Category: Comics

from VIZ Media:

VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry’s most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, will debut the cyberpunk action manga series Biomega on February 2nd. The new series, rated “M” for Mature Audiences, will be published under the VIZ Signature imprint and will carry a MSRP of $12.99 U.S. / $16.99 CAN.

Zoichi Kanoe plunges into the depths of 9JO, a sprawling island city in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, in search of Eon Green, a girl with the power to transmute the N5S virus. The deadly contagion is spreading across the world, turning humans into disfigured, zombie-like “drones.” But he’s not the only one looking for her. Agents of the Public Health Service’s Compulsory Execution Unit are also in hot pursuit, with sinister designs of their own. Zoichi and his trans-human allies have no time to waste; the countdown to the apocalypse has begun!

“Tsutomu Nihei created Biomega with a jaw-dropping, intensely powerful art style that reflects his background in modern architecture,” says Leyla Aker, Editorial Manager, VIZ Media. “The main characters — the “enhanced” human Zoichi and Fuyu, the AI in his rocket of a motorcycle — navigate this apocalyptic landscape in a story that offers pure speed, action, and suspense. Both manga and American comics fans won’t want to miss this exciting debut!”

Tsutomu Nihei debuted with the acclaimed manga short story Blame!, which was nominated for North America’s Harvey Award and won the Shiki Award in Japan. The artist also created NOiSE, a manga prequel to Blame!. His visually striking Wolverine tie-in Snikt! was published by Marvel Comics along with a commission by Bungie Studios for the Halo graphic novel.

For more information on this title, or others from VIZ Media, please visit viz.com.

from VIZ Media:

VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry’s most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, has announced the release of Volume 1 and 2 of the new VIZ Kids series Dinosaur King. This manga is rated “A” for All Ages and will carry a MSRP of $7.99 U.S. / $9.99 CAN.

Dinosaur King by creator Yohei Sakai tells the story of Max who is obsessed with dinosaurs. He knows his Tapejara from his Pteranodon and can find fossils better than a trained paleontologist. When he discovers a stone tablet that transports him to the age of dinosaurs, it’s a dream come true — until it becomes a nightmare. From King, his new dinosaur friend, Max learns that an evil genius named Dr. Z has enslaved the dinosaurs so he can use their hidden powers to take over the world! Now Max has to defeat Dr. Z and his Alpha Gang to save the ancient beasts and life as we know it. Volume 1 will release February 2, 2010.

In Volume 2, which will release in April of this year, King’s mother is trapped somewhere in Alpha Mountain, and it’s up to Max to rescue her. But Dr. Z has set perilous traps for him at every turn! He and King are more in sync than ever with their attacks, but will it be enough to defeat the Alpha Gang and conquer Alpha Mountain? Both volume one and volume two contain bonus trading cards inside, limited quantities available. Volume 2 will be releasing in April 6, 2010.

The titles under the VIZ Kids imprint offer engaging manga and manga-related content intended specifically for a younger audience. All VIZ Kids products share the same core values of strong storytelling, eye-popping graphics, empowering themes, and lots of good humor in an effort to delight a whole new generation of readers.

For more information on this title or other VIZ Kids titles, please visit vizkids.com.

from VIZ Media:

VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry’s most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, in conjunction with Stan Lee’s POW! Entertainment (PK:POWN) has announced the highly anticipated release of the new manga Ultimo on February 2nd. Ultimo is the result of a historic collaboration between comics legend Stan Lee, co-creator of many iconic superheroes including Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, and the X-Men, and Hiroyuki Takei, the creator of the popular Shaman King manga series. Ultimo, rated “T” for teens will carry a MSRP of $9.99 US/$12.99 CAN.

With girl and money troubles, life is hard enough for high school student Yamato, but then he stumbles upon Ultimo, a peculiar-looking puppet. Things only get stranger when Ultimo awakens and his archenemy, Vice shows up. Ultimo and Vice are Karakuri Dôji, the mechanical embodiment of pure good and pure evil, devoid of human emotions that can cloud one’s judgment. Their purpose: to battle to the death to prove once and for all whether good or evil is the most powerful force in the universe.

For over half a century, Stan Lee has been synonymous with superhero comics. In addition to creating countless memorable series and characters, including Spider-Man, the Incredible Hulk, the Fantastic Four, the X-Men and Daredevil, he served as the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics. Lee remains a hugely respected and dynamic figure in the entertainment industry and continues to develop a variety of film, television and video game properties.

