Popular crossover manga includes Bleach, Naruto and Fullmetal Alchemist (Viz Media)

Shojo -- or, the style of manga for young girls -- may be dominating the market, but don't discount the influence boys have on the manga market. Just because manga focus more on character development doesn't mean they don't have any action at all. You just have to look at the success of series like Naruto, Bleach, or Fullmetal Alchemist to see that isn't true.

All three of these series have the fighting, weaponry, and snappy banter readers find in American comics. The difference is that both boys and girls are reading Naruto, Bleach, and Fullmetal Alchemist, and it's that crossover appeal that makes the difference. Most girls -- at least in my library -- aren't picking up Spider-Man, Batman, or the Fantastic Four. But they are reading Fruits Basket, Hikaru no Go, Her Majesty's Dog, Land of the Blindfolded, Sugar Sugar Rune, Death Note, Kingdom Hearts, Yotsuba&!, and on, and on. They're also reading Bone, Oddly Normal, Kat and Mouse, Runaways, Sidescrollers, and other American comics that have a clear beginning, strong characters, and complex storytelling -- all things they've come to expect from comics by reading manga.

NOTE: Bleach creator Tite Kubo will be at the Con Saturday at 1:15 pm in Room 7AB, and then Viz Media will host a Shojo Beat Panel at 3:30 pm in Room 10.

You might have tracked down a VHS copy of Jodorowsky's hard to find film at Comic-Con. (Producciones Panicas)

Back in the '90s one of my favorite things to do at the San Diego Comic-Con was to get my hands on plenty of fantastic genre movies. Right before the rise of DVD and after the death of Laser Discs, the Con was that unique place to get your rare, obscure movie fix. I remember getting El Topo and The Holy Mountain VHS tapes at $25 apiece, a bargain considering the hard-to-find collector's items these legendary Alejandro Jodorowsky finds were. That's when Comic-Con was about even more than comics or about huge studios presentations. Independent distributors were part of the act too with crazy and fun oddities such as The Star Wars Holiday Special or Roger Corman's lost classic The Fantastic 4: The Movie. You can't go wrong with titles like that!