Stay Tuned For Tomorrow's Email Where I Pester Joe Quesada With My Gripes About OMD/BND

Following up on yesterday's post about the Washington Post's piece on graphic novels, I emailed Bob Thompson, the article's author, with a link to readers' suggestions for comics with literary merit, highlighting five recommendations that I thought might appeal to him:

• Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms by Fumiyo Kouno
• The Push Man & Other Stories, Abandon The Old In Tokyo, or Good-Bye by Yoshihiro Tatsumi
• The Times of Botchan by By Natsuo Sekikawa and Jiro Taniguchi
• Superman: Secret Identity by Kurt Busiek
• Astro City by Kurt Busiek

Mr. Thompson responded and graciously allowed me to reproduce his comments here:

Thanks for the thoughtful email and the recommendations. I don't think I did manga justice -- there's lots to like out there, including Push Man (which I did read, just didn't have room for) and With the Light, an amazing manga about a family raising an autistic kid (which I didn't have time for, but which my wife read and loved). With an article like this, even a long one, there's no way you can do everything justice.

All I have to say in response to this is: Why do you hate superhero comics so much, Mr. Thompson?

(Kidding! My manga recommendations were the bulk of my email, so it's only natural that he focused on that in his response to me. The muckraker in me just can't help trying to stir up controversy.)

Thanks to Mr. Thompson for responding, and for allowing me to share his remarks with others. And for reminding me that I still have to read With the Light!

Labels: Click HERE To Join My Bob Thompson Fan Club, Letters To The Editor, Manga

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