Profiles In Manga, Part Two By Park Cooper Here we are at home, expecting a copy of volume 6 of Satisfaction Guaranteed to arrive at any time, so that Barb can see what's happening whenever she looks at her script translation... As you know from last time, I thought I'd give English-Language manga creators an opportunity to let you get to know them, and understand what makes them tick. Here are some more of the answers I've gotten so far...
Your name, your manga's title, and what your manga's about:
- David Hine, writer of 'Poison Candy', with art by Hans Steinbach - a tale of love and loss as a group of teen-agers find themselves the victims of the South Korean Adolescent Retrovirus, a disease that
triggers the latent mutant gene in a tiny minority of adolescents all over the world, giving them remarkable powers of telepathy and telekinesis. Unfortunately the retrovirus also kills within a few months. The story centers on Sam Chance and his girlfriend Donna as they struggle to come to terms with Sam's newfound abilities and the death sentence that comes with them. It's a science-fiction thriller with a rock 'n' roll heart.
What was the first anime you ever watched?
- Akira. And I'm still waiting for someone to top it.
What was the first manga you ever read?
- There was a French magazine called 'Le Crie Qui Tue', which translates as 'The Shout that Kills'. It reprinted various Japanese comics including Golgo 13 and came out in the late nineteen-seventies. After that I picked up manga in the original Japanese for years. The first I could actually read in English were the Dark Horse translations of Lone Wolf and Cub, and then Viz published 'Mai the Psychic Girl and I was hooked for life.
What was the first western comic you ever read?
- The Beano.
What is your favorite anime?
- Movie - Akira. Series: Le Chevalier D'Eon.
What is your favorite manga?
- Twentieth Century Boys.
What is your favorite western comic?
- Currently Bouncer by Boucq and Jodorowsky.
What was the last comic or manga you read?
- The Dinosaurs are Coming by Shaky Kane.
What was the last anime you watched (and was it any good)?
- 'Grave of the Fireflies' - superb, and very moving.
What is your definition of manga? How is manga different from western comics?
- I believe the literal translation is 'irresponsible pictures' which is a better term than 'comic books' isn't it? I wouldn't really like to construct a definition of my own. Japanese manga cover a wide range of genres and styles. Too many people associate manga with big eyes, looking up schoolgirls' skirts and cartoon violence with ridiculous amounts of 'speed lines'. There are lots of beautiful books that are far removed from those stereotypes, including the horror stories of Junjo Ito and Hideshi Hino, the philosophical contemplations of Jiro Taniguchi, the surrealism of Yoji Fukuyama, the kitsch Freudian allegories of Junko Mizuno and the twisted paranoiac visions of Suehiro Maruo.
- The difference I've found in working on manga is that I can be a lot more expansive, allow scenes to open up and develop cinematically and give the visuals enough space to express the emotions, in ways that I can't do in the denser American-style comic books. So direct emotional involvement is probably the key difference and that's probably why so many young people, especially girls and women are getting into manga, when they probably wouldn't go near traditional western comic books.
What can western comics learn from the popularity of manga?
- As I said above, they should focus more on the emotional inner life of the characters, give stories space to breathe, and above all expand the genres beyond superhero and zombie comics.
What are your current influences?
- Too many to mention. I think I've been more impressed by American TV shows than anything else in the past couple of years. I've been catching up on shows on DVD, coming very late to Buffy and Sopranos. In the past few months I've been watching the collections of Deadwood, Firefly and Carnivale. All of them great shows.
- I'm sure I've also been influenced by all the Bendis comics I've read over the past couple of years. Probably Warren Ellis too. I also read a lot of screenplays and scripts by people like Tarantino, the Cohen brothers, David Mamet and Paul Schrader.
What are your current favorite websites?
- Newsarama, CBR and The Pulse for news. Broken Frontier and Silver Bullet for reviews and columns, the Spawn community boards for dialogue with my readers and my own www.strangeembrace.com for everything Strange Embrace-related.
