Manga News and Information
October, 2008Statistics Made Fun with First Title in New Educational Manga Guide Series San Francisco, CA, October 30, 2008 - Can learning statistics really be fun? It can be when the teacher is a cartoon character. In The Manga Guide to Statistics (No Starch Press, November 2008, 224 pp, ISBN 9781593271893), the first release in the landmark Manga Guide series from No Starch Press, readers learn real statistics with real manga. Tough concepts like probability, coefficients of correlation, hypothesis testing, and tests of independence come alive with this entertaining yet educational Japanese-style cartoon guide. By combining an engaging story with instructional content, readers master each concept quickly as they learn alongside the story's main characters, Rui and Mr. Yamamoto. MECHADEMIA 5: Fanthropologies In recent years, interest in fan communities and fan activities has exploded, and the term otaku has become global currency. Terms like "fan" and "otaku" have been mobilized for a wide range or reasons in a wide variety of discourses, from gender studies to inquiries about technology and sociality. We think that the exploration of fan activities and otaku phenomena is crucial to understanding the contemporary world of transnational image and information flows, as well as the transnational formation of concepts and discourses. Website Promises Uncensored Hentai, Actually Delivers Denver, Colorado, October 25th 2008 - Icarus Publishing, the largest purveyor of Japanese ero manga by weight in North America, has entered into an agreement with e-publishing pioneer DriveThruComics (drivethrucomics.com) to distribute Comic AG Digital, the online adult manga anthology. From About.com:Manga comes an interview with Wendy Pini, the creator of Elfquest and a new yaoi manga-inspired adaptation of Edgar Allen Poe's Masque of the Red Death. In this interview, Pini talks the backlash and criticism she has received from the comics industry from when Elfquest first debuted in 1978, mostly because of its anime-inspired character designs (which was unusual in 1978), her meeting with Candy Candy creator Yumiko Igarashi, and reactions from yaoi manga fans, straight and gay, when she debuted Masque of the Red Death at Yaoi-Con 2008. Author of the Honey and Clover manga Chika Umino will draw the cover of Japanese pop group Dreams Come True's "Tsuretette Tsuretette" CD album, which goes on sale on November 12. She will also draw a 16-page "winter story" manga for the upcoming album. Retailer news website ICv2 posted a four-part interview it conducted with CEO of Dark Horse Comics Mike Richardson. Richardson speaks on the impact of the ever-slowing economy on comic book sales, comic book online distribution, illegal file sharing, and also a hint at a "big" announcement for later this year. "We have a huge announcement that I’ll tell you about later, very shortly. It will be a gigantic project working with another company. Obviously, that tidbit for you, to watch the skies..." Richardson told ICv2 regarding the announcement. Unique Titles To Be Highlighted In Hall 3.0 Booth H801 Including - DEATH NOTE, NARUTO, MÄR, KEKKAISHI, KILARI And BLEACH San Francisco, CA, October 15, 2008 - VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry's most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, will bring some of the hottest manga titles gaining international attention to the 2008 Frankfurt Book Fair, taking place in Frankfurt, Germany October 15-19. VIZ Media will be located in Hall 3.0, Booth H801.
Articles like this can be found all over the Internet; this is what I thought at first, and was excited with the idea that this year any comic could sell over a hundred million copies, but it turned out after getting a translator to have a look around on Japanese websites, I felt I had blown things out of proportion a bit, so here I have opted to write a more accurate account of these awards. Japan, as everyone knows, is the world's biggest producer and exporter of comics. If you add together the overall annual tax and the sales volume of each big-name comic book magazine and all the separate volumes, the figures could only be described as "astronomical". As a result, comics in Japan have become more than a mere cultural phenomenon, constituting now a whole industry with financial goals. Some of the comics in this industry have become highly successful best-selling works that have sold over 100 million copies. In view of this, we pulled together some information from the Japanese Wikipedia about Japan's twelve best-selling manga. San Francisco, CA, OCTOBER 7, 2008 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry's most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, has highlighted a diverse collection of horror and supernatural-themed manga (graphic novel) titles now available that make a perfect complement for Halloween. The series include an array of stories ranging from the creepy and paranormal to the humorous and include COWA!, ROSARIO + VAMPIRE, NIGHTMARE INSPECTOR: YUMEKUI KENBUN, CAT EYED BOY, VAMPIRE KNIGHT and the recently released DEATH NOTE live-action film on DVD.
