Zenescope Under the Microscope, Interview with Stephen Haberman...

Within the last few years Zenescope Entertainment has been making a name for themselves the publishing world. Their flagship title Grimm Fairy Tales is approach issue #100 next year and the crowd funded pilot for the animated series is completed. Screwed and Oz Prequel are titles gaining a lot of positive feedback from fans and retailers. CBNAH caught up with Stephen Haberman, Marketing Manager of Zenescope Entertainment to chat about Grimm Fairy Tales, SDCC, Screwed and more.

CBNAH: For people who are unfamiliar with Zenescope entertainment can you tell us the genesis behind the company?

Stephen: Well, about 8 years ago, the co-founder Joe Brusha and Ralph Tedesco were trying to break into the entertainment business as screen writers. They were having trouble getting their scripts read and felt they could publish their own work, and then formed Zenescope Entertainment. Since its launch, Zenescope has been known for its horror twists on classic fairy tales.

CBNAH: How was SDCC this year for Zenescope and the feedback you got from visitors and fans?

Stephen: San Diego Comic Con was outstanding for Zenescope. When we have a presence at a convention, we make sure we are offering top notch exclusives, entertaining panels, and have friendly, informative staff at our booths. I felt we did exactly that.

The exclusives this year featured covers by artists Elias Chatzoudis, Eric “EBAS” Basaldua, Franchesco, Anthony Spay, Mike DeBalfo, and Mike Krome. We even brought Elias Chatzoudis (all the way from Greece) with us as a guest to his first Comic Con.

On top of that, we dedicated Saturday to the Grimm Fairy Tales Wounded Warriors Project Special issue. The whole staff was dressed in camo and promoting both the regular issue as well as a silent charity auction featuring the original cover artwork generously donated by the artists. The charity auction took place right at the booth, and we were able to raise over $1400 during the auction, which will all be going to the Wounded Warriors Project.

Grimm Fairy Tales

CBNAH: Grimm Fairy Tales is your flagship title. The Omnibus came out this summer and it's approaching issue #100 for next year. Will there be any plans to celebrate this milestone issue?

Stephen: Grimm Fairy Tales is the title that started it all, and Grimm Fairy Tales #100 is going to be epic. We will be making sure it is a moment that fans won’t soon forget.

CBNAH: How was the Grimm Fairy Tales Animated panel at SDCC? Any new information coming out of the panel and what's it like working with Jon Schnepp?

Stephen: We showed off a good amount of behind the scenes footage which will be included on the DVD  Fans got to see the voice actors as they were working on various scenes, as well as see the talented animators from Titmouse at work.

Jon Schnepp is a great director, and has been able to bring his concepts to life almost effortlessly. He is also a blast to have around. You do have to be careful as he is a bit of a VINE addict, though.

Tyler Kirkham's 'Screwed'

CBNAH: I've been enjoying Tyler Kirkham's 'Screwed '. I know it's a mini, but are there plans in place for future minis?

Stephen: When it comes to future mini-series, a lot of it depends on how well the title performs in stores. We are an indie publisher, so we have to publish the titles that sell. Having said that, Screwed has been awesome, and the amount of enthusiasm Tyler has for his work makes Screwed an easy sell to everyone that sees it. Tyler is immensely talented, so we certainly do hope to do more with him.

CBNAH: Are there any titles that have floated under the radar that readers should check out?

Stephen: You know, there are a lot of titles over the course of a year that can go unnoticed. I would recommend that our fans check out our digital titles now being published on ComiXology. This year we are debuting a number of digital-first titles there, which will range from family-friendly adventures to dark comedy . There are only a few there now, but more titles are coming.

CBNAH: Any chance of using Kickstarter again for any future projects?

Stephen: At this point we are still working on completing the rewards fulfillment with our first Kickstarter, so it won’t be soon, but crowd funding has definitely proved to be a great way to expand on our universe. Who knows, maybe even our web series Comic Company could see a crowd-funded second season. Only time will tell.

Zenescope

CBNAH: What does the future hold for Zenescope?

Stephen: We will have a bunch of new series coming, including Realm Knights, and No Tomorrow this month, Hit List in September, and more series soon to be announced. Next year will be the year of Grimm Fairy Tales #100, and not many indie comic book publishers have a book run that long, and be as strong as it is.

