Manga, OEL and Comic, Oh My! Our panel dissects graphic novels inspired by manga. Jason Thompson talks about his latest Del Rey release, King of RPGs. Deb Aoki and JD Banks gives us some personal OEL picks. Finally, we release some huge news about the future of the podcast.
A3K PANEL
Episode Title: “Manga, OEL and Comics”
Episode Count: 25
Run Time: 01:25:09
Host(s): Sean Russell
Guest(s): Deb Aoki, Jason Thompson, Jd Banks
Download: Click Here
Song Credit: Breakfast in America by Super Tramp
2:33 – 10:50
Introduction to our panel that includes: Deb Aoki who, the manga guide at About.com. Jason Thompson, graphic novelist and former editor at Viz. JD Banks, community director and writer at Anime3000.com.
Deb Aoki recently released a reader poll about favorite manga of 2009 that you read at her site. http://manga.about.com
Jason Thompson worked at VIZ for ten years and was the first editor of Shonen Jump magazine. Wrote the highly publicizedManga: The Complete Guide and Del Rey’s graphic novel, King of RPGs. It combines Shonen manga style stories with tabletop role-playing like Magic the Gathering, Dungeons and Dragons and some Japanese console games. We dig deeper into the characters and the story of King of RPGs.
Jd Banks runs the growing community at Anime3000.com. Make sure you create a profile and join one of our clubs. JD is currently reading Host Club and High School Debut.
10:50 – 20:30
We open our discussion with OEL’s success in the US market. I reference an article written by Deb Aoki.
http://manga.about.com/b/2009/12/12/tokyopop-insider-pt-3-stu-levy-reflects-on-oel-manga-mistakes-looks-to-future.htm
Jason points out some titles that have been successful. DramaCon, Night School, Red String, Wonton Soup, Yokaiden, Scott Pilgrim
The panel mentions Fred Gallagher’s Megatokyo and its lack of page count.
Examples of OEL published in Japan. Felipe Smith’s MBQ, Peepo Choo Madeleine Rosca’s Hollow Fields
20:30 – 26:19
The panel begins to discuss adapting familiar American franchises into OEL titles. Dean Koontz’s In Odd We Trust, Warcraft: Dragon Hunt by Richard Knaak, X-Men Misfits by Babysitter’s Club novelist, Raina Telgemeier. Read JD’s X-Men Misfits review.
26:19 – 32:55
Sean Russell makes his miraculous return to the show after being MIA from the conversation. I became increasingly more aware of my absences and contributed more through the rest of the show. We continue our discussion about OEL and tie it to the American comic book industry.
In 2004, Deb Aoki use to work for the Disney Co. in the marketing department. You can read more about her past in an archived Starbulletin.com article from 2004.
The conversation then dips into the role an editor plays in manga development in America and in Japan.
32:55 – 33:41
Reverse Thieves and Anime3000 presents The Speakeasy Podcast. This is a joint venture between both websites were Kate and Alain from the Reverse thieves host a show that focuses less on reviewing individual series and more on themes behind certain shows, characters and plots. Their first episode is going to be released shortly on the new A3K Network. Stay tuned.
33:41 – 34:12
I personally love this Anime 3000 promo. I’m going to make a few more for future shows. We also want to play your promos, so send them in. At the end of our contest, the best promo will get the complete box set of Samurai Champloo.
34:12 – 47:35
We try to draw correlations between OEL and American cartoons that are influenced by Anime. We reference Teen Titans, Batman TAS and Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Kriss Sison is an example of a great OEL illustrator. Read JD’s Interview with Kriss Sison.
To answer Jason’s question about who drew Spiderman Loves Mary Jane, the answer is Takeshi Miyazawa. David Hahn replaced Miyazawa after issue 15.
Paul Pope, Chester Brown, Frank Miller and David Mack were also named as some comic book artists that have a heavy manga-influence. Bambi and Her Pink Gun author Atsushi Kaneko is raised as an example of the reverse, a manga author with a western style.
47:35 – 1:16:25
We dissect the American comic book store and look at some best practices for spreading awareness of manga and comics.
Zuda Comics – DC’s online comic portal
Girlamatic.com – Jason use to work
Sigikki – VIZ’s Signature digital platform
Comixology – Great iPhone application that provides free and paid manga in digital form.
AWO reference came from AWO’s December 24, 2009 fan letter episode.
We talk about Amazon.com’s Kindle.
1:16:25 – 1:25:08
In this final segment, we talk about the collectors mentality. Our panel also provides their closing thoughts on OEL.
Jason Thompson can be found at Kingofrpgs.com and mockman.com. Pickup King of RPGs from Amazon and read our review here.
Deb Aoki can be found at manga.about.com
JD and Sean are members of the Anime Community
Technical Notes:
This is the first podcast I’ve recorded with my new Audio-Technica condenser microphone.
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