Fantagraphics to launch manga line with backing of Shogakukan, Matt Thorn

Big news of the day… Fantagraphics, publisher of such classic, edgy, and revolutionary comics as Love and Rockets, The Complete Peanuts, Bitchy Bitch, and Angry Youth Comics, as well as owner of pioneering imprints Eros Comix and Ignatz, has entered a partnership with Shogakukan, a top-3 manga publisher in Japan, to launch a “full line” of manga.  The line will be overseen by professor Matt Thorn, a key figure in the establishment and appreciation of manga in the West, and translator of titles from such high-profile authors as Rumiko Takahashi and Hayao Miyazaki.  Among the first manga under the new deal (imprint name is still a mystery) will be A Drunken Dream and Other Stories, by one of the founders of modern shoujo manga, Moto Hagio.

While not completely unexpected, this is a truly exciting development.  It seems Fantagraphics will be producing books that physically rival offerings from Drawn and Quarterly and Vertical, based on the dimensions given on the Amazon page, but I would caution against thinking of this imprint as merely an outlet for older or obscure manga.  Fantagraphics’ taste for artistic, compelling, quality comics, and the expertise of Thorn makes for an inspiring combination; Fantagraphics is a risk taker, with faith in art and willingness to see difficult projects through, while Thorn has the knowledge necessary to comb through and make sense of Shogakukan’s immense catalog.  We’ll definitely see more classic, genre-defining manga, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Fantagraphics were able to snatch some huge series, those that have not been released in the West because of the extraordinary amount of care and dedication required.

Think about this for a moment.  What books do Shogakukan own, that Viz isn’t able or is unwilling to release, which might benefit from the experience Fantagraphics has in releasing high-end omnibus collections like The Complete Peanuts and Dennis the Menace?  Hmmm…

Edit: Now that the cat is out of the bag, Matt Thorn confirms the project (which was supposed to be an ANN exclusive… oops!) and reveals the stories collected in Moto Hagio’s A Drunken Dream as well as the next book in the pipeline, Wandering Son by Shimura Takako.  Manga Curmudgeon has a roundup of early reactions, plus news that Moto Hagio herself will be appearing at Comic Con International 2010.  For the love of god, please don’t scare the nice Japanese lady, CCI attendees.

Edit 2: Comics212 notes that Wandering Son is an ongoing series, so this will be new territory for Fantagraphics, whose previous manga publications were of stand-alone books and compilations.  Dirk Deppey reveals the 4-year long genesis of the project, his own role in its realization, and gives assurances that Fantagraphics has a long-term commitment to the licenses it picks up – one wouldn’t expect less, as Fantagraphics has never been the kind of publisher to base their strategy on what gets into the top 300 list every month.  Deppey will serve as consulting editor for the imprint.

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Anime On DVD’s Christopher Beveridge speaks out against Funimation’s censoring of Dance in the Vampire Bund, pointing to other objectionable elements in Funimation’s current catalogue, and adds a call for people to support the uncensored manga version, which I had also suggested earlier.

But what if you were already boycotting Seven Seas for cancelling Kodomo no Jikan?

Oh no! It’s a paradox!  Can’t… decide… what… d-d-do… *head explodes*

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A story about some impossibly great deals on comics at Amazon has awkwardly transformed into a debate about pricing.  I’ve also heard murmurs here and there connecting the incident, which has been confirmed to be an error, with Diamond’s recent dismissal of 3 employees from its DBD division.  Honest human error, confusion caused by the personnel change, or something more nefarious?  Frankly, I haven’t seen any evidence this is connected with Diamond at all, so it might be too early to even consider those as possibilities.

As for whether the huge buyer response to the unintended price reduction, over 90% in some cases, is an indication that comic book prices are too high… eh.  (Since you can’t see me, I’m shrugging my shoulders.)  If Porche started selling its cars at 90% off, we’d see a lot more of them on the road.  And a comic that costs $1 million dollars isn’t over-priced, as long as it can find a buyer.  Maybe two.

Edit: Spotted via The Beat, Publishers Weekly received confirmation from Diamond Book Distributors that the error was a “computer glitch” that affected their books, although whether that glitch occurred on Diamond’s end or Amazon’s remains unclear.  It seems some orders are being honored, so at least one of the two is eating the cost.  Somebody’s going to have a crummy week…