing.

So, last time we talked about the difference between manga and porn, what it means to be a successful publisher of erotic comics and what challenges face those who choose to publish this material. This time we’ll talk about working with Japanese publishers and bring the focus more specifically on what English-language yaoi publishers need to do to succeed in today’s market.

Let’s get right to it!

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June 10, 2008, 8:00 am o'clock

A conversation with Simon Jones of Icarus Publishing. (Part 1.)

Recently, there’s been some discussion about how some small yaoi publishers have been struggling despite offering quality yaoi titles to their readers. With DramaQueen in particular, it saddens me to hear of their difficulties — I’ve enjoyed their work, found their enthusiasm infectious and have great affection for company president Tran Nguyen, despite having only met her a couple of times — she’s just that cool.

So, the question for me is “How can a small yaoi publisher survive, even flourish, in today’s competitive bookselling marketplace?” To get some answers to that question, I reached out to Icarus Publishing’s Simon Jones. I started corresponding with Mr. Jones on Warren Ellis’ creator forum The Engine in 2005 (a forum which, alas, has since shuttered its doors). This was right when I was first conceiving the Yaoi 911™ project and since then, I’ve found our email correspondence and the articles of his (NSFW) blog very helpful and inspiring.

Mr. Jones is not a yaoi publisher — in fact, the work he publishes is very much heterosex comics for straight guys — but it shouldn’t surprise you that I would want to hear what he has to say: This whole project is about being inclusive, I feel we’re all in this together when it comes to publishing erotic manga and, most importantly, Simon Jones knows his stuff. He has a keen understanding of the comics publishing industry and his blog has a strong reputation for excellent articles about all forms of erotic manga publishing, including yaoi.

When Simon Jones has something to say, it’s worth listening to. Especially if you’re a publisher of erotic comics, such as yaoi — or even if you’re a reader who’s just looking to see yaoi publishing actually survive the next decade.

So let’s get started!
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June 7, 2008, 8:00 am o'clock

All right — it’s just two cute guys messing around in a bed in a short by an independent film director whose work I’ve enjoyed, but I thought I’d share. ;-) (Very, very Not Safe For Work, but you knew that, right?)

(Right now, my YouTube plugin does not appear to support Firefox 3 browsers with the AdBlock plugin, so if you are using that browser with that plugin and want to see the video, you can go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1ZdwSnW26E)

“Les Puceaux” (The Virgins) directed by Francois Ozon, starring Jeremy Elkaim and Sebastien Charles. Found on Sambag’s Blog.

June 4, 2008, 8:00 am o'clock

So late last year, I was chatting with my buddy and colleague, Tommy Roddy — he’s the creator of Pride High, a series of comics about gay teen superheroes in high school… (C’mon, y’know you’re curious — click it! ;-)) — and he turned me on to this guide that comes out once a year which offers readers excerpts from a bunch of gay comics. It’s created by the folks at Prism Comics and serves as a kind of a who’s who and what’s what for the gays in both mainstream and independent Western comics.

Anyway, I reached out to them, one thing led to another and now there’s an excerpt from “A Shot in the Dark” in the current issue! Just picked it up from my Local Comic Book Store twenty minutes ago and everything. How cool is that! :-)

Of course, there’s also a bunch of other gay comics in there (including an excerpt from “Roulette” by yaoi creator Tina Anderson) — so if you like the guy-on-guy action (and can handle a little girl-on-girl action) it’s definitely worth a look.

You can read more about it here:

Prism Comics: Your LGBT Guide to Comics 2008 in Comic Shops Now!

Oh, and if you’re a Prism reader who’s looking to read the complete, full-color version of “A Shot in the Dark”, just fill out the form on the Free Comic page — a download link will be emailed to you right away. :-)

June 2, 2008, 6:08 pm o'clock

Art and Character Design: The character design is a bit more Western and naturalistic than some yaoi, and while not outstanding, was compelling enough to get me to pick this book up out of a sea of other titles sent to me by the same publisher. Every now and then, the eyes look a little wonky and uneven, but overall the expressions are compelling and the action/drama is easy to follow. The publisher provides preview pages on their site, so you can check it out for yourself.

Characters: Well, they’re all flawed and, from what I understand, that’s the point. Other reviews of this book stress how it isn’t “standard happy pretty high school or college BL” — which, yes, is true — and yet, I found the characters more unpleasant than complicated. The seme Sakura’s continual hostile and aversive comments to the uke Ryoichi soon felt one-note to me and Ryoichi’s subsequent proclamations of love likewise felt unmotivated. We never get deep enough into the background and minds of these characters to really understand them and I found myself drawing upon memories of similar characters from other authors to fill in the blanks.

Plot: Two stories here. In the main one, we watch a relationship between a john (high-school teacher Sakura) and a hustler (uke Ryoichi) develop from a one-night paid-sex encounter into a live-in romance. While that’s certainly not new ground, it’s an interesting enough set-up to offer an opportunity for some good character conflict, moral reflection and insight into the human condition. But don’t expect much of that here. We get very little feel for what it’s like to be a hustler in Japan (other than that it’s “boring” when there aren’t many clients), only the most obvious take on being a closeted gay teacher and almost no clue about what these guys really see in each other other than the physical. Sakura eventually (and predictably) wants Ryoichi to quit being a hustler — which seems like it would be a good source of conflict or at least an opportunity to explore what the two characters really think about the oldest professon — but turns out Ryoichi was ready to do that anyway, so no biggie. The best source of drama comes from an unbalanced high-school girl who has a crush on Sakura and who makes trouble for him with the school administration. When that plot point started to unfold, I found that I turned those pages with eager interest. But the rest felt fairly paint-by-the-numbers, “you know they should love each other so I don’t have to explain it” storytelling. The second, one-chapter story concerns a high-school student with a troubled past and a 27 year old man who seduces him. Just realistic enough to be troubling (it does feel like the adult is taking advantage of the loneliness of an outcast kid here), the relationships felt more believable and nuanced and thus the story was more compelling.

Romance: At best, the relationship between Sakura and Ryoichi could be called co-dependent. Hard to get behind that. And, as I said, the relationship between former Marine Stephan and high-school student Ryu feels more exploitative than sweet, so it’s also hard to get behind. At best, you’ll find these romances “interesting” — don’t expect to get swept up with the love. (Oh and Sakura roughs up Ryoichi, hitting him full on the face with no regrets, and Ryoichi, although upset, stays with him. True to life, maybe, but again, do you really want to root for these guys working out?)

Sex: Yep, there’s a fair amount of it. Wee wees are obscured, but you almost always know what’s going on, if not who’s doing what to whom. There’s the use of a vibrator at one point which a big deal is made over. And there’s of course the obligatory non-consensual sex that becomes pleasurable but still makes the uke angry when it’s over. None of it felt hot to me because I didn’t care about the characters — but, of course, your mileage may vary.

Overall: I kept on reading it, straight-through. That says something. But this book shows more promise than actual skill. The art is competent and the author’s interest in complex relationships might pay dividends in future works but, despite the more ambitious material, overall the experience of this book feels like the same-old, same-old. From what I understand, this is not the strongest of Miyamoto-sensei’s works. There’s enough here for me to be willing to give another of her books a try, but I really can’t recommend you putting down hard earned cash for it.

Rated by the publisher “Ages 18+ Mature.” This review is based on a complimentary copy supplied by the publisher.

Read the full review below the fold:

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May 31, 2008, 3:13 pm o'clock