Author: ahorbinski

Manga’s First Century available worldwide!

/ ahorbinski / Leave a comment
A book cover with three comics images horizontal, a boy and Betty Boop, a girl and boy looking scared, and an adult man being harassed by an old-fashioned telephone.

Manga’s First Century is now available worldwide! If you haven’t gotten yours yet, you can order a copy at any bookstore, large or small; if you purchase through the UC Press website (via indiepubs.com), use code HOLIDAY30 for 30% off in the United States and Canada–ebook and print for the States, print only for Canada. 

Thank you to everyone who’s already bought a copy. If you liked the book, it would be a great help if you leave a review online–more reviews helps the book be more visible to the algorithm and thus to more readers who might enjoy it. And it’s always a great time to request that your local library purchase a copy.

See you on Discord for my CasaCon talk tomorrow!

CasaCon 2025

/ ahorbinski

Thanks to everyone who came to my talk at ULB in Brussels last week. Next up, on December 14 at 1pm Pacific, I’ll be speaking at CasaCon 2025 on “Framing Fans in Manga History: Manga’s First Century.”

CasaCon is free to join and all online, taking place on Discord! You can register to join the con now and check out all the other great programming on the website. I look forward to seeing you there!

Sidewise Awards

/ ahorbinski

As announced on File 770 a few days ago, I’m excited to be one of the three new judges joining the Sidewise Awards jury. I’ll start reading books for the 2026 awards year. As a history nerd, I’ve always been a fan of alternate history, and I’m excited to have the excuse to really dig into the subgenre and highlight exciting works in it. I hope to see you at Worldcon and World Fantasy in 2026! And if you’re looking to read one great work of alternate history, I highly recommend the 2025 winner Sargassa by Sophie Burnham, or the classic Fire on the Mountain by Terry Bisson.

Also, I was interviewed last month for this article in The New Republic on the One Piece flag at protests.

Manga’s First Century available now in North America

/ ahorbinski
A book cover with three comics images horizontal, a boy and Betty Boop, a girl and boy looking scared, and an adult man being harassed by an old-fashioned telephone.

Today is publication day for Manga’s First Century! Thank you to everyone who’s already preordered. You can order a copy at any bookstore, large or small; if you purchase through the UC Press website (via indiepubs.com), use code EMAIL30 for 30% off in the United States and Canada–ebook and print for the States, print only for Canada. For those outside North America, you can still preorder in advance of the book’s international release on 28 November, and it’s always a good time to request that your local library purchase a copy.

Thank you again to my editor, Enrique Ochoa-Kaup, and everyone at UC Press who worked on the book. And thanks again to everyone who has told me they’d be interested in reading this book over the years. Now’s your chance.

See you at the AMA tomorrow!

Manga’s First Century out next week in North America + events!

/ ahorbinski

Manga’s First Century is out next Tuesday, October 28, in North America, and copies are starting to ship from warehouses. You can still preorder a copy!

For those who have read the book, please do consider leaving a review on Amazon or Goodreads. Reviews help the book get noticed by the algorithm so that more people can find out about its existence.

For those with tight budgets (and isn’t that all of us these days), please do consider requesting your local library purchase the book for their collection. A purchase request means the book will be available to everyone in your library system and beyond.

Events!

I’m thrilled to announce that I’ll be doing an AMA on r/askhistorians next Wednesday, October 29. Starting at 9am Eastern, you can ask me your questions about manga history and I’ll respond over the course of the day.

I’ll also be giving a book talk in Brussels in the last week of November, and I’ll probably be doing some more events in the Bay Area in winter 2026. Stay tuned!

Manga’s First Century: The reviews are in!

/ ahorbinski

Well, two of them anyway.

Publishers Weekly called the book “a vivid ode to the variety and depth of an enduringly popular art form” in their positive review.

And this past week Kirkus Reviews published a very positive review, calling it, “Deeply considered and information rich, a useful, fascinating work of comics history.”

I was also interviewed for this piece on NPR and this piece on DW.com, both about Gen Z protestors and the One Piece flag.

BayCon 2025 (/ Westercon 77)

/ ahorbinski

I’ll be at BayCon 2025 in Santa Clara this weekend! My panel “There’s a Hell of a Good Universe Next Door: Unstoppable Isekai” is tomorrow (Saturday, July 5) at 11:30 am (with a special appearance from a surprise GoH), and I’ve just agreed to join “The Long Haul: When It Takes Years to Write a Book” at 20:00. Hope to see you there!

Also, last month I was quoted in this Metro UK story on Watashi ga mita mirai.

Mechademia conference 2025

/ ahorbinski

I’m delighted as ever to be back at the Mechademia conference in Kyoto next week. As I continue slowly working towards a new project, I’ll be talking about “What’s the Matter with Comiket? Uncovering Early Strife in the Dōjinshi Sphere, 1975-1985.” According to the latest version of the schedule, this will be on Saturday, June 7, at Kyoto Seika University. Hope to see you there!

Events

/ ahorbinski

CasaCon 2025 – 14 December 2025, 1pm Pacific (online) – Free registration available now!

San Francisco Public Library, San Francisco, CA – 16 May 2026, 2pm

Worldcon, Anaheim, CA – 27-31 August, 2026

World Fantasy 2026, Oakland, CA – 22-25 October, 2026

I’ll keep this page updated as more events are scheduled.

Want me to come to your area? Talk to an organization or an event that can invite me!