Del Rey to release Avatar: The Last Airbender manga
From Del Rey:
Del Rey Manga, an imprint of Ballantine Books at the Random House Publishing Group and Nickelodeon/Viacom Consumer Products (NVCP) announced at Comic-Con International in San Diego, four new manga style releases – an artistic and storytelling stylized comic book set in black and white. Based on Nickelodeon’s international hit animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender and the upcoming feature film release “The Last Airbender,” directed by M. Night Shyamalan, this partnership marks the first manga tie-in for Nickelodeon.
The two original black-and-white manga will be written by Dave Roman (Jax Epoch and the Quicken Forbidden, Agnes Quill). The prequel manga, scheduled for publication in April 2009, will be illustrated by Nina Matsumoto (Yokaiden) and the movie adaptation, to be published in June 2010, will be illustrated by Joon Choi (This is Pop).
“We’re excited to partner with Del Rey on these upcoming manga releases,” said Paula Allen, SVP of Nickelodeon Global Publishing. “Recreating and adapting the layered storylines and incredible, animated martial arts of the Avatar series and upcoming feature film in the manga style will allow fans to experience their favorite moment from the show over and over again.”
The Avatar: The Last Airbender animated series and The Last Airbender live-action movie follow the epic journey of Aang, the Avatar. In an ancient world where armies of the four elements-fire, earth, water, and air-are constantly at war, the Avatar, a master of the elements, is meant to restore peace and order. Aang is the newest reincarnation of the Avatar, and is also the last airbender, harnessing the power of air and wind. Freed from a century-long sleep inside an iceberg, the 12-year-old is responsible for saving the world and finds both friends and hostile enemies on the path to his destiny.
“We’re excited to be working with Nickelodeon to bring these great stories to the manga audience,” says Dallas Middaugh, Associate Publisher of Del Rey Manga. “Avatar: The Last Airbender has shown incredible crossover appeal with manga fans. The release of The Last Airbender movie and original tie-in manga gives us the chance to share completely new stories with Avatar fans looking for more about Aang, Zuko, and their favorite characters.”
Dark Horse announces host of new products at Comic-Con
A display of some of the coming titles from Dark Horse Comics
Archive editions of classic Archie comic books and a Conan one-shot by Darick Robertson show the variety of projects announced by Dark Horse at Comic-Con International in San Diego. Here’s a list from the eclectic publisher of upcoming products:
365 Samurai and a Few Bowls of Rice – Swiss artist J. P. Kalonji’s graphic novel comes to America. A young swordfighter must kill 365 samurai on a quest to avenge his master-in a fun, humorous, cartoony style.
Age of Reptiles – Film designer Ricardo Delgado returns with the third installment of his epic (silent) dinosaur comics series. Carnivores hunt herbivores on a migration south.
Aliens vs. Predator: Three World War – The 2009 relaunch of the Aliens and Predator series comes together with a creative team of John Arcudi and Rick Leonardi.
Archie Archives – The classic Archie comic books get the deluxe treatment in a series of hardcovers as the newest editions to the Dark Horse Archives series.
Blacksad – Collecting all three of the international award-winning European volumes, the third of which has not been published in English before. This crime noir about a cat detective, PI John Blacksad, is a phenomenal anthropomorphic story with fully painted artwork. By Juan Díaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido.
Casper Anniversary Special – A 64-page hardcover celebrating Casper’s sixtieth anniversary and featuring his first appearance in comics.
Conan: The Weight of the Crown – Darick Robertson writes and draws our first Conan one-shot since the
Darick Robertson sketches for a fan.
Conan the Cimmerian relaunch. This comic is part of Dark Horse’s all-new One-Shot Wonders program.
Dark Horse GelaSkins – Decorative coverings for phones and laptops featuring some of Dark Horse’s most popular properties, including The Umbrella Academy, Yoshitaka Amano, Tim Burton, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Hellboy, and many more. A select few will be available at the Dark Horse booth during the convention as supplies last. The whole program is set to launch in September 2009.
Devil – Devil is an original Japanese manga being created for Dark Horse by Torajiro Kishi and animation powerhouse Madhouse Studios, featuring genetically designed vampires in a sci-fi police drama set in Tokyo.
Electropolis – Electropolis: The Infernal Machine is the perfect companion to Mister X: Condemned. Visionary artist Dean Motter revisits his unique brand of “antique futurism” in a story full of familiar faces, including a memorable cameo by Mister X himself.
Final Fantasy Boxed Set – A luxurious edition that stays true to the original Japanese collection of the complete Final Fantasy artwork by Yoshitaka Amano.
Furry Water and Mesmo Delivery – Eisner winner Rafael Grampá comes to Dark Horse with two books: Mesmo Delivery, a reprint of his psychedelic small-press debut; and Furry Water, cowritten with Daniel Pellizzari, a six-issue postapocalyptic action comic.
One-Shot Wonders – A new program running from October to December, highlighting some of Dark Horse’s biggest characters and properties in standalone comics retailing at $3.50 each. The program includes “Sugarshock,” Conan, Hellboy, Abe Sapien, Star Wars (two titles), “Dr. Horrible,” and The Goon.
The Art of Blade of the Immortal – Hardcover edition of the original Japanese book with 32 new bonus pages not previously available. This book will be in the style of the Dark Horse The Art of . . . and Library Edition series.
Writer Antony Johnston brings manga flair to Wolverine
MARVEL, X-Men, all related characters: TM & © 2009 Marvel Entertainment, Inc. and its subsidiaries. Licensed by Marvel Characters B.V. www.marvel.com. All rights reserved.
