While superheroes, sci-fi, and big Hollywood movies and TV shows were the bigger draw at New York Comic-Con 2009 at Manhattan's Jacob K. Javits Center, I was there for the manga, and there was lots to take in. While folks clamored to see panels featuring stars from Fringe and Torchwood, or see previews of Yatterman, Astro Boy and UP from Disney / Pixar, I was camped out at all the manga publishers' panels, including Saturday morning's Del Rey Manga panel.
With so much visual stimulation competing for fans' attention, the Del Rey Manga folks promised us a "Happy Funtime Hullaballoo" at their Saturday morning panel. What they gave us was were two new CLAMP books, some new supernatural eye-candy from You Higuri, two new shojo manga series, two new light novels and a new original manga series by Jason Thompson. We also found out how Project Runway's fashion guru Tim Gunn inspired X-Men: Misfits authors Raina Telgemeier and Dave Roman to "make it work."
Despite Associate Publisher Dallas Middaugh's bout with laryngitis, he managed to croak out a few comments as marketing guru Ali Kokmen, P.R. lead April Flores, editors Trisha Narwani, Kaitlin Heller and Editorial Assistant David Yoo introduced highlights of the new and upcoming releases for the rest of 2009.
THREE NEW BOOKS CELEBRATING 20 YEARS OF CLAMP
Has it been 20 years since this femme foursome debuted on the manga scene? It seems like just yesterday that Card Captor Sakura, Tokyo Babylon, X 1999, and Magic Knight Rayearth were part of the early wave of manga to arrive in America. Since then, these superstar manga-ka have been cranking out hit after hit, gaining legions of fans all over the world. To celebrate this special occasion, Del Rey announced two new books that'll please CLAMPanistas:
- xxxHolic Official Guide by CLAMP – Fall 2009
Much like the Genshiken Official Guide, the xxxHolic Official Guide will give fans fun facts and background info on this stylish supernatural series about a witch, her hapless assistant and the people she "assists" for a price. Along with character profiles, the xxxHolic Official Guide will include a spirit index, and a feature about Yuko the witch's wardrobe. "This is interesting because one of the members of CLAMP designs kimonos," said Middaugh. "She has even published a book about kimonos in Japan." Also, the book will explain some of the mysteries of the xxxHolic / Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles cross-dimensional crossover - Tsubasa Album de Reproductions by CLAMP – Fall 2009
Speaking of Tsubasa, Del Rey is also planning to release a deluxe, full-color artbook featuring illustrations from Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicles. Besides featuring oversized versions of the artwork featured in the Tsubasa graphic novels, this book will also feature a bonus manga feature. "We're really excited about this one," said Narwani. - CLAMP in America by Shaenon Garrity – Fall 2009
This book was announced at prior shows, but it's timely to be reminded of it, with so many other CLAMP projects in the works. Stories created by CLAMP played a big role in establishing and building anime and manga's popularity in America. So manga editor, expert and super-fan Garrity documents the impact and enduring popularity of their creations, including Magic Knight Rayearth, Card Captor Sakura, xxxHolic and Tsubasa. She also includes interviews with editors and the creators themselves as they recall their first visit to America at Anime Expo (2006) and more. "I'm the editor on this book, and the manuscript that Shaenon has turned in is really great," added Middaugh.
GAMES PEOPLE PLAY: NEW KING OF RPGS MANGA ANNOUNCED
Del Rey Manga continued their slow and steady pace in their development of original manga projects with the addition of one new title for 2009: King of RPGs by Thompson and Hao.
King of RPGs by Jason Thompson and Victor Hao – December 2009
You might know that Thompson is the author of Manga: The Complete Guide, and he's the manga editor of Otaku USA magazine. What you might not know is that Thompson is a comics creator in his own right – he's been drawing and writing his own minicomics and webcomics for years, including The Stiff. King of RPGs is Thompson's first graphic novel project for Del Rey – and this time, he's collaborating with up-and-coming artist Victor Hao.
"Victor is a really great find," said Narwani. "He's never done a full-length book before, -- and he's done a very good job."
"RPG" stands for "Role-Playing Games" and King of the RPGs is a shonen manga type story that's firmly set in the terrain of American gamer culture. A high school boy becomes addicted to an online game called World of Warfare, to the point where his health and his sanity are on the brink of collapse. After an intervention from his family and a fair amount of therapy, he's cured of his addiction – or is he? Our hero enters college and encounters a group of tabletop gamers, including one guy who is almost as obsessed with games as he is, the "King of RPGs." Naturally, when the world of 20-sided dice and dungeons clash with the "kill 'em all" / slash-and-burn mentality of an online "Warfare" warrior, things are not going to be pretty.
"Jason is so amazingly knowledgeable about manga, he knows more about manga than anyone has a right to," said Narwani. "This is the best send-up of all manga, ever."
"I think Jason sees himself in this character," added Heller, the editor for King of RPGs.
"It's also very funny," said Narwani. "Every time I hear Kaitlin laugh hysterically, I ask her if Jason and Victor have sent new pages."
Can't wait for December to see more? You can check out a preview of sketches and character profiles at KingofRPGs.com.
X-MEN'S RADICAL REMIX: HOW FASHION, MUSIC AND MANGA TRANSFORMED MARVEL'S MUTANTS
These books have been in the works for a while – in fact, it was first announced at New York Anime Festival in December 2007. Since then, sketches and news have trickled out slowly and has inspired much chatter on the interwebs.
But with the May 2009 release date for both books coming soon, fans were given a sneak peek at the finished product with sample pages from both stories featured in the Del Rey Manga samper that was given away at the show. We were also treated to a short Q&A with authors Raina Telgemeier and Dave Roman, as they explained the inspiration behind their "radical remix" of Marvel's mutant teens, done shojo manga-style.
Wolverine: Prodigal Son by Antony Johnson and Wilson Tortosa – May 2009
Middaugh described the shonen manga version of Wolverine as "a truly international effort. It's American characters done in a Japanese style with a British author and a Filipino artist." Wolverine: Prodigal Son is a shonen manga-style story that features a young, untamed Logan before he got claws. In the preview pages featured in Del Rey's Spring 2009 sampler, Wolverine may have met his match with a fiery femme who can fight almost as well as he can.
X-Men: Misfits by Raina Telgemeier, Dave Roman and Anzu – May 2009
Meanwhile, on the shojo side, X-Men Misfits author Roman explained, "The biggest difference between our version of X-Men and Marvel's is that the story's always focused on Kitty's perspective." As the editor of X-Men: Misfits, Narwani added, "One of the great things about the way they did it was that they found a way to mix shojo manga conventions like the harem comedy and the heroine's emotional world with the X-Men characters," said Narwani. "There are themes about feeling like an outsider, and finding a place to belong. The X-Men also have strong female characters, and a kind of soap opera element."
When Telgemeier and Roman were asked whether they were X-Men fans, Roman explained that his early exposure to Professor X's crew was through his sister, who is a longtime fan. "I always had to ask myself, how would my sister react to this?" "His sister asked him to include Longshot, so he has a small but memorable role in this series," added Narwani.
After showing some sample pages from X-Men: Misfits featuring a very suave Mr. Lehnsherr (a.k.a. Magneto), Telgemeier explained that their Magneto was modeled after fashion guru Tim Gunn of Project Runway fame. "He makes it work," she chimed. When asked about other inspirations for their interpretation of the X-Men, Telgemeier confessed that Angel was based on Justin Timberlake and Pyro was based on Zac Ephron.
"When we first pitched these ideas, we had to distance ourselves from the existing characters," said Roman. "So we thought, who else could they relate to? There was a lot of talk about fashion – a lot of characters represent different subcultures." So for example, "Cyclops is a kinda emo rocker guy, Nightcrawler is kind of goth and Angel is preppy."
Another fan asked whether there were plans to add more female characters to the mix in future volumes of X-Men: Misfits. "We had so much to gain by having Kitty as the sole female in this story, as far as characterization and comedy," said Roman. "But it was hard because the X-Men universe has so many great female characters."
"We have two volumes planned so far," said Telgemeier. "We might add more female characters later... maybe," she added with a smile.
"Every step of the way, Marvel had to sign off on this," said Narwani, "But they gave us unprecedented creative freedom." Middaugh added, "If you are a Marvel comics fan – give it a chance. We tried very hard to do something very different than what Marvel does. It comes from a manga sensibility. For manga fans, it doesn't require any prior knowledge of these characters." 'Nuff said!
