What does the unprecedented six new Jump Starts in six weeks initiative say about the future of Weekly Shonen Jump? This week our friend Maxy Barnard of Friendship! Effort! Victory! joins us for his first "official" Manga Mavericks guest spot to discuss the state of Weekly Shonen Jump and the future of the magazine. We discuss opinions on what'll be the new frontrunner of the magazine in the wake of the multiple series conclusions of last year, what new series are worth keeping an eye on, the initiatives Viz Media are taking with the english digital version, and how we'll see Shonen Jump reinvent itself in the near future. It's an exciting and interesting time to be a Shonen Jump fan, and there's no better person to discuss it all with than Maxy!

Plus, we run down the tsunami of new licenses Seven Seas announced last month, the imminent conclusions of several long-running series, the suspicious cancellation of the New York Times Best Selling Graphic Novels and Manga lists, and a whole lot more! Needless to say that after a whole month since our last regular episode we built up a ton of news we needed to cover on our backlog, resulting in a mega-sized episode we had to split in two! That's right folks, expect a bonus episode next week where we discuss things we didn't get to mention in this episode, including the results of our feedback survey and our impressions of a bunch of romance-themed shonen comics perfect for the Valentine season!

Podcast Breakdown:

00:20 - Introducing Maxy Barnard
6:00 - The NYT Best Selling Graphic Novels and Manga Lists Have Been Discontinued?
18:30 - Bookscan's Top 20 Graphic Novels of January 2017 List
21:12 - Orange Ranks in YALSA’s Top 10 GNs for Teens
22:50 - Shojo Beat Digital Manga Now Available At Libraries!
29:30 - Berserk Volume 38 is FINALLY Coming Out!
31:05 - There Will Be a Free Comic Book Day Preview of Dragon Ball Super and Boruto Manga
33:30 - Monthly Shonen Sunday Holds Contest to Create Manga Spin-Off for Takagi-san is Good at Pranks
34:27 - Bandai Namco Holds Retro Game Manga/Writing Contest
36:02 - The RWBY Manga Is Continuing After All?
37:13 - My Monster Secret is Ending
37:46 - Yamada-Kun and the Seven Witches is Ending
38:21 - Straighten Up! Has Ended
40:23 - To Love-Ru Darkness Prepares For Climax
44:40 - IDW Publishes Yo-Kai Watch Comic Book Series
47:47 - Junji Ito Adapts Osamu Dazai's No Longer Human
50:00 - Kaito Launches a New Series on Jump +
52:45 - Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro Debuts New Manga in April
56:30 - Iron Wok Jan Gets Another Sequel
57:47 - Yen Press Simulpubs Ne Ne Ne
1:00:12 - To Your Eternity is Finally Being Simulpublished! Also Other Kodansha Stuff is Coming Out Soon, Including Descending Stories: Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu!
1:10:18 - Seven Seas’s Tidal Wave of New Licenses!
1:22:08 - Discussion: The Future of Weekly Shonen Jump
2:17:38 - Q&A: "Are There Any American Comics We Read?”
2:24:58 - Q&A: "Do We Prefer Reading Long Series or Short Series?”
2:31:43 - Wrap-Up

Enjoy the show, and follow us on twitter at @manga_mavericks, on tumblr at mangamavericks.tumblr.com, and now on Youtube! You can also follow the hosts at @sniperking323 and @lumranmayasha, and special guest Maxy Barnard at @MaxyTheBee. Don’t forget to also like and subscribe to us on Youtube and iTunes and leave us reviews to help us curate the show and create better content! If there are any topics, series or mangaka you would like to see us talk about on the show, drop us a line in the comments below, or e-mail us at mangamavericks@gmail.com! Thanks for listening!