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Archive for the ‘OEL/GlobalManga’ Category

Victorian Halloween: Seven Seas Schedules Print for 2012

By Lissa Pattillo on Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Seven Seas Schedules New Print Releases for 2012

The end of 2011 is creeping up and companies are continuing to give us lots of manga-loving reasons to look forward to 2012. Seven Seas has listed print information for three new manhwa titles up on their website this week, all you can expect to be released this coming year. Two were announced back in August but fell under the radar as footnotes in a post about their online comics initiative.

Alongside their recent news about acquiring Young Miss Holmes, the company is starting a trend of mystery-solving, Victorian-era titles. Very neat! I really look forward to reading them and it’s fantastic seeing another publisher is still actively looking into the vast Korean market of comics.

Lizzie Newton: Victorian Mysteries - Jeon Hye-Jin
First Volume (Omnibus, 1-2): August 2012

“Lizzie Newton, a young upper crust lady with a budding career as a mystery writer, is expected to know her place in Victorian society. …While the headstrong Lizzie tolerates earnest Edwin, she is not yet ready to accept him as her fiance. Besides, Lizzie is distracted by something far more important: an apparent suicide has occurred in the manor, and Lizzie is ready to solve her first real life murder case!” – Seven Seas

Witch Hunter – Cho Jung-Man
First Volume (Omnibus, 1-2): June 2012 | Second Volume (Omnibus, 3-4): October 2012

“Tasha Godspell, also known as the “Magic Marksman,” is one of the best Witch Hunters there is. Along with his sword-wielding Jack-o’-Lantern partner known as Halloween, Tasha puts his magical training and weaponry to good use, in his constant battles against witches. And yet, he cannot bring himself to fully hate the very witches he is tasked to destroy.” – Seven Seas

Jack the Ripper: Hell Blade – Jetae Yoo
First Volume: July 2012 | Second Volume: October 2012 | Third Volume: January 2013

“Jack the Ripper is not what he seems –but the truth may be more terrible than anyone imagined. A young police detective from Scotland Yard struggles to unravel the mystery behind the brutal slayings that grip 19th Century London. What he learns will turn his world upside down, and pit him face to face against the Ripper himself. But is Jack his savior or destroyer?” – Seven Seas

Witch Hunter and Lizzie Newton were originally announced as part of Seven Seas web-comic collection, Zoom Comics. The website is currently offering free online editions to read several of Seven Seas’ original properties, including the recently published Dracula Everlasting and Vampire Cheerleaders. It will be running the first volume of Witch Hunter starting in January.

With more titles on the horizon that’ll excite quite a few fans, Seven Seas is making an impressive come back into the licensed comic publishing market. With a bunch of new titles, strong digital initiatives and comics from sources few publishers are looking to these days, they’re a company you’ll want to keep an eye on.

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Categories: Licensing, Manhwa, News, OEL/GlobalManga, Seven Seas
Tags: Lizzie Newton

Travel the CMX and Tokyopop Timelines with ANNCast

By Lissa Pattillo on Thursday, November 3, 2011

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ANNCast - CMX & Tokyopop

ANNCast is always a must-listen for me over at AnimeNewsNetwork but they’re most recent two shows have been especially interesting for manga readers. I highly recommend listening to both:

ANNCast – Tarboxed and Feathered

“Justin and Zac shoot the breeze about some ANN business, and then it’s all awful blurays and the winter 2011 movie season. Then our guest shows up – longtime industry veteran Jonathan “Jake” Tarbox tells the story of his career up to this point, including his stint at Raijin Comics and DC Comics’ short-lived manga imprint CMX, and then takes your questions via Twitter. You can’t go wrong! “

ANNCast – Guy Kiley

“Former Senior Vice President of Tokyopop Mike Kiley is our special guest this week, and he runs us through his long and storied career at the shuttered publisher. We cover it all – the heady early days, the not so heady later days and the company’s untimely downfall. You’ve been waiting for this one!”

The manner in which DC handled choosing licenses for CMX was both fascinating and terrifying. It says a lot about the problems they faced over their years as a manga publisher and makes me more thankful than ever for the great titles we did get from them, some I know we’d never have gotten from anyone else (Key to the Kingdom – I love it, but really?). Knowing it was mostly done via a method akin to a dartboard shows how lucky we were for some. You could really tell things were tightening up over at CMX in its final year for selection and marketing though. It’s so unfortunate it was the beginning of the end.

