Archives for April 2008

NYCC is over for another year, and life is slowly returning back to normal. Dee and I took the Acela back to Boston and wound down by hanging out with Kevin Church in the club car.

My overall impression is that manga was less prominent this year. Tokyopop, as always, set up their big booth and flew in lots of creators for signings and panels, but according to Gia’s writeup, their panel had only one new title announcement. Instead it sounds like a list of previously announced properties, plus the news about their new pilot program that will put global titles online for free.

And while Viz had their big Stan Lee crossover announcement, their panel was more low-key and they didn’t have a staffed booth at the con, just their manga lounge. Go!Comi and Broccoli weren’t there at all.

On a more cheerful note, Stephen Robson of Fanfare was there, beaming about the recent Eisner nomination for Jiro Taniguchi’s The Ice Wanderer, although he still faces distribution challenges. Vertical had a bigger booth than last year, and marketing director Stephen Vrattos told me that they sold all their advance copies of Dororo pretty quickly. Digital Manga seemed to be doing a brisk business, and the Speed Racer box set was the object of desire du jour.

Gia has a handy list of new title announcemnts up at her blog, as well as extensive coverage of all the panels. And ComiPress has the mother of all link posts, covering pretty much everything that has been written so far.

I wasn’t able to make it to the Del Rey panel, but this is one of the things they announced. I’m heading back out to the con right now but will check in later with their new titles. Here’s coverage of the panel from gia and Kate.

MARVEL ENTERTAINMENT AND DEL REY MANGA ANNOUNCE CREATIVE TEAM FOR NEW WOLVERINE MANGA

NEW YORK, NY – April 19, 2008 – Marvel Entertainment and Del Rey Manga, an imprint of Ballantine Books at the Random House Publishing Group, announced today the creative team for a manga based on the popular X-Men character, Wolverine. The series will be written by Antony Johnston, author of the Alex Rider graphic novels Stormbreaker and Point Blanc. The manga will be illustrated by Wilson Tortosa, artist of Tomb Raider and Battle of the Planets.

The manga chronicles the history of Wolverine, a mutant best known for his adamantium claws. Logan, a rebellious teen training in a remote school in the Canadian wilderness, has no memory of his life prior to being found in the forest near the school. But that forgotten life is about to come after him with a vengeance in this shônen thriller. (Shônen manga is aimed at boys through their teens and focuses on action.)

The Del Rey Manga and Marvel collaboration was first announced at the New York Anime Festival 2007. The collaboration includes two manga series: one based on Wolverine and another based on the X-Men team. Done in a shôjo (girl’s manga) style, the X-Men manga will be illustrated by Indonesian artist Anzu (The Reformed) and written by the husband and wife team of Raina Telgemeier (The Baby-Sitters Club graphic novels) and Dave Roman (Agnes Quill).

Both the Wolverine and the X-Men manga titles will be created with the cooperation and consultation of Marvel editors, and are scheduled to debut in Spring 2009.

Dallas Middaugh, associate publisher of Del Rey Manga, says, “We couldn’t have picked a better team for this project. Antony has completely reimagined Wolverine, and has given him a gripping new back story. Wilson’s art is dynamic and very much in the style of shonen manga. This is going to be a great book!”

The X-Men made their comics debut in The X-Men #1 in 1963 and have since become a mainstream pop culture phenomenon with the development of an animated television series, several video games and a blockbuster live-action film trilogy.

“We are very excited to see our partners at Del Rey help expand the incredibly deep mythos of Wolverine—-and the X-Men—-via manga,” says Ruwan Jayatilleke, Vice President of Development of Marvel Entertainment, Inc. “Comic book and manga fans will be very happy with the new stories that are being forged by all of these dynamic creators.“

Manga, the Japanese term for comics, is a Japanese cultural phenomenon that accounts for nearly half of all the books and magazines sold in Japan. Read by men and women of all ages, manga covers a wide variety of themes including adventure, romance, fantasy, and more. Manga has experienced incredible growth in the US and Canadian graphic novel market in the past few years. According to industry source ICv2 manga sales reached between $170 million and $200 million in 2006.

