Posted by: Katherine Dacey on
November 5, 2007 at 7:20 am
If, like many manga lovers, you’ve been counting the days until volume one of Takehiko Inoue’s Slam Dunk is available, you’ll be thrilled to know that the December issue of Shonen Jump features a generous, full-color preview of the series’s very first chapter. The issue also includes the conclusion to the long-running Yu-Gi-Oh and a short story by Naruto creator Masashi Kishimoto. Click here for the full scoop. You’ll find the December issue of Shonen Jump in bookstores, newsstands, and comic retailers on November 6th.
UPDATE (3/2/08): Over at About.Manga, manga blogger Deb Aoki reports that Slam Dunk will be replacing Hikaru no Go in the May issue of Shonen Jump. I know some readers are disappointed by the change in line-up, but I think it makes a lot of sense from a business standpoint. Slam Dunk may be the best-selling manga of all time, but Viz faces several hurdles in getting American readers to embrace this series, not the least of which is an American aversion to sports manga. (Or at least sports manga that don’t star super handsome tennis players.)
If Slam Dunk hasn’t been on your radar screen, I encourage you to give it a try, especially if you’ve enjoyed series like Eyeshield 21, Whistle!, One Pound Gospel or the criminally under-appreciated Firefighter Daigo of Company D (a sports manga in disguise). Takehiko Inoue is surprisingly adept at comedy; his sprawling cast of aspiring b-ballers may remind you of Rumiko Takahashi or Makoto Kobayashi’s sweetly bumbling characters–and that’s a good thing. Want a sneak peek at the artwork? Then visit Sporadic Sequential, where John Jakala has been posting scans from the original Gutsoon! Comics edition of Slam Dunk.
UPDATE II (3/29/08): Viz has posted the first chapter of Slam Dunk on its website. Click here to read. (Link courtesy of Sporadic Sequential.)
UPDATE III (8/15/08): Our reviewer Michelle Smith offers an early review of volume one. Click here to read her thoughts on this shonen classic!