§ Brigid notes what might be the first appearance of an OEL manga on the USA Today Bestseller list:

The top manga on this week’s USA Today Top 150 Books list is Warriors, Tokyopop’s manga adaptation of the popular YA novels about cats… doing something. Warriors debuts at number 74, while the latest prose novel in the series sits licking its whiskers at number 17. Vol. 16 of Fruits Basket slips to number 98, and vol. 14 of Naruto makes a slow start at number 115.

I believe this is the first time a global manga has made the list. I checked Megatokyo and Dramacon, and neither is in the USAT database. So this could be a first!

We’re not surprised at WARRIORS high debut…it’s all about a brave warrior kitty and his journey to escape from “twolegs” and a life as a kittypet, and it’s cute as heck. Plus its based on a best selling novel series. So the moral? You can never go wrong with a kitty and a puppy!

¶ Yet Another Comics Blog joyously notes the return of YOTSUBA&! from ADV this July. To know why everyone is happy about this, you must know that YOTSUBA&! is from Kiyohiko Azuma, whose other book is Azumanga Daioh. These are true all-ages manga, with the same strand of warmth and insight as classic kids comics like Little Lulu or Peanuts. Yotsuba is a little green-haired alien girl whose enthusiasm for EVERYTHING in life leads to humorous scrapes and adventures in the great comics tradition. It’s gentle, good-natured fun that everyone can enjoy.

And look, she likes KITTIES! We told ya so!