About the Creators
Antony Johnston is the author of thirteen graphic novels and is well known for his adaptations of the bestselling Alex Rider novels. He is writing two ongoing serials, the sci-fi epic Wasteland and children’s fantasy Texas Strangers. Johnston also contributed to Postcards: True Stories That Never Happened, published by Villard Books.

Wilson Tortosa is the artist of several comic book series, including Jade, Banzai Girl, Battle of the Planets and Tomb Raider. He lives in the Philippines.

Raina Telgemeier is best known for her work as the writer and illustrator of The Babysitter’s Club graphic novels. She received her BFA from the School of Visual Arts and has been nominated for numerous awards, including the Eisner, Ignatz, Cybil, and Web Cartoonists’ Choice awards.

Dave Roman currently works for Nickelodeon Magazine as an associate editor. The co-creator of the Harvey Award-nominated series Jax Epoch and the Quicken Forbidden and the Ignatz award-winning Teen Boat, he also pens his own webcomic, Astronaut Elementary. He is also the creator of the comic Agnes Quill.

Anzu, a manga artist based in Indonesia, will make her US manga art debut in April 2008 with the first volume of The Reformed, written by Chris Hart. She has contributed to Hart’s bestselling How to Draw Manga series.

About Del Rey Manga

Del Rey Books (http://www.delreybooks.com ) was founded in 1977 as an imprint of Ballantine Books, a division of the Random House Publishing Group, under the guidance of the renowned Judy-Lynn del Rey and her husband, Lester del Rey. Del Rey publishes the best of modern fantasy, science fiction, and alternate history. Ballantine Books is an imprint of the Random House Publishing Group, which is a publishing group of Random House, Inc, the U.S. publishing company of Random House, the trade book publishing division of Bertelsmann AG, one of the world’s leading international media companies. In 2004 it expanded by launching Del Rey Manga (www.delreymanga.com ), which has grown to be a major force in the U.S. graphic-novel field. Bestselling titles include Tsubasa, Negima, xxxHolic, and The Wallflower.

About Marvel Entertainment, Inc.
With a library of over 5,000 high-profile characters built over more than sixty years of comic book publishing, Marvel Entertainment, Inc. is one of the world’s most prominent character-based entertainment companies. Marvel utilizes its character franchises in licensing, entertainment (via Marvel Studios), publishing (via Marvel Comics) and toys, with emphasis on feature films, home DVD, consumer products, video games, action figures and role-playing toys, television and promotions. Marvel’s strategy is to leverage its franchises in a growing array of opportunities around the world. For more information visit www.marvel.com .

X-Men, Wolverine: TM & © 2008 Marvel Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

I spoke to Susan Hale at Tokyopop’s booth at NYCC yesterday and she gave me a quick rundown on this: They will be publishing full-color, larger format, non-manga graphic novels from around the world. I think this is something of a mini-trend, as I stopped by the Fanfare/Ponent Mon booth and Stephen Robson gave me a peek at his newest project, My Mommy is in America and Met Buffalo Bill by Jean Regnaud and Emile Bravo. Fanfare usually publishes nouvelle manga, which comes from France and Japan, but this book is totally different: The style is very different from manga, and it’s in color. With Fanfare, Tokyopop, and First Second all publishing French graphic novels, it’s as if France is the new Japan.

Anyway, here’s the 411 on Tokyopop’s new line.

Manga Giant Extends Publishing Portfolio
with Launch of Colorful New Line of International Books

TOKYOPOP GRAPHIC NOVELS

The Best In Color Graphic Novels From Around The Globe—Now Available For The First Time Ever In North America!

New York Comic-Con, New York (April 19, 2008)― Leading manga publisher and youth-oriented brand TOKYOPOP is pleased to unveil the latest addition to its rapidly growing publishing family – TOKYOPOP Graphic Novels. For years, European and Asian publishers have produced captivating, inspiring, and stunning full-color graphic novels that have not found a home on North American shores—until now. Beginning in February 2009, TOKYOPOP will cross the color barrier to publish a truly unique selection of rich, inventive, and stunningly original full-color graphic novels from some of the world’s most talented artists and writers.

