Announcements at NYAF from Viz & Funimation
At this weekend's New York Anime Festival, manga and anime giant Viz Media announced that they would be simulcasting the English translation of Inuyasha: The Final Act online. The long-awaited conclusion to the bestselling anime series Inuyasha, based upon Rumiko Takahashi’s long-running manga series about the adventures of a young priestess and a dog demon, will play online in English translation just hours after it first plays on Japanese television.
Anime publisher Funimation also had some major announcements. They have licensed the anime X and its OVA, both based on the original manga by popular manga collective CLAMP. They also announced the full cast for the English dub of the new anime Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood, as well as the fact they would be producing a new uncut dub for the anime Initial D. Initial D's current English dub was heavily cut and Americanized, and was badly received by the American market.
Archie Gets An Agent
Archie Comics, home of such popular long-running characters as Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Josie and The Pussycats and Betty and Veronica has announced that they will now be represented by The Creative Artists Agency. CAA will be representing the publisher as they seek to expand their brand and merchandising.
Edmund Morgan Comics Adaptation For National Poetry Day
A four page full-color adaptation of Edmund Morgan’s poem The First Men on Mercury will come out for National Poetry Day. Created by metaphrog and commissioned by the Association for Scottish Literary Studies, the four page full-color comic will be distributed to all students in Glasgow secondary schools and will be available online here. National Poetry Day is on October 8.
Vanguard Productions New GN by Dondi Creator
Vanguard Productions has announced that they will be publishing Loverboy, a new graphic novel by Irwin Hasen, the creator of the critically acclaimed comic strip Dondi. Semi-autobiographical, the graphic novel is both the humorous tale of the author’s pursuit of and romantic adventures with beautiful women who are taller than him and his long and wildly varied career in comics.
Drawn & Quarterly Sale
Acclaimed independent comics publisher Drawn & Quarterly is having a rare warehouse clearance sale, with most books at 30-50% off their regular price. This is notable, since their last sale of this kind was four years ago.
Comics and New York History Lecture Series
The intimately entwined histories of comics and the city of New York will be the subject of a four-part lecture series. Presented by the New York Center for Independent Publishing and the General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen, the events will be held on Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m. at 20 West 44th Street, New York, NY. The first lecture, New York Comics as New York History, by political science professor and comics historian Kent Worchester, is an overview of the shared history of New York and comics, from the 1930’s through 9/11 and will take place on October 20. Future lectures include Cartooning and New York Politics by Parsons faculty member Bill Kartalopoulos on November 3, New York, The Super-City by ForeWord Magazine editor Peter Gutierrez on March 9, and “Carousel” In New York, a multimedia presentation by comics creator R. Sikoryak on April 20. Admission is $15, $10 for Members, and $5 for students. Tickets are available here.
This Week @ Good Comics for Kids
This week School Library Journal’s blog Good Comics for Kids has a review of Domo: The Manga, the 9/23 listing of comics suitable for all ages and a Comics Treasury themed links-roundup from Brigid Alverson.
This Week @ The Beat
This week Heidi MacDonald’s blog The Beat, hosted by Publishers Weekly, had a links roundup on SPX as well as coverage of the Schuster and Ignatz award winners, George O’Connor vs. Amazon.com over whether comics artists are authorstoo, the publisher of Yaoi Press indicted on drug charges, a parade float designed by Seth, Carl Jung as graphic novelist, the latest details on the Marvel/Disney deal and recent comics to film news.