“I am indescribably thrilled to have the honor of working with the famous and extremely talented Hiroyuki Takei on our exciting creation Ultimo. I feel that Ultimo combines the very best of Western mythology with the very best of Japanese manga,” says Stan Lee. “It gives me the greatest pleasure to be associated with VIZ Media on such an exciting and ground-breaking project.”

Unconventional author/artist, Hiroyuki Takei began his career by winning the 1994 Tezuka Award. After working as an assistant to famed artist Nobuhiro Watsuki (Rurouni Kenshin), Takei debuted in Weekly Shonen Jump in 1997 with Butsu Zone, an action series based on Buddhist mythology. His multicultural adventure manga Shaman King debuted in Japan in 1998 and has been adapted into a popular animated television series. The Shaman King manga series is also published in North America by VIZ Media; for many years it was serialized in English in Shonen Jump magazine.

“While it’s epic in scope and rich in mythology, the Ultimo storyline is grounded in modern teen angst which is what fans will gravitate to. It’s manga, but it’s got that ‘Stan Lee’ feel of the teenager who suddenly has all this power and can’t believe how crazy that is,” says Joel Enos, Senior Editor for Shonen Jump Manga, VIZ Media. “This story has found a common ground between Western comics and Eastern manga. Here you have two amazing creators, all this action, robots, and the universal theme of pure good vs. pure evil, all the while staying in high school youth culture and the drama and depth of everyday kids.”

For more information on Ultimo, please visit shonenjump.com/ultimo.

from VIZ Media:

VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry’s most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, announces some of the exciting new manga set for release throughout the first half of 2010.

The new releases will be published by VIZ Media under its best-known imprints including VIZ Kids, VIZ Signature, Shojo Beat, Shonen Sunday, Shonen Jump and Shonen Jump Advanced.

February:

Biomega
by Tsutomu Nihei
Available February 2nd
Rated “M” for Mature Audiences
VIZ Signature Imprint
Zoichi Kanoe plunges into the depths of 9JO, a sprawling island city in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, in search of Eon Green, a girl with the power to transmute the N5S virus. The deadly contagion is spreading across the world and turns humans into disfigured zombie-like “drones.” But he’s not the only one looking for her. Agents of the Public Health Service’s Compulsory Execution Unit are also in hot pursuit with sinister designs of their own. Zoichi and his trans-human allies have no time to waste; the countdown to the apocalypse has begun!

Bokurano: Ours
by Mohiro Kitoh
Available February 16th
Rated “T+” for Older Teens
VIZ Signature Imprint
One summer, fifteen kids innocently wander into a nearby seaside cave. There they meet a strange man who invites them to play an exciting new video game. This game, he explains, pits a lone giant robot against a horde of alien invaders. To play the game all they have to do is sign a simple contract. The game stops being fun when the kids find out the true purpose of their pact.

Dinosaur King
by Yohei Sakai
Available February 2nd
Rated “A” for All Ages
VIZ KIDS Imprint
Max is obsessed with dinosaurs. He knows his Tapejara from his Pteranodon and can find fossils better than a trained paleontologist. When he discovers a stone tablet that transports him to the age of dinosaurs, it’s a dream come true — until it becomes a nightmare. An evil genius named Dr. Z has enslaved the dinosaurs so he can use their hidden powers to take over the world! Now Max has to defeat Dr. Z and his Alpha Gang to save the ancient beasts and life as we know it.

Ultimo
by Hiroyuki Takei and Stan Lee
Available February 2nd
Rated “T” for Teens
SHONEN JUMP Imprint
Ultimo represents a historic collaboration between comics legend Stan Lee, creator of many iconic series including Spider-Man, The Fantastic Four, and X-Men, and Hiroyuki Takei, the creator of the popular Shaman King manga series. High above Farmless City, citizens are stunned by the sudden appearance of two floating figures. Are they human boys, monolithic robots, or something even more bizarre? As a battle ensues, destruction and devastation falls on the hapless city. One figure is Vice, and seems to be as evil as his name implies. The other is Ultimo, intent on trying to stop Vice from wreaking more havoc. But who are Vice and Ultimo really? Where did they come from? A new mystery begins with the fate of the world hanging in the balance!

