For the time being I unfortunately don't really have the time or energy to write a proper review of the Mammoth Book of Best New Manga, but I'd like to write down my thoughts in case anyone would like to comment, and just for my own reference (proper review later! ^^)

Please note: these are just personal opinions, and while I always try to keep pretty impartial, seeing as it's not a proper review please don't be offended by my comments about the book (altho Ireally don't think they're going to be overly offensive lol! ^_^ )

Also!! I can't guarantee there wont be SPOILERS here - so please buy/read/enjoy the book before reading this if you're interested!

I'll go story by story...and keep updating this page until I've covered all the mangas in the book (hopefully before the next book comes out this October o.O; )

Advent by Michiru Morikawa

- A5 page comic that won the sequential art category at IMAF 2006
- Panel useage/pacing, detail and lineweights are all very professional and work well for me, especially pages 14-15 where the inner child comes out across the ladder with all the toys etc.
- However, I would not really call this a manga - it looks and feels to me like an illustration or graphic design final project, and has a very western book/magazine illustrator look to it.
- The inner child is a little disturbing, and it seems to have a bit of a sad ending - does he regain his inner child or is it lost forever?

Carlos and Sakura (omake pages) by Joanna Zhou

- 3 or 4 special extra 1-page comics scattered throughout the book
- These were professionally presented and a cute little diversion in between some of the heavier comics
- A japanese/manga influence can be seen the little chibi creatures
- Altho not totally hilarious, I enjoyed them ^_^

Jinn Narration by Asia Alfasi

- 50 page comic written by an arab muslim who is British
- I liked the introduction to a few arab/muslim customs that this gave - putting them in the context of a normal girl, close to my age, brought them home as things that are perfectly everyday - I'd love there to be more comics by multi-national authors, or even international comics translated into English, as this is a great way of learning about others' lives ^_^
- The drawing style definitely had a manga influence, although the environments/people shown brought across the arabian atmosphere well
- A couple of panels in the comic had a bit of a rushed drawing/toning style, which I think would have worked better if they were a bit tighter drawn...
- I had a lot of trouble following the storyline, as characters and events were not introduced and described very much, rather it seems to be assumed that the reader knew who some of the characters were and what was going on
- With a little bit of tightening up on drawing style and storytelling, to make sure the reader is kept aware of what is going on, I would really enjoy more works by this artist I think

Station by Kate Brown

- 20 page short romantic comic
- This little story was touching at the end, but I found it difficult to follow at the beginning - especially when the girl's friend is killed, which then doesn't seem to have much other impact on the storyline - and Ithought it would have, it being a major event, and happening right at the beginning...
- The art style seemed to show a bit of a manga influence - and came across to me like a women's comic, rather than one for teenagers
- There were a lot of different poses attempted on the characters and different viewpoints - panels and pacing came across well - lots of different experimental page layouts and camera angles
- Personally though I really didn't get on with the art style - I found it too cluttered and the characters seemed clunkily drawn...but I think I can put that down to personal taste

Ongoing Mission by Cosmo White

- 10 page short sci-fi comic
- Art was easy to follow, with a calm serenity which reflected the slow spin through space of the main character very well
- The art atyle seemed to be more animation-influenced, with its grey tones/cell-shading etc.
- I like the page where the character looks at his horoscopes - how the horoscope page is handled, and how the photo of his girlfriend breaks the panel boundary
- However, I didn't actually understand the point/story behind the comic at all o_O;

The Healing by Fehed and Shari

- 48 page comic by writer/artist team, Fehed and Shari
- Has a fantasy theme, detailed artwork, and altho its not a silent comic it doesn't overdo the narrative
- I can see a definate manga influence, but twinned with a western horror/cute influence...like the guy behind Invader Zim (who did Jonny the Homicidal Manic and I Luv Halloween Ithink...), or those cute horror dolls you find in Forbidden Planet, or cute but scary clothes...
... my personal preference is for just the cute without it having to be horror too (there just seems to be a lot of cute but dark stuff around at the moment) ... but I can see the appeal, and I can see that others would find just cute to be to sickly sweet! ^_~
- The artwork has a lot of lovely detail...but I think the tone/shading lets it down just slightly - A little more contrast might have made it easier to immediately see what's going on, rather than poring over it for a while...
- I liked the ending - nice twist...I want to see his adventures next! XD

Viva Batata & Magical Science Robot Zappy by David Goodman

- David Goodman's comics were probably my favouritess from the entire book! I loved the cute and randomness.

Viva Batata

- 2 page omake comic with kitties
- Loved the 1st page (they're so cute, i could just look at them all day!)
- Didn't understand the 2nd page, as having cats I know they'd never want a potato...I don't even think ours'd want to play with one, let alone eat it o_O;
- Was there a manga influence? Possibly in the chibis...but their expressions, and the dog, came across as being more western-cartoon influenced.

Magical Science Robot Zappy

- Another omake 2-pager
- The art style reminded me of kids' history book illustration (like the old Usborne illustrated history books...) which I guess is good for the subject matter, but I don't really see much of a manga influence...except maybe that there's a robot in it o_O;
- However the ending totally made up for the art style....probably the funnniest thing in the book for me! Go science robot! XD

Instant Noodles by Sofia Falkenhem

- 10 page short comic with a romantic theme
- A refreshingly different brush style of drawing, altho a little hard to follow at times...sometimes I felt like it would look better on A4...or I wanted to step back from it to allow the artwork a bit more space to breathe
- Text was a little difficult to read...but again refreshingly not in Letter-o-Matic ^_~
- The art style fit the punky characters and story well
- Altho the backgrounds were not as strong as the character drawings...I don't know how you'd do successful backgrounds using only black and white brushwork, without them being too strong and conflicting with the character art....
- The story wasn't ground-breaking for a teen-based short, but it is difficult to come up with ground breaking 10 page stories lol!

Outlaw Wu by Jay Eales and Toby Ford

- Based on a classic chinese hero, this 32 page comic tells one episode of his life
- I think this was done with 3D software (at least in part)? Iguess its good to see different media being used, but Idon't really see the need for it...
- I like the epic/classic storytelling/atmosphere of this comic, however I find the art style does not suit it very well
- I found the page layouts, events, pacing etc. to drag on a bit...without much happening in events or character growth/dialogue
- Apart from the eastern influenced story I didn't see a manga influence in the art style (apart perhaps from the little mascot dog character...)
- For me, what made this one of the weaker entries in the anthology was the art style...action was clunky, without much flow, poses/anatomy seemed a little off, and I couldn't identify with the overly-geometrical character designs...they just didn't bring across the depth of the characters to me very well (personal taste again? ^_~ )
- Altho that apart I thought there were a few neat little tricks used...like depth of field in some shots (by blurring the foreground), which I wouldn't mind seeing more of in future comics, just used a bit more subtley methinks

Bad Luck by Selina Dean

- I had already read and even reviewed this one as part of my review of Stardust
- However I read it through again and I have to say, it being surrounded by so many more western-comic-influenced manga really made it shine out. I found it to be an oasis of well-thought-out-linework, influences in art and storytelling that I recognise from manga, and well-rounded, succinct storytelling which fit well with the art style.
- The entry might possibly fall down for being a bit simplistic in drawing style - it could stand more detail in drawing overall (both background and characters), I don't think that would ruin but enhance the chibi style, if done well
- Panels are darkly drawn and mainly rectangular - perhaps a little more mucking about with panels/pacing would work well with future comics from this artist...
- Its obvious that this author loves Japanese manga, which comes across well ^_^

There are still some thoughts left to come for this anthology! Watch this space XD