Posted in: Comics | Tagged: manga, mangasplaining, msx, substack

Mangasplaining To Now Publish Manga On MSX Substack

Published Mon, 31 Jan 2022 10:50:11 -0600

Substack is announcing the expansion of its comics program today with six new publications from high-profile comic writers launching on the free/subscription newsletter platform. This follows a significant launch last year. The publications include an independent publication from Grant Morrison, a joint project from Brian K. Vaughan and Niko Henrichon, a solo project by Jen Bartel, a collaboration between Tom King and Elsa Charretier, a new publication from Khary Randolph and Joanne Starer, and Mangasplaining will be launching a Substack. Indeed, that last one seems to be the odd one out as it is not specific-creator focused nor are they actually creating the comics in question. Mangasplaining is a well known manga-focused podcast which is now moving from talking about manga to publishing it. They state;

We will publish the episode show-notes you already love, original articles about manga and manga history, plus two brand-new manga projects, Okinawa by Susumu Higa, and These Days (Higoro One-shot) by Taiyo Matsumoto, with more to come!

So they will have a writing spinoff of Mangasplaining, MSX, or Mangasplaining Extra which they state;

explores the real variety and breadth of Japan's comics landscape today. From manga publishing to how manga works, from history to food, from deep cultural traditions to contemporary anxieties — we'll be bringing you works that illuminate the lesser known (and rarely translated) corners of Japanese comics and culture… This project will be led by Deb Aoki, Andrew Woodrow-Butcher and Christopher Woodrow-Butcher, with help from our friend/translator/all-around smart and helpful guy in Japan, Aki Yanagi.

And they are not just talking the talk but walking the walk by publishing some of that lesser known work in English themselves, for the first time.

Y'know, we're literally in a golden age of English-language manga publishing right now, with more types of work, more genres, and more creators represented than ever before. Even with all this manga out there now, it's still only a fraction of what's available in Japan! With our new Mangasplaining publishing program, we'll have an opportunity to explore a new, different paradigm for bringing manga from Japan to you. We'll be showcasing unique titles that explain Japanese history and culture, and illuminate both the medium and industry of manga itself! We want to publish manga that, well, Manga-splains. … Serializing books on Substack makes it possible for us to pay all of the creators, publishers, translators, and letterers who do this work. This is important.

And the first manga they will publish are as follows;

Okinawa by Susumu Higa:

A few years ago, Christopher, Andrew, and translator Jocelyne Allen licensed two manga by legendary alternative manga creator Susumu Higa, Sword of Sand and Mabui, which were intended to be published in one collection called Okinawa, by Fantagraphics. Unfortunately, both time and money didn't allow the publication of that manga at that time. But thanks to the folks at Substack, we've got the funding necessary to complete the production of this remarkable collection of short stories. We'll be serializing Okinawa on Mangasplaining Extra at the rate of 2-3 chapters per month, before it's eventually released as a print edition from Fantagraphics and MSX at the end of 2022/beginning of 2023. Okinawa brings together two collections of intertwined stories by the islands' pre-eminent mangaka, Susumu Higa, which reflect on Okinawa's complicated and tragic history before, during and after World War II. It draws upon traditional Okinawan spirituality, the modern-day realities of the continuing US military occupation, and the senselessness of war. Translated by Jocelyne Allen, lettered by Patrick Crotty, edited by Andrew Woodrow-Butcher. Licensed directly from the author, with the assistance of Jocelyne Allen, Mitsuhiro Asakawa, and Aki Yanagi. Print edition is scheduled for release in late 2022/early 2023, and available in the MSX archive for one year from publication date.

These Days (Higoro One-Shot) by Taiyo Matsumoto:

Many years ago, Taiyo Matsumoto (creator of Mangasplaining fave Tekkon Kinkreet) and his editor Hideki Egami prepared a unique prototype manga that would be published outside of the traditional manga publishing industry. This story is called These Days (Higoro), and it's a beautiful short work about manga publishing, about being in between places, in between careers, and being lost in life. This manga and these pages were never published. Instead, Matsumoto-sensei reworked these pages into a new story, Tokyo Higoro, which is currently being serialized in Big Comic Original Zōkan, by Shogakukan in Japan (there is no announced English license of this material). The one-shot manga we're publishing is a prototype chapter – think of it like a song demo before the musician goes into the studio. It's the kind of work that is rarely seen in English. Thankfully, Matsumoto-sensei has agreed to let this be published exclusively on MSX, both in the beautiful final ink washes seen on his recent works like Cats of the Louvre and Sunny (both available now from VIZ Media), but also the original rough 'name' or penciled pages will be shown for the first time ever! Translated by Michael Arias, lettered and edited by Christopher Butcher. Licensed directly from the author with the assistance of Hideki Egami and Aki Yanagi. This is a digital-only exclusive, available in the MSX archive for one year from publication date.

With the following subscription options;

FREE SUBSCRIPTION Get our podcast show notes, free articles, and preview chapters of manga. We appreciate any level of support!
PAID MONTHLY SUBSCRIPTION – US $5/month Read every post! Including a new chapter of manga each week, starting with Okinawa, These Days (Higoro One-shot), with more titles announced soon!
Access to the MSX digital archive of manga chapters, available for up to one year after they're released.
Discount codes to buy physical copies of any MSX Year One manga releases when they are published, from our publishing partners' webstores.
PAID ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION – US $50/year All of the above, at a discount! (Save $10/year compared to monthly subscription)

And for those who are concerned over Substack's newsletters of a transphobic/gender critical nature that has seen the platform repeatedly criticised, they are following Mangasplaining co-host Chip Zdarsky's solution;

Last but not least, we're aware that not everyone loves Substack as a platform. This work couldn't happen without them, thanks to a generous publication grant. Being here lets us translate and publish good work, and pay artists and professionals to do that work. It also lets us make donations to causes and charities that mean a lot to us. One such charity is Rainbow Railroad, a non-profit that helps LGBTQI+ people around the world escape state-sponsored violence. It's an important organization that Andrew and Christopher have donated to previously, and will be donating half of our MSX subscriber proceeds from Year One. For the other half, Deb has chosen the Japanese-American National Museum in Los Angeles, which is dedicated to sharing the experience of Americans of Japanese ancestry as an integral part of US history.

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