MangaBlog

I just mentioned this in the post below, and as I was typing, the press release came in. Ten points to Yen for being on the ball! Details after the cut.

JAMES PATTERSON’S #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING SERIES
MAXIMUM RIDE TO BE PUBLISHED IN MANGA EDITIONS

MAXIMUM RIDE #1: THE ANGEL EXPERIMENT TO LAUNCH
YEN PLUS MANGA ANTHOLOGY IN SUMMER 2008

NEW YORK, NY (December 6, 2007) — Hachette Book Group USA announced today that its graphic novel imprint, Yen Press, has acquired world rights to a graphic edition of James Patterson’s young adult series Maximum Ride. The #1 New York Times bestselling series about fourteen-year-old Maximum Ride and her “flock” will be adapted into 30-page manga installments for monthly inclusion in Yen Press’ new manga anthology, Yen Plus. The first episode in Patterson’s first Maximum Ride title, The Angel Experiment, appears in the inaugural Yen Plus issue scheduled to release in summer 2008. Available through subscription and at major bookstores and comic book retailers across the country, each 460-page issue of Yen Plus will cost $8.99 at retail.

The thrilling non-stop action of the Maximum Ride series will be rendered in a “manga” style, with black & white and color illustrations that will appeal to teens, male and female alike. Select content from the monthly magazine will be featured on the Yen Press website, along with bonus features.

“Featuring Maximum Ride as a staple in the Yen Plus anthology, will, no doubt, increase manga readership and bring it to a completely new level,” said Kurt Hassler, Co-Publishing Director of Yen Press. “We are thrilled that James has chosen to bring this dynamic property to the rapidly growing medium of manga.”

“I am completely over the moon that Max’s story will be told in manga editions,” said Patterson. “I can’t imagine a more visual tale than this one. Truly, this is Max taken to the max.”

Featuring approximately 12 separate storylines in each anthology, Yen Plus will serve as a vehicle in breaking out and building enthusiasm for new properties from around the world – such as Nightschool by Svetlana Chmakova, already scheduled for the debut anthology.

James Patterson is one of the top-selling writers of all time, with over 140 million books sold. No other author has had more #1 New York Times bestsellers. He lives in Florida with his wife and son, who loves the Maximum Ride books. He says, “I want young Jack to know what his dad does at the office and, hopefully, to be proud.” (Newsweek, April 30, 2007).

Yen Press is an imprint of Hachette Book Group USA dedicated to publishing graphic novels for adults and young readers. Yen Press’ focus is primarily on licensed manga, but also publishes across the wide spectrum of the graphic novel market, including, but not limited to: original manga publications, original American comics/graphic novels, webcomics, licensed adaptations, and children’s graphic novels.

Hachette Book Group USA is a leading trade publisher based in New York and a division of Hachette Livre, the second largest publisher in the world. Hachette Book Group’s product lines include adult, illustrated, religious, children’s and audio books under the Little, Brown and Company, Little Brown Books for Young Readers, Grand Central Publishing, FaithWords, Center Street, Orbit, Yen Press and Hachette Book Group Digital Media imprints.

I arrived in New York today for the New York Anime Fest only to find that the big news of the day had already happened: Seven Seas and Tor books have formed a joint venture that will publish global and Japanese manga as well as light novels and illustrated books for young people. Calvin Reid has the full scoop at the link. What does this mean to you, the reader? More manga! One title they mention they are “competing for” is the Afro Samurai manga; I assume they wouldn’t bring it up if it wasn’t pretty much in the bag.

And here’s another pre-Fest scoop from PW: Yen Press will adapt James Patterson’s young adult series Maximum Ride as manga. It will apear initially in Yen’s monthly manga anthology, Yen Plus. The article includes some info I don’t think we have heard before about Yen Plus: It will debut this summer, with a cover price of $8.99 for 460 pages, and will be available in bookstores and comics stores as well as by subscription.

The pre-NYAF activity was the ICv2 Conference on Anime and Manga, which included lots of useful information about sales, trends, etc. But what everyone is really talking about is the bombshell dropped by Al Kahn of 4Kids Entertainment, who asserted, “It’s over in Japan. We’re moving to Korea. In Japan, the manga is tired.” Needless to say, that sparked a lively discussion, including some sharp reactions from Yen Press co-publisher Rich Johnson. ICv2 covers it here, while Laura Hudson, who was there, has a fuller account and Dirk Deppey, who was not, provides commentary and context (scroll down to the manga section). Heidi hits the high points of all the panels at The Beat, and there will be more to come at PWCW on Tuesday.