According to TOKYOPOP Publisher Mike Kiley, “The new TOKYOPOP Graphic Novels line represents a natural evolution for us as we continue to offer the coolest stuff on the planet to readers around the world. Our launch titles have been selected to build a bridge between the manga and graphic novel audiences. This is a major initiative for us and we will not only be announcing more acquisitions in the near future but will also have some very exciting news about original TOKYOPOP projects that will appear in this new oversized format.”

In a word from TOKYOPOP Senior Editor Bryce Coleman, “There has been a wealth of truly amazing stuff published around the world, and I think people are going to be amazed at the diverse line up we’re coming out with in these graphic novels. From the gorgeous, painterly work of up-and-coming star, Benjamin, to the rich, animation-like epic world of Luuna, these books will all be as stunning to look at as they will be satisfying to read.”

About the Launch Titles:

ORANGE (February 2009)

By: Benjamin

Licensed from Xiao Pan (China)

$14.99; 1 volume; 128 pp; 7.228″ x 10″

A heartbreaking tale of a young woman attempting to understand the bewildering world around her… The luscious art of Benjamin heightens the intensity of this profoundly moving tale of sorrow and loss.

PIXIE (February 2009)

By: Mathieu Mariolle and Aurore

Licensed from Delcourt (France).

$12.99; 3 volumes, 112 pp; 7.228″ x 10″

Pixie embarks on captivating adventures far and wide in this ethereal and mesmerizing fantastic voyage that stretches the limits of imagination.

LUUNA (March 2009)

By: Didier Crisse, Nicolas Keramidas

Licensed from Soleil (France).

$12.99; 3 volumes, 112 pp; 7.228″ x 10

On the night of her initiation into her North American Indian tribe, young Luuna discovers she must confront an ancient curse that will change her forever. This haunting coming-of-age story is filled with deep pathos and stunning artwork that brings an unforgettable legend to life.

About TOKYOPOP

Founded by multi-cultural media visionary Stu Levy,TOKYOPOP is hailed as a leading youth-oriented entertainment brand and an innovator of manga creation, with a revolutionary artistic vision that transcends countless platforms. From the introduction of the first-ever extensive manga publishing program in North America, to the development of its manga-originated intellectual properties into film, television and digital entertainment, TOKYOPOP has changed the way teens experience pop culture. The company’s global reach has expanded to Europe and Asia, with offices in the UK and Germany and partnerships in Australia and China, in addition to its original Los Angeles and Tokyo operations. With millions of fans logging onto the new social networking site www.TOKYOPOP.com, reading its books, which are licensed in more than 40 countries and 30 languages, and watching its DVDs and television programs, TOKYOPOP’s award-winning catalogue of licensed and original properties has made the company a visionary in an ever-growing teen entertainment marketplace. Visit www.TOKYOPOP.com for additional information.

My quick take on NYCC is that this is the year of the manga shakeout. At the ICv2 Graphic Novel Conference on Thursday, numbers guru Milton Greipp put the size of the entire graphic novel market at $375 million in 2007, up 12% from 2006, but while manga grew about 5%, other graphic novels grew faster, at least in dollars. (Several manga people pointed out, though, that manga tend to be cheaper than American-style graphic novels, which skews the dollar figures a bit.)

This comes into better focus when you realize that 1513 new volumes of manga were released in 2007, up 25% from the year before. Comics shops are overwhelmed with the new titles. Choosing which titles to carry is more hazardous for them, because unlike bookstores, they can’t return unsold titles. It’s not surprising that retailers who don’t have a manga expert on board would throw up their hands. Also, shelf space is becoming an issue, even for stores that take pride in their manga selection, such as Toronto’s The Beguiling. Manager Christopher Butcher revealed in the comics retailers panel that going forward, The Beguiling will no longer carry a copy of every manga in print. At the chain bookstore level, Griepp said, buyers who once bought everything are now starting to skip series.

Furthermore, manga sales are stratifying. The top 50 continue to sell very well, Griepp said, but “the bottom two-thirds are hurting.”