What's your favorite movie, novel, and TV show?
- 'Sunshine' was a near-perfect movie. Carnivale is currently ruining my sleep and the last book I read was 'The Elephant Vanishes' by Haruki Murakami. All-time favorite movie is 'Repulsion' by Polanski, tied with 'Eraserhead' by David Lynch. All-time favorite novel... very difficult. I think I'd have to say the complete works of Franz Kafka, or in case that's making me sound just too pretentious, the complete works of Stephen KIng. Best TV show of all time is 'Shameless', the British show created by Paul
Abbott.
What was the path that led you to creating a Tokyopop manga?
- I met Mark Paniccia at the San Diego convention a few years back. He was working for Tokyopop at the time and liked the pitch I sent him. He since moved to Marvel, where I've also worked with him. Luis Reyes became my new editor at Tokyopop. He put me together with Hans Steinbach and we haven't looked back. Unlike a lot of the creators of OEL books for Tokyopop I haven't come straight to manga. I have a long background in other kinds of comic-book storytelling, but I have always wanted to see my name on a manga, and I'm more excited about the release of 'Poison Candy' than anything since I first published my own 'Strange Embrace' series.
Tell us about your background.
- I have worked as an inker, penciler and writer and also produced a lot of fully painted artwork. I've worked for independent, underground and mainstream publishers in the UK and the USA as well as self-publishing. I've also worked as an illustrator in advertising and editorial for numerous magazines, notably Maxim magazine. I live and work in South London with my partner Vikki and my son, Alex.
What conventions will you be attending this year?
- Bristol Comic Expo in the UK, San Diego, and New York.
Who's your editor?
- Luis Reyes at Tokyopop. Steve Wacker and Mark Panniccia at Marvel, Brian Haberlin on Spawn and Richard Starkings on 'Strange Embrace'.
How did you find your artist?
- Luis suggested Hanzo (Hans Steinbach) to me and sent me some samples from his 'Midnight Opera' OEL. I loved the style and it was obvious we didn't have to look any further. He has done a superb job on the art. Unlike a lot of western artists who are just imitating, he has completely absorbed the Japanese style of drawing and storytelling to the extent that most people looking at this work would guess that he's actually Japanese. I'm hoping this will be a breakthrough book that pulls in both Manga and Comics fans.
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Your name, your manga's title, and what your manga's about:
- My name is Hans "Hanzo" Steinbach,i worked on A Midnight Opera, it's a story about two brothers fighting for Justice in the neverending struggle between the Catholic Church and the Undead. I am currently working on Poison Candy by David Hine.
What was the first anime you ever watched?
- If i remember correctly,the first Anime i ever watched would have to be Fist of The North Star.
What was the first manga you ever read?
- Dragon Ball
What was the first western comic you ever read?
- The Maxx
What is your favorite anime?
- Devilman
What is your favorite manga?
- Tough one...i'd have to say Koroshiya Ichi.
What is your favorite western comic?
- I don't read western comics that much anymore but the one i really enjoyed was Spawn.
What was the last comic or manga you read?
- Last comic i read was Spawn. The last manga i read was Oldboy.
What was the last anime you watched (and was it any good)?
- Vampire Hunter D:Bloodlust.It wasn't good no...it was Fantastic!
What is your definition of manga? How is manga different from western comics?
- Manga is different from western comics in many ways in my opinion,one being the art obviously but also i think that manga gives the artist more freedom when it comes to creativity.With manga there's more space to fill in whatever comes to mind and the story can evolve at any given rate,in western comics on the other hand there's a lot of story that gets crammed in,at least that's what I observed.
What can western comics learn from the popularity of manga?
- I'm not sure how to answer that question since it really all depends on taste. ...probably keep an open mind and give other creators a chance to evolve.
What are your current influences?
- Norse Mythology
What are your current favorite websites?
- Video game websites and YouTube.
What's your favorite movie, novel, and TV show?
