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Cel Shaded
Wilma Jandoc
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Dream comes true for artist Taniguchi
Back in May, I did a feature on four manga by Tomoko Taniguchi. (Didn't see it when it was first printed? Read it online at
starbulletin.com/2006/05/28/features/story05.html.) A couple of weeks later, I was pleasantly surprised by an e-mail from Taniguchi herself, who said a friend had alerted her to the article.
In her message, she mentioned she was recently a guest at the Anime Central convention held in Illinois in May. But even better, she said, was that her work debuted in Marvel Comics. "One of my biggest dream(s) was to work for Marvel hero and heroines, and it finally came true this year," with the February release of "Marvel Ai," the first issue in the "I (Heart) Marvel" miniseries. (For those who don't know Japanese, "ai" is the Japanese word for "love.")
Drawn in manga style, "Marvel Ai" includes three stories written by C.B. Cebulski and illustrated by three Japanese artists. Taniguchi's story is the first one, "Meld With You," a tale about Vision and the Scarlet Witch from the Avengers that follows her usual style of awkward but cute teenage love. Cebulski mentions in his blog that Taniguchi is an old friend and was pleased to finally be able to work with her.
The comic's months-old publishing date makes it scarce on local store shelves, but copies can be easily found online, including the omnipresent eBay, so check out "Marvel Ai" when you have the chance. ...
In Sunday's 'D&Q'
First a novel, then a manga, then an anime, "Scrapped Princess" has hit just about all the major franchise points, and all three of them will soon be available for U.S. fans. I'll take a look at the anime and manga in Sunday's Today section. ...
Regular "Cel Shaded" columnist Jason S. Yadao is currently digging himself out from under the piles of hard-to-find manga he discovered in Seattle and will return next week. "Cel Shaded," a weekly look at the world of Japanese anime and manga, appears every Monday. E-mail
Wilma Jandoc at
wjandoc@starbulletin.com