Time Codes: 00:00:29 - Introduction 00:02:37 - The holidays for Shea and Derek 00:04:30 - Listener mail! 00:11:24 - Tomie: Complete Deluxe Edition 00:55:39 - Blame! Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 01:19:12 - Wrap up 01:20:08 - Contact us It's the final manga episode of the year, and to close out 2016 Shea and Derek discuss a couple of fascinating new editions of older manga. But first they talk about their holiday activities with one another and then go on to share the listener mail they received about their November manga episode. After that, it's manga time! They begin with Junji Ito's Tomie: Complete Deluxe Edition (VIZ Media). This volume brings together all of the previous Tomie stories, initially released in three separate books. As listeners of the podcast may know, Shea and Derek are big fans of Junji Ito, but this is the first time either of the guys have read this series. They point out both the similarities and the differences between this text (especially the early stories) and later Ito works such as Uzumaki and Gyo. Shea is particularly taken by Ito's early, looser illustration style, while Derek focuses on the, at times, goofy scenarios surrounding Tomie. They're weirder than even the most unusual premises you'll find in Junji Ito. After that, the guys turn to Tsutomu Nihei's Blame! This series has also been previously published, but now Vertical Comics is releasing it in new master editions. The second volume was just published this month, and volume 3 is due out in March. So Shea and Derek limit their discussion to the story contained within these first two book. This is an action-heavy manga, and while this kind of graphic storytelling isn't one of Derek's favorites, it's something that Shea absolutely loves. But both guys appreciate the incremental world building and especially Nihei's astounding ability in representing The City, the vast post-apocalyptic landscape in which the story takes place. The bottom line is that both guys love the storyworld and plan to continue reading this series.