Games and shonen manga seem to go together like Pocky and Red Bull - two amped-up pop culture products that have a natural affinity for each other. Competition, both friendly and not-so-friendly? Check! Fighting and lots of action? Double check! Fantasy, monsters and lots of conflicts between good and evil? Triple check!
So why is King of RPGs the first shonen manga-type story about tabletop role-playing games? Perhaps because it needed someone like manga editor/expert and long-time RPG fanatic Jason Thompson to team up with artist Victor Hao to bring together two factions of geekdom into one mayhem-packed manga story.
The first volume of King of RPGs by Thompson and Victor Hao is due out from Del Rey Manga next week. I got hold of an early copy, and passed it along to fellow manga blogger (and spouse of an RPG gamer) Melinda Beasi to give it a read. Check out her review of King of RPGs Volume 1 and see if Thompson and Hao managed to fulfill their goal of mixing Yu-Gi-Oh, Hikaru no Go and Shaman King shonen manga action with Dungeons and Dragons swords and sorcery to create a story that'll appeal to geeks of all creeds.
Thompson and Hao are also giving readers a free sneak peek at pages from King of RPGs and character sketches too at KingofRPGs.com. And if you're in the San Francisco Bay Area, mark your calendar for Saturday, January 23, 2009 - that's when both Thompson and Hao will be hosting the King of RPGs launch party at Endgame in Oakland at 921 Washington Street. The event is scheduled from 5:00 - 7:00 pm, and admission is free and open to all. Check out the Facebook invite for the King of RPGs launch party and live action role-playing (LARP) fest for more information.
Image credit: © Jason Thompson, Victor Hao
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