Tokyopop to publish Hetalia: Axis Powers… again
In May 2011, Tokyopop shuttered its North American publishing operations, leaving dozens of manga in licensing purgatory. Among the most popular of these unfinished series was Hetalia: Axis Powers. The series’ premise is simple: all the countries of Western Europe are reimagined as cute teenage boys, each of whom behaves according to national stereotypes (e.g. the Italian character prefers eating pasta to taking action, the British character is horrified by his uncouth American cousin). As the series continued, more countries were added to the cast, giving the comedy a more international flavor.
Tokyopop published two volumes of Hetalia, the first in 2010, and the second in 2011. Both quickly went out of print, commanding high prices on eBay and Amazon. After several months of hinting that Tokyopop might reprint these books, CEO Stu Levy announced yesterday that Tokyopop had partnered with online retailer Right Stuf and Japanese publisher Gentosha Comics to bring Hetalia back into print.
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Volumes one and two are available now as print-on-demand books, and retail for $15.99 each. Volume three will be available for purchase in June 2012, and will also be priced at $15.99. (All books are available through Right Stuf’s website.) As an added incentive for fans to pre-order volume three, the first edition will include eight full-color pages. Once the first editon has sold out, volume three will be available in a black-and-white, print-on-demand edition.
About Katherine Dacey
Katherine Dacey has been reviewing comics since 2006. From 2007 to 2008, she was the Senior Manga Editor at PopCultureShock, a site covering all aspects of the entertainment industry from comics to video games. In 2009, she launched The Manga Critic, where she focuses primarily on Japanese comics and novels in translation. Katherine lives and works in the Greater Boston area, and is a musicologist by training.
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YAY!!! I was so excited to here this! I recently became a major Hetalia fan back in September 2011, but was put out that my library only managed to get Volume 1 of the manga before it went out of print.
I’m so glad I checked Wikipedia the other day. I noticed it said Hetalia was being printed again and I immediately went to Right Stuff’s website and ordered volumes 1 and 2. I pre-ordered volume 3 today.
Let me tell you, I’m SOOO excited about this!!! 😀