Avril Lavigne Inks Manga Deal
This story originally appeared in PW Comics Week on January 30, 2007 Sign up now!
by Calvin Reid, PW Comics Week -- Publishers Weekly, 1/30/2007
In what's beginning to look like a publishing trend, Del Rey has signed a high profile pop celebrity to a graphic novel deal. In April Del Rey Manga will publish Make 5 Wishes, an original 2 volume manga project created in collaboration with Grammy-Award winning pop-rocker Avril Lavigne. The second volume of Make 5 Wishes will be published in July. Both volumes will be in full color.
Make 5 Wishes is written by Joshua Dysart, who has written comics for DC, Image and Dark Horse, and illustrated by Camilla d'Errico, who has created comics for Slave Labor Graphics and Arcana Studios.
The first volume of Make 5 Wishes—Del Rey's first original manga project—will be released in conjunction with Lavigne's new album The Best Damn Thing coming from RCA Records in April 2007. World Rights to the book were acquired by Betsy Mitchell, editor-in-chief of Del Rey Books. The deal was brokered by Terry McBride, CEO of Network Management.
The book's plot is the story of Hanna, an alienated teenage girl who identifies so strongly with the sense of rebellion in Lavigne's music, that she virtually communicates with the rocker. After a demon gives Hanna a chance to wish for whatever she wants, things begin to go very wrong and Lavigne, who appears as a character in the book, helps Hanna find the courage to face her personal problems.
Lavigne has received multiple Grammy Award nominations, many music awards and has sold more than 26 million recordings. Mitchell credited the deal to "corporate synergy," explaining that Random House and RCA Records are both part of German international media company Bertelsmann AG. "The book came to us through the highest levels of the corporation,"said Mitchell.
In a prepared statement, Lavigne said, "I know that many of my fans read manga, and I'm really excited to be involved in creating stories that I know they will enjoy." Mitchell said the manga was initiated by Lavigne, who has approval over the project "and added lots of ideas for the artists to work with." Mitchell described the story as "dark. Its not a light tale." The book was produced by the House of Parlance Media, a Canadian packager. Mitchell said she first saw the project in November 2006 and work on the book is far along.
Del Rey and RCA Records will team up to promote the manga. Mitchell was quick to point out that Lavigne will begin media appearances for her new record in April and Del Rey will piggyback some of their promotion on her appearances. She's slated for appearances on Good Morning America, Regis & Kelly, Ellen DeGeneres, Jay Leno and MTV before traveling to Japan for more media appearances. Later in the year Lavigne will be performing on tour and Mitchell said, "We certainly hope and expect that she'll bring up the manga at every turn."
