MICHAEL LINLOW GOES MANIC AT IMAGE IN FEBRUARY

[MattBrady]

<a href="http://www.newsarama.com/Image/Manic-COVERcolor1web.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.newsarama.com/Image/Manic-COVERcolor1web_t.jpg" width="185" height="284" border="0" hspace="1" align="right"></a><i>by Benjamin Ong Pang Kean</i>

Image Comics is expanding its universe and its titles in the new year. With Newsarama columnist and writer Mike Sangiacomo’s <b>Phantom Jack</b> (http://www.newsarama.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=6598) making a move from Marvel’s Epic imprint to Image and upcoming attractions like Jay Faerber’s <b>Dodge’s Bullets</b> (http://www.newsarama.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=6473), and Marc Bryant and Shepherd Hendrix’s <b>Shangri-La</b> (http://www.newsarama.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=6512), this February sees another brand new project in the form of Michael Lindow’s <b>Manic</b>.

Described as “mind-bending psychedelic, fantasy, action, adventure, drama, all in one,” Lindow revealed to Newsarama that the story takes place in a near-future, William Gibonsesque Tokyo. Imagine <i>The Matrix</i> meets <i>Neon Genesis Evangelion</i> and you’ll get an idea of what <b>Manic</b> is about.

“Electric City, Tokyo, a digital haven where all the latest from fish to computer chips were sold,” Lindow said. “With the population of the metro area pushing 14 million, no one even knew Andi existed - or so he thought. Andi's life as a computer technician in Electric City was about to change - while under the influence of a new cognitive enhancer he is about to realize his true purpose in life.

“Twenty five years have passed since the Teijai exterminated the Guardian forces of the Sentorion alliance, but now the next generation has been born on earth and is coming of age. With the help of Eriko, a gifted friend, he begins to piece together his true identity.

<a href="http://www.newsarama.com/Image/manic_p2.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.newsarama.com/Image/manic_p2_t.jpg" width="175" height="266" border="0" hspace="1" align="left"></a> “As the new Sentorion army rises, Teijai hunters are sent to earth to infiltrate all levels of Government. Posing as authorities they are ordered to track down and kill all remnants of the Sentorian forces.”

The main characters are aforementioned Andi Kane, a computer geek “who speaks to the trees” and Eriko, the gifted Japanese school girl.

And who are the Teijai and the Sentorian? And what is Andi’s role in the big picture?

“Basically the Teijai are the bad guys who overthrew the Free Sentorian region of space. In terms of <i>Star Wars</i>, something like the Empire. The Teijai know that there is an active unit on earth and have sent hunters to find and distinguish the army before it can gain strength. Now they have the edge on earth because they have infiltrated the government and are making the rules as they feel fit.

“As for the Sentorian, they were defeated and eternally enslaved to the Teijai - even after death. Several souls of the Sentorian Guard escaped to earth and were reborn as humans. Many lost their identities and are now unaware of their past. With the help of a Tokyo legend called Mr. Y's digital cognitive enhancer, the next generation of Sentorions are awaken to their past. They were human-like on Sentoria - their planet/region in space. Now they are living in human form. Earth consists of several different species living in the human form.

“And Andi is their greatest warrior and he will lead the new Sentorion army.”

“Bottom line, we thought Mike had an interesting story to tell,” Image Director of Marketing Eric Stephenson said. “Image has always had a commitment to getting the work of new creators in front of readers, and Mike's exactly the kind of young talent we like to champion. He has a tremendous imagination, and I think <b>Manic</b> really only hints at what he’s capable of.”

<a href="http://www.newsarama.com/Image/manic_p3.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.newsarama.com/Image/manic_p3_t.jpg" width="175" height="266" border="0" hspace="1" align="right"></a>According to Lindow, <b>Manic</b> is inspired by his life and the people in it. “Movies, Japanese animation, SF novels – Phillip K. Dick.”

Lindow was born in Korea, raised in America and have been living in Tokyo for the last five years. “I spend a lot of time thinking about who I am and what I am supposed to do in this life. It can leave me feeling a bit <b>Manic</b> at times. I guess that comes through in the story.”

The road leading to Image wasn’t an easy one for the creator, though. “I sold everything I had and moved to Japan without a job or speaking any Japanese. I got a job teaching English to pay the bills and utilized the time I had to draw and study manga. After being rejected by major companies over here several times, I decided to just draw whatever the heck I wanted. That was when I came up with <b>Manic</b>. Originally it was going to be just a one shot 30 pager. This really skilled me up and with it I was able to get a job in a studio working on the manga title <b>The Big O</b>. It was hell, working for less than minimum wage, but I learned a lot and again I skilled up. After working there for about six months I sent my work to Image and they said they were interested. I met Jim Valentino at Comic Con in July and that is when I got the offer.”