Aside from comparing notes on Al Kahn, the main activity at the Javits Center so far seems to be bugging the Del Rey people to find out what this Marvel thing is all about. So far everyone is keeping annoyingly mum.

In other news…

David Welsh links to the YALSA Great Graphic Novels for Teens nominations and breaks them down by publisher. He also takes a look at upcoming comics featured in the new Previews.

Yaoi Press asked their readers what they thought of incest themes in yaoi, and they got a lot of feedback.

Shaenon Garrity dedicates this week’s Overlooked Manga Festival to a great manga for a long winter night: Chikyu Misaki.

ANN brings the news that manga-ka Susumu Katsumata, who won the Japanese Cartoonists Association award last year for Red Snow, has died.

Svetlana Chmakova and Faith Hicks will be signing their books, Dramacon and Zombies Calling, respectively, at The Beguiling in Toronto on December 19.

Reviews: At About.com, Deb Aoki takes a look at a new title getting a lot of push from Tokyopop, vol. 1 of Gakuen Alice. Ed Chavez reviews Sensitive Pornograph and Ben Leary checks out The Complete Guide to Manga at Anime on DVD. Lori Henderson gives vol. 2 of Yurara a B+ at Manga Life. Michelle is less kind to vol. 19 of Hana-Kimi at Soliloquy in Blue. Nick pans Yume Kira Dream Shoppe at Hobotaku. Ken Haley reviews Kazuo Umezu’s Reptilia at PopCultureShock’s Manga Recon blog. Connie is busy at Slightly Biased Manga, with new reviews of vol. 19 of Detective Conan, vol. 5 of 3×3 Eyes, vol. 6 of Dokebi Bride, vol. 1 of Skip Beat, and vol. 9 of Lupin III. Jordan Marks checks out Vanilla at Yaoi Suki. Erica Friedman looks at a Japanese title, Reijinna Josei, at Okazu.

I’m off to NYAF first thing in the morning, so here’s a quick look at recent news:

Heidi MacDonald presents part two of her interview with Slam Dunk manga-ka Takehiko Inoue at The Beat.

Drawn & Quarterly is publishing a third volume of manga by Yoshihiro Tatsumi (The Push Man, Abandon the Old in Tokyo). The manga, titled Good-Bye, is due out in May 2008.

A Kodansha employee went fishing for bloggers’ information and got caught. ComiPress has the sad tale: Posing as a college student doing research, the employee e-mailed a number of Japanese manga bloggers asking them to share their traffic numbers and hit counts and to explain how they decided which books to review. It might have worked, too, had the answer form not been marked “Kodansha Information System Department.” Borderline Hikikomori comments.

On a more exalted note, ComiPress has the winners of the 11th Japanese Media Arts Festival.

German blog Manly Manga and More posts Carlsen’s summer lineup.

Reviews: Dave Ferraro reviews vol. 1 of Parasyte at Comics-and-More. Adam Stephanides pronounces My Dearest Devil Princess “notable only for the thoroughness of its mediocrity” at Completely Futile. The Anime on DVD crack manga team lays down some more Small Bodied Manga Reviews. At Manga Life, Lori Henderson checks out vol. 4 of Genju no Seiza, MW, and vol. 2 of Muhyo and Roji’s Bureau of Supernatural Investigation. And Lori jumps over to Manga Recon, where she does a guest review of vols. 1-9 of Dragon Voice. At the Manga Maniac Cafe, Julie reviews vol. 1 of Gakuen Alice, vol. 1 of Me and My Brothers, and Noise.

One of the things we talked about at the manga panel is anthology magazines for American readers. Only Viz has succeeded, and one reason for Shonen Jump’s runaway success is doubtless that so many of the series get a boost from Cartoon Network running the associated anime. Viz is too polite to put circulation numbers in the press release, but this 2006 statement (warning: PDF) puts the paid circ at 239,829, which is pretty respectable for a niche magazine. Of course, the other great thing about SJ is it allows Viz to sell the same content twice, first in the magazine, then in tankoubon. The January issue is notable for a number of reasons, including the beginning of the new Naruto story arc. Tom Spurgeon reviews this issue for The Comics Reporter here.

