MangaCast has discovered two new manga from Viz Media, listed in the Simon & Schuster listings for 2008:

• Tekkon Kinkriito All in One by Matsumoto Taiyou
• High School Debut by Kawara Kazune

According to this AoD post, the latest issue of Faust, a literary magazine published by Kodansha, came with an announcement that "volume seven will be out this summer...And the American edition will start in Spring 08."

Source: AoD

The new comic release list for April 4th 2007 from ComicList, compiled by MangaCast.

According to Manga Jouhou, Japanese internet service provider livedoor and publisher Takeshobo has announced a new award event called "4-Koma Manga Nouvelle Y-1 Grande Prix." The award event is a combination of Takeshobo's "Takeshobo Manga Nouvelle Prize" and livedoor's "Daily 4-koma Grand Prix." According to the report: "Judges for the new award include manga artists and editors from both Takeshobo and Livedoor, including Risu Akitsuki, Mikio Igarashi, Masashi Ueda, Yoshito Usui, Tsuyoshi Oohashi, Shou Tanaka, Miruku Dajima, Katsuhiko Hotta and Takayuki Mizushina."

The May issue of Monthly Shonen Jump came with a letter from its Editorial Department that talks about the suspension of Monthly Jump, and what will happen to its current serializations.

According to the letter, Norihiro Yagi's Claymore will be temporarily serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump; however, new chapters will still come out only once a month. A new manga magazine will be launched later this fall. The new magazine will continue the serialization of a majority of the Monthly Jump series, including Claymore. Below is a translation of the letter:

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Simon Jones of Icarus Publishing talks about the current state of the comics market and its effect on small publishers and artists in the article "Ramblings from a shameful publisher". The article touches on the recent CPM/Libre incident, doujinshi artists, as well as some inside information on Icarus Publishing itself.

Go! Comi is currently looking for a new background artist, pin-up artists, digital colorists, and new logo artists. Also according to the announcement: "if you're an artist living in Japan or will be moving there soon, send me a note. We may be looking for an artist who did not grow up in Japan but who lives there for reasons I -- as usual -- can't discuss. ;-)"

Manga top 10 according to Tohan.

1. Fullmetal Alchemist, Volume 16
2. Vagabond, Volume 25
3. Nana, Volume 17
4. Koukou Debut, Volume 8
5. Fushigi Yuugi: Genbu Kaiden, Volume 6
6. Fruits Baskek, Volume 23
7. Uwasa no Midori-Kun!!, Volume 2
8. Zipang, Volume 28
9. Sumomomo Momomo, Volume 7
10. Gunslinger Girl, Volume 8

Monthly comics top 10 in the U.S. according to PWCW.

1. Naruto, Volume 13
2. Death Note, Volume 10
3. Negima, Volume 13
4. Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, Volume 2
5. The Road to Civil War.
6. Bleach, Volume 17
7. Gentleman's Alliance, Volume 1
8. Justice, Volume 2
9. Black Cat, Volume 7
10. Absolute Boyfriend, Volume 3

From Publishers Weekly's Kai-Ming Cha comes an interview with Alvin Lu, Vice President of Viz Media. The interview touches on Viz's current success, as well as its plans for the future.