Fanfare/Ponent Mon’s 2007 Catalog

If you’re headed to San Diego Comic-Con, you owe it to yourself to stop by the Fanfare/Ponent Mon table (booth #719; look for the Davis Marketing banner) and chat with Stephen Robson, the one-man band behind such beautiful books as The Walking Man, Times of Botchan, Blue and Japan as Viewed by 17 Creators.

Talking to him at this year’s New York Comic-Con was one of the highlights of my weekend, as Robson’s enthusiasm for manga is contagious—I dare you to walk away from the table empty-handed! I certainly didn’t, and for that I’m glad: Robson has turned me into a die-hard Jiro Taniguchi fan. (All part of a clever plan to make me into a loyal Fanfare customer, as Fanfare will be releasing Taniguchi’s The Ice Wanderer and The Quest for the Missing Girl later this year.) And if the prospect of meeting this charming, energetic Englishman isn’t enticing enough, Fanfare will be selling copies of Frederick Boilet’s nouvelle-est title Tokyo Is My Garden, a “lesson in how not to sell cognac to the Japanese.” Be on your best behavior, and Robson may even let you peak at two of his best winter releases: Korea as Viewed by 12 Creators and volume two of The Building Opposite.

In case you didn’t snag their catalog at NYCC, here is the revised version: