Yen Press Gains Rights to Publish Twilight Manga

From Entertainment Weekly's EW.com "Shelf Life" blog, comes a bit of news that has got the book publishing world, the movie world and the manga world buzzing: Yen Press has gained the rights to develop the graphic novel adaptation of Twilight series of bestselling young adult novels by Stephenie Meyers about a teen girl and her romance with an impossibly handsome (some would say sparkly) young vampire. The art will be created by Korean artist Young Kim, and will be supervised by Yen Press' editorial staff and Meyers herself, who is "deeply immersed in the project, reviewing every panel."

No firm date on the release of this much-anticipated project, but the announcement was likely timed to coincide with San Diego Comic-Con next week, an event where Yen Press usually announces their big titles for the coming year, and there will be appearances by some of the stars of the Twilight movies. This new development is sure to generate lots to talk about at next week's show.

The EW.com article broke the news and previewed the first image from this project, but there'll be more to see soon. The current issue of Entertainment Weekly magazine, which will hit the streets on Friday, July 17 will feature even more exclusive sneak peeks of of Kim's artwork and her visualization of Bella, Edward and the rest of the Twilight cast.

There have been other collaborations between bestselling Western authors and manga/manhwa before this, but this is the one that has had everyone has been buzzing about for months. And now that it's been announced, reaction has ranged from ecstacy to agony; ecstacy from Twilight fans and agony from manga purists who think this is the first sign of the apocalypse. Okay, i'm exaggerating. But here's a few choice quotes from around the Web:

• "I've been waiting, wondering when this would happen. My wife is going to be all over this... - Reader comment, Newsarama
• "Something like this has the potential to reach a huge and powerful demographic, introducing countless teenage girls (and their moms) to comics while also putting their money straight into the pockets of a manga publisher. From my perspective, this is 100% win!" - Melinda Beasi, There It Is, Plain As Daylight
• " I thought it before, and I'm thinking it now: shoot me." - Reader comment, Animevice.com
• "Print anything Twilight-related these days, and you may as well build one of those Scrooge McDuck-esque money bins next door to the printing press so you can swim in all the money that rolls in." - Jason Yadao, Honolulu Star Bulletin
• "Oh, great. More shitty vampire stories about shitty vampires, in a shitty romance, with shitty characters. Can't wait for this. Not." - Reader comment, Newsarama

As much as I have resisted the siren call of the Twilight novels (I haven't read them, nor watched the movie), even I can see how incredibly popular this could be. This announcement alone has generated more buzz about manga in the mainstream press than I've seen in a good long while. And if it generates lots of sales, it could be that "rising tide that lifts all ships" -- something that will introduce new readers to the joys of manga. The math is simple: more manga sales = more money for publishers = more manga for everyone, otaku and newbies alike. In this tough economic climate, that has got to be a good thing.

But hey, that's just my take on it... what do you think? Time for a quick poll:

Got more to say? Add your thoughts in the comments! Also, check out 18 more vampire manga that you can sink your teeth into.

UPDATE: See more preview sketches from Twilight: The Graphic Novel.

Image credit: © Stephenie Meyer, Young Kim, © Yen Press