VIZ MEDIA JUMPS INTO 2008 WITH COMPELLING CONTENT FOR
JANUARY ISSUE OF SHONEN JUMP MAGAZINE

Issue Hits In Time For The Holidays And Features A Newer, Older NARUTO, Rare Yu-Gi-Oh! Card,
Special ONE PIECE Video Game Coverage and More!

San Francisco, CA, December 3, 2007 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry’s most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, has announced exciting content for its January 2008 issue of SHONEN JUMP Magazine. The issue is expected to hit retail outlets nationwide tomorrow, December 4th, in plenty of time for the holidays, and offers a host of new surprises and exciting editorial content sure to delight even the most discriminating fan. This issue also marks the 5th anniversary of SHONEN JUMP Magazine, the most popular English-language comics anthology.

The January issue of SHONEN JUMP, rated T for Teens, marks an important turn in the development of anime and manga’s most popular series, the ninja epic, NARUTO! The serialized NARUTO returns to the magazine after a two-month hiatus with a whole new story arc that picks up two full years after the disappearance of one of the manga’s central characters. Everyone is older, stronger and different in many ways from the earlier chapters of the series and readers will delight in noting the developments. A hotshot Naruto returns to the Hidden Leaf Village from training with his new mentor, Jiraiya, to find that everything back home has changed and readers will get to see a side of the character they’ve never seen before.

SHONEN JUMP recently introduced the BLEACH manga to its lineup, and it’s quickly become one of the magazine’s most popular. This issue features three full manga chapters, plus news on the related animation, which airs on Cartoon Network, and the card game.
The January issue of SHONEN JUMP has always included an extra-powerful Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG card, and this one is no exception: newsstand and subscriber copies alike come with the exclusive “The Wicked Dreadroot” card, and two pages of tips from experts.

The issue also delivers an exclusive first look at the new One Piece: Unlimited Adventure video game for the Nintendo Wii from NAMCO BANDAI Games America. Captain Monkey D. Luffy and the rest of the Straw Hat Pirates embark on wild adventures in this all new original game, set to be released in early 2008. SHONEN JUMP further expands on the pirate theme with a rundown of some of history’s most notorious pirates and a special interview with the directors of the long-running ONE PIECE animated series.

“The dramatic break in NARUTO has been one of the most exciting things to happen in SHONEN JUMP,” says Marc Weidenbaum, the magazine’s Editor-in-Chief. “It capped the SJ Evolution that’s been going on throughout 2007. Now everyone in the manga is older and they’ve changed in many ways. Part of the fun of reading this month’s NARUTO chapter is discovering these differences, combined with learning more about new looming threats to our favorite ninja. That together with the recently introduced BLEACH manga, and the pirate adventures of ONE PIECE make this issue a great way to close 2007 and start 2008 — and the fact that it also debuts in plenty of time for the holidays makes SHONEN JUMP an ideal stocking stuffer!”

From video game advertisers such as Namco Bandai and Sega, to non-endemic partners such as Sara Lee’s Ball Park Franks and the ONDCP anti-drug campaign — advertisers also agree that this January issue is going to be a must-read for hard-to-reach male teens — almost 2 million total readers in all!

The pre-NYAF press releases have been rolling in, so I’ll try to post as many as I can. This one is not manga, but obviously of interest to manga fans!

IN FASHION WE TRUST! TOKYOPOP PROUDLY DEBUTS…

THE GOTHIC & LOLITA BIBLE

Translated for the First Time Ever in English, Much-Anticipated Japanese Fashion and Culture Guide Bows on U.S. Shores February 2008

New York Anime Fest, New York (December 4, 2007)―TOKYOPOP, the leader of the global manga revolution, is thrilled to debut from the streets of Harajuku, Tokyo, the Gothic & Lolita Bible, a quarterly mook (magazine/book hybrid) that is a combination fashion magazine, culture guide, and art book. More than any other publication in Japan, the Gothic & Lolita Bible has played an instrumental role in defining the global look of Gothic and Lolita fashion. Translated for the first time ever into English by TOKYOPOP and releasing in February ’08, the Gothic & Lolita Bible features an extensive guide to Gothic and Lolita fashion, as well as behind-the-scenes interviews with top Lolita fashionistas, including Doll creator Mitsukazu Mihara and J-pop princess Nana Kitade.