This week’s ANNCast has Zac and Justin sit down to talk to Mike Kiley, Senior Vice President of the now no-longer-publishing-manga-until-I-see-otherwise, Tokyopop. He shares a lot about his experience with the company from the day it began up until his final days in their office. He’s a terrific guest and speaks very well with a lot of interesting info to offer. I was especially interested in hearing which series sold well and reasons for others not continuing, such as Kino no Tabi. I regret no one, myself included, thought to ask about Tokyopop’s boys’ love imprint, BLU, but it’s a minor quip in an otherwise great look at TP’s life start to finish.

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Categories: CMX, Light Novels, Manga, Manhwa, Misc, OEL/GlobalManga, Tokyopop
Tags: Podcast

Super Savings: Grave-Digging for Halloween at RightStuf

By Lissa Pattillo on Sunday, October 30, 2011

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Super Savings: Grave-Digging for Halloween at RightStuf

With Tokyopop wandering around the internet in zombie-form as of late, why not take a positive inspiration from their coincidentally Halloween-themed stunt? RightStuf’s Bargain Bin is full of old Tokyopop titles looking for homes. Time for some grave-digging!

In the holiday spirit, here are some Halloween-flavoured titles from the list for your enjoyment. I own each of these titles and love every one. Whether you want a mature, eerie story like The Embalmer or a liberally translated, hilariously entertaining ghost-seeing BL-laden story like Eerie Queerie!, or one of the many other in betweens, you’ll find each of these titles has its own uniqueness that makes it just right for October 31st reading:

Daemonium (Vol. 01) – $3.99
Eerie Queerie! (Vol. 01) – $4.99
Eerie Queerie! (Vol. 02) – $4.99
The Embalmer (Vol. 01) – $4.99
The Embalmer (Vol. 03) – $4.99
The Embalmer (Vol. 04) – $4.99
I Luv Halloween (Vol. 01) – $3.99
I Luv Halloween (Vol. 03) – $3.99
Mad Love Chase (Vol. 01) – $5.49
Mad Love Chase (Vol. 02) – $5.49
Tokyo Babylon (Vol. 01) – $3.99
Tokyo Babylon (Vol. 02) – $3.99
Zone-00 (Vol. 01) - $4.99

For some really good Halloween reads, I recommend checking back on Shannon Fay’s 13 Days of Halloween posts from last year too. It has a great mix of scary and fun titles to cover just about anything and everything you like about the day.

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Categories: BLU, Features, Manga, OEL/GlobalManga, Super Savings, Tokyopop, Yaoi/Boys' Love
Tags: Tokyo Babylon

NYAF 2011: Yen Press

By Lissa Pattillo on Saturday, October 15, 2011

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New York Comic Con/New York Anime Fest is in full swing this weekend and the majority of their manga-related panels were on Friday. Publishers haven’t disappointed with a bunch of new licenses for the last big con of the year. Yen Press’s panel was up first with some new adaptations and new manga licenses, along with some really exciting news for fans of digital manga to top it all off and a good Q&A sesssion.

It was a lengthy panel with lots to share so you can see the complete post under the cut (or below depending on how you’re reading this).

Super Savings: EverythingYaoi and Clearance Doesn’t Hurt Either!

By Lissa Pattillo on Monday, February 21, 2011

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Everything Yaoi Clearance

Sales come and sales go but many online sites have sales on 24/7. EverythingYaoi.com, a site that earns its name, has a handy Clearance section where they list just what it sounds like – items on clearance you can get for up to 50% off the cover price (and sometimes more).

Of the books currently listed, below are my top recommendations:

Going in alphabetical order, the first two books I’d recommend added to any boys’ love shopping cart is Can’t Win With You!. The series is three volumes long and while volume one isn’t on clearance, Can’t Win With You (Vol. 02) and Can’t Win With You (Vol. 03) are with each priced at $4.99/US each. The series is about a cast of amusing, often sexually explorative and teasing teenage boys in an all boys’ school, drawn by Yukine Honami, whose works have been published many times since by Digital Manga. The story itself is written by Satosumi Takaguchi who wrote Shout Out Loud! which was published by BLU.

