PreCur lists most influential manga publishers, more on FBI’s adventure in retailing

Columnist David Welsh responds to ICv2′s most powerful manga playaz list with his own list of the most creatively influential manga publishers…and Icarus makes the list!  Yeah baby, USA! USA!

The truly amazing thing is that there are enough manga publishers now to fill a top 10.  In less than half a decade, manga grew from a modest presence as a comic store curiosity from a handful of small yet dedicated publishers to a dominating force in bookstores.  And bucking the trend seen in traditional comics, the success of mainstream manga allowed alternative, even esoteric offerings to gain a foothold, rather than work against it.  BL publishers like June, BeBeautiful, and DramaQueen proved that publishers can find success by focusing on select genres, and Vertical and Fanfare/Ponent Mon convinced the arthouse comics crowd that they too can embrace manga without guilt.  The direct market wasn’t left out either, as Dark Horse brought out seinen books that played to the DM’s strengths.

PreCur’s picks underscore something I feel will be of ever greater importance for new independent manga publishers in the future… specialization and clear editorial vision.  Rather than more large publishers like Viz or Tokyopop, we’ll see even more small outfits that concentrate on filling niches overlooked by the big two.  There are still whole new worlds of manga and audiences out there left largely unexplored; military manga, ladies comics, 4-panel gags, salarymen…the list goes on.  When PreCur revisits this list in another 5 years, it’ll likely be populated by a whole new set of fresh names as the manga publishing world continues to morph as much as it did the first half of this decade.

+++

Moving a couple of items on the Fantagraphics retail store into a new post, so they won’t be missed…

The Comics Reporter has some interesting background history on Fantagraphics.

Eric Reynolds posts on the Engine a well-reasoned pre-emptive defense of Fantagraphics€™ decision to enter retail.  One amazing detail is that the DM now accounts for only 25% of initial sales for Fantagraphics€¦ not because bookstores are taking customers away from the DM, but because DM sales have stayed stagnant while bookstores attracted new readers in ever-increasing numbers.