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Re: The shambling zombie that was once Tokyopop moves again.

Posted: Mon Sep 28, 2015 10:39 am
by Ben
usamimi wrote:That was one of the only good things to come out of that company. I've heard rumors that TP only stopped flipping manga because it was less work to edit titles, though...Which wouldn't surprise me terribly. I talked to someone that worked there briefly and she said that there were times they'd get a title but the Japanese publishers didn't have access to the original art anymore, so they'd just buy a Japanese tankobon and photocopy the artwork and edit it that way. Don't know if that's BS or not, but considering how poor some of the print quality was on their older titles, again, I wouldn't be that surprised....

Viz had actually toyed with releasing stuff unflipped before Tokyopop came along, back in the days of single-issue comic releasing (I know I have unflipped singles of Evangelion, Inuyasha, and Dragon Ball Z somewhere)...so I'd like to think that this would've come about eventually.
I wanted to mention a couple of things in order to add to that. Viz released all of Dragon Ball un-flopped and uncensored in comic book form in the late 90s, they cancelled DBZ when they launched the English version of Jump to steer sales there. That's still my favorite way to read Dragon Ball, the print quality on those was great. There's also a really well done blog post on Toren Smith's involvement in that era I bookmarked at a Comics blog I read, and think is worth sharing. http://sundaycomicsdebt.blogspot.com/20 ... smith.html

Re: The shambling zombie that was once Tokyopop moves again.

Posted: Mon Sep 28, 2015 10:47 am
by usamimi
Thanks, Ben! I thought that was how they did DB but I couldn't recall for sure.

Also thanks for the link, good info there.

Re: The shambling zombie that was once Tokyopop moves again...

Posted: Sat Jul 15, 2017 12:49 pm
by PinkAppleJam
Missed this thread! I did get published by Tokyopop in 2007 as I scraped by in the UK RSoM book, but then they promptly went bust after that. It was a heartbreaker really because despite the dreadful contract content it felt like people who were inspired by manga-style had a platform. But it's taken a decade to get back there and I ran out of steam a bit through the late 2Ks, and have been doing my own stuff since.

(Mine's the zombie story)
Image

Story thread consisting of people that got burnt forst time round ready for the 2nd "pop" =
http://comicsalliance.com/tokyopop-stu- ... ts-legacy/

The TP instagram liked and commented on my original work once in recent months, but TBH it would be nice if they would reprint our RSOM stories/work :lol:
https://www.instagram.com/tokyopop/

(FWIW women veeeery frequently wear makeup/dress sexy for themselves) :lol: No wimmin-shamin' plz, fictional or not. I enjoyed what Warren and Toren Smith did with Dirty Pair (and BGC) a LOT (vamped up cyberpunk and transhumanism themes), big inspiration for me and my work, but can't say the same about Empowered unfortunately, no connection.

Re: The shambling zombie that was once Tokyopop moves again...

Posted: Sun Jul 16, 2017 5:48 am
by usamimi
Oh wow! I didn't know you had a story in one of those! Sometimes I see RSOM books at the used bookstore, I'll have to keep my eye out for it ;)

Yeah there's so many artists that are still around that got a "start" with TP...and while many do regret it, it did kinda get their names out there. Like iirc Felipe Smith had a series with them? And then he eventually got a series published in Japan, and did that cool Ghostrider reboot for Marvel! Obviously not everyone got such a career boost, but it's good some were able to use it as a stepping stone to better things :D

Apparently TP has a SDCC booth & panels lined up for 2017 & it sounds like they're STILL talking about "making their comeback" even tho that's what they were talking about 2 years ago....not really a good sign. :?

Re: The shambling zombie that was once Tokyopop moves again...

Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2017 1:56 am
by PinkAppleJam
Thanks! :) Yeah you can get the UK version of RSoM (there were 3 UK/IR versions, and the USA had about 8 I think), on Amazon!
https://www.amazon.com/Rising-Stars-Man ... k+tokyopop

...$1.89 new, bargain :lol: Though the art is really old I'm still really happy with this. What I could do is redraw it and republish it, even though TP own the art I did for this book, but I'm still working on Biomecha book 3 :)

Tokyopop are covered in this fab book I am reading RN, "Manga in America: Transnational Book Publishing and the Domestication of Japanese Comics". It's a very academic book (much like the "Database Animals" book I have raved about), and covers the highs and lows of publishