Check out kethylia’s thoughts on MW over at the Comics Should be Good blog: http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2007/11/05/manga-mondays-with-kethylia-115/

I’m shocked (s)he hated it so much. I can’t wait to get this book and see who was right!

To each their own, but I think she missed the point. Then again, she didn’t like Ode to Kirihito either, so our tastes are obviously very different.

I’m shocked (s)he hated it so much. I can’t wait to get this book and see who was right!

Dan, thanks to you I’ve pre-ordered (and will be shortly receiving) 6 of the 10 of these books (Yotsuba&!, MW, GYO, Uzumaki, Kurosagi and Battle Royale (I own some, but not all, of the original volumes including all 3 of the ones collected here). Keep up the great work!

Thanks. Glad to hear you are getting so much out of the column- let me know what you think of the books!

Dan, did you get the first volume of Presents? I don’t normally check out the CMX stuff, but the cover of this actually looked kind of creepy and I was wondering if it was any good.

I didn’t, but that art looked excellently freaky. If anyone has read it, let me know how it was.

Glad to see someone else recommending GYO and UZUMAKI - they are both well worth reading. Creepy as hell.

I need to start reading some Tezuka. From what I hear Vertical is doing a great job publishing his work over here in the US.

Vertical is not just publishing beautiful versions of Tezuka’s work, they are deliberately choosing things that are criminally unknown in the West because they were never translated. Books like Ode to Kirihito, Buddha, and MW are powerful, brilliant work. I also read that Vertical will begin publishing all of Blackjack next year in twelve volumes, and I can’t wait for that.

I need to start reading some Tezuka. From what I hear Vertical is doing a great job publishing his work over here in the US.

is the new battle royale book worth picking up even if you own it all already?

I thought so, since I did. Having the art in a larger size, in a nice hardcover, was what did it for me, although the extra sketches and weapons drawings are cool too. There are also a few author notes, a creator interview, and a psychiatrist essay that are pretty cool. But I mainly picked it up for the larger art and the nice durable book.