In autumn 2021, you’ll be able to get your hands on a copy of Magical Boy by Vincent Kao (A.K.A. The Kao) thanks to a deal between Studio Tapas and Scholastic.
The deal, which was announced today by Tapas Media in a press release which you can read in its entiretly below, gives Scholastic worldwide rights to produce audio books, novels, and eBooks, with a young adult graphic novel that collects all 30 episodes of Magical Boy coming in autumn 2021.
Magical Boy was originally published on Tapas. It follows a transgender teen named Max who not only has to navigate coming out as trans to his parents, he also has to deal with the fact that he’s inherited the family responsibility of being “Magical Girl.” But the only way Max is going to save the world is his way, as a Magical Boy!
The series has garnered plenty of attention on Tapas. In October, Magical Boy was the recipient of the 2020 Prism Award for Best Webcomic.
And earlier this month, the launch of Studio Tapas was announced, with Magical Boy included among the flagship titles for the burgeoning division of Tapas Media. Studio Tapas has a stated mission of developing Tapas Originals properties like Magical Boy to television and cross-media, and with 2021 seeing 30 more Originals being added to the existing catalogue of 70 titles, you can be that this is far from the last Tapas Media adaptation on the horizon.
Which are you more excited about, the Magical Boy graphic novel or the Magical Boy television adaptation? And how long will we have to wait until we get the announcement about the Magical Boy video game (I’m just saying – it would make a killer RPG)? Sound off in the comment section!
SCHOLASTIC SIGNS BOOK DEAL WITH TAPAS MEDIA FOR HIT ORIGINAL WEBCOMIC “MAGICAL BOY”
New York, 15 December 2020 – Scholastic, the global children’s publishing, education, and media company, today announced that it will publish Magical Boy, the Studio TapasOriginal webcomic created by illustrator and comic artist The Kao, in a young adult graphic novel format. The worldwide deal grants Scholastic the rights to produce a wide range of all language formats including novels, eBooks, and audio books. Set to publish in fall 2021, the graphic novel will compile the 30-episode series into a print format for the first time.
Debra Dorfman, Vice President and Publisher, Global Licensing, Brands and Media at Scholastic said: “We are profoundly excited to work with Tapas and comic creator The Kao to publish Magical Boy. In the tradition of Sailor Moon, our protagonist, Max, a transgender high school student, is joining his mom and a long line of Magical Girl descendants to save the world, but as a Magical Boy! Hysterical and heartwarming only begins to describe this story. We hope it’s the first of many graphic novels for Max.”
With over four million views online, The Kao’s energetic and joyful story has captured Tapas readers’ hearts and is sure to take the young adult and graphic novel audiences by storm. A heartfelt and hilarious riff on the classic magical girl genre, Magical Boy follows Max, a trans man just trying to get through high school as his true self. But on top of classes, crushes, and coming out, Max’s life is turned upside down when he discovers that he is descended from a long line of Magical Girls tasked with defending humanity from a dark, ancient evil. With a sassy feline sidekick and loyal group of friends by his side, Max must take on his destiny, save the world, and become the first Magical Boy.
“I am absolutely thrilled and honored to have Magical Boy be part of the Scholastic library and so thankful to Tapas for continuing to find ways to share my story,” said creator The Kao. “As someone who spent my childhood reading Scholastic books, this is truly a dream come true. I can’t wait for readers everywhere to meet Max and join him on his journey of self-acceptance and magical misadventures. I hope Magical Boy will capture the hearts and imaginations of readers the same way that I was inspired by Scholastic stories when I was a younger reader.”
The Kao is Vincent Kao, an illustrator and comic artist known for his slice-of-life web series, Mondo Mango, and the Prism Award-winning webcomic, Magical Boy—both original series available at Tapas. Vincent graduated from Columbia College in Chicago with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Illustration. He started his career through a series of comic strips surrounding his daily life and since then has freelanced, self-published, as well as collaborated in a few crowdfunded comic anthologies, all under “The Kao” name. To this day, he continues to work on his illustrations and comics in hopes to inspire and bring joy to everyone around him. For more information, please visit The Kao.
“We are all better for having grown up with Scholastic—and it’s wonderful to see Scholastic continue to grow alongside all of us, embracing stories like Magical Boy that highlight heroes we don’t see often enough, and creators with unique visions like The Kao,” says Corey Sienega, Tapas Head of Business Development. “The whole team at Tapas is thrilled for more readers to be invited into the world of Magical Boy, and we couldn’t be more proud for The Kao’s incredible creation to have found a home with the amazing team at Scholastic.”
Liz Parker at Verve Talent & Literary brokered the deal with Scholastic on behalf of Tapas Media.
ABOUT SCHOLASTIC
For 100 years, Scholastic Corporation (NASDAQ: SCHL) has been encouraging the personal and intellectual growth of all children, beginning with literacy. Having earned a reputation as a trusted partner to educators and families, Scholastic is the world’s largest publisher and distributor of children’s books, a leading provider of literacy curriculum, professional services, and classroom magazines, and a producer of educational and entertaining children’s media. The Company creates and distributes bestselling books and e-books, print and technology-based learning programs for pre-K to grade 12, and other products and services that support children’s learning and literacy, both in school and at home. With 15 international operations and exports to 165 countries, Scholastic makes quality, affordable books available to all children around the world through school-based book clubs and book fairs, classroom libraries, school and public libraries, retail, and online. Learn more at www.scholastic.com.
ABOUT TAPAS MEDIA, INC.
Tapas Media, Inc. is a next generation media company offering bite-sized content through its online mobile platform, Tapas. Tapas Media properties, which consists of the popular Tapas mobile app and Tapas.io, boasts over 6.7 billion views to date from more than 3 million unique readers – primarily in North America. Tapas Media provides a best-in-class reading experience for fans of storytelling on mobile devices and on the web, featuring Original series—under Studio Tapas, the division dedicated to producing and publishing original webcomics and novels—licensed webcomics, and a successful digital novels division. Founded in March 2012, Tapas has gathered over 58,000 creators, 89,000 series, and more than 1,400,000 episodes. Tapas has multiple partnerships across various multimedia platforms including Zoic Studios, Vault Comics, BOOM!, Hachette Book Group, Ten Speed Press (Penguin Random House), KakaoPage, Podium Audio, Frolic Media, Madison Wells, and more. Tapas is the 2020 Ringo Award winner for Favorite Publisher. For more information please visit https://tapas.io/.