<a href="http://www.newsarama.com/Image/manic_p4.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.newsarama.com/Image/manic_p4_t.jpg" width="175" height="266" border="0" hspace="1" align="left"></a> “I just sent them the samples and asked for feedback. That was it,” he said.

As for why <b>Manic</b> would appeal to the comic-reading community, despite its manga influences, Lindow said this is not just another version of Amerimanga. “It is raw - a pure rendition of one person’s perspective on a Tokyo story. It's not just another Japanese story done about by an American, but one done by someone who lives there, eats the food, speaks the language and experiences the lifestyle first hand.”

“I think anyone who likes mind-bending psychological sci-fi is going to enjoy <b>Manic</b>. We’re starting with a one-shot, and we’ll be following up on that later in 2004,” Stephenson concluded.

<b>Manic</b>, a 32-page one-shot priced at $2.95 and featuring a color cover with black-and-white interiors, will be available for order in the December issue of Diamond Previews and will arrive in stores in February 2004.

[DCON]

YESSSS!!!!, Im picking this one up!
wow, i love the artwork and it has nice story telling, I love anything out of the norm, can't wait!
:eek:

[jagtech13]

With a free morning and a cup of coffee to my name, just a few thoughts.

Book looks interesting enough art-wise and story wise, but will it click with the current market?

Comparrisons have been made to NEON GENESIS: EVANGELION and THE BIG O. The former is a anime power-house classic, the latter is a combination of BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES crossed with anime and giant robots. Outside of myself and a few others that I am aware of whom post upon these boards, does the references to anime series mean ANYTHING to anyone else out there?

Happy Thanksgiving and remember to save some turkey for the trolls. :p

[jasinmartin]

Originally posted by jagtech13
Outside of myself and a few others that I am aware of whom post upon these boards, does the references to anime series mean ANYTHING to anyone else out there?


A key reference they make, that you left out, was the Matrix, and who hasn't heard of that little indy flick

Otherwise the anime references should help, most people who read comics are at least aware of the popular anime, plus Neon-Genesis was/is a long running comic adaptation stateside too.

Regardless, this looks and sounds very cool to me. The page samples exude talent, and that's pretty cool coming from an unknown creator! Looking forward to it.

[Reliant]

Originally posted by jagtech13
With a free morning and a cup of coffee to my name, just a few thoughts.

Book looks interesting enough art-wise and story wise, but will it click with the current market?



The popularity of anime and manga in the U.S. has never been higher. Major U.S. publishers like Del Rey are creating their own imprint of manga graphic novels, and retailers like Waldenbooks have had massive success with it as well. A number of Waldenbook stores are even devoting a large section of their floorspace for manga titles based on the enormous strength of its sales this past year.

There's definitely an audience for it as far as the mass market is concerned--especially if its collected into a graphic novel format--but the real question is whether or not there's an audience for it in the monthly comic book market...


Comparrisons have been made to NEON GENESIS: EVANGELION and THE BIG O. The former is a anime power-house classic, the latter is a combination of BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES crossed with anime and giant robots. Outside of myself and a few others that I am aware of whom post upon these boards, does the references to anime series mean ANYTHING to anyone else out there?


You'd be surprised just how many...

[Bullwinkle]

I have to admit that this series has piqued my interest .... It combines a number of things that I love, and I will at least give it the chance to stand out on its own! Here's hoping .... :)

- Chris

[jagtech13]

Did not mean to stir up a problem here, but from my impression of Newsarama's boards there is a bias against Manga and anime. Now, for the remark from JASINMARTIN about the Matrix, I fail to see the point. Everyone and their mother has seen it or at least heard of it from TV and commercials. Evangelion? Big O? A hell lot fewer people have read the manga or watched the anime. Anime is hot right now to a degree, but that degree is much smaller than that of mainstream Hollywood's popularity. It's the difference of comparing the sales figures for Tom Clancy's latest novel to that of X-Men's. Or the Matrix' sales figures to Evangelion's. Stating something has a more limited base of fans does not mean it is inferior, nor does popularity mean something is on the same level of greatness as Shakespear.

Now, Mr. RELIANT points out that many book retailers are devoting a large amount of space to manga, I am sure he would also point to the large selections of anime at BestBuy and Suncoast video. I am reluctant to say that manga is as hot as people say. Kids of my friends are not reading the books, I never see kids looking at the books in the stores. Does that mean anime fans like I are actually the ones buying them? Or are the books sitting upon the shelves at the retailers? Remember, Crossgen had a nice selection of their titles at many bookstores. Unfortunately when it was said and done, how many of those books that Crossgen sent to Barnes & Noble were returned to them unbought?

