NYCC 2011 news round-up

New York Comic Con celebrated its sixth anniversary this year with capacity crowds, big stars, and big announcements. Wondering how NYCC will impact you and your library collection? We at Good Comics for Kids rounded up the weekend’s biggest news in kids’ and teens’ comic publishing.

COMICS AND GRAPHIC NOVELS

Marvel announced a unique crossover project: Disney characters will team up with the Avengers for a special Christmas-themed issue, “Prep & Landing: Mission Impossible.” The story will appear in Marvel Adventures as well as issue 19 of Avengers.

Ape Entertainment is in talks with the Sesame Workshop to produce a series of Sesame Street comics. If the deal goes through, Ape will publish print and digital comics featuring the show’s most popular characters: Ernie, Bert, Big Bird, Cookie Monster, and Elmo. As Johanna Draper Carlson observes, however, a preemptive announcement is a risky move. “[T]here’s a huge potential downside if the deal doesn’t work out,” she notes, “especially if the potential partner doesn’t like the idea of you going public too early.”

The indefatigable Stan Lee announced yet another new venture: Stan Lee’s Kids Universe, a line of kid-friendly titles to be distributed by 1821 Comics. The imprint will feature such characters as Reggie the Veggie Crocodile, a croc who prefers broccoli to meat, and the Fuzz Posse, a group of crime-fighting canines. “While we want these to be reasonably educational and good for kids — that goes without saying — but our main purpose to be entertaining,” Lee told the Associated Press. “Kids have a great sense of humor if you can reach them the right way.”

Mark your calendars: Diamond Distributors will be holding two Free Comic Book Days in 2012. The first will be held in May, as usual, and the second will be on Halloween. ICv2 reports that publishers pushed for “a tie-in event with Halloween, which has become, next to Christmas, the holiday with the most retail impact.”

Over at Comic Book Resources, editor Kiel Phiegley interviewed the senior staff at Archie Comics about the 2012 re-launch of the company’s Red Circle line of superhero comics.

MANGA

VIZ announced two new licenses: volumes nine and ten of Yun Kouga’s Loveless, a title left unfinished by TOKYOPOP’s closure, and Jiu Jiu, a supernatural shojo adventure. The licensing news was overshadowed by an even bigger announcement from VIZ: the company will discontinue the monthly print edition of Shonen Jump magazine in favor of a digital version, Weekly Shonen Jump Alpha. As an extra incentive to fans, VIZ will release new chapters of popular titles such as Bleach and Naruto just two weeks after their Japanese publication. A one-year subscription will cost $25.99; individual issues will cost $.99. Alpha will be available through VIZ’s iTunes store as well as their web portal VIZManga.com.

Speaking of digital manga, Kodansha Comics USA unveiled its new iPad app. The store is launching with four titles: Arisa, Fairy Tail, Sayanora, Zetsubou-Sensei, and Until the Full Moon; new volumes will cost $4.99 each. Kodansha also announced that it had licensed two new series: Attack on Titan, a shonen manga about a world under siege by giants, and Miles Edgeworth: Ace Attorney, the sequel to Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney. Last but not least, Kodansha will be re-issuing two popular titles from the Del Rey catalog — Genshinken and Kitchen Princess — this time in omnibus form. Look for both in spring 2012.

The folks at Yen Press focused more on licensing announcements than technology. Their biggest announcement of the con was the rescue of Alice in the Country of Hearts, another TOKYOPOP legacy title. Other new acquisitions include The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-Chan, a sidestory within the complex universe of Haruhi Suzumiya; Until Death Do Us Part, an action-adventure series about a blind swordsman and a clairvoyant teen; and Puella Magi Madoka Magica, a manga adaptation of a hit anime series. Yen also announced two novel adaptations: The Infernal Devices, a prequel to Cassandra Clare’s Mortal Instruments series, and Dark-Hunters: Infinity, a prequel to Sherrilyn Kenton’s wildly popular Dark-Hunters series.

Other manga licensing announcements from NYCC:

• Seven Seas will be publishing Alice in the Country of Clover, the sequel to Alice in the Country of Hearts, as well as Angel Para Bellum, the latest manga from the creator of Dance in the Vampire Bund.
• Vertical, Inc. will be re-issuing Osamu Tezuka’s Adolf (formerly published by VIZ in the 1990s), and adding two new titles to its catalog: Moyocco Anno’s Sakuran and Makoto Shinkai’s 5 cm/sec.

Did we miss something? Please let us know in the comments!

Filed under: All Ages, Graphic Novels, Manga, News