vagabond

Comics are officially bringing nations together. To celebrate 400 years of diplomacy between Japan and Spain, 46-year-old Takehiko Inoue -- the creator of of Slam Dunk, Vagabond, Real and other celebrated manga -- has been appointed as one of three goodwill ambassadors to Spain by the Japanese Foreign Ministry, to serve from now until July 31 of 2014.

We didn't realize when we set out to list our favorite comic books of 2012 that it had been such a fun year to be a fan of the medium that we all love so much. The last twelve months offered readers a wide variety of work ranging from the most crowd-pleasing superhero epics to the most idiosyncratic of indies; the return of much missed mangaka and the emergence of exciting new talent; a new crowd-

It's one of the oldest tricks in the hustler's handbook. Find yourself a mark, pretend like you aren't all that, convince him to put some money up, and then use your true skills to earn some fast cash. In the manga series "Real," Kiyoharu Togawa and Tomomi Nomiya take to the basketball courts in parks and gyms, running game on unsuspecting suckers...