Welcome to Manga Zubon, where I take a look at the manga that have come out each month and pick what I think are the best of the lot. These are the manga that I feel deserve recognition and readership more than the rest, so I’m singling them out. My focus in this column is mostly on first volumes to get you in on the ground floor of new series, but I will include standouts in ongoing series as well. Keep in mind that though I do my best, I can’t read everything that comes out each month, so if you have something you think I missed or just have something to say about the ones I’ve chosen, please chime in in the comments section.

Battle Royale Ultimate Edition HC V.1
Writer: Koushun Takami
Artist: Masayuki Taguchi
Publisher: Tokyopop

One of my favorite manga ever gets a beautiful hardcover collection and I couldn’t be happier. This volume (the first of five) collects the first three volumes of the series on good paper stock, oversized to 6″ x 9″, made hardcover with a brand new cover, with weapons details by OHOTMU legend Eliot R. Brown and character sketches, all for just 25 bucks. That’s five bucks less than it costs to get the three standard volumes on their own. If you’ve never picked this series up, now’s the time. The next four volumes are scheduled to come out throughout 2008.

Black God V.1
Writer: Dall-Young Lim
Artist: Sung-Woo Park
Publisher: Yen Press

A cool story that’s part fighting manga and part supernatural mystery, this is the story of the slightly clueless girl Kuro, otaku game artist Keita, and Keita’s longtime friend Akane. Kuro is a mototsumitama, a supernatural being with powerful fighting abilities, and when Keita gets caught up in one of her fights and his arm is torn off, she switches arms with him to save him. Their connection gives her the potential to be even stronger when Keita’s around, and she’s gonna need it when the local mototsumitama come looking for trouble. Plenty of cool action and a cute and funny ass-whupper like Kuro make for a fun read.

Bride of the Water God V.1
Creator: Mi-Kyung Yun
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics

One of the most beautiful-looking books I’ve seen in quite some time, this manhwa is about the human girl Soah, who is given to the water god Habaek to bring rain for her village. Soah must adjust to her new life in the magical city of the gods, surrounded by people she doesn’t know and married to a mercurial god that seems to want nothing to do with her. Lovely, delicate artwork and a romantic story make this book one to watch.

Gyo V.1
Creator: Junji Ito
Publisher: Viz

This one’s not exactly new, as there was a larger Viz edition that read from left to right released about six years ago, but it has been out of print for several years and I’m delighted to see it back. Junji Ito is a Japanese horror master, and two-volume series shows why. It’s subtitled “The Death Stench Creeps”, but I always think of it as ‘zombie fish on stilts’, because, well, that’s basically what it is. Fish by the thousands mounted on mechanical legs pour out of the oceans into Japan’s cities, reeking of decay and attacking anyone they see. It gets even worse when you consider that some of them are sharks and octopi. Where did the legs come from? What the hell is going on? Creepy, gross, and definitely disturbing, this is one you shouldn’t miss.

Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service V.4
Writer: Eiji Otsuka
Artist: Housui Yamazaki
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics

It’s been a little bit since we’ve seen a volume of this book, and I’ve been anxiously waiting the whole time. The Kurosagi crew, Buddhist college students with some unlikely talents (like dowsing for remains, talking to corpses, and channeling an alien, to name a few), are out to find unhappy cadavers and put them to rights- and hopefully make a buck along the way. Their travels have taken them as far as Iraq, and this time it may take them further, when they find what looks to be an angry stiff from outer space! Not to mention a crossover with Reiji Akiba from Mail, and a new American member of the team. Creepy, fun, and one of my favorite manga right now.

Miki Falls V.3: Autumn
Creator: Mark Crilley
Publisher: Harper Collins

Well, Hiro’s a Deliverer, charged with ensuring that the finite amount of love in the world doesn’t run out. He and Miki have fallen in love and she’s discovered his secret- both forbidden by Deliverer law. There’s going to be big trouble if the Deliverer Elders ever find out. And with jealous Deliverer Reika around, who knows Hiro and Miki’s secret, it looks like it’s just a matter of time. A beautiful love story with gorgeous artwork, this is a book that will please romantics of any age. Crilley’s work here is just phenomenal on all levels.

MW HC
Creator: Osamu Tezuka
Publisher: Vertical, Inc.

Wow. This is one intense and gripping read. The story of two men, linked and forever changed by a horrible poison gas incident on an isolated island fifteen years before, MW explores the themes of government corruption, love, and the idea that watching evil happen is as bad as doing it yourself. As a result of the incident, one man becomes a priest, and the other a madman without morality, and they feed off of each other in a vicious circle that one is too weak to break and the other has no reason to. This was also a strong political statement against the use of poison gas in Vietnam and against US military bases in Japan when it was originally published in 1976, and it remains a powerful message today. The serious statements Tezuka makes about homosexuality were groundbreaking in manga at the time as well, coming at the same time as early development of BL.

Spiral V.1
Writer: Kyo Shirodaira
Artist: Eita Mizuno
Publisher: Yen Press

I love a good mystery, and that’s exactly what we’ve got here. Two years ago, world-class detective Kiyotaka Narumi disappeared. His last words to his younger brother were, mysteriously, “Blade Children.” Now that younger brother, Ayumu, has begun trying to solve a series of mysteries that may lead him to these “Blade Children”, with help from Kiyotaka’s wife and fellow detective Madoka and the school gossip Hiyono. The first case he has to solve- a murder where he is the prime suspect! Feeling a lot like Kindaichi Case Files with a conspiracy bonus, Spiral is a great new addition to the manga mystery genre.

Uzumaki V.1
Creator: Junji Ito
Publisher: Viz

Like Gyo, this three-volume series has been unavailable for a few years, and given the popularity of horror manga right now, I’m honestly surprised it took this long to come back. Junji Ito was nominated for an Eisner for this freaky exploration of spirals and their effect on people, and some of the images in Uzumaki have stayed fresh with me since the first time I read it years ago. I think it may actually have scarred me. I know that it’s one of my all-time favorite horror manga, with a strong Lovecraftian sensibility and a creepiness that never quits.

Yotsuba&! V.5
Creator: Kiyohiko Azuma
Publisher: ADV

One of the most delightful manga to come along in quite some time, this is the chronicle of the daily adventures of Yotsuba, the little girl with the big imagination. In direct contrast to much of hide-bound Japanese society, she lives without preconceptions and wrings every bit of life from each minute. This book never fails to make me smile and laugh deep, rumbling laughs, as Yotsuba’s wild ways bring joy to the lives of everyone around her. This volume features an encounter with a cardboard robot, and Yotsuba’s nemesis- her father’s assistant Yanda!