Fluid Friction is perhaps one of the first companies in the world to have formed "a true East meets West team with local Chinese and Western artists and writers working seamlessly side by side to produce truly unique products." Below is an interview with Spencer Douglass, Fluid Friction's business development manager, who talks about Fluid Friction, its view of the comics market, as well as plans for the future: Please introduce yourself. My name is Spencer Douglass and I am the business development manager at Fluid Friction Comics. My job entails overseeing the production and timelines for the comics, setting up distribution across the world, organizing all the marketing, working with retailers to promote directly to their customers, handling PR, setting up and running our exhibits at various comic-cons and bringing in partners to work with us on things like possible films, games, TV series, merchandise, mobile content, etc. So I suppose you could say I am essentially a "comic salesman." :-) About.com:Manga has talked with representatives from Digital Manga Publishing and got the official story about recent layoffs and restructuring at the Gardena, California-based
SAN FRANCISCO, CA — Comic book publishing studio eigoMANGA (http://www.eigomanga.com), today announced a magazine distribution agreement with Ingram Periodicals Inc., a leading provider of direct magazine distribution. The agreement places eigoMANGA's line of comic books such as their flagship title 'Rumble Pak' (http://www.rumblepak.com) in independent and mass-market bookstores nation-wide. Brand new original manga-style comic book series, based on the Award-winning screenplay by Malcolm Wong Atlanta, GA – Sept 8, 2008 - Dabel Brothers Publishing is excited to announce the manga-style adaptation of Malcolm Wong's award-winning screenplay, Dog Eaters. Malcolm's screenplay won three awards at the Screenwriting Expo5 in Los Angeles. The story has been adapted by Sean J. Jordan, and features stunning manga-style pencils from Chilean illustrator, Guillermo A. Angel. Mankind failed in its first attempt to transcend the Petroleum Age. The Die Off killed nine out of ten people worldwide. One hundred and seventy five years later, civilization consists of scattered nomadic tribes, isolated casino-cities, and roving bands of predatory bandits. NEPHYLYM, MAMORU THE SHADOW PROTECTOR & THE FOUR CONSTABLES AVAILABLE NOW! SAN JOSE, CA – September 2008 – DrMaster Publications has announced the release of the new fantasy-action manga Nephylym vol. 1 by Rei Kusakabe, Mamoru the Shadow Protector vol. 2, the comedy manga series by Sai Madara, and The Four Constables-Secret of the Delirium Dagger vol. 2, the kung fu action-packed, brilliantly colored manhua series by Andy Seto and Tony Wong. September 30, 2008 Los Angeles LuvLuv Press, the josei imprint of Aurora Publishing, will have their titles available for purchase and viewing on NETCOMICS' site starting early October 2008. Readers will see the first release in October, and the following releases will come one per month. Following with NETCOMICS' format, readers will be able to see a free preview of the first chapter of any particular title's first release. Since LuvLuv Press' current releases are one-shots, all of them will have free previews. "We are extremely thrilled to be partnering with NETCOMICS," said Aurora President Mr. Nobuo Kitawaki. "The online market is another great possibility to expand the English manga market, and NETCOMIC's expertise will contribute greatly to that." |
Manga Zombie
Finale: Panelosophy
An ongoing conversation about the philosophy behind manga both in the U.S. and abroad. Manga Ranking
Monthly charts of comparative manga rankings based on aggregate online sales listings from Matt Blind. |
Few manga have broken the coveted "100 Million" sales mark, an honor reserved only for the most popular and influential works. Below is a translation of 
ComiPress teams up with writer Udagawa Takeo and translator John Gallagher to publish an online version of the English-language translation of Manga Zombie.
