So, the big announcement of NYAF was this: Del Rey is going to do manga based on Marvel characters, a shoujo version of X-Men and a shonen version of Wolverine. The X-Men title will be written by the husband-and-wife team of Dave Roman and Raina Telgemeier and illustrated by the Indonesian artist Anzu; Wolverine will be written by Antony Johnson. Each series will be two volumes, and the manga will be standard format: 200 pages, black and white interior, 5 x 7 1/2 trim size. The first X-Men manga will be published in spring 2009.
MARVEL ENTERTAINMENT AND DEL REY MANGA ANNOUNCE TWO NEW SERIES BASED ON X-MEN, WOLVERINE
NEW YORK, NY – December 9, 2007 – Marvel Entertainment and Del Rey Manga, an imprint of Ballantine Books at the Random House Publishing Group, announced today plans to publish two new manga series based on Marvel Entertainment’s highly popular X-Men series.
The manga, created with the cooperation and consultation of Marvel editors, will take the classic characters from the X-Men series and re-imagine them in a manga style. The first project, scripted by the husband-and-wife team of Raina Telgemeier (writer and illustrator of The Babysitter’s Club graphic novels) and Dave Roman (creator of the comic Agnes Quill), will focus specifically on the X-Men team. Indonesian artist Anzu will illustrate the two-volume series, which will go on sale in Spring 2009.
It’s the X-Men as you’ve never seen them before, with the storyline fashioned as a private school shôjo comedy. (Shôjo manga is aimed at girls and often covers popular subjects such as comedy, romance, and drama.) As the only girl in the all-boys School for Gifted Youngsters, Kitty Pryde, a mutant with phasing abilities, is torn between the popular Hellfire Club, led by flame-throwing mutant Pyro—and the school misfits, whom she eventually bands together as the X-Men.
A second manga series, to be published in Spring 2009, follows the adventures of Wolverine, a breakout member of the X-Men team known for his attitude and unbreakable adamantium claws.
Dallas Middaugh, associate publisher of Del Rey Manga, says, “The X-Men are some of the most well-known characters in the world, and it’s the strength of those characters-along with strong and unique storylines-that make the X-Men a perfect match for the manga form. It’s an amazing opportunity, and we’re eager to bring new interpretations to the fans through the prism of manga.”
The X-Men made their comics debut in The X-Men #1 in 1963 and have since become a mainstream pop culture phenomenon with the development of an animated television series, several video games and a blockbuster live-action film trilogy.
Ruwan Jayatilleke, Vice President of development of Marvel Entertainment, Inc., said “Del Rey Manga has been an innovative force in the manga landscape—-consistently growing the medium and breaking the boundaries of print. We have found a partner who will bring the X-Men and Wolverine into the fastest growing segment of graphic fiction, with superior storytelling and visual fireworks. Comic book fans and manga readers have much to look forward to.”
Manga, the Japanese term for comics, is a Japanese cultural phenomenon that accounts for nearly half of all the books and magazines sold in Japan. Read by men and women of all ages, manga covers a wide variety of themes including adventure, romance, fantasy, and more. Manga has experienced incredible growth in the US and Canadian graphic novel market in the past few years. According to industry source ICv2 manga sales reached between $170 million and $200 million in 2006.
About the Creators
Raina Telgemeier is best known for her work as the writer and illustrator of The Babysitter’s Club graphic novels. She received her BFA from the School of Visual Arts and has been nominated for numerous awards, including the Eisner, Ignatz, Cybil, and Web Cartoonists’ Choice awards.
Dave Roman currently works for Nickelodeon Magazine as an associate editor. The co-creator of the Harvey Award-nominated series Jax Epoch and the Quicken Forbidden and the Ignatz award-winning Teen Boat, he also pens his own webcomic, Astronaut Elementary. He is also the creator of the comic Agnes Quill.
Anzu, a manga artist based in Indonesia, will make her US manga art debut in April 2008 with the first volume of The Reformed, written by Chris Hart. She has contributed to Hart’s bestselling How to Draw Manga series.
They had me until the phrase “created with the cooperation and consultation of Marvel editors”.
I like X-men. I used to like Wolvie — and while I want to give the creative professionals every benefit of a doubt: The involvement of the Marvel brass does not inspire confidence. or hope. or even delusions of adequacy. If you love your properties and want to see something new that hasn’t been done in the 40+ year history of the title: set it free. Pick your writer and artist (this is where the editorial ‘expertise’ — if Marvel has any — would come into play) and then give them free reign.
Actually, the premise of the Kitty-Shojo-X-Men title is intriguing, but that *threat* of Marvel editorial involvement leaves me with a sick feeling in my stomach. That, and they’re only giving the creative teams 2 volumes? What can any writer&artist do in a mere 384 pages (or less) when attempting to re-interpret one of the great comic canons?
I’m inclined to go with the same line of thinking as the commenter above myself. It’s an interesting concept, almost as interesting as when Archie Comics, went and announced that “Sabrina” would be in a manga style comic. The way they chose their artist was by a contest.
So I don’t even remember the girls name. Plus I am unsure if they gave said artist/creator writing rights or not.
Regardless, I’ll check out the Kitty/shojo version when it gets out there. It interests me just enough.
Don’t give up yet. The Marvel editor at the panel was CB Cebulski, who has edited manga before and seems to have a great affection for the medium. And I think the books are actually going to be produced by Del Rey.
Sabrina is drawn by Tania del Rio, who is a very talented artist with a number of different irons in the fire. (Disclosure: She drew my avatar for Digital Strips, which I also use on my business card.) I don’t know about rights, but the last time I talked to Tania she seemed to be very happy to be there.
Marvel must be involved, they own the characters. Looking at their other non616 titles (Absolute, Adventures, Spider-Girl, Mary Jane), Marvel has had some success reaching beyond the fanboy market.
The Uncanny X-Men once had a strong female readership, based on well written characters and interesting storylines. While I wonder about how comical the stories will be in this new series, I think it will work. Will it sell? Wait and see.
@ Brigid
Ah yes that was her name. Thanks for informing me. Myself, I’m interested in reading the manga version of “Sabrina” however I can’t seem to find it here in any newstand like the usual Archie Comics. Seems the only way I’d be able to is if I went via order form or something. Sad that. I’m usually broke, due to my absurd money spending habits on Manga.
I won’t give up entirely on the new Del Rey/Marvel manga totally. I will check them out when I get the chance, and money. Should prove interesting. Always been a fan of X-Men anyways, and I think that’s the main pull for myself. Not that it’s being done in manga style, but that it’s X-Men.
We shall see what we see, right?