After a smaller Week 2, Week 3 is fairly hefty!

Dark Horse brings us Volume 19 of Gantz, another title that seems designed purely for the comic book store fan. But hey, it seems to sell well enough, so good design! And they’ve also got the debut of CLAMP’s new title, Gate 7! Like most CLAMP titles, I expect the beginning to be fantastic. The ending, I make no promises.

Kodansha brings us Volume 2 of Gon, the highly underrated seinen manga that kids can also love about a small dinosaur with a big attitude! (Hey, who said I can’t write copy?)

Vertical gives us the penultimate volume of Black Jack. Ed Chavez has hinted they will announce a new Tezuka title at NYCC. If it’s to take the place of Black Jack, it’ll have its work cut out for it; Tezuka’s medical series is top notch.

Viz has two new IKKI titles, the 4th volume of cloned famous people high school thriller Afterschool Charisma and relaxing manga-loving slice of life Kingyo Used Books. And they have the 3rd omnibus edition of Tenjo Tenge, which will have fighting and fanservice as always. But the fanservice is DEEP and MEANINGFUL, honest.

And Yen has a pile of stuff. New Black Butler! It may not last quite as long on the bestseller lists as it once did, but it still hangs out there all the time. The 2nd Bride’s Story hardcover, which I’m hoping will be a bit warmer and more engaging than Vol. 1 (though just as well-written and drawn as 1 was). New volumes for Cirque Du Freak (aka Darren Shan), Pandora Hearts, Soul Eater, and Spice & Wolf. Higurashi When They Cry begins a new arc, this one finally focusing on its ‘poster child’ Rena. And a new volume of Yotsuba&!, which will no doubt make the internet explode in cute glee once more.

My shop is only getting in a few of the Yen titles (Bride’s Story and Soul Eater aren’t on my shop’s list for some reason), but there’s still plenty for everyone. Enjoy!

I’m off to New York Comic Con and Anime Fest for the next few days. Expect daily news updates, and no reviews in the interim.

Hallelujah, hallelujah. Midtown Comcis has finally taken the first step, admitted they had a Kodansha problem, and is getting in 3-4 months worth of titles next week. I won’t list them here as I’ve been listing them here in previous weeks while whining. No more whining! Hooray!

As for non-Kodansha things, there’s a new Vampire Hunter D novel out. It’s the 17th, showing that the difficulty selling Japanese novels here in North America does not particularly extend to novels with Vampire in their names.

And Viz has their typical 2nd week, aka ‘non-Jump or Beat stuff’. We get the 15th Battle Angel Alita: Last Order, which may be the final one depending how the author’s contract reads. He moved from Shueisha to Kodansha, acrimoniously, and is continuing the series there in the magazine Evening. What this means here… we don’t know yet.

Cross Game Vol. 5 gives us Vols. 10 & 11 of the original Japanese release, and introduces a character who’s guaranteed to shake things up… though this being Adachi, that generally means their eyes widen somewhat.

We also have the 40th (!) Volume of Case Closed, The 6th Hyde & Closer, the 28th Kekkaishi, and the 7th Maoh Juvenile Remix (this volume remixed by Frankie Knuckles) from our friends at Shonen Sunday, an imprint which NEEDS MORE LOVE AND SALES. But is, admittedly, probably not getting either anytime soon. Sigh. I don’t get North American readers.

Lastly, we have the new March Story, a manga by a Korean artist that runs in Sunday Gene-X; the 17th volume of Urasawa’s 20th Century Boys (hasn’t Bolan had his car crash by now?), and Yen is putting out the 2nd Twilight graphic novel, hopefully to get more money from readers so they can license other things.

What are you buying so you can read it on your way to Comic-Con next week?

First week of the month, and you know that means it’s time to be punched in the face with the enormity of Viz’s releases. But first, more ‘Midtown doesn’t list Kodansha anymore’ stuff. This means I have to guesstimate when stuff hits comic shops based on my own store’s list. And so sometimes I miss things. Like xxxHOLIC! Did you know it shipped this week? Surprise!

Kodansha should see the rest of September’s releases hit comic shops the first week of October. This includes Vol. 15 of Fairy Tail (just in time for Hiro Mashima at NYCC!), Vol. 26 of The Wallflower, Vol. 7 of Ninja Girls, and the 2nd Negima omnibus, containing Vols. 4-6. This will cover the ‘Kyoto’ arc, which is where most hardcore Negima fans say the story starts to improve.

The Penguin Group is also listing Gandhi: A Manga Biography. The artist is indeed Japanese, but I have to say the advance reviews have not exactly had me panting to pick up a copy.

And thus we come to Viz. The big debut this week is Psyren, the new Shonen Jump series that only SEEMS like it was licensed 8 years ago. It should be a lot of fun. There’s also new Bakuman! New Bleach omnibus of Vols. 7-9! The final Eyeshield 21, which had quite a long run for a sports manga in North America! New Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan! New Slam Dunk! (Well, it’s about 20 years old, but new to us!). And for you Jump Square fans, there are the wildly popular Blue Exorcist and Rosario + Vampire II!

In less exclamatory terms, there’s plenty of shoujo as well. Kamisama Kiss 5 comes out at the same time as Natsume’s Book of Friends 9 and Nura 5 just to overdose EVERYONE with yokai. (And yet, still no Gegege no Kitaro license. Le sigh…) New Sakura Hime from the ever popular Arina Tanemura. The final volume of highly underrated Betsucomi series Seiho Boys High School. Skip Beat has hit 25 volumes! And Vampire Knight 13, with all your broody vampire needs.

Lastly, in non-manga news, Hark! A Vagrant! hits comic shops next week as well, and you should all get copies. And there’s also 2 new Archie HCs (no, no, it only SEEMS like they’re out every week now), with Archie Americana: the 50s, and Best of Harry Lucey.

Anything excite you?