- My favorite movie is An American Werewolf in london (also Oldboy), Novel,The Bachman Books, Tv show,The Simpsons
What was the path that led you to creating a Tokyopop manga?
- Tokyopop was the only name that came up at the time, when i tried to submit my work.And i'm glad i did.
Tell us about your background.
- Thanks to my dad's work we had to travel every fours years,so my outlook at the world was a little different than that of my friends, so i've always wanted to draw the places i've been.I've been drawing regularly since i was little but at the age of nine i became fascinated with manga and anime and so taught myself how to draw manga.
Who's your editor?
- Luis Reyes
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Your name, your manga's title, and what your manga's about:
- JIM JIMENEZ, Grand Theft Galaxy
What was the first anime you ever watched?
- VOLTES 5
What was the first manga you ever read?
-KEN SHIRO FIST OF THE NORTH STAR
What was the first western comic you ever read?
-JLA
What is your favorite anime?
- AKIRA
What is your favorite manga?
- AKIRA
What is your favorite western comic?
- WOLVERINE
What was the last comic or manga you read?
- X-MEN
What was the last anime you watched (and was it any good)?
- NARUTO the movie..it was awesome..
What is your definition of manga? How is manga different from western comics?
-THEY JUST DO IT IN A DIFFERENT WAY..THAT CAN MAKE YOU SAY...WOOOW!
What can western comics learn from the popularity of manga?
- DELIVERY OF IMPACT..
What are your current influences?
- OTOMO KATSUHIRO and other manga artist..
What are your current favorite websites?
- TOKYO POP ofcourse!
What's your favorite movie, novel, and TV show?
- LORD OF THE RINGS..novel..NONE..tv show..MANGA SHOW
What was the path that led you to creating a Tokyopop manga?
- IT'S LIKE MAGIC..ONE THING LED TO ANOTHER, THE NEXT THING I KNOW I'M AN ARTIST OF TOKYO POP
Tell us about your background:
- ...ME AND MY BROTHERS ARE IN A BAND with our own album JBROTHERS, ALSO ME AND MY BROS. HAVE BEEN WORKING IN ANIMATION CO. AND COMICS INDUSTRY HERE IN THE PHILIPPINES.
Who's your editor?
-HOPE DONOVAN
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Your name, your manga's title, and what your manga's about:
- I'm Stormcrow Hayes, author of Afterlife. Afterlife is the story of Thaddeus, a Guardian in the Afterlife, a place no one expected to go when they died. It's a strange, almost alien landscape that's massively overcrowded and threatened by demons, creatures that fall from the inky void above wreaking havoc. Thaddeus' duties include protecting the world from these disasters, but he's convinced by Nyoko, a nosy young girl who read his journal, to search for a mythical gate that might lead to another world. After all, the world of Afterlife is disintegrating and Thaddeus has to learn if there's an afterlife to the afterlife!
What was the first anime you ever watched?
- I grew up watching Speed Racer, Space Battleship Yamato (aka Star Blazers), as well as live action shows such as Johnny Sokko and his Flying Robot.
What was the first manga you ever read?
- Lone Wolf and Cub is by far my favorite manga, but I don't recall what the first manga I ever read might have been. Later, I remember finding Appleseed and some other cool manga on my comic store's shelves in the late 80s/early 90s.
What was the first western comic you ever read?
- I don't recall, but I know that as a kid I read all your typical heroes, including Spider-Man, Batman, Superman, Hulk, etc.
What is your favorite anime?
- Cowboy Bebop. I taped it quite accidentally one night as part of Cartoon Network's Adult Swim debut. I watched it and instantly became hooked as I followed the season straight through to the end.
What is your favorite manga?
- Lone Wolf and Cub.
What is your favorite western comic?
- I was really invigorated by such comics as Grant Morrison's Animal Man, Alan Moore's Swamp Thing, and Neil Gaiman's Sandman.
What was the last comic or manga you read?
- Don't recall. Although I recently read a few volumes of Death Note.
