Yen Press launched a new manga magazine, Yen+ Plus, in August 2008. This monthly mag features nine different manga (over 400 pages for $8.99!). The American and Korean entries read left to right; the Japanese stories read from right to left. Yen+ Plus has two front covers as a result, and no advertising on the outside of the book.
Contents of the first issue (all first chapters): Maximum Ride by James Patterson and Narae Lee; Nightschool by Svetlana Chmakova; Pig Bride by KookHwa Huh and Sujin Kim; Sarasah by Ryang Ruy; One Fine Day by Sirial; Jack Frost by JinHo Ko; Soul Eater by Atsushi Ohkubo; Nabari No Ou by Yuhki Kamatani; Sumomomo Momomo by Shinobu Ohtaka; Bamboo Blade by Masahiro Totsuka and Aguri Igarashi; and Higurashi When They Cry by Ryukishi07 (listed on the Yen Press website as 07th Expansion) and Karin Suzuragi.
In other graphic-related news, Fantagraphics recently released Strange and Stranger: The World of Steve Ditko. It’s gotten a fair amount of mainstream press, all of which I missed somehow until a review appeared in The Village Voice.