MattBrady
05-17-2006, 12:37 PM
<img src="http://www.newsarama.com/SevenSeas/Luna/aal_vol3_full.jpg" align="right"> by Benjamin Ong Pang Kean
At age 15, Luna is the perfect secret agent. She was grown in a lab from the finest genetic material and she’s been trained since her birth to be the U.S. government’s ultimate espionage weapon.
However, James Bond Jr., Kim Possible, Totally Spies or Spy Kids this is not.
The third volume of Seven Seas Entertainment’s Amazing Agent Luna, an Original English Language (OEL) manga co-written by Nunzio DeFilippis and Christina Weir with art by Shiei, is scheduled to be in stores on Wednesday, May 17.
Unlike the gang from New Mutants (http://www.newsarama.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9121), Newsarama.com’s efforts to catch the spy proved to be an impossible mission so we decided to play catch up with the husband and wife writing team instead.
Newsarama: For those who missed the first two volumes released last year, could you provide a summary of what's happened thus far?
<a href="http://www.newsarama.com/SevenSeas/Luna/Luna_69.htm" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.newsarama.com/SevenSeas/Luna/AALvol3_069_t.jpg" border="0" align="left"></a> Nunzio DeFilippis: Two volumes into the story, here's what's happened. Luna is a government creation, a genetically engineered super spy who has spent her 15 years raised in government facilities and taught to use her enhanced abilities to protect the United States. One of the great threats to world stability is a rogue nation in Eastern Europe, Bruckenstein. That nation's ruler, Count Heinrich Von Brucken, has recently launched the mysterious Project Scion, his latest scheme to seize for his tiny nation a measure of global power. Luna was able to discover that Project Scion is centered on a special school in New York, the Nobel Academy, a place where the children of ambassadors, prominent scientists and other dignitaries from around the world can get the finest education. Not knowing what Von Brucken has planned at Nobel, Luna was sent undercover as a student. This is the first time she's ever had to deal with normal teenage things like rivalries, friendships, and crushes.
Christina Weir: Her hard-nosed Control Agent poses as her mother, and her government appointed therapist (to monitor her mental well being) poses as her father. Once at the school, she makes a friend who may be secretly in love with her (Oliver Riggs, son of a UN janitor, and skateboarding outcast), a best friend who used to run with the in crowd (Francesca Aldana, who was cast out from the in crowd for socializing with Luna and Oliver), a rival who is the big girl on campus (Elizabeth Westbrook, all around beyotch). Oh, and she has developed a crush on Jonah Von Brucken, the school's newest student and the son of the evil Count. Jonah may have seen Luna in the field and therefore may know she's more than just a normal high schooler. But if he does, he's kept her secret.
ND: The Count has placed his agents as science teachers at the school. The first had cloned the school mascot, an owl, creating larger, stronger duplicates. She was then caught, but has no idea what Project Scion's about. The second is the current science teacher, the shady Professor Tromperie. He has recently kidnapped the school's principal, and used his devices to swap her brain patterns with that of the last surviving owl.
<a href="http://www.newsarama.com/SevenSeas/Luna/Luna_83.htm" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.newsarama.com/SevenSeas/Luna/AALvol3_083_t.jpg" border="0" align="right"></a> NRAMA: Amazing Agent Luna was one of Seven Seas' first four releases. How has been the response to this series?
CW: As far as we've been able to tell, it's Seven Seas' best-selling book. Needless to say, we're quite proud of that, as the company has put out some great books. Both Volumes 1 & 2 were on the top 30 list of OEL manga for 2005. We're proud of that, too. People seem to be enjoying the story and they love Shiei's art!
NRAMA: Are there plans to translate this into other languages, Japanese perhaps?
ND: I certainly hope so. [Seven Seas President] Jason [DeAngelis] is working hard to get the Seven Seas books international releases, and Luna seems to get a good response from foreign publishers from what he tells us. So hopefully, things will proceed.
NRAMA: What could fans look forward to in the third volume, slated for release in June?
<a href="http://www.newsarama.com/SevenSeas/Luna/Luna_116.htm" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.newsarama.com/SevenSeas/Luna/116_t.jpg" border="0" align="left"></a> CW: Things get darker. Much darker. Luna's sunny world is about to get a few clouds. She'll have to worry about possible betrayal from Francesca and take down Tromperie. It's tough to be a teenage spy.
NRAMA: Will you be introducing new characters/supporting players to keep Luna and gang busy?
ND: Volume 3 focuses on the characters we've met so far, as its plot deals with the missing principal, the evil science teacher, and the Oliver/Luna/Jonah triangle. Expect new characters and supporting players in the later volumes.
NRAMA: What's next for the gang? Where are things headed in the upcoming volumes?
<a href="http://www.newsarama.com/SevenSeas/Luna/Luna_121.htm" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.newsarama.com/SevenSeas/Luna/121_t.jpg" border="0" align="right"></a> CW: Well, Volume 4 will deal with a lot of the fallout from this volume. There are events at the end of Volume 3 that make a lot of the people in Luna's life rethink what they're doing right now. And it gets the ball rolling on the new status quo, once the major fallout settles. Both sides in this conflict have suffered major blows and both need to regroup.
Volume 5 starts a new school year, and with that will come new threats, new students, new romances, and new facets to Project Scion.
DeFilippis and Weir are also co-writing a pirate manga called Destiny’s Hand for Seven Seas. Look for an interview with the two of them soon here at Newsarama.com
In the meantime, for those who want to know more about Amazing Agent Luna, click here (http://www.newsarama.com/forums/showthread.php?t=31617) for an earlier chat with the co-writers.