What was the last anime you watched (and was it any good)?
- Probably the first two or three episodes of Samurai Champloo -- and yes, it was good.
What is your definition of manga? How is manga different from western comics?
- Unfortunately, a lot of manga doesn't have very strong storytelling elements. They have fantastic ideas and imaginative visuals, but I often find the art of storytelling missing. Consequently, I'm fascinated that it's become such a huge force right now. But I think that stems from the fact that a lot of manga is simply soap opera with some extra dimensional element. I think people are drawn to the simple melodrama of young protagonists caught up in unique situations, mixed with strong love stories.
What can western comics learn from the popularity of manga?
- That there is more to life than superheroes!
What are your current influences?
- I would say my current influences have changed dramatically over time. Any artist is initially influenced by works that they've seen or read in their youth. However, these days, I'm finding more inspiration from conversations with my peers. I enjoy nothing more than discussing stories with other writers and artists including Joshua Dysart, Nzingha Clarke, and some other friends who I think are very smart, but may not yet be published or produced (depending on the medium they work in).
- I also find many of my inspirations from the mass of nonfiction books that I read as well as shows like Frontline (on PBS) which often inspires me as I learn about the world and its current trends. Only I like to extrapolate into the near future to see how current events will shape the world in the next 10-50 years.
I think that we're in an especially volatile period of change. Look at how much technology has transformed the way we live in just a decade with cell phones, the internet, personal computers, etc. Not only does technology continue to evolve, but our world itself will shape the future. Gas shortages, global warming, overpopulation will all have profound influences on society and culture. I think any good writer needs to take these things into consideration when writing near future fiction or science fiction.
What are your current favorite websites?
- The Onion, The Idiot Magazine, Wikipedia (for research)
What's your favorite movie, novel, and TV show?
- I always find it impossible to pick a favorite anything so here's a list of whatever occurred to me at the time.
- TV - The Office, Frontline,
- Movies - Network, both Howard Hawk's and John Carpenter's The Thing, Duck Soup (Marx Bros), The Life of Brian (Python), Stalag 17, The Third Man…
- Novel - I've been reading a lot of P.K. Dick (Ubik, A Scanner Darkly, The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch), but I also recently reread Orwell's 1984 which holds up a little too well.
- I'm adding nonfiction as a category as well. Some recent favorites include Blink (Gladwell), The Coming Plague (Garrett), and finally Ghost Wars by Steve Coll is a fascinating and incredibly detailed history of Afghanistan over the past four decades or so and should be required reading for anyone who wants to have a grasp of what's going on over there (even though Iraq grabs most of the headlines, we are still fighting there and the Taliban is making a comeback).
Tell us about your background.
- I've always been a writer. Ever since I was very young, I would write stories or create mini-comics on notebook paper and staple them together to trade with friends. However, I was never very good at the artwork. I remember one time I told my friend that I wasn't going to draw any more comics because he was a much better artist. He pleaded with me not to stop. It was only later that I realized it was because he enjoyed the stories I told.
- Anyway, I wrote stories all through high school and when I entered college, I was actually surprised to learn that you could study creative writing. Of course, most writing programs aren't very good, so I branched out of the English department and studied writing in the film department, the theatre department, and anywhere else I could. Our journalism school even had a class in writing comedy where the final exam was performing stand-up.
- Eventually, I realized that the only way for me to really make a living would be to move to Los Angeles as I wanted to be a screenwriter.
- I've been in L.A. for the past ten years working on screenplays, comics, a semi-weekly column for a Sri Lankan newspaper (long story) and I'm also currently working on my first novel. Actually, I'm working simultaneously on two novels, one fiction and one non-fiction. Hopefully, I'll finish at least one of them soon.
What conventions will you be attending this year?
- I'll definitely be at San Diego Comic Con. I may be attending Mid-Ohio Con in the fall, but I'm not sure. I recently attended Pittsburgh's Comic Con as well as Wondercon in San Francisco; both were quite excellent. I would definitely consider going again as long as I had the time to travel.