March:

Cactus’s Secret
by Nana Haruta
Available March 2nd
Rated “T” for Teens
SHOJO BEAT Imprint
Miku Yamada has a longtime crush on classmate Kyohei Fujioka. But no matter how many times she tries to show him how she feels, clueless Kyohei just doesn’t get it. Frustrated, Miku gives up on him, only to have him start calling her “Cactus” for being so prickly when he’s around. In the opening volume, Miku decides to try telling Kyohei her feelings by giving him chocolates for Valentine’s Day. But Kyohei, unaware that he’s the object of her affection, offers himself up as a practice partner for her love confession. Will Kyohei ever figure out Cactus’s secret?

Arata: The Legend
by Yuu Watase
Available March 9th
Rated “T” for Teens
SHONEN SUNDAY Imprint
In a mythical world where humans and gods coexist, a ceremony marking the new governing princess is about to occur for the first time in 60 years. Only a girl from the Hime Clan may take this position, but the lack of females born to this family means that a boy called Arata must pose for the role. Meanwhile in modern-day Japan, a boy named Arata Hinohara is starting his new life in high school. He wants to put memories of his difficult past behind him, but things aren’t going to be simple when he discovers a mysterious connection to the first Arata…

Dorohedoro
by Q Hayashida
Available March 16th
Rated “M” for Mature Audiences
VIZ SIGNATURE Imprint
In a city so dismal it’s known only as “the Hole,” a clan of sorcerers have been plucking people off the streets to use as guinea pigs for atrocious “experiments” in the black arts. In a dark alley, Nikaido found Caiman, a man with a reptile head and a bad case of amnesia. To undo the spell, they’re hunting and killing the sorcerers in the Hole, hoping that eventually they’ll kill the right one. But when En, the head sorcerer, gets word of a lizard-man slaughtering his people, he sends a crew of “cleaners” into the Hole, igniting a war between two worlds.

Ristorante Paradiso
by Natsume Ono
Available March 16th
Rated “T+” for Older Teens
VIZ Signature Imprint
In exchange for Nicoletta’s playing “the daughter of an old friend,” Olga offers Nicoletta a place to live and an apprenticeship at the restaurant. Nicoletta fits in well among the unique personalities at Casetta dell’Orso. She gets along particularly well with the kindly headwaiter, Claudio, a divorced man who, after years, has still never taken off his wedding ring. As Nicoletta’s feelings for Claudio become complicated, she finds a sympathetic ear in Olga, leading the estranged pair to form a friendship neither expected. But as they grow closer, the pressure exerted by the secret they share becomes too much to bear.

April:

Stepping on Roses
by Rinko Ueda
Available April 6th
Rated “T+” for Older Teens
SHOJO BEAT Imprint
Poor Sumi Kitamura… Her irresponsible older brother Eisuke keeps bringing home orphans for her to take care of even though they can barely afford their own basic needs! Just when Sumi’s financial problems become dire, wealthy Soichiro Ashida enters her life with a bizarre proposition: he’ll provide her with the money she so desperately needs if she agrees to marry him. But can Sumi fool high society into thinking she’s a proper lady? Moreover, is it worth giving up everything for this sham of a marriage?

Rosario + Vampire Season II
by Akihisa Ikeda
Available April 6th
Rated “T+” for Older Teens
SHONEN JUMP ADVANCED Imprint
Average human teenager Tsukune accidentally enrolls at a boarding school for monsters — no, not jocks and popular kids, but bona fide werewolves, witches and unnameables out of his wildest nightmares! On the plus side, all the girls have a monster crush on him. On the negative side, all the boys are so jealous they want to kill him! And so do the girls he spurns, because he only has eyes for one of them — the far-from-average vampire Moka.

House of Five Leaves
by Natsume Ono
Available April 20th
Rated “T+” for Older Teens
VIZ Signature Imprint
Masterless samurai Akitsu Masanosuke is a skilled and loyal swordsman, but his naïve, diffident nature has time and again caused him to be let go by the lords who have employed him. Hungry and desperate, he becomes a bodyguard for Yaichi, the charismatic leader of a gang called “Five Leaves.” Although disturbed by the gang’s sinister activities, Masa begins to suspect that Yaichi’s motivations are not what they seem. And despite his misgivings, the deeper he’s drawn into the world of the Five Leaves, the more he finds himself fascinated by these devious, mysterious outlaws.

