Comments on: Year's Best Manga mystery

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By: chasdom

chasdom — Fri, 22 Dec 2006 00:22:29 +0000

I have pre-ordered (and received) every Fanfare/Ponent Mon book through Diamond without problem (via my LCS). But I can see that if there’s no ability to re-order how these books could disappear. It’s the 1 publisher I order every book from (not hard – maximum 4 releases per year?).

Fanfare/Ponent Mon is a Spain-based company, and their books are available through amazon.co.uk, but not (directly) from amazon.com, which suggests to me that the primary market for their English-language books is the UK. This would seem to be confirmed by the Union Jack icon on their webpage. In that case, I’m really greatful that they list their books through Diamond at all.

By: John

John — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 23:10:15 +0000

There is a easy explanation as to why not many people see the books. Fanfare/Ponent Mon books are hard to find at a distributor level. They are always offered initially through Diamond, but almost never available for reorder. Even more indy friendly (Cold Cut, Last Gasp) and bookstore (Baker & Taylor) distributors don’t have them available very often. Since Fanfare is primarily a European publisher, these books are essentially imports. So customers don’t see the books because even the best stores with the widest selection have a hard time getting them for the shelf.

My store (Comic Swap, State College, PA) carries and does well with many Fanfare books. Both Yukiko’s Spinach and Mariko Parade are 2 of my favorites and sold to the right customer, they go over great. I have one copy of Building Opposite left on my shelf right now!

By: David Welsh

David Welsh — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 19:35:41 +0000

Ku, with me, it’s not really a case of “What are they thinking picking that book?” It’s “Where is the copy that I ordered well over a year ago?” Did it ever actually ship through Diamond?

By: Mike Lynch

Mike Lynch — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 17:52:42 +0000

Robin E. is right. It exists in Brooklyn! I went to Rocketship this morning and Alex showed me the shelf where they had 3 copies of THE BUILDING OPPOSITE. Cool. I bought one, so now there are 2 ….

By: Ku

Ku — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 17:24:06 +0000

does it matter? it’s typical for a critic to pick an obscure and inaccesible book/movie/music/insert your own pop-culture product just to prove they’re smarter than the general public. who cares?

By: Steven Goldman

Steven Goldman — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 16:45:06 +0000

Jim Hanley’s Universe has them here and there… but Ponent Mon’s output is definitely worth checking out. They’re pushing a Euro/manga fusion movement called “nouvelle manga”, and the results are really intriguing. I just wish they had better distribution.

By: MangaBlog » Blog Archive » Retrospectives in hindsight

MangaBlog » Blog Archive » Retrospectives in hindsight — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 14:09:18 +0000

[...] Heidi weighs in at The Beat. Regarding the reclusive #1 choice, The Building Opposite, Heidi notes, Come to think of it, we’ve never seen a copy of a Ponent Mon book, either. Apparently all the office copies get snatched up. Guess they are THAT good. [...]

By: Robin Enrico

Robin Enrico — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 13:45:37 +0000

Heidi, I am positive I have seen copies of The Building Opposite in Rocketship’s little Manga section. I know they’ve had a couple of the other Fanfare/Ponent/Mon books there as well. So you should probably check that out.