Sign up for Viz app and get one Volume 1 free
Viz Media is running a nice promotion: new users can download their free app for iPad, iPhone or iPod and, after registering for an account, download a free volume 1 manga of your choice.
Continue ReadingDigital NARUTO precedes print from Viz
ICv2 catches the fact that two volumes of NARUTO will be released digitally before the print edition. Vol. 54 and Vol. 55 will be available as part of the shift to Weekly Shonen Jump Alpha, the digital weekly that's replacing the print edition. The availability window is pretty steep -- NARUTO Vol. 54 is available now; the print version drops January 3. It's just a scheduling anomaly but it is still startling to see one of the world's best selling comics available in digital first.
Continue ReadingNYCC Announcements: Viz Takes Shonen Jump Digital, Syncs Closer to Japanese Original
Share this link on Facebook!TweetThis is interesting. Viz is migrating Shonen Jump to a digital edition that’s only 2 weeks removed from the Japanese original. (And you can probably chalk that up to translation time.) They’re on the library model for this. Full access annual subscription or $0.99 4-week rental. The annual access subscription comes [...]
Continue ReadingUrasawa’s MONSTER debuts on Netflix streaming
A growing body of comics observers have jumped on the bandwagon for Naoki Urasawa as the best genre cartoonist currently working with his layered, dynamic storytelling. But not everyone has gotten the religion! His 21st CENTURY BOYS is currently coming out from Viz, but with 15 volumes in print it could be a bit daunting to jump into. For those who prefer a video introduction, MONSTER, based on the manga of the same name, just began streaming from Netflix. The 74-episode series deals with Dr. Kenzo Tenma and his efforts to stop an insane killer whose life he saved as a boy.
Continue ReadingViz releases digital BAKUMAN ahead of print
To mark their 100th manga for their iPad app, leading manga publisher Viz Media is launching several promotions, including the release of BAKUMAN #4 in digital form on March 28th, more than a week ahead of its April 5th print debut. In addition, they are making all #1 manga volumes just 99 cents for the rest of March. Finally, BAKUMAN #1 is available for free for 24 hours, starting today at noon PDT. Created by the popular DEATH NOTE team of Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata, BAKUMAN is a humorous look behind the manga business, following two students who are trying to break into the manga industry,
Continue ReadingViz adds old and new manga licenses
Share this link on Facebook!Tweet Viz has just released info on some of its spring manga license, including at least one pick-up from the now defnuct CMX line, TENJO TENGE, the very controversial manga by Oh! Great, which will now be printed in a “100% faithful” edition with 16 pages of full-color art. Other licenses include [...]
Continue ReadingMore on Viz and the future of manga
Share this link on Facebook!Tweet Ever since the cutbacks at Viz on Monday, the online chatter has been surprisingly quiet. People close to the situation have mainly been in shock, and while the idea that Viz is “too big to fail” has been foremost among American manga commenters, we’re sure we’re not the only ones whose [...]
Continue ReadingViz layoff reactions
As word of the layoffs at Viz spread yesterday -- 60 people laid off and the entire New York branch closed -- the reaction around the industry, at least as expressed by Twitter and Facebook status updates -- was complete and utter shell shock. Viz personnel we contacted for confirmation were devastated. While the exact cause of the downsizing and the effects it will have on Viz's publishing plans are just emerging, a few manga reporters were commenting:
Continue ReadingMassive restructuring at Viz
PW is reporting that there has been massive layoffs at Viz Media -- up to 60 people or 40% of the workforce have been laid off. ... We are of course saddened by these departures and sincerely appreciate the hard work, passion and dedication of those that have moved on, but we feel confident that with these changes, VIZ Media will be more streamlined and able to withstand the climate of the economy at this time. With the American manga market already in flux, this has to be seen as a body blow to the category as Viz was consistently the best selling American comics publisher, dominating the best seller charts with such mega-hits as Naruto and One Piece. ... Sources tell PW that as many as 55 people were laid off at Viz’s San Francisco headquarters and it appears its small New York office, which had about 5 staffers, has been closed.
Continue ReadingIwaoka’s SATURN APARTMENTS debuts
Share this link on Facebook!TweetAnother intriguing looking Viz Signature manga is coming via their partnership with IKKI Magazine, Hisae Iwaoka’s SATURN APARTMENTS. According to the blurb: Far in the future, humankind has evacuated Earth in order to preserve it. Humans now reside in a gigantic structure that forms a ring around the earth, 35,000 kilometers up [...]
Continue ReadingPLUTO! URASAWA!
Share this link on Facebook!Tweet More here. BTW, Viz has broken the comics industry wide open, debuting their incredible YELLOW BAGS at this show. Demand is high.
Continue ReadingCAT-EYED BOY rocks!
Share this link on Facebook!Tweet We will not be the only blogger this week to deny the greatness of Kazuo Umezu’s Cat Eyed Boy ! No sir. Not when Jakala, Dacey, Welsh and Mautner are doing it. No sir. Cat-Eyed Boy is disturbing and creepy and wonderful. Big ups to Viz for bringing it out [...]
Continue ReadingHm…
Share this link on Facebook!Tweet We just received this secret message from Viz….
Continue ReadingManga report: Felipe Smith in Morning 2; Viz's new line
Share this link on Facebook!Tweet How cool are American cartoonists? So cool that they are publishing them in Japan! Felipe Smith (MBQ) will have a monthly series starting in Morning 2 next month. (The ads for it are reproduced above, courtesy of Ed Chavez who writes: His manga is going to be on the cover of the June [...]
Continue ReadingNYCC: Viz — 1365
Share this link on Facebook!TweetViz will not have a booth at the show but they have a manga lounge and a lot of movie screenings and panels, one featuring Stan Lee, although it is press only. VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry’s most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, has [...]
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