MattBrady
03-16-2007, 12:23 PM
<img src="http://www.newsarama.com/Viz/Signature/golgo01_cover.jpg" border="0" align="right"><i>by Chris Arrant</I>
In February 2006, Viz Media launched a new manga imprint that promised content that was "significantly more artistic" and targeted at a more sophisticated audience than traditional imported manga. Dubbed Viz Signature, the initial line-up included Naoki Urasawa's <B>Monster</B>, Takao Saito's <B>Golgo 13</B>, Osamu Tezuka's <B>Phoenix</B> and Takehito Inoue's <B>Vagabond</B>. Later, Kazuo Umezu's <B>The Drifting Classrom</B> series joined the line-up.
While some of the series had previously been published by Viz, these four titles were brought under the banner of Viz Signature as part of a new focus on more sophisticated manga intended for older audiences. While the series may not have <B>Naruto</B> sales levels, the releases thus far have been greeted with positive reviews and sales as Viz's works to expand manga outside the young readers that traditionally read manga in the United States.
As the line reached the one year mark last month, Newsarama.com spoke with Viz Media's VP of Publishing and Editor-In-Chief Alvin Lu about the line's foundation, progress and new titles joining the all-star line-up.
<B>Newsarama:</B> Viz's Signature line launched a year ago last month. How would you say the line has done in the time it's been around?
<img src="http://www.newsarama.com/Viz/Signature/PhoenixGNVol1DawnWeb.jpg" border="0" align="left"><B>Alvin Lu:</B> It's been extremely successful. When we launched this imprint, our immediate goal was to see how large of an existing readership there was for this kind of material. We've been impressed enough to the point that we're looking to add a significant number of new titles to this imprint in the near future.
<B>NRAMA:</B> The line-up of Viz Signature seems to be in tune with the subset of manga known as seinen, which is manga targeted to the 18-30 male audience and even onto their 40s. How would you classify what Viz Signature is?
<B>AL:</B> It's true that the current VIZ Media Signature list could be thought of as a seinen lineup, though it's interesting to point out that <B>Drifting Classroom</B> was originally released as a shonen title. One thing we want to do with the Signature imprint is not pin it down in terms of age or ratings-oriented appropriateness. The defining aspect of this imprint is quality and sophistication. By that I mean that it's the kind of manga that an experienced manga reader would come to and immediately appreciate. It may be the kind of comics that require some education to fully appreciate. To that end, the lineup is selected with the idea of building recognition for the authors as much as the individual titles – many are icons of the manga genre. Tezuka, Umezu, Saito, Urasawa, Inoue: anyone in tune with manga culture understands these are legendary names, ones that will go down in history, and that the works in our Signature line represent these master artists working at the peak of their powers.
<img src="http://www.newsarama.com/Viz/Signature/Monster_Vol1_Cover.jpg" border="0" align="right"><B>NRAMA:</B> When the line was initially launched, some critics hoped that this would mean Viz would do more of Shueisha and Shogakukkan's seinen titles. What's your strategy with picking new titles for the line, and do you have any new titles scheduled for the near future?
<B>AL:</B> As I outlined above, our strategy is to publish key works by the most important artists. I'm happy to announce that we're adding Junji Ito's name to the list, by releasing his two most significant works this fall, <B>Uzumaki</B>, which is probably his masterpiece, and <B>Gyo</B>. He's arguably the most important active horror comics artist in world right now, so I should think he fits in well with the imprint.
<B>NRAMA:</B> In some ways, the Signature line has replaced the "Editor's Choice" line in terms of books. Is this true, and could you talk about the relation between the two?
<B>AL:</B> We revised our imprint structure some time back, and the "Editor's Choice" to "VIZ Signature" transition was part of that. I would just say that the "Editor's Choice" mission wasn't as clearly defined as Signature is now -- in a lot of ways it was a transitional imprint from PULP.
<img src="http://www.newsarama.com/Viz/Signature/DriftingClassroom_Vol1_Cover.jpg" border="0" align="left"><B>NRAMA:</B> So far, the volumes of <B>Golgo 13</B> have collected stories in a "best of" approach instead of chronologically, which is commonly done in other manga collections. Why was it done this way, and will you continue to do this in the future?
<B>AL:</B> <B>Golgo 13</B>is something of a special case. Of course, historically it occupies a very special place in manga culture. It's also a very long series. Carl Gustav Horn, the editor of the series, hsd come up with a very compelling "Best of" arrangement in 13 volumes and presented this to Shogakukan and Saito. I'm not sure this could have happened with any other series with any other people but things just clicked into place when they saw Carl's proposal. One of the virtues of <B>Golgo 13</B> is that it's episodic and so you don't <i>have to</I> read every episode in continuous order -- although I'm sure it would be interesting to do so. For this kind of long series, this "Best Of" arrangement might work, but it's a case-by-case basis.
<B>NRAMA:</B> At the line's launch, Viz' Evelyne Dubocq told <B>Publishers Weekly</B> that "this line will reach a more sophisticated audience in the U.S.", adding, "The feel of the book is more grown up, more refined. The content is significantly more artistic." Can you tell us any specific ways Viz has pushed these titles to reach those audiences?
<B>AL:</B> The marketing campaign for <B>Monster</B> was an integrated campaign that incorporated trade and consumer advertising, TV, and publicity efforts that led to widespread reviews and chatter about this title. That was the most comprehensive campaign we've devoted to a single title that doesn't have animation or merchandising support. From it we were able to not only generate respectable sales for <B>Monster</B> but I believe establish the name of Naoki Urasawa in this marketplace even among people who, for whatever reason, may not have yet picked up the manga. I think when people hear Urasawa's name now, at least in comics circles, they understand that this is someone associated with high-quality manga. The <B>Monster</B> efforts have given us a good idea of how we can work with titles under this imprint in the future.