Finally I have a feeling, and I would like to know if any current anime fans on this board would be willing to prove or disprove my theory, that a good portion of the anime that is being purchased is actually by existing anime fans whom are making the switch from VHS to DVD. I know I replaced a few VHS tapes with DVDs (donated the tapes to children's hospital wings or gave them to friends). So is the DVD format and the people who are replacing their collections and buying new material driving the sales, or is it new people are entering the hobby and buying the DVDs? I personally think it is the former rather than the latter, that it is a artificial increase brought upon change in format and also a influx of more material into the market. It's impossible to buy everything, but when a average anime disk in the stores is $30 (I buy online at www.deepdiscountdvd.com and pay only $18-22 each), one must figure the people buying this must be employed or have one heck of a better allowance than I had in the day.

Finally to finish making my point, hypothetically if the comics industry would say change the format to Graphic Novels only, I would suspect we would all see a surge in sales as a lot of us would replace our old 32 page comic mags with the newer format. So while comics would show a burst in sales for the Graphic Novel, after a period of time went by and those whom would make the format change finish doing so, the sales figures would be back to where we are at this point in time. Of course it's justhypothetical on that point, but these are Just my thoughts on the subject.

[Reliant]

Originally posted by jagtech13
Now, Mr. RELIANT points out that many book retailers are devoting a large amount of space to manga, I am sure he would also point to the large selections of anime at BestBuy and Suncoast video. I am reluctant to say that manga is as hot as people say. Kids of my friends are not reading the books, I never see kids looking at the books in the stores. Does that mean anime fans like I are actually the ones buying them?


That's pretty much it. I mean, you don't see many kids in comic book shops--and that's mainly because the market really isn't geared towards them. It doesn't exclude them, but most people inclined to buy comics, manga, and anime do tend to be in their twenties if not older. Like the majority of comic books out there, it all does seem to be geared specifically towards the fans of those particular genre.

It's a niche market like most things these days, but it's a healthy market.



Or are the books sitting upon the shelves at the retailers? Remember, Crossgen had a nice selection of their titles at many bookstores. Unfortunately when it was said and done, how many of those books that Crossgen sent to Barnes & Noble were returned to them unbought?


I think CrossGen has had better success with its affordable traveler-sized collections than its traditional trades--in some instances, actually selling out of some titles. CrossGen may want to reconsider more traveler editions in the future...

As far as the success of other manga titles at retailers, more and more titles are being released on a monthly basis for the U.S. market, so I think that retailers are responding to customer demand. It may be different at some stores, but my local Waldenbooks has noticed an increase in sales since they started carrying manga titles this year and has since dedicated an entire aisle to graphic novels (both Japanese and U.S.), anime, and related merchandise. Other book stores may be doing the same across the U.S...



Finally I have a feeling, and I would like to know if any current anime fans on this board would be willing to prove or disprove my theory, that a good portion of the anime that is being purchased is actually by existing anime fans whom are making the switch from VHS to DVD. I know I replaced a few VHS tapes with DVDs (donated the tapes to children's hospital wings or gave them to friends). So is the DVD format and the people who are replacing their collections and buying new material driving the sales, or is it new people are entering the hobby and buying the DVDs? I personally think it is the former rather than the latter, that it is a artificial increase brought upon change in format and also a influx of more material into the market.


I wouldn't call it an artificial increase, because an increase in sales is an increase in sales regardless of the actual cause. Anime is a niche market as I said earlier, aimed at a specific audience, but it's a successful one. It has a certain mainstream appeal demonstrated by the popularity of shows like Digimon, Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Dragonball Z, etc., but the more "involved" material is indeed geared towards actual fans of the genre, and sales have been healthy enough to keep it thriving so far.

In regards to the DVD question, some people are indeed replacing their VHS collections with DVDs--but not everyone can afford that kind of luxury. The increase in anime DVD sales I think is more contributed to almost all new material being released solely on DVD. Only a handful of companies release material on VHS, and those are geared primarily for very young kids...



It's impossible to buy everything, but when a average anime disk in the stores is $30 (I buy online at www.deepdiscountdvd.com and pay only $18-22 each), one must figure the people buying this must be employed or have one heck of a better allowance than I had in the day.


I would say yes to both. :D



Finally to finish making my point, hypothetically if the comics industry would say change the format to Graphic Novels only, I would suspect we would all see a surge in sales as a lot of us would replace our old 32 page comic mags with the newer format. So while comics would show a burst in sales for the Graphic Novel, after a period of time went by and those whom would make the format change finish doing so, the sales figures would be back to where we are at this point in time. Of course it's justhypothetical on that point, but these are Just my thoughts on the subject.

I don't know if people would shell out money just to replace their comics with graphic novel collections, but I think more readers would be inclined to buy new material if they can get more bang for the buck. Take the success of the 5"x8" graphic novel, for example--they typically contain 7 issues for $9.99--and I think that's a large (if not the primary) reason for its success...

I know we've gotten a bit off-topic here, but I think it still boils down to the idea that there is quite a healthy market for anime and anime-inspired works for the U.S. market...