NEW SHONEN MANGA FROM YOU HIGURI AND NEW SHOJO MANGA FROM MIKA IKUMI
Compared to these two sets of announcements, the other new books got a bit lost in the shuffle. But there are some promising shonen manga and shojo manga releases on the horizon for Fall 2009:
Nighthead Genesis by George Iida and You Higuri – November 2009
"Two brothers find they can't escape their dark destiny" in this shonen supernatural adventure from You Higuri, the artist who brought you Canterella and Crown. According to Narwani, this series has already inspired a live-action TV series and an anime adaptation in Japan. And with Higuri-sensei behind the drawing board, you know these two brothers will be bishonen babes.
Four-Eyed Prince by Wataru Mizukami – September 2009
Sachiko has found her dream guy -- a shy, bespectacled guy who's also very cute. But her crush has an unusual after school job: he works at a host club, and this seemingly shy guy is a confident Casanova who entertains women at night. Plot-wise, this story sounds awfully close to Ao Mimori's B.O.D.Y. -- but I'll wait and see if it improves upon or just reheats this shojo manga plot twist.
Only One Wish by Mika Ikumi – December 2009
From the creator of Tokyo Mew Mew comes a new one-shot story about a witch who grants wishes. According to the description from Del Rey Manga:
"Rumor has it that if you look in the mirror at exactly midnight, you'll see an e-mail address. Send your wish by e-mail, and an angel will come down and make your wish come true. This stand-alone volume contains four short stories that follow four girls who make the magical wishes, and get more than they ever dreamed of!"This volume also includes a bonus story in the back featuring characters from Tokyo Mew Mew too, which should be reason enough for fans to pick up this magical new manga for teen girls.
LOVED THE MANGA? HERE'S THE BOOKS: NEW GENSHIKEN, KITCHEN PRINCESS LIGHT NOVELS
Genshiken: Return of the Otaku by Kio Shimoku and Iida Kazutoshi – September 2009
Everyone's favorite college-aged super-otaku return in this new light novel story written by Kazutoshi with illustrations by Shimoku-sensei.
Kitchen Princess: Search for Angel Cake by Natsumi Ando and Miyuki Kobayashi – November 2009
The sweetest cooking-centric shojo manga around gets whipped up into a light (and fluffy) novel where teen chef Najika is asked by an old woman to recreate a long-lost recipe. The trouble is, the woman can only remember that the dish is "light and fluffy."
I also asked about the release date for the next volume of Faust, their light novel / manga literary anthology, and they could only say "sometime this year." So stick around for an update on that soon.
A FAIRY TAIL ENDING: THOMPSON & MIDDAUGH'S CAMEOS IN MASHIMA'S MANGA
At the end of the panel, Middaugh also added an anecdote about Fairy Tail creator Hiro Mashima's encounter with Jason Thompson at San Diego Comic-Con 2008, and how it led to manga expert Thompson being transformed into a manga character in Fairy Tail.
"Jason was one of the few people who interviewed Mashima-sensei, and Jason is very animated when he speaks," said Middaugh. "This made such an impression on Mashima, he spent the whole time at dinner doing Jason Thompson impressions. He totally nailed Jason on all his catch-phrases and mannerisms, including how he says 'coool!'" Middaugh continued, "So three months ago, Mashima drew Jason as a character in Fairy Tail." Thompson is featured as a hyper-excitable reporter from Modern Wizard magazine. "This episode is seven volumes away, so it'll be at least a year until you can read it in English," said Middaugh. In the meantime, you can see a snippet of this episode (in Japanese) on Thompson's LiveJournal site.
"There's also a character in Fairy Tail based on me too," added Middaugh. "I'm a bartender with a bottle tied to my head. Can anyone tell me the significance of that?" Middaugh asked the crowd. Hm. Anyone out there know the answer to that question? If you do, add your best guess to the comments below, and stay tuned for more reports from NYCC '09.
Also, check out more previews of coming attractions in the Del Rey Manga 2009 New Manga Preview Gallery.
Image credits: © Marvel Comics, © Deb Aoki, © Jason Thompson and Victor Hao, © George Iida and You Higuri, © Hiro Mashima / KODANSHA Ltd.
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