If you head over to Xtra.ca, the website of Canada’s twice-monthly free gay newspaper, you can see my second article for the paper, a primer on Yaoi manga from a gay perspective. It’s actually based on a blog post I made here from 2 and a half years ago, which in and of itself was adapted from an article I wrote for a U.S. based gay newspaper, but which never appeared in print because they had weird rights issues. Anyway.
What struck me when rewriting it (and I think it only shares maybe 1 or 2 paragraphs with the original) was how much the yaoi segment of the manga market has changed in just a few years. Where once upon a time there was only Be Beautiful, DMP, and those guys that did Skyscrapers of Oz, there are now so many different publishers and imprints and sub-imprints producing more than 20 volumes a month! What was once an emerging category is now full-blown, and it was a real treat writing an introduction to the genre/phenomena for a gay male audience.
Even better? The story ended up as the cover-feature of the print version of the magazine! My name, finally in lights. My friend Eric Kim, illustrator of Love as a Foreign Language for Oni Press (amongst other comics work) was comissioned to do the cover illustration, and you can see it up on the right there. He did a great job (thanks Eric!) and the paper really pops in the newspaper boxes. You can click on the image to see a larger version.
So, yeah. I’m a paid journalist now, which means I’m Completely Entitled! I get _paid_ for these opinions of mine, which makes me fabulous and insufferable! Bwahahaha!
Love,
– Christopher
I really like the first 2 sentences of your article! Good job.
haha last comment was funny heh but yeah congrats
Great! Like it!