Viz doesn’t have a staffed booth at this year’s con, just the manga lounge, but they managed to make a big splash anyway with their special Stan Lee panel, one of the hottest tickets at the con. The big news, that Lee was collaborating with Japanese artist Hiroyuki Takei on a manga called Ultimo for Jump SQ magazine, was already out, and people had already suspected what was coming next, which is that Viz will be licensing the manga. Ultimo will be published monthly in Japan, and release dates and format for the U.S. version aren’t set that. Lee was the star of the show, and he was clearly having a good time. This manga is being presented as a Big Event in Japan; the story is appearing in a special edition of Jump SQ that also includes a pullout booklet of Japanese artists’ interpretations of Lee’s characters.

Lee says he dreamed up the story and characters and sent the concepts to Japan, where the editors tinkered with them a bit and sent them back. “It’s been going back and forth so many times that I’m not sure whose idea the present story is,” he said, “but it’s certainly a combination of both of ours and frankly I’m as interested in reading it as the rest of you are.” In fact, Lee pointed out that his version may vary from the Japanese: “He [Takei] has a chance to change mine because he is the last to put his hands on it, but I’ll have the last word on it in English.”

After the event, a few of us took the opportunity to chat with Viz vp of magazines Marc Weidenbaum, who is the editor in chief of Shonen Jump (named by Griepp as the best selling periodical comic in America). Chris already scooped me on this, but I’ll mention it anyway: Marc says that Viz will be taking submissions for original graphic novels, and in fact he spent some time this week talking to students at the School for Visual Arts about what exactly Viz is looking for. This is actually rather remarkable, since Viz is the American subsidiary of the Japanese publishers Shueisha and Shogakukan, but I guess it shows where the market is going.

I’m off for today’s round of panels and meetings, and I’ll be posting more news tonight; in the meantime, ComiPress has a good roundup of blog posts on the con.

I reported it below, but here’s the official press release on the licensing of Haruhi Suzumiya, which the Yen folks describe as “Hannah Montana meets Heroes.”

Yen Press, an imprint of Hachette Book Group USA, today announced that it will publish the first official English-language manga edition of Japan’s hottest property – The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. Acquired from well-known Japanese publisher Kadokawa Shoten, the manga series will be adapted into English from the original Japanese manga volumes illustrated by Gaku Tsugano. The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya: Volume 1 will launch in October 2008 with both full-color and black-and-white illustrations. Subsequent volumes in the series will be published every four months. Available at major bookstores and comic book retailers, each volume is rated OT (Older Teen) and will cost $10.99 at retail.

“Haruhi will be landing in the United States…finally!” said Yoshinori Mino, Chief Editor of Shonen A Editorial. “We believe that Haruhi’s spirit will resonate with teens all around the world.”

“Ecstatic does not fully encompass just how truly honored and thrilled we are to be adding Haruhi to our list,” said Kurt Hassler, Co-Publisher of Yen Press. “For manga fans in the U.S., no international license is as eagerly anticipated as The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. Already a worldwide phenomenon, the Haruhi animé blew American fans away last year, and we’re sure that our manga edition will do the same.”

English language translations of the internationally popular novels will be published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. Also acquired from Japanese publisher Kadokawa Shoten, the first title in the program, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya by Nagaru Tanigawa will be published in April 2009 as an original trade paperback with 8 volumes to follow. The program will be overseen by Director of Paperbacks Joe Monti and is the first joint publishing venture between Yen Press and Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, both imprints of Hachette Book Group USA.

These “Hannah Montana meets Heroes” adventures chronicle the life of a high school girl, Haruhi Suzumiya, in her quest for all things extraordinary. Haruhi and her friends, who turn out to be pretty extraordinary themselves, form a club called the SOS Brigade which is dedicated to bringing excitement to the world by befriending aliens and time-traveling beings. Each volume will feature spot art, and the first novel will include a back-of-book excerpt of Yen Press’s English language manga edition.

Originally launched in Japan in 2003 as a series of novels, the Haruhi Suzumiya character has exploded into an international phenomenon. Over 4.5 million copies of the novels have been sold in Japan alone, and sales of the bestselling manga editions are over 1.5 million copies. With the launch of this joint program from Little, Brown Books for Young Readers and Yen Press, readers in the US can now join fans all over the world who have embraced Haruhi with a frenzy that has yielded bestselling books, a wildly successful television anime series, now available on DVD in the US, and extensive merchandise programs, and costumes.