Writer Antony Johnston has handled everything from romantic comedy to the apocalypse, and in between, as an in-demand comic-book writer. This month, he takes a new spin on Wolverine, creating Del Rey’s manga version of the character in “Wolverine: Prodigal Son.” Drawing the series is Filipino artist Wilson Tortosa, best known for his work on Top Cow’s “Battle of the Planets.” Johnston talked to The Oklahoman about his take on the mutant hero.
Matt Price: Your Wolverine takes an “all-new, all-different” spin from the classic Wolverine character. How did you decide what to keep, and what to jettison, from the regular Marvel Comics Wolverine character?
Antony Johnston: I started with the aim of removing as much baggage from the existing character as I could; to strip him down to his essentials, without removing the things that make him who he is. So the costume, him being a superhero, the X-Men, his rogues’ gallery… all those were dropped. That left us with the core essence of the character – his personality, his claws, his healing factor, and of course his crazy hairdo.
It’s important to realize that this isn’t about taking Wolverine, the superhero, and shoehorning him into a story where he doesn’t fit. This is about taking Logan, the man, and building him into a manga hero. That was the biggest influence on those decisions, and I was pretty ruthless about it.
MP: Tell me about your artist on the series.
AJ: His name’s Wilson Tortosa, a Filipino, and he’s best known in American comics for drawing the “Battle Of The Planets” book from Top Cow a few years back. I hadn’t worked with Wilson before, but as soon as I saw his first few pages of “Wolverine” layouts I knew he was perfect for the book. His pages are very kinetic, and he also has a good sense of storytelling dynamics for when the art needs to be more contemplative. I especially like how you can clearly see that manga has been a big influence on his work, but he’s not aping anyone. He has his own unique style.
MP: What was harder: writing a book that would appeal to Wolverine fans, or writing a book that would appeal to manga readers?
AJ: We didn’t really think of this book as trying to appeal to existing Wolverine fans at all. There are a few references, little nods, that sort of thing, for those fans to recognize and raise a smile. But our main concern was writing for manga readers. Yes, it was challenging at times, because we knew we’d have an uphill struggle to convince them that actually, they really do want to read a book about Wolverine! But it’s a good challenge, and one I relished.
MP: What is the long-term plan for “Wolverine: Prodigal Son”? Is it ongoing, or is there a definitive ending in mind?
AJ: The original agreement with Marvel was for two volumes. But everyone hopes they’ll succeed, so we can go on to do more and make it a longer series. I’m certainly keeping my fingers crossed, I’d love to keep the series going. I’ve even left a few small threads dangling that we can return to…
MP: What influenced you in creating your Wolverine?
AJ: A combination of things. Obviously there’s the original Marvel version of the character. Without that, you don’t have Wolverine at all. But in bringing him over to this story, and “rebuilding” him into a manga hero, the main influences were manga both old and new – from “Lone Wolf & Cub” to “Naruto” – and modern boy’s YA adventure fiction, such as the “Alex Rider” and “Cherub” series. That may sound like chalk and cheese, but it was important to me that “our” Wolverine was firmly contemporary.
MP: Why do you think the Wolverine character has been so enduring, and so popular?
AJ: I think he taps into something that we all appreciate in our heroes. He doesn’t suffer fools gladly, he doesn’t trust easily, he questions authority and he’s self-sufficient. But once you earn his respect, you know he’ll stick by you till the bitter end. Sure, he’s got the claws and he can kick your ass, but I really think his personality is the biggest draw, because we all feel the world could use more people like that. Everyone hopes that when it all comes down, they’d be brave enough to take a stand. With Wolverine, we don’t have to hope.
Stardust Kid review at Extremely Graphic
Sadie Mattox, at Extremely Graphic, a manga and graphic novel focused blog here at NewsOK, takes a look at “Stardust Kid,” by the creative team of J.M. DeMatteis and Mike Ploog.
From the review:
“The full color, bright and even *sparkly* illustrations are enchanting. Most of the story takes place in an underground world where plant life comes to life and the creatures who inhabit this land are lush. If you have a child who’s into fantasy, this may be a good pick.”
Japanese man wants to marry comic-book character
A tip of the hat to The Oklahoman’s Jay Marks, who points out this unusual story on Yahoo:
TOKYO (AFP) – A Japanese man has enlisted hundreds of people in a campaign to allow marriages between humans and cartoon characters, saying he feels more at ease in the “two-dimensional world.”
Seems to me to be taking fandom to a new extreme. Check out the whole story in the link.
- Matt Price
Janet Evanovich – comic book fan?
In an interview with the Orlando Sentinel, best-selling author Janet Evanovich talks about her love for Joss Whedon’s “Buffy” comic books and manga:
ORLANDO SENTINEL: You’ve cited comic books as an influence, and it seems to run in the family. Have you thought of writing for comics yourself?
JANET EVANOVICH: You know, I have. Several years ago, we tried to get a contract to write manga. My daughter is my Web master, and she’s a huge comic-book fan. We just couldn’t make it profitable for us, but we’re thinking about re-examining it. Have you seen (Joss Whedon’s) Buffy comics? Oh my God, they’re fantastic! I would love to do something like that. I love Fruits Basket; I love Cowboy Bebop. I like a lot of stuff out there.
Publishers Weekly names best gns, manga
Publishers Weekly names its critics choices for graphic novels for 2007: The magazine’s top two choices, Exit Wounds and Scott Pilgrim Gets it Together, will be familiar to Nerdage readers.
Tekkon Kinkreet: Black and White tops PW’s list of manga. (Somewhat oddly, Jeffrey Brown’s “Incredible Change-Bots” from Top Shelf makes the list. Most would consider this, well, not manga, but perhaps the term is broadening.)
