The Mammoth Book of Best New Manga 3

by ILYA

Features work in 2007/08 in the manga field. This collection is in full colour throughout. It is over 400 pages long and showcases various stories in several genres. It includes contributors who are award-winning artists, as well as fresh talent.

Genres: Manga, Graphic Novels, Comics, Short Stories, Fantasy, Comic Book, Comics Manga

448 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Ed Hillyer, better known as ILYA, is a British comics writer/artist. His work has appeared in publications from all the major US and UK comics companies, from Fleetway Editions' Crisis, Dark Horse's Manga Mania, Deadline magazine to work for DC Comics' Vertigo imprint.

Reviews

[Marilyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Top 3: MY Robot, Ed & Ecchi, a Dream in Garden. Also liked Kitsune Tales, Unity Rising July Tenth & Last Shadows Cast. The anthology is well put together with introductions to each story & a brief author bio. The stories are linked by style (manga) and not genre so different people will like different things. For example I thought "The Woge" had interesting panel design but I wasn't into the story or art style. Worth checking out if you like manga & want to discover new artists. Each story is stand alone so there are no cliffhangers.

[Jaymes Dunlap · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I initially started this book about 5 or so years ago, I would go through and select stories to read at whim. Realizing it's now or never, I sat down and read it, cover-to-cover.

I was able to better appreciate the variation of story presentations and the artwork this time around. Story styles range from science-fiction and fantasy to more mundane and heartfelt tales. Art styles are fairly diverse, from more realistic manga style to more angular or even chibi styles. As the book highlights, most are presented in full-color unless the story was originally presented in black-and-white. I get the feeling some were introductions or excerpts to longer-running stories while others were completely one-shot tales. Another way to describe this book could be stated as "manga short-stories."

My criticism may not be as in-depth or discerning as someone who is fairly diverse in reading manga, but I think that anyone who is fairly open to a variety of stories and manga art-styles would enjoy this book. Some stories I found too abstract or did not strongly resonate with me; while there were others that I enjoyed (such as Kitsune Tales or Me and My Food). Then there were some that just left me thinking. I enjoyed this book as a whole.

Perhaps the only real downside to this book is it didn't have more pages to it. Plus side: It's a series of collections!

[Francine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm kind of surprised by how cheap they used to sell this manga for (£9.99, according to the cover), because it's in full colour and almost 450 pages.

Of the 33 stories in this collection, my 10 favourites were, in the order they appear in the book:

- Pilot (not the art per se, but the interactions between characters)
- Beginnings (made me tear up)
- Ed & Ecchi (recognizable feelings in a fascinating other world)
- July Tenth (pretty and sad)
- As A King (more cats, and relatable)
- New York Stories (the first part, specifically)
- Purikura (cute shoujo)
- In Dreams (SO PRETTY and a good story, too)
- Last Shadows Cast (so sad)
- Moonlight (adorable ghost story)

The only story I didn't like was Hero Z; I didn't really get anything out of it, personally.

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

An assortment of styles and lengths of illustrated stories. Some are in full color!

[Jayrchase · Rating 4 out of 5]

There were several epic shorts… I think my favorite was ‘Last Shadows Cast by Caspar Wjingaard!!

[Aldeena · Rating 3 out of 5]

With the idea of offering readers a varied taste of manga from around the world, this definitely does its job superbly! As with all collections, there are those you like and those you don't. I did enjoy reading a lot of them! Favourites of course were Ed and Ecchi by Shari Chankhamma, My Robot by Paul Harrison-Davies, Snowfall by Rainbow Buddy, A Dream in Garden by Xia Da, White by Sofia Falkenhem and Moonlight by Chi-Tan. The Carlos and Sakura series by Joanna Zhou was also delightful! Overall a pretty nice collection!

[Treasa · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book made me decide I don't like Manga. Some of the stories were OK. Overall, however, I did not enjoy reading this book at all. At least part of that is just personal preference - I don't enjoy having to think too hard when I'm reading something like this. So when there was a serious of illustrations without text, and I was supposed to provide the narrative in my head, that was just too much thinking for me. Maybe I was just tired... Well, whatever it was, I didn't enjoy the book.

[Peacegal · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection attempts to give readers a taste of a wide variety of manga comics--from action and suspense to teen romances to cutesy animal cartoons. As with any wide-ranging collection, there were some I enjoyed a great deal and others I did not like at all.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some were great and some I just skimmed or skipped.

[Jono Carney]

Ok. Got it for free so can't really complain. A collection of short stories, some good, some not so good, some just plain weird. Some nice artwork to use for future reference.

[Alex]

I skimmed some of it overall i liked it but my favorite story was definitely the one about the two friends in college.

[Hasini | bibliosini · Rating 4 out of 5]

I honestly didn't think I'll like this as much as I just did! I couldn't stop flipping over to the next page and the next and then the next once I started! Haha!