Comics Alternative

Beginning in April, The Comics Alternative will be presenting a new monthly show devoted exclusively to manga. Derek will be joined by Shea Hennum, a manga aficionado and longtime friend of the podcast, to discuss both new and older titles. In this inaugural episode, Shea and Derek begin by laying out their agenda and describing the format of the show. Around the last half of every month, they will discuss two manga titles, one of which will in some way be new. (The guys define "new" as a first-time publication, a new translation, an updated edition of an older volume, or a new collection of previously published individual volumes.) This month, Derek and Shea discuss Junji Ito's Gyo -- which is seeing brand new 2-in-1 deluxe edition from VIZ Media  -- and Satoshi Kon's Opus, which came out a few months ago from Dark Horse. Before they get to the titles, though, the guys first define what they mean by "manga," contextualizing it as both a medium and a style. They also address common and essentializing misconce