Viz Statement On Japan Disaster
Viz Media, the U.S.-based manga publisher and American subsidiary of Japanese publishers Shogakukan and Shueisha, released a statement in response to inquiries of concern from fans about employees and manga creators in Tokyo. All employees are confirmed to be alive and unharmed. Viz released an official statement:
The terrible events in Japan affects us all at Viz Media directly, personally and professionally. Our hearts go out to those affected by the tragedy and the ongoing crisis, and we hope for a quick recovery. We know the people of Japan will persevere and prevail. Sincere thanks to all those who have inquired about our parent companies, Shogakukan, Shueisha and Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions. Our colleagues in Tokyo are safe and the situation is stabilizing, though resuming normal day-to-day business activities may take a little while. On a company level, we will be coordinating activities with our parent companies to support the disaster victims. The victims of this tragedy are in our thoughts, and our gratitude goes out to all of the heroic people around the world pulling together to help them.
Eagle and Stumptown Award Nominations
The 2011 nominations for the awards for UK's Eagle and the Stumptown Comics Festival have been announced and the Eagle Awards are now open for voting. More details are available here and here.
Neil Gaiman Writes Journey to the West Adaptation
Comics creator and bestselling novelist Neil Gaiman announced this week that he has signed on to write the script for a three-part 3D fantasy trilogy based on the Chinese classic, The Journey to the West. The movies will be filmed in China and produced by Chinese producer Zhang Jizhong. The Journey to the West is one of China's most important and popular epics and chronicles the adventures of a Buddhist monk, the Monkey King and two supernatural beings as they journey west to India. More details are available here.
This Week @ Good Comics For Kids
This week School Library Journal’s blog Good Comics for Kids had a review ofSkullkickers Vol. 1, what the GC4K reviewers are reading this week, and the 3/9 listing of comics suitable for all ages.
This Week @ The Beat
This week at PWCW editor Heidi MacDonald’s blog The Beat, she covered Jeff Smith's RASL movie deal, Viz's unusual choice to release their popular manga Bakuman in digital app format first and the fact that despite fewer readers, the comics industry is more profitable now than it was in the Golden Age.