Two other second-half volumes I’d commend are Passion (Vol. 03) and Passion (Vol. 04). This series has always had a special place in my yaoi-loving heart as one of the first (if not the very first) strictly boys’ love stories to be published in English (excluding Tokyopop‘s early fare in the genre). I remember the day I bought volume one the day it came out… ah the memories and the first of many purchases. The series itself is pretty standard genre-fare but it’s sweet and fluffy and has those great classic cliches of student-teacher relations and starting said relations off on the seriously wrong foot.

Two other Digital Manga series worth adding to your bookshelf from the clearance selection are Moon and Sandals (Vol. 01) by Fumi Yoshinaga and Princess Princess (Vol. 02) by Mikiyo Tsuda. The first is part one of a two book series wherevolume one gets you attached to the characters and the following book proves a steamy follow-up. Princess Princess isn’t really a boys’ love story but pretty boys, teasing and crossdressing definitely makes it an applicable crossover for many fans.

And last but not least, a one-shot from Yaoi Press, the original boys’ love publisher affiliated with EverythingYaoi.com. The book is titled Surge and is a cute love story between a surfer and book nerd. It’s got some funny moments and an adorable art style plus one-shots are always a great cart topper. All in one!

Though these titles are just some of those in the site’s clearance section, it’s also recommended you check out their other sale sections to see what books from different publishers they’ve got on discount as well. Shipping prices can get a little hefty though so be sure to read through the FAQ section when making your calculations. Shop on, boys-love collectors!

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Categories: BLU, Digital Manga, Features, June, Manga, OEL/GlobalManga, Super Savings, Yaoi Press, Yaoi/Boys' Love
Tags: Fumi Yoshinaga

eManga Expands Creator Offering with Yayoi Neko’s Incubus

By Lissa Pattillo on Thursday, December 30, 2010

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eManga: Incubus by Yayoi Neko

eManga has added a bunch of interesting new titles in this latter portion of 2010, notably a handful of new titles from artists outside of Japan, along with a new manga series exclusive to their site.

Most recent, and my most favourite, additions are the first two volumes of Yayoi Neko’s Incubus series. The print edition (currently up to volume three) has been published in its entirety so far by Kitty Media (after being picked up from Bang! Entertainment).

“Demonic beings longing to be human put Judas’ life at stake to possess the unique soul within him. The incubus Lenniel, has sworn to protect and defeat all who threaten the man he loves: the shy puritan Judas. But outside dangers are not all that threaten his human beloved. A painful past haunts Judas, preventing him from trusting anyone, especially Lenniel. This is an enemy the incubus is not sure how to defeat. How does one fight a crippling force that exists within another’s heart?”

I’m a fan of Yayoi Neko‘s work – it has an art style that offers something notably different than the vast majority of boys’ love released in North America (check out her website gallery). The first volume of Incubus also comes with a short called ‘Weapons of Mass Destruction’ (which was released originally by the artist in limited edition ‘floppy’ comic format) about a scientist and the robot he helped create with… well, it’s worth reading to get all the exact details.

Other new titles on eManga include the webcomic BL-hit, Starfighter, a sample edition of the artistically-gorgeous Teahouse (also a web comic) and Mizuki, which is a “never before released” shoujo by the creator of Wedding Peach.

Digital Manga sells its points “using a credit card at a typical rate of 1000 points for $10.”. Looking at a complete volume at 300 points, you’re only paying $3 for the rental (which lasts 72 hours). It’s a great deal for people who love to read a book once, especially when a second rental allows you unlimited time access (so about $6 a book for digital keeps).

While the addition of a variety of talented artists from around the globe is of course great, I also continue to be impressed simply by the amount of cross-publisher work being done with eManga. BLU (Tokyopop), Yaoi Press, Media Blasters and of course Digital Manga, all on one site – it’s quickly collecting all the boys’ love basics (plus some Harlequin thrown in there for good measure?). It’s a shame though that this collection of boys’ love, with its great prices in particular, isn’t able to be utilized on a more mobile platform. Even a digital-meh person such as myself wouldn’t be able to deny this kind of collection being in the palm of my hand instead of trapped on the internet-locked computer screen.

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Categories: BLU, Digital Manga, Manga, Media Blasters, News, OEL/GlobalManga, Yaoi Press, Yaoi/Boys' Love

Yen Press Seeks Fresh Talent for Yen Plus Serialization

By Lissa Pattillo on Friday, November 5, 2010

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Early September marked the first issue of Yen Plus in its digital format for subscribers. For only $2.99 a month – which is set up via PayPal – readers now have access to that month’s issue, which also now includes new chapters of K-on and Yotsuba&! (which was reason enough for me to subscribe right off the bat).

