mebae

GELATIN 2011 Spring marks the eighth volume of this quarterly color comics collection and features many of the same artists as the last couple of issues. Pin-ups and a poster of the cover illustration by Hidari (左) are included, along with a subtle increase in price for the second time in a year; now ￥1714 an issue pre-tax instead of ￥1600. It's now almost priced like an art book per issue.

Though I've toned down my expectations for Quarterly Pixiv issues, Quarterly Pixiv Vol. 03 still managed to be a bit of a let down in terms of illustration content. But the lovely cover illustration by Mebae was enough to convince me to buy it in the first place ^^;

As GELATIN enters its third year, this original color comics magazine has prepared a lively collection for its Winter 2011 issue, complete with a bonus calendar and a subtle increase in price. The artists featured are increasingly more familar after the past year, combining older favorites like Usatsuka Eiji (Zero no Tsukaima), toi8, and mebae with the likes of Shihou, Sime, and TNSK.

Wooser (うーさー) is the brainchild of Supercell designer Usa Yoshiki (宇佐義大) and in its short existence has garnered much adoration from fans for being small, furry and yellow. But there is a darker force in the Wooser world, and that would be the subject of today's post, Darth Wooser. DW presented by CHANxCO from insidEBox brings together 26 artists to illustrate Darth Wooser in all her glory.

This season's GELATIN magazine sparkles! I'm not even joking, for some reason they thought a cross-hatch holographic cover was a good idea. Then again, it did make me feel like a kid again. With many of the usual GELATIN artists along with a few new ones, GELATIN 2010 Autumn あき seems a little more polished than recent issues.

The Gelatin Summer 2010 issue was a bit lackluster in my opinion, and I suspect my general impression started with the cover art by CHAN X CO. It's cute, but it's not a style that would get me to buy anything ^^;

Quarterly GELATIN magazine has now been running for a full year, so I guess they decided it's a good time to shake things up. Gone is the almost impossible to unfold poster of the cover art work, and in its place are three pin-up illustrations by three different artists. I think I'll be liking this magazine more with this new addition, I'd guess most people after full color comics would appreciate some extra art work as well.

The most recent issue of the quarterly magazine GELATIN was just recently released on Christmas Eve of last year. The cover art is newly drawn by Kishida Mel, and inside is a folded poster of that cover art. One of the best things about this full-color comic collection is that each issue welcomes new artists into the fold, keeping the content fresh and relevant to the digital and doujinshi art scene.

Dragon Magazine isn't something I regularly purchase, and it's not about to become one. So I figured it's best to do a little write-up on it while it's still relevant to my interests, as it's unlikely I'll be buying another one in the future. If you're at all curious about what's in an issue of Dragon Magazine, here's your chance to see.

Like Headphone Girls: A Pictorial Book is meant to get you into buying expensive, stylish headphones, the Moeru Japanese Sword Girls book is designed to get you interested in (and hopefully buying) Japanese swords, through the use of anime girls holding these very sturdy weapons. This book is as much about the illustrations as it is about getting you to appreciate sword design, and if you can read Japanese you might just garner a lot more out of it that you bargained for.