At age 15, Luna is the perfect secret agent. She was grown in a lab from the finest genetic material and she’s been trained since her birth to be the U.S. government’s ultimate espionage weapon.
However, James Bond Jr., Kim Possible, Totally Spies or Spy Kids this is not.
The third volume of Seven Seas Entertainment’s Amazing Agent Luna, an Original English Language (OEL) manga co-written by Nunzio DeFilippis and Christina Weir with art by Shiei, is scheduled to be in stores on Wednesday, May 17.
Unlike the gang from New Mutants (http://www.newsarama.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9121), Newsarama.com’s efforts to catch the spy proved to be an impossible mission so we decided to play catch up with the husband and wife writing team instead.
Newsarama: For those who missed the first two volumes released last year, could you provide a summary of what's happened thus far?
<a href="http://www.newsarama.com/SevenSeas/Luna/Luna_69.htm" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.newsarama.com/SevenSeas/Luna/AALvol3_069_t.jpg" border="0" align="left"></a> Nunzio DeFilippis: Two volumes into the story, here's what's happened. Luna is a government creation, a genetically engineered super spy who has spent her 15 years raised in government facilities and taught to use her enhanced abilities to protect the United States. One of the great threats to world stability is a rogue nation in Eastern Europe, Bruckenstein. That nation's ruler, Count Heinrich Von Brucken, has recently launched the mysterious Project Scion, his latest scheme to seize for his tiny nation a measure of global power. Luna was able to discover that Project Scion is centered on a special school in New York, the Nobel Academy, a place where the children of ambassadors, prominent scientists and other dignitaries from around the world can get the finest education. Not knowing what Von Brucken has planned at Nobel, Luna was sent undercover as a student. This is the first time she's ever had to deal with normal teenage things like rivalries, friendships, and crushes.
Christina Weir: Her hard-nosed Control Agent poses as her mother, and her government appointed therapist (to monitor her mental well being) poses as her father. Once at the school, she makes a friend who may be secretly in love with her (Oliver Riggs, son of a UN janitor, and skateboarding outcast), a best friend who used to run with the in crowd (Francesca Aldana, who was cast out from the in crowd for socializing with Luna and Oliver), a rival who is the big girl on campus (Elizabeth Westbrook, all around beyotch). Oh, and she has developed a crush on Jonah Von Brucken, the school's newest student and the son of the evil Count. Jonah may have seen Luna in the field and therefore may know she's more than just a normal high schooler. But if he does, he's kept her secret.
ND: The Count has placed his agents as science teachers at the school. The first had cloned the school mascot, an owl, creating larger, stronger duplicates. She was then caught, but has no idea what Project Scion's about. The second is the current science teacher, the shady Professor Tromperie. He has recently kidnapped the school's principal, and used his devices to swap her brain patterns with that of the last surviving owl.
<a href="http://www.newsarama.com/SevenSeas/Luna/Luna_83.htm" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.newsarama.com/SevenSeas/Luna/AALvol3_083_t.jpg" border="0" align="right"></a> NRAMA: Amazing Agent Luna was one of Seven Seas' first four releases. How has been the response to this series?
CW: As far as we've been able to tell, it's Seven Seas' best-selling book. Needless to say, we're quite proud of that, as the company has put out some great books. Both Volumes 1 & 2 were on the top 30 list of OEL manga for 2005. We're proud of that, too. People seem to be enjoying the story and they love Shiei's art!
NRAMA: Are there plans to translate this into other languages, Japanese perhaps?
ND: I certainly hope so. [Seven Seas President] Jason [DeAngelis] is working hard to get the Seven Seas books international releases, and Luna seems to get a good response from foreign publishers from what he tells us. So hopefully, things will proceed.
NRAMA: What could fans look forward to in the third volume, slated for release in June?
<a href="http://www.newsarama.com/SevenSeas/Luna/Luna_116.htm" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.newsarama.com/SevenSeas/Luna/116_t.jpg" border="0" align="left"></a> CW: Things get darker. Much darker. Luna's sunny world is about to get a few clouds. She'll have to worry about possible betrayal from Francesca and take down Tromperie. It's tough to be a teenage spy.
NRAMA: Will you be introducing new characters/supporting players to keep Luna and gang busy?
ND: Volume 3 focuses on the characters we've met so far, as its plot deals with the missing principal, the evil science teacher, and the Oliver/Luna/Jonah triangle. Expect new characters and supporting players in the later volumes.
NRAMA: What's next for the gang? Where are things headed in the upcoming volumes?
<a href="http://www.newsarama.com/SevenSeas/Luna/Luna_121.htm" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.newsarama.com/SevenSeas/Luna/121_t.jpg" border="0" align="right"></a> CW: Well, Volume 4 will deal with a lot of the fallout from this volume. There are events at the end of Volume 3 that make a lot of the people in Luna's life rethink what they're doing right now. And it gets the ball rolling on the new status quo, once the major fallout settles. Both sides in this conflict have suffered major blows and both need to regroup.
Volume 5 starts a new school year, and with that will come new threats, new students, new romances, and new facets to Project Scion.
DeFilippis and Weir are also co-writing a pirate manga called Destiny’s Hand for Seven Seas. Look for an interview with the two of them soon here at Newsarama.com
In the meantime, for those who want to know more about Amazing Agent Luna, click here (http://www.newsarama.com/forums/showthread.php?t=31617) for an earlier chat with the co-writers.