Who's your editor?
- Luis Reyes. He's been fantastic to work with. However, I should also mention my friend Angie Littman who reads virtually everything I write and helps make my work better.
How did you find your artist?
- I met Rob Steen in 2001 through a mutual friend who knew we both wanted to break into comics. Rob and I met to discuss ideas and we instantly connected. We put our first project together and went to Comic Con to pitch it. That was a rough experience. I'd been working in Hollywood for years on the lowest rung of the ladder, so I didn't have high expectations, but I was surprised to learn that breaking into comics is just as difficult as breaking into Hollywood without the lucrative financial reward (obviously I'm not including the major names in the biz who are making big money in comics).
- Despite the difficulties, Rob and I managed to find some interest in the project, but it never went anywhere. A few years later, we heard that Tokyopop was creating original projects and I told him we had to submit something. I didn't want to use our original project because I didn't feel it was right for manga. I came up with four new ideas that I pitched to Rob over dinner one night to see which one he liked best. The rest, as they say, is history.
- Not only am I very proud of Afterlife, but I'm also happy to announce that we received our first award from a library association (YALSA) and IGN.com listed us as one of the top 10 manga of 2006! Quite an honor!
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Your name, your manga's title, and what your manga's about:
- Lincy Chan, co-creator and artist of Rhysmyth.
What was the first anime you ever watched?
- As early as I can remember, it was Doraemon.
What was the first manga you ever read?
- Doraemon.
What was the first western comic you ever read?
- Garfield
What is your favorite anime?
- Escaflowne
What is your favorite manga?
- Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
What is your favorite western comic?
- Peanuts
What was the last comic or manga you read?
- Tsubasu: Reservoir Chronicle
What was the last anime you watched (and was it any good)?
- Howl's moving Castle. It was really good in term of visuals and storytelling. I can still watch it after so many viewings and still find something new.
What is your definition of manga? How is manga different from western comics?
- Manga means sequential art, a panel to panel storytelling method. I think the layout, art style and pacing is the difference between western comics and manga. For manga, it uses "show and tell" method while Western comic is more like "tell and show."
What can western comics learn from the popularity of manga?
- Anyone can be his or her own hero; even a small potato can steal the spot light.
What are your current influences?
- I think I have a lot of different influences at the moment because I read a lot, from Manga to Mahwah, boy to girl comic. I learn a lot from those.
What are your current favorite websites?
- conceptart forum, wikipedia and Google
What's your favorite movie, novel, and TV show?
- For movie, I think Shawshank Redemption will always rank pretty high on my list. For novel, I like the "Mike neko Hiomuzu no suiri" series (Tortoiseshell Detective Cat Holmes) by Jiro Akagawa. Really want to read every book in the series, but some books are hard to get. Besides, there's so many of them I think I lost track of it already. I haven't watched any TV lately, so my only TV show is the News.
What was the path that led you to creating a Tokyopop manga?
- It's my dream to make manga/comic since I was small. When I graduated from college Tokyopop was the only legit company taking manga submissions in the US.
Tell us about your background.
- I was born in Hong Kong and move to America in 1994. Graduated from SJSU with BFA degree in 2004. Originally I wanted to work in the animation or video game industry only to find that my English ability, art style and personality would make it hard for me to find a job and survive. So I focus on something else I really liked that suited my art style the best.
What conventions will you be attending this year?
- I will be at Fanime, Anime Expo, SDCC, and Siggraph.
Who's your editor?
- Alexis Kirsch…he is a great whip master! …no I mean a great editor
Half Dead update: I often hear about Half Dead being sold out at comic book stores these days -- just ask the store to order a copy for you. Since the distribution is through Marvel, they should be able to get it for you quite quickly (especially if we're talking about North America).
http://www.panel2panel.com/gsg-archives.html
http://www.wickermanstudios.com
http://www.halfdeadcomic.com
http://www.comicspace.com/wickermanstudios
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