New manga, con reports, and Empowered!

The Manga Bookshelf reviewers make their picks from an unusually slim week of new manga releases.

Meanwhile, Sean Gaffney looks forward to a more bountiful selection next week.

Deb Aoki talks to Adam Warren, creator of Empowered, on how anime and manga have shaped his sensibility.

Tom Langston posts the slides from his sports manga panel at Fanime.

At Manga Therapy, Tony Yao notes the birthday of Bleach sociopath Sosuke Aizen.

David Brothers files his con report on Fanime, including the Shonen Jump panel.

Matt Blind posts the big list of manga best-sellers (online sales) from the week ending March 18.

Ash Brown is giving away the first volume of R.O.D.: Read or Die. Hit the link to find out how to enter.

News from Japan: Neko Ramen creator Kenji Sonshi has started a new series, Neko Tantei, about a cat who is a detective. Aloha Higa has put Shirokuma Cafe on hiatus, apparently to protest the way the anime adaptation was handled; it seems to have worked. Toriko Chiya is launching Clover trèfle, a sequel to her Clover office romance manga, in Cocohana. Minoru Furuya, creator of Himuzu and Ping Pong Club, just debuted a new series, Saruchinesu, in Kodansha's Young. The French site Manga News has a list of the manga that ended in May, including Negima; only series licensed in France are included. ANN has the latest Japanese comics rankings. And CLAMP will illustrate the cover of the novelization of the movie Blood-C: The Last Dark. (Click image twice to enlarge.)

Reviews: The Manga Bookshelf ace reviewer team greets the week with a new set of Bookshelf Briefs. A Day Without Me reviews 12 Days, a Tokyopop OEL title that isn't quite what you'd think, at Gar Gar Stegosaurus.

Sean Gaffney on vol. 4 of A Certain Scientific Railgun (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Manjiorin on vols. 1 and 2 of Eternal Sabbath (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
Lori Henderson on vols. 1-3 of Free Collars Kingdom (Manga Xanadu)
Rob McMonigal on issue 3 of GEN (Panel Patter)
Zack Davisson on vol. 4 of I'll Give It My All' Tomorrow (Japan Reviewed)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 3 of One Piece (Blogcritics)
Kate Dacey on vol. 1 of Puella Magi Madoka Magica (The Manga Critic)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 22 of Slam Dunk (The Comic Book Bin)
Anna on vol. 14 of We Were There (Manga Report)