TOKYOPOP is everywhere! Walk into a bookstore and see TOKYOPOP'S revolving display of manga titles. Turn on the television and see a commercials for TOKYOPOP manga! In short TOKYOPOP is Manga and it is hard to argue that point. With such titles as Battle Royale, Priest, GTO, Samurai Girl Real Bout High School, Slam Dunk and Initial D, just to name a few, TOKYOPOP has taken over the American manga market, providing readers with a variety of unique stories, art and characters. Now, once again, TOKYOPOP is leading the way and allowing aspiring Manga-ka (Manga creators and artists) the opportunity to be a part of the world's most successful comic boom!
TOKYOPOP is scouring the country for the top manga talent for its fourth Rising Stars of Manga competition. From June 1-August 15, 2004, aspiring artists and writers may submit their 15-20 page manga along with completed entry forms to TOKYOPOP for their chance to join the next generation of nationally published Manga-ka. The top 10 winners will score cash prizes and have their entries presented in the next Rising Stars of Manga anthology. Past winners have already seen their success blossom into full-fledged book deals. Linday Cibosi, M. Alice LeGrow , Mike Schwark and Ron Kalfersch are just some of the Rising Stars now working on TOKYOPOP manga series scheduled to be released in 2005.
"The sheer career advancement possibilities for Rising Stars winners is worth the hard work and then some,” said series editor Mark Paniccia. “Now that America knows we’re serious about this competition, the bar has been raised and we expect that the manga artists and writers out there will work even harder to blow us away this time.”
During its three previous national talent competitions, TOKYOPOP collected thousands of entries. As judges prepare for the fourth competition, the third collection of winners will take center stage when on July 6, readers will get a chance to sneak a peek at last year’s winners when volume three of the popular anthology hits bookstores nationwide.
"In this third competition, we saw a brilliant variety of creativity that had the editors oohing and ahhing, glued to the pages and rolling on the floor laughing,” said Paniccia. “There is definitely a talented assortment of untapped creators who will be manga’s icons tomorrow.”
Nathan Maurer, a musician/artist from Goleta, California, was named the grand prize-winner of the competition for his entry Atomic King Daidogan. Maurer won $2,500, a commemorative trophy and an opportunity to pitch his full-length series to TOKYOPOP creative executives.
"I'm still pretty much reeling from the announcement,” said Maurer. “I know it’s cliché, but I can honestly say that the day I got the call was the best day of my life, no exaggeration. Daidogan was the most fun I’ve ever had writing and drawing comics and to be rewarded for it is just unbelievably exciting.”
Readers will be able to check out his work among others in just a few short weeks. If it is like the previous two volumes, readers will surely be in for a treat. I enjoyed both volumes for what they were: the beginnings of developing new stars in the manga field. While I may not have agreed with all he choices of winners, or their placements in the competition, the whole idea of showcasing people’s work in this manner is one that has piqued my interest. On the whole, I was impressed, excited and intrigued by the possibilities for the future.
Some of the stories from the first volume that need to be read include Van Von Hunter, which I thought deserved the grand prize, settling for second place, instead. This story takes all those manga stereotypes and turns them into a parody that is just laugh out loud funny. Both fun and entertaining, this story held my interest and while I could see it getting old over time, as a series, in a collection of short manga stories, this stood out to me as the best.
Little Match Girl was unique in that it was based on a Hans Christian Anderson story. That was a nice change of pace, seeing those classic words from an old, well-known story, turned into a comic for a new generation of readers to enjoy. In addition, Trickster was wild and absolutely hilarious. A family of pranksters is a family filled with love, but when two tricksters go at it in school, all hell breaks loose. This is one tale where one particular character shines and steals the show. Finally, Sitting Ducks took the easy approach of creating a submission about the difficulty of creating a submission and made it a well-written look at human lives and the things that we do when faced with a challenge and a deadline.
Rising Stars of Manga Volume Two also produced its fair share of memorable flare. The grand prize winner, Peach Fuzz, is a hilarious look at a young girl and her pet ferret. This is a story where the simple things really make the manga shine. We always think that a pet loves having a mistress/master, but could it be that the animal feels imprisoned and that those toys our animals play with are not really toys to them, but objects that they are trying to protect from their evil captors. This was a well thought out masterpiece. It was original in plot and a pure joy to read.
Fowl Play was just as funny, focusing on a little boy who believes the cooked Thanksgiving turkey is alive and out to have him for dinner. Poor kid. On the other side of the spectrum, I found Nikolai to be a very deep and emotionally moving, focusing on the theme of accepting death.
Like Sneak Peeks, the stories are from different genres featuring a wide variety of manga styles, art, storytelling and character design. You get a real sense at how manga influenced each contestant and it is always exciting to discover a diamond in the rough. They accomplished exactly what TOKYOPOP was looking for.
"Contrary to popular belief, there is no pre-determined manga look,” said TOKYOPOP founder Stu Levy. “Manga is a broad Japanese term, literally meaning entertaining visual. The first Rising Stars of Manga winners did not rise to the top by redrawing American superheroes with big eyes and round faces. This is not what manga means to us. The key to becoming a Rising Star of Manga is passion – the passion to tell a great story; the passion to bring vision to the written page; the passion to create unforgettable characters; the passion to move a reader.”
Prepare to be moved or prepare to be the one doing the moving. For more information on the Rising Stars of Manga competition, go to TOKYOPOP.com.
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