NYCC coverage is pouring in from all over. If you’re thinking of going, check out Blog@Newsarama’s suggestions for manga and anime fans and Deb Aoki’s more exhaustive listing of Friday’s highlights.

The MangaCast team checks out this week’s new manga, and the Manga Villagers chime in with their picks as well.

Two interesting columns are up at Manga Life: Barb Lien-Cooper writes about manly manga, and hubby Park Cooper talks to some real teenage girls about what they like about manga.

Tokyopop is partnering with Spacedog Entertainment to “create original intellectual property for multi-media distribution including publishing, film, television, digital, merchandising, and game development,” starting with a manga called eV. Also: They have extended their contract with Blizzard Entertainment for three more years.

John Jakala finds a scanlation of an earlier work by the creators of Dragon Head.

At Shuchaku East, Chloe F. is stumped by a mystery manga listed on Amazon.com, Hitohira. Surely someone out there has heard of this? UPDATE: Erica comes through! I knew I could count on my readers.

The Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin profiles Valerie Zehl, who won the Black Sun, Silver Moon fanart contest last year. It’s an interesting article about juggling art and real life, even if the write does mix up manga and anime a bit.

News from Japan: Shueisha is launching Monthly Young Jump, a special issue of Weekly Young Jump. In serialization news, the mystery manga Spiral Alive is ending and the creators of Steel Angel Kurumi are starting a new title. And Ichijinsa Bunko has a new line of girls’ light novels set to debut; LightNovel.org lists the titles. (Via ComiPress.) Brian Henderson reviews vol. 1 of Project D.O.A. at Manga Xanadu.

Reviews: David Welsh devotes this week’s Flipped column to a series I really enjoy, ES: Eternal Sabbath. At About Heroes, EvilOmar has short takes on a variety of manga. Anne Cain reviews I’m Not Your Stepping Stone for Manga Jouhou. At About.com, Deb Aoki reviews vol. 1 of Yozakura Quartet, which a lot of folks are comparing to superhero comics. Over at Anime on DVD, Briana Lawrence reviews Thirsty for Love, Greg Hackmann looks at vol. 12 of Golgo 13, and Sakura Eries checks out vol. 1 of Bride of the Water God and vol. 2 of With the Light. At Manga Life, Ysabet Reinhardt MacFarlane reviews vols. 2 and 3 of Skip Beat, Shannon Fay checks out vol. 21 of Bleach, and David Rasmussen reads vol. 8 of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Tiamat’s Disciple writes about vol. 1 of Kekkaishi, vol. 1 of Y Square, and vols. 1 and 2 of Hayate the Combat Butler. Erica Friedman reviews a Japanese title, vol. 4 of Karakuri Odette, at Okazu. Danielle Leigh recommends vols. 1 and 2 of With the Light in her Manga Before Flowers column at Comic Book Resources. Julie reviews Tough Love Baby and Leader’s High at the Manga Maniac Cafe. Sakura Kiss reads Kiss All the Boys at The Yaoi Review. Connie updates with reviews of vol. 9 of Nana, All Nippon Air Lines, and vol. 6 of Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service at Slightly Biased Manga. Marina Neira checks out vol. 17 of One Piece. At Prospero’s Manga, Ferdinand likes vol. 1 of Psycho Busters, the novel, less than he liked the manga, and he posts an update on vol. 8 of ES: Eternal Sabbath. Tangognat picked up vol. 1 of Teru Teru x Shonen on a whim and she wishes she hadn’t. At Active Anime, Scott Campbell reviews vol. 4 of Pretty Face, Davey C. Jones checks out vol. 6 of Gacha Gacha: The Next Revolution, and Rachel Bentham comments on vol. 8 of Inubaka: Crazy for Dogs. Forbes.com praises Johnny Bunko for its common sense; I wish I could say the same about their webmaster, who delays the review with an annoying interstitial ad. Animanga Nation reviews Death Note: How to Read 13.