Deb Aoki Interviews Tite Kubo and Hiro Mashima

I enjoy Manga but haven't had the opportunity to read as much as I'd like. I love the artwork - these artists can really draw, and the influence of traditional Japanese art and aesthetics really appeals to me. (So much so that I bought four-foot-tall Bleach and Final Fantasy wall hangings for my office at a recent games expo). There's a combination of strength and elegance in the best Manga drawings. Of course, with the huge volume many studios produce, there's the same variation in quality that you find in any medium, but usually the demands of speed and quantity are met with economy of style - not sloppiness.

So as you'd imagine, I'm turning fifty shades of envious green reading about Manga guide Deb Aoki's Comicon visit and her interview with Tite Kubo, creator of Bleach. Deb also got to interview Hiro Mashima, creator of Fairy Trail. The masters of Manga talk about aspects of their work including drawing, story-telling and character development, and publishing. A must-read for any artist hoping to get into Manga or other styles of comic art.