The other thing you can plan on, is that Zenescope will be hitting the road a lot next year. We will be looking to expand our convention presence even more so that we can meet our fans face to face, and thank them for being so good to us.

CBNAH Delves Into the Noodles of Paulsen and Butcher of UDON Ent...

Within the last decade UDON Entertainment has been making of a name for themselves. Releasing high quality comics, manga, prints, posters and art books. The Canadian studio has built a strong fan base and a force in publishing. CBNAH caught up with Ash Paulsen, Associate Editor and Chris Butcher, Marketing Director of UDON to chat about SDCC, UDON on ComiXology, Bravoman and more.

CBNAH: How was SDCC this year for UDON? What was the best selling item at the UDON booth?

ASH PAULSEN: This year was an excellent one for UDON at SDCC! Our best-selling item was definitely our core convention debut book for this year, the holofoil hardcover edition of Mega Man 25 (hereinafter "MM25"). We were selling through our stock of MM25 so quickly within the first hour or so of Preview Night that we had to hold some copies back for Thursday through Sunday, just to ensure that other attendees would have a crack at them! But even those sold within the first ten minutes of the exhibit hall opening each morning, with hardcore Mega Man fans lining up outside our booth for the chance to bring home their own hardcover edition of MM25.

CHRIS BUTCHER: MM25 was definitely our fastest seller, but our best-seller was actually Street Fighter Origins: Akuma, the long-awaited graphic novel by Chris Sarracini and Joe Ng! We sent a few more copies of it to Comic-Con than MM25 because it weighed less (rush-shipping books from overseas is expensive!), and we sold every one! Luckily we’ll be doing online sales at UDONSTORE.com beginning August 1st, for folks who couldn’t make it to Comic-Con to pick up our show exclusives.

CBNAH: Speaking of San Diego Comic Con, big news with several UDON titles that will be available on ComiXology. How did the process come about?

CHRIS BUTCHER: Honestly, ComiXology approached us about working together, and since our fans had been asking us to put our comics on that service for a while now, we accepted their lovely invitation. We’re excited to bring our complete line of Street Fighter comics and graphic novels to ComiXology, and we’ve been thrilled with how clean and crisp the art looks! We’re also looking forward to introducing fans to our original projects like Makeshift Miracle and Random Veus, and a selection of our manga and artbook titles too!

CBNAH: Coming out later this year will be Bravoman. Can you tell us what is Bravoman?

ASH PAULSEN: We're very excited to be working with ShiftyLook to release the first volume of Bravoman later this year! Bravoman is a 25-year-old video game that originally came out for the Turbo-Grafx 16 console. It's a side-scrolling platfomer/action game that never really became that well-known, but over the past year and a half or so, ShiftyLook -- a division of video game publisher Namco Bandai that specializes in revitalizing old and current Namco video game IPs and transforming them into new mixed media properties -- has brought Bravoman back stronger than ever with a popular web comic, web cartoon, and -- coming in August -- a new video game for mobile platforms.

UDON's upcoming Bravoman Vol. 1 book focuses on the web comic, collecting its first year of storylines as well as providing lots of bonuses for fans in the form of tribute art, comments from the web comic's creators, and more!

CBNAH: A few years ago UDON release the Silent Mobius. Any chance of seeing UDON picking up any original manga titles in the far future?

CHRIS BUTCHER: The manga market is tough right now… We’ve actually inquired after a few original properties over the past 12 months, but unfortunately the rights were snapped up by other publishers quickly! We’re always looking at all manner of new licensing and translation opportunities, and expanding our art book line with manga- and anime-related releases was a big move for us this past year! I think it’s safe to say you’ll see more manga releases from us in 2014.

CBNAH: This year and in 2014, we'll see more artbooks coming out from UDON. What books people should keep an eye on?

ASH PAULSEN: We've got tons of art books coming out over the next year that we know fans and newcomers will love - way more than I have room to talk about here!

On the Capcom front, we're very pleased that we've been able to answer one of our plans' loudest pleas with the localization of Breath of Fire Official Complete Works, which collects all the gorgeous artwork and character designs from all five games in Capcom's classic Breath of Fire RPG series. We're also showing fans of Falcom RPGs lots of love with a localization of Ys: The Art Book and not one, but two art books based on The Legend of Heroes series!

