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How did Aymeric Kevin and his team manage to produce so many quality backgrounds on such a short schedule? Aymeric speaks to Cartoon Brew about the background art of "Ping Pong."

Masaaki Yuasa's fourth TV show wraps up in a fairly satisfying way with a briskly paced and nicely animated climax that brings emotional closure to the story with a cathartic showdown and thread-tying coda.

Tensions run high during the high school championships, and all eyes are on the showdown between Kong and Smile. The third episode jumps abruptly from Smile's training in episode 2 right to the championships, and to a Smile who has begun to gain the confidence to show his true potential.

A recap of the first episode of Masaaki Yuasa's new series "Ping Pong."

Street urchins Black and White have skyscraper-sized chips on their shoulders, but are fiercely loyal to each other. Black is especially quick to avenge any slight against his dim-witted pal. The result? The citizens of Treasure Town are afraid of them, the police are afraid of them–even the local yakuza gangsters are afraid of them! But when the crime boss known as the “Rat” returns to Treasure Town, it looks like there’s gonna be a rumble…

The violence in this unique European-influenced manga title is more mindful than it seems at first glance, and the subtle relationships between its unique cast of characters are marked by surprising poignancy.

2008 Eisner Comic Winner!

Get the Book on Amazon: Tekkon Kinkreet / Black & White
Get it on DVD here Tekkon Kinkreet

• Paperback: 624 pages
• Publisher: VIZ Media, LLC (September 25, 2007)
• Language: English

Table tennis sounds like just about the last thing that needs an animated series, but leave it to the Japanese to make the sport as exciting as a superhero action-adventure series. This is our first extended look at "Ping Pong," a new 11-episode animated series by Japanese director Masaaki Yuasa ("Mind Game," "The Tatami Galaxy") that will debut April 10th on Fuji TV’s late-night noitaminA block.

Taiyo Matsumoto’s Sunny and Emily Carroll’s Out of Skin have been named winners of the Cartoonist Studio Prize 2014.

The prize is presented each year by Slate in conjunction with the Center for Cartoon Studies which helps select the nominees. This year’s judges wereSlate’s Dan Lois, Dan Kois, the faculty and students at the Center for Cartoon Studies, and guest judge, Christopher Butcher.

Sunny, which won the Graphic Novel Prize, is an understated, sad story about Japanese orphans who fantasize about a better life via a junked yellow car.

Caroll’s Out of Skin, which won Best Webcomic, is the latest in her series of groundbreaking digital horror comics which use navigation and screen size to generate the mystery. Just click on it and read!

Here’s the whole list of shortlisted works and winners — click on some of these links! I guarantee you won’t be disappointed.

Graphic Novels
*** Sunny by Taiyo Matsumoto
Boxers and Saints by Gene Luen Yang.
The Encyclopedia of Early Earth by Isabel Greenberg.
The Initiates: A Comic Artist and a Wine Artisan Exchange Jobs by Étienne Davodeau.
Julio’s Day by Gilbert Hernández.
Map of Days by Robert Hunter.
Paul Joins the Scouts by Michel Rabagliati.
The Property by Rutu Modan.
Susceptible by Geneviève Castrée.
Today Is the Last Day of the Rest of Your Life by Ulli Lust.

Webcomics

***Out of Skin by Emily Carroll
As the Crow Flies by Melanie Gillman.
Bouletcorp by Boulet.
Gunshow by KC Green.
Household by Sam Alden.
The Lone Wolf by Jennifer Parks.
Lucky by Gabrielle Bell.
Oh Joy, Sex Toy by Erika Moen.
Sticks Angelica by Michael DeForge.
Subnormality by Winston Rowntree.