Archive for August, 2006

Why Most Manga Books Are Small and Black-and-White

I was asked why I was choosing to publish the first Yaoi 911™ book in color — an unusual choice for a manga book. In responding to that, I also commented on reasons why the vast majority of manga books here in the U.S. are not published in color, despite our culture’s current embrace of full-color comics. And I gave some reasons why these books are consistently published in a small “digest-size” format (typically around 5″ x 7.5″) as well.

I thought that readers might find these topics interesting, thus I decided to put my response into its own post. So, if you’re curious about why manga is printed the way it is here or why I’m bucking this tradition by creating full color yaoi, read on!

Yaoi Review: Challengers by Hinako Takanaga

I was in a very grumpy mood when I picked up this book and I was smiling when I was done reading. It’s sweet, well written, well-drawn and funny. You should buy this book.

Yaoi Art: “A Shot in the Dark” Pencils (Age: 18+)

Here are the finished pencils for the first comic in our upcoming book of yaoi short stories Yaoi 911â„¢: Firsts called “A Shot in the Dark” and drawn by the very talented Karla Diaz C.

In its 16 comic book pages, a Junior Apprentice must save his now helpless boyfriend, a Senior Apprentice, from a tremendously powerful and crafty demon after a summoning goes terribly awry.

Why This Gay Man Is Creating Yaoi

Recently, in private correspondence, a woman asked me this question:

You want to make Yaoi? Why? I think I’d like to see you make something by a gay man for a gay man that might appeal to me on my level. 0_0.

Even though I’ve tried to address the larger issue of this in previous posts, this question brings up a specific point that I feel is worth responding to.

Should Yaoi Be Just For Women?

Yaoi is written predominantly by and for women — but is it “just for women”? Yaoi works feature guys falling in love, guys kissing and guys having sex — but is it actually “not homosexual”?

Who “owns” yaoi and why this is important is the subject of this article.

The Sweet Yaoi Action You Can Expect From Me

Some things I’ve been reading lately have gotten me thinking about “The One True Yaoi.”

I’ve talked about my motivation some in “Why Yaoi?” but I wanted to tell you the story behind why I’m making these books and what you can expect in them.

Yaoi Review: Kyo Kara Maoh! (DVD)

Such a mixed bag. I’ve given the reasons not to like this show above, and yet… and yet… I still can’t help but find it charming in its own annoying, teasing way. Getting to see an action-fantasy yaoi harem comedy is a treat, even if you have to wade through several episodes of pedestrian storytelling and Boys Love fake-outs to get to the good stuff, because just when you are ready to give up, it charms you again with its own brand of cute zaniness — like introducing an adorable and lethal Panda with acid for saliva and a heart of gold as a supporting character. I feel like my interests in yaoi and all things kawaii are being toyed with by the creators of this series and yet I’ll keep coming back for more. My advice, watch the first disc — if you like that one, it’s worth sticking around for the others, now that you have been warned. If you don’t, I bow to you gently with respect.

When Should You Kill Your Loved Ones?

Oh, my God, he did it again — and not once, but twice. I sat there staring at the dead body before my eyes and thought, I’m never going to trust this man again.

Thoughts about murder for art’s sake as well as spoilers for old seasons of Buffy, Firefly/Serenity, Alien 3, X-Men: The Last Stand, the Dutch version of The Vanishing, Dickens’s “Old Curiosity Shop.” and The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes below the fold.

How to Keep a Steady Stream of Hot Yaoi Coming Your Way

Did you know that all the books in bookstores are returnable? That’s right — every book you see there can and will be returned for 100% money-back if they don’t sell. So, while being in the bookstore biz certainly isn’t easy, especially for independent retailers, stocking the books themselves is risk-free… for the bookseller.

So who bears the risk? And what the heck does this have to do with hot yaoi?

Yaoi Art: From Thumbnail Sketches to Final Pencils

The process of creating a graphic novel goes through many stages. First you write a script. Then, working with an artist, you come up with character designs. The next step is for the artist to create “thumbnail sketches” for each page.