Of course, we're also continuing our line of beloved Street Fighter graphic novels with Super Street Fighter Vol. 2, as well as keeping our legacy Street Fighter stories alive in a bigger and more beautiful format than ever before with Street Fighter Classic Vol. 2 and the new hardcover edition of Street Fighter IV: Wages of Sin, which includes eight bonus stories and a new, six-page Juri story.

CHRIS BUTCHER: For the rest of 2013 and 2014, in addition to the titles we’ve mentioned, P4: Arena, the next book in our Persona series, is going to blow people away. I’m also excited about our Hyperdimenson Neptunia + Mk2 book, because the anime is airing now in Japan to absolute rave reviews.

Oh, and we’re happy to say that the long-delayed Eyes of Bayonetta art book, probably our most-inquired-after project of all time, will make its way to store shelves sometime in the next little while. I think that one is going to make a LOT of people very happy!

CBNAH: Are there any titles or art books that have floated under the radar that people should check out?

ASH PAULSEN: A personal favorite of a few of us here at UDON that has flown under the radar a bit more than we'd like is Midori Foo's Book of Pictures, which is just brimming with ridiculously gorgeous artwork, costume designs, and more. The barrier of entry may be a little higher for some because the art within is not based on an existing, well-known IP, but don't let that deter you: this book is not to be missed and is one of the most gorgeous, value-packed art books we've ever localized!

CHRIS BUTCHER: Oh I love the Midori Foo collection, it really is stunning. The other two books that I think hardcore art book fans might not know about are Shining Force Feather: Design Works and Atelier: Artworks of Arland. Both of these feature the artworks of (arguably) the most popular character designers in Japan, with Noizi Ito and ‘pako’ on SFF and Mel Kishida on Atelier. They’re beautiful books, with special ink treatments, paper treatments, the whole nine yards. Gorgeous stuff.

CBNAH: UDON has been known to have a great working relationship with CAPCOM. What's it like to work with CAPCOM?

ASH PAULSEN: Capcom has been and is amazing to work with, and to have continuing access to one of video gaming's deepest, most beloved well of characters, worlds, and franchises is something we are always thankful for. It can be said that our initial work with Capcom on Street Fighter is what really propelled us into the public eye to begin with, so even though we work with properties besides Capcom ones now, our relationship with them continues to be one of our most beneficial and rewarding professional partnerships. We're very pleased to have been able to work so closely with Capcom and so many of their flagship games and franchises such as Street Fighter, Mega Man, Okami, Ace Attorney, and Darkstalkers, and we look forward to our continuing relationship with Capcom benefiting fans over the next year with our upcoming Breath of Fire, Devil May Cry, Dragon's Dogma, and Asura's Wrath art books!

CHRIS BUTCHER: I’m actually the newest hire at the company and had never worked with licensors before, and had been warned by colleagues about how difficult working on licensed properties can be…! But working with Capcom has been great, there are a lot of passionate people there that are just as excited to be working with us as we are with them. I feel like we’re pretty lucky to have such a great relationship.

CBNAH: Is there anything you would like to say the fans who supported UDON and its products throughout the years?

ASH PAULSEN: This may sound trite, but it's so true: our fans mean everything to us. It's you, the fans, who allow us to continue to prosper and localize incredible Japanese and Korean art books that would otherwise never see the light of day in the West, and we are so thankful to each and every one of you, whether you are specifically UDON fans, Capcom fans, Street Fighter fans, or just fans of excellent art in general. It's precisely because we love our fans so much that we directly listen to what you want and fulfill those requests as much as possible -- after all, Breath of Fire Official Complete Works and Ys: The Art Book are happening now because you, our passionate fans, have been asking us to localize them! With that in mind, if there are other art books you'd like to see us localize in the future, be sure to let us know on our Facebook page or on Twitter! The entire UDON crew is always on the lookout for new projects to take on, and we at UDON are all about pleasing the fans who have helped us become successful.

 

Man Oh Man-ga..! CBNAH Interview with Digital Manga Publishing...

Digital Manga Inc or DMI for short, is publishing company focusing on releasing manga titles in North American. Within the last decade the company has launched many successful imprint lines. Juné and 801 Media imprints focus mainly on yaoi(boys love stories) manga titles. DokiDoki imprint releases exclusive titles from the Japanese publisher Shinshokan. DMP Platinum publishes classic manga titles, think of it as their own Criterion Collection imprint. Project-H imprint publish hentai, ecchi, and ero titles, and their very own DMP Books(Digital Manga Publishing) focuses on other genres like “Vampire Hunter D” for fantasy and horror, and “Start With A Happy Ending” for drama.