May:

Flower in a Storm
by Shigeyoshi Takagi
Available May 4th
Rated “T+” for Older Teens
SHOJO BEAT Imprint
Riko Kunimi is trying to lead a normal high school life when Ran Tachibana bursts into her classroom carrying a gun and tells her that her life is now his. Ran, the richest, most powerful 17-year-old in Japan, wants her as his wife and he’s not taking no for an answer!

Maoh: Juvenile Remix
Original Story by Kotaro Isaka / Story & Art by Megumi Osuga
Available May 11th
Rated “T+” for Older Teens
SHONEN SUNDAY Imprint
“As crazy as your ideas might be, as long as you believe in yourself and tackle the issue head-on, you can even change the world.”
Ando is a high school student who has the power to make others say out loud what he’s thinking. Inukai is the mysterious leader of a vigilante group called Grasshopper, which is at odds with the city’s redevelopment plan. In this chaotic city, these two will come together to weave a story of courage, determination and confrontation.

Saturn Apartments
by Hisae Iwaoka
Available May 18th
Rated “T” for Teens
VIZ SIGNATURE Imprint
Far in the future, humankind has evacuated the earth in order to preserve it. Humans now reside in a gigantic structure that forms a ring around the Earth, thirty-five kilometers up in the sky. The society of the Ring is highly stratified: the higher the floor, the greater the status. Mitsu, the lowly son of a window washer, has just graduated junior high. When his father disappears and is assumed dead, Mitsu must take on his father’s occupation. As he struggles with the transition to working life, Mitsu’s job treats him to an outsider’s view into the living-room dioramas of the Saturn Apartments.

June:

Afterschool Charisma
by Kumiko Suekane
Available June 15th
Rated “T+” for Older Teens
VIZ Signature Imprint
St. Kleio Academy is a very exclusive school: all of the students are clones of famous historical figures such as Beethoven, Queen Elizabeth I, Napoleon, Mozart, and Freud. All of them, that is, except for Shiro Kamiya. As Shiro struggles to adapt to this unusual campus, St. Kleio’s first graduate, the clone of John F. Kennedy, is killed. Are the clones doomed to repeat the fate of their genetic progenitors, or can they create their own destinies? And how does a normal boy like Shiro fit in?

Library Wars: Love & War
by Kiiro Yumi
Original Concept by Hiro Arikawa
Available June 1st
Rated “T+” for Older Teens
SHOJO BEAT Imprint
Iku Kasahara has dreamed of joining the Library Defense Force ever since one of its soldiers stepped in to protect her favorite book from being confiscated in a bookstore when she was younger. But now that she’s finally a recruit, she’s finding her dream job to be a bit of a nightmare. Especially since her hard-hearted drill instructor seems to have it in for her!

For more information on these and other VIZ Media titles please visit our websites at:
VIZ.com
VizKids.com
ShojoBeat.com
ShonenSunday.com
ShonenJump.com
SigIKKI.com
VizSignature.com

from VIZ Media:

VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry’s most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, has announced the January 5th release of Natsume’s Book of Friends, a standalone manga story by Yuki Midorikawa. Natsume’s Book of Friends debuts under the Shojo Beat imprint, is rated “T” for Teens, and will carry an MSRP of $9.99 U.S. / $12.99 CAN.

Takashi Natsume can see spirits and demons that hide from the rest of humanity. He has always been set apart from other people because of his gift, drifting from relative to relative, never fitting in. Now he’s a troubled high school student who has come to live in a small town where his grandmother, Reiko, grew up. And there he discovers that he has inherited more than just the power of Sight from the mysterious Reiko. When Reiko was Takashi’s age, she bound the names of demons and spirits in her Book of Friends, enslaving them to her every capricious whim. Now Takashi is the owner of the book, and the creatures will do anything to get their names back.

“Natsume’s Book of Friends is a great series for readers who are looking for something different than the typical shojo manga. Yuki Midorikawa skillfully deploys her delicate and almost serene artwork to tell a story that balances dark adventure with light comedy, the supernatural with real life. This remarkably beautiful work is truly unlike any other shojo series out there,” says Leyla Aker, Editorial Manager, VIZ Media.

Yuki Midorikawa’s other published titles in Japan include Into the Forest of Fireflies, The Scarlet Chair and The Voice That Blooms Red. Natsume’s Book of Friends (Natsume Yujincho) was originally published in the manga magazine LaLa DX and was a finalist for the first Manga Taisho awards in 2008.

For more information on this title, or others from VIZ Media, please visit viz.com.