Primarily devoted to the season’s fashions, the Gothic & Lolita Bible dedicates full-color spreads to new wares by Japanese designers, and the U.S. version also includes designs by burgeoning brands in the States. Styled photo shoots with Lolita celebrities such as Mana, formerly of Malice Mizer and currently of Moi Dix Mois, are a regular feature, as are articles on beauty products, hair and makeup styles, feminine or goth-looking products, recipes, music, movies, and books. Interviews with Lolita-loving illustrators, designers, novelists, musicians, and stylists are included in every issue, as is coverage of events where Lolitas commune.

According to TOKYOPOP Senior Editor, Jenna Winterberg, “Although the name ‘Lolita’ conjures up the image of a temptress in this part of the world, the Japanese Lolita fashion is decidedly demure. Lolita is empowering because these fashions make wearers feel feminine and frilly, like a grown-up princess, while at the same time allowing them to cover up their bodies and retain a sense of modesty in this age of excessive over-exposure. Although Lolita is sometimes considered a lifestyle in Japan, in the West it is primarily a fashion—but a fashion that promotes community building, creativity, and self-expression. And as the Lolita movement gains momentum, it’s having a direct influence on mainstream fashion—for example, just look at Alice Temperley’s feminine designs for Target, awash in Victorian-inspired ruffles and lace. As more elements of Lolita go mainstream, the more the general public will pay attention to the original. And we’ll be covering the trends as they happen, from both the U.S. and Japan!”

I’m back from my flying visit to New York, exhausted but exhilarated. I had lunch with Dallas, Ali, Tricia, and April from Del Rey, and they plied me with books, so look for some reviews soon. I stopped by the awesome new Kinokuniya bookstore at Bryant Park and checked out the Takehiko Inoue mural, and I even used the Charmin bathroom on Times Square.

Then I headed to MoCCA for the main point of my trip: Moderating a panel discussion on manga. The museum is small, but the range was impressive, and it was great to see original drawings ranging from the old EC comics and a Pogo Sunday Strip to the webcomic Questionable Content. The panel featured designer Brad Foltz, Kinokuniya manager John Fuller, Del Rey Associate Pubilisher Dallas Middaugh, and translator Mari Morimoto. With members of the Metro Anime Club and PWCW editor Calvin Reid in the audience, we had plenty of good questions to discuss. Erin and Noah, the Ninja Consultants, recorded the whole thing, so watch for a podcast soon. I want to especially thank Gina Gagliardo of First Second Books for inviting me to moderate the panel; I had a great time.

And I’m heading back tomorrow for NYAF!

In the meantime, yes, we do have some manga news.

At MangaCast, Ed Chavez posts the manga schedule for NYAF. He also finds time for another post about the Japanese magazine Morning, and he and the crew discuss this week’s new manga. And he posts the new BL and ero-manga releases in Japan.

At PopCultureShock, Katherine Dacey-Tsuei suggests five things to do at NYAF and Erin F has created a manga map of New York City. Actually, it’s more of a manga-lover’s map, complete with commentary on manga-related sites you won’t want to miss. And Katherine checks out some new releases in the Weekly Recon.

David Welsh also looks over this week’s new comics, and he writes about manga with outstanding art in this week’s Flipped column.

VNU reports that “Naruto” was the fourth most searched-for term on Yahoo in 2007. That’s a testimony both to the popularity of the franchise and the limited allowances of its readers: I just did the search, and the second hit on the page was a scanlation site. (Via Blog@Newsarama.)

Also via Blog@: a preview of vol. 2 of Dan Hipp’s Gyakushu.

Deutsche Mangaka has some news of 2008 releases in Germany.

Reviews: EvilOmar has short takes on a variety of books at About Heroes. At Slightly Biased Manga, Connie checks out Battle Royale 1 (Ultimate Edition), vol. 3 of Go Go Heaven, vol. 11 of Astro Boy, and vols. 1 and 2 of Bastard. Kethylia enjoys vol. 2 of Peach Girl: Sae’s Story. At Prospero’s Manga, Ferdinand reviews vol. 1 of Sgt. Frog, Ultimate Edition, and Miranda updates us on vols. 2 and 3 of Trinity Blood. Charles Tan takes a look at Sexy Voice and Robo at his blog, Bibliophile Stalker. At Anime on DVD, Danielle Van Gorder looks at Fumi Yoshinaga’s Truly Kindly, and she also checks out Japan Ai: Adventures of a Tall Girl in Japan.