Along the way, they co-published “Trigun” and ”Hellsing” with Dark Horse Comics, and funded a couple of Osamu Tezuka (The God of Manga) titles on Kickstarter. Recently, at Anime Expo in the Digital Manga Publishing panel, it was announced that DMP had formed a partnership with Tezuka Production to release all of Osamu Tezuka’s works digitally across the world.

CBNAH did an interview with Yoko Tanigaki, VP Sales & Distribution of DMP to talk about Anime Expo, internal reaction to the Tezuka deal, using Kickstarter and more.

CBNAH: First off, how was Anime Expo this year and the feedback you got from visitors of the industry panels to the Akadot Retail and eManga booth?

Yoko Tanigaki: AX2013 was great. It went very well. We received lots of positive feedbacks- People were excited to see that we offered game, ( https://www.emanga.com/search?categoryid=4 ) on emanga.com. Lots of people came to check it out at our booth. Akadot performed very well with our yaoi books too. Overall, it was a very good show; it was a lot of work but it all paid off in the end.

CBNAH: The big announcement from Anime Expo is that DMP will be working with Tezuka Production to release all of Osamu Tezuka's works digitally worldwide. What was the internal reaction from the company when the deal was signed by both parties? Any chance of this material appearing on Comixology?

YT: Yes. It was a big, big- HUUUGE announcement for us. I can’t believe we get to work with Tezuka pro’s entire library of manga. We are going worldwide with this. Tezuka’s been looking for a way to go international for a long time. And partnering up with Digital Manga was the solution. This is “it.” It took months and months of skype meetings to get this far. We are both extremely happy with the outcome and we are looking forward to working with them. Chance of this appearing on Comixology – yes. I think so.

CBNAH: DMP is one of the few establish companies (along with Top Cow Productions) to find great success in funding projects via Kickstarter. There's a lot of great benefits using Kickstarter, but what are certain challenges comes with using Kickstarter? Will we see non-Tezuka projects on Kickstarter in the far future?

Both Unico and Barbara were successful funded on kickstarter, and Barbara got an Eisner nomination for Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia award.

YT: One single, MOST difficult thing dealing with Kickstarter is- explaining WHAT KICKSTARTER is to the Japanese publisher. They’ve never heard of Kickstarter before… and we had to explain to them, what it is. “What is Kickstarter? How does it work? “ was the most difficult thing. We are essentially going to Tezuka Pro and say “We want to license this… but we aren’t sure if we want to license…” because we have to wait until the project’s been funded. As for non-Tezuka projects on Kickstarer in the future? Sure. We thought about it.

CBNAH: The manga adaptation of “Vampire Hunter D” will be ending next fall with volume 8 due to health concerns for Saiko Takaki. How's she doing?

YT: “Vampire Hunter D” series has been our flagship series for us and I’m (personally) sad to see it end. And it’s been a great run and we are very honored to have been able to work with Takaki sensei. She is doing just fine and everything is on schedule for our final volume in the fall of 2014.

CBNAH: We'll finally see the final volume of “Ai no Kusabi” be release later on this fall. The first volume came out way back in 2007, its been a long journey and how does it feel to see this title wrapping up? Your imprint lines June and 801 Media focuses on Yaoi titles and it's been huge success for the company. Are there any titles that have floated under the radar that readers should check out?

YT: I know lots of people were waiting on this series – and I’m glad to got them licensed. Titles that readers should check out ..? Oh my gosh – YESSS. How much time do you have..???

My suggested titles are:

ABOUT LOVE (koi ni tsuite 恋について9781569702437)

Summary from the Akadot website: Asaka is a dedicated wedding planner who’ll do anything to guarantee his clients’ happiness. Sadly, his own love life has all but vanished thanks to his ridiculous work schedule! But when Asaka’s first patron resurfaces, the precious spark of true love may finally fly for him. Can he plan the perfect affair…or will it just have to happen by chance? http://www.akadot.com/about-love-yaoi-gn-p-35818.html

FLUTTER (furatta フラッター 9781569702741)