In their first issue they also officially launched their search for new talent to be potential new additions to the monthly magazine. At their request, information was kept off other sites to give subscribers the early-bird advantage. As of today however, the information for their New Talent Search has been posted publicly on Yen Press’s site so now all interested and qualifying artists can read the details.

Review: Loud Snow

By Jaime Samms on Wednesday, November 3, 2010

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Author: Tina Anderson
Artist: Amelie Belcher
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Release Date: July 2010

Synopsis: “Romantic ice-age hilarity ensues as young whaler Anituk’s miserable life with doting parents and an oversexed wife-hunting brother is rudely interrupted by the arrival of Abalu, a tall handsome stranger who delights in encroaching upon Anituk’s angst.”

For all the light heartedness of penguin tossing and wife hunting, there is a strong undercurrent of loneliness in this story. The main character just doesn’t feel he ‘fits’ in his world. He comes from such a limited background, so small a circle of influence, it’s no wonder he doesn’t get how he fits in when he’s got only his loving parents and his lusty, wife-hunting brother to measure himself by. Even when he meets Abalu, he still feels on the outside of something important. It isn’t until the snow strands them on their own does Anituk finally understand what he’s feeling and what he wants to do about it.

13 Days of Halloween: Arkham Woods

By Shannon Fay on Thursday, October 21, 2010

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Shannon, here – Halloween is my favourite holiday and to honour it I’m counting down 13 manga throughout the month that I think best capture the Halloween spirit. They aren’t all horror manga, as to me Halloween is about more than scares: it’s about a sense of fun and wonder. It’s about discovering that there may be more to this world than meets the eye. So with that in mind, there’s everything on this list from action-packed shounen to romantic-comedy to children’s manga to some lock-the-doors-and-leave-the-lights-on horror. (See all 13 Days of Halloween so far…)

- – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – -

7. Arkham Woods

Seven Seas has a lot of titles that would fit on this list, but one that stands out is the lovecraftian OEL manga Arkham Woods. Kirsti’s mom recently found out that she is losing her sight. In order to pay for the operation, they need to sell Kirsti’s great-uncle’s creepy home. However, that may be hard to do since the house sits on a portal to an ancient and unspeakable evil, a feature likely to scare away potential buyers.

Arkham Woods is a nicely paced horror story. The tension and the weirdness just keep mounting until the climax, where the cast must stop Cthulu himself from taking over our world. The series plays pretty fast and lose with the Cthulu mythos, but it still manages to share its atmosphere of weird, otherworldly horror. If you’re not familiar with H.P. Lovecraft’s works, don’t worry, the manga tells you everything you need to know.

If you want to check out Arkham Woods yourself, Seven Seas has put the entire thing online here.

(In the interest of full disclosure, I want to note that I’ve worked for Seven Seas as a freelance editor. In the interest of self-promotion, I want to note that anyone who likes dark and twisted manga should buy Amnesia Labyrinth as soon as it comes out.)

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Categories: Misc, OEL/GlobalManga, Seven Seas
Tags: 13 Days of Halloween

Artist Eric Kim To Hold Manga Workshop Program in Toronto

By Lissa Pattillo on Saturday, October 16, 2010

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Far too few and far between when I get to post to about some neat manga-related events going on across the country. Today I was sent an interesting press release from artist Eric Kim, probably known best to manga readers as the artist of the manga-inspired Love As A Foreign Language.

From November 6 to December 18, Eric Kim will be holding hands-on sessions about the creation of Japanese manga with the focus on storytelling through art. These sessions will take place in Toronto and will be 3 hours a class for seven weeks. Enrollment is limited to 15 students.

“Students will be introduced to layout, composition and design for storytelling, staging, anatomy, life drawing, perspective, shadow and texture, inking, toning, lettering, character design, color work, and also an overview of the North American marketplace. Along with comprehensive training both in-class and through assignments, students will obstain training that will start them on their storytelling careers.”

This Manga Dojo is a part of the Toronto Cartoonist Workshop which holds similar classes for all types of comic-making material.

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Categories: Canada, OEL/GlobalManga