In February 2006, Viz Media launched a new manga imprint that promised content that was "significantly more artistic" and targeted at a more sophisticated audience than traditional imported manga. Dubbed Viz Signature, the initial line-up included Naoki Urasawa's <B>Monster</B>, Takao Saito's <B>Golgo 13</B>, Osamu Tezuka's <B>Phoenix</B> and Takehito Inoue's <B>Vagabond</B>. Later, Kazuo Umezu's <B>The Drifting Classrom</B> series joined the line-up.
While some of the series had previously been published by Viz, these four titles were brought under the banner of Viz Signature as part of a new focus on more sophisticated manga intended for older audiences. While the series may not have <B>Naruto</B> sales levels, the releases thus far have been greeted with positive reviews and sales as Viz's works to expand manga outside the young readers that traditionally read manga in the United States.
As the line reached the one year mark last month, Newsarama.com spoke with Viz Media's VP of Publishing and Editor-In-Chief Alvin Lu about the line's foundation, progress and new titles joining the all-star line-up.
<B>Newsarama:</B> Viz's Signature line launched a year ago last month. How would you say the line has done in the time it's been around?
<img src="http://www.newsarama.com/Viz/Signature/PhoenixGNVol1DawnWeb.jpg" border="0" align="left"><B>Alvin Lu:</B> It's been extremely successful. When we launched this imprint, our immediate goal was to see how large of an existing readership there was for this kind of material. We've been impressed enough to the point that we're looking to add a significant number of new titles to this imprint in the near future.
<B>NRAMA:</B> The line-up of Viz Signature seems to be in tune with the subset of manga known as seinen, which is manga targeted to the 18-30 male audience and even onto their 40s. How would you classify what Viz Signature is?
<B>AL:</B> It's true that the current VIZ Media Signature list could be thought of as a seinen lineup, though it's interesting to point out that <B>Drifting Classroom</B> was originally released as a shonen title. One thing we want to do with the Signature imprint is not pin it down in terms of age or ratings-oriented appropriateness. The defining aspect of this imprint is quality and sophistication. By that I mean that it's the kind of manga that an experienced manga reader would come to and immediately appreciate. It may be the kind of comics that require some education to fully appreciate. To that end, the lineup is selected with the idea of building recognition for the authors as much as the individual titles – many are icons of the manga genre. Tezuka, Umezu, Saito, Urasawa, Inoue: anyone in tune with manga culture understands these are legendary names, ones that will go down in history, and that the works in our Signature line represent these master artists working at the peak of their powers.
<img src="http://www.newsarama.com/Viz/Signature/Monster_Vol1_Cover.jpg" border="0" align="right"><B>NRAMA:</B> When the line was initially launched, some critics hoped that this would mean Viz would do more of Shueisha and Shogakukkan's seinen titles. What's your strategy with picking new titles for the line, and do you have any new titles scheduled for the near future?
<B>AL:</B> As I outlined above, our strategy is to publish key works by the most important artists. I'm happy to announce that we're adding Junji Ito's name to the list, by releasing his two most significant works this fall, <B>Uzumaki</B>, which is probably his masterpiece, and <B>Gyo</B>. He's arguably the most important active horror comics artist in world right now, so I should think he fits in well with the imprint.
<B>NRAMA:</B> In some ways, the Signature line has replaced the "Editor's Choice" line in terms of books. Is this true, and could you talk about the relation between the two?
<B>AL:</B> We revised our imprint structure some time back, and the "Editor's Choice" to "VIZ Signature" transition was part of that. I would just say that the "Editor's Choice" mission wasn't as clearly defined as Signature is now -- in a lot of ways it was a transitional imprint from PULP.
<img src="http://www.newsarama.com/Viz/Signature/DriftingClassroom_Vol1_Cover.jpg" border="0" align="left"><B>NRAMA:</B> So far, the volumes of <B>Golgo 13</B> have collected stories in a "best of" approach instead of chronologically, which is commonly done in other manga collections. Why was it done this way, and will you continue to do this in the future?
<B>AL:</B> <B>Golgo 13</B>is something of a special case. Of course, historically it occupies a very special place in manga culture. It's also a very long series. Carl Gustav Horn, the editor of the series, hsd come up with a very compelling "Best of" arrangement in 13 volumes and presented this to Shogakukan and Saito. I'm not sure this could have happened with any other series with any other people but things just clicked into place when they saw Carl's proposal. One of the virtues of <B>Golgo 13</B> is that it's episodic and so you don't <i>have to</I> read every episode in continuous order -- although I'm sure it would be interesting to do so. For this kind of long series, this "Best Of" arrangement might work, but it's a case-by-case basis.
<B>NRAMA:</B> At the line's launch, Viz' Evelyne Dubocq told <B>Publishers Weekly</B> that "this line will reach a more sophisticated audience in the U.S.", adding, "The feel of the book is more grown up, more refined. The content is significantly more artistic." Can you tell us any specific ways Viz has pushed these titles to reach those audiences?
<B>AL:</B> The marketing campaign for <B>Monster</B> was an integrated campaign that incorporated trade and consumer advertising, TV, and publicity efforts that led to widespread reviews and chatter about this title. That was the most comprehensive campaign we've devoted to a single title that doesn't have animation or merchandising support. From it we were able to not only generate respectable sales for <B>Monster</B> but I believe establish the name of Naoki Urasawa in this marketplace even among people who, for whatever reason, may not have yet picked up the manga. I think when people hear Urasawa's name now, at least in comics circles, they understand that this is someone associated with high-quality manga. The <B>Monster</B> efforts have given us a good idea of how we can work with titles under this imprint in the future.