Summary from the Akadot website: Asada is hypnotized by a handsome co-worker he sees on the street nearly every day. So when the two men are paired up for a high-pressure project, he can’t believe his good luck! But what will happen when Asada’s defenses are shaken by their immediate, undeniable connection? Flutter beats with the racing pulses of brand-new lovers! When success at work leads to an after-hours confession, an exciting relationship sparks to life. But is the flash of intimacy the beginning of a fiery blaze…or just a passing flicker? http://www.akadot.com/flutter-yaoi-gn-p-40300.html

SAME DIFFERENCE (Docchi mo Docchiどっちもどっち 9781569702666)

Summary from the Akadot website: From their offices high in a corporate skyscraper, alpha males Ozaki and Tsuburaya make all the girls swoon. Ozaki's known for his irresistible pheromones, while Tsuburaya's a noble, worldly genius. But when these rivals end up in bed together, who will prove to be top dog? It's seme versus seme - and much more than pride's on the line! http://www.akadot.com/same-difference-yaoi-gn-p-40250.html

CBNAH: A few years ago, Project-H was created for publishing Hentai, Ecchi and Ero books. Since its launch, has Project-H seen the same amount of success as the Yaoi imprint lines? What Project-H titles people should check out?

YT: I’d say the success of Project-H was greater than our yaoi imprint. They are very well received and it’s doing so well for us. Fan support has been great and we couldn’t have asked for more.

If you want to check out some of Project-H books, try:

VELVET KISS ( berubetto kisu ベルベット・キス① 9781934129562)

Summary for volume one from the Project-H website: Shin’s spirits were soaring after winning the lottery and landing a contract with a famous firm in the same day—not bad for a normally luckless office worker. He quickly plummets back down to earth, however, upon discovering that he’s been saddled with an immense amount of debt. There is, however, one way he can keep his creditors at bay: become “friends” with an enigmatic and alluring girl named Kanoko. The task sounds simple enough at first, but leaves him eating his own words as Kanoko’s selfish demands start to take their toll on him both mentally and physically. Will Shin ever be able to pay his debt off, or will the lust, luxury, and mystery simply overwhelm him??

MY CUTE CROSSDRESSER (kurasumeito no josou wo tetsudattara kawaisugite furuega tomaranai ken クラスメイトの女装を手伝ったら可愛すぎて震えが止まらない件 ~松本ミトヒ。 オトコの娘作品集~ 9781934129586 )

Summary from the Project-H website: When sweet, determined Miharu goes undercover as a girl in order to track down a bunch of groping pervs, he catches the eye of his shocked classmate Keigo, too! But the biggest surprise of all? The two guys have the kind of chemistry that exists only in dreams. Will they suffer through the awkwardness and become the perfect team?

SEE ME AFTER CLASS (asamade jugyo Chu 1 朝まで授業Chu! 1 9781934129722)

Summary from the Project-H website: Yuuki's scored a full scholarship to a very prestigious school. The only catch? A ditzy teacher's error means he now has to crossdress to keep his real identity a secret! Will Yuuki pull it off... or will he be pulled to pieces by a cute, curious classmate?

You’ll love these.

CBNAH: DMP has been known to have great working relationships with Japanese publishing companies like Shinshokan and Tezuka Production. What's it like to work with these large companies on a daily basis and have the access to a large amount of titles to publish in print or in digital format?

YT: Yes. We’ve been blessed to be able to work with such a great publishers. My best part of the job – all I can read manga! It’s books after books… they tend to pile up very quickly and i don’t think I’ve seen my desk top in a while. Overwhelming- yes. But I love it. It’s never dull in this industry. There’s always something new and keeps me busy. Of course, it’s not always bunnies and rainbows.. there’s plenty of drama and difficult issues to deal with. We don’t always get what we want- some creators are for print only.. some are digital only… some don’t want to be published at all. Some don’t want to deal with us at all.

CBNAH: Thank you, for your time.

Check out Digital Manga Publishing and all of their different imprints and sites:

Digital Manga Corporate Site: http://www.digitalmanga.com/

June Manga: http://www.junemanga.com/

801 Media: http://www.801media.com/

DMP Platinum: http://www.dmpplatinum.com/

DokiDoki: http://www.dokidokibooks.com/

Akadot Retail: http://www.akadot.com/

Yaoi Club: http://www.yaoiclub.com/

EManga: https://www.emanga.com/

Vampire Hunter D: http://www.vampire-d.com/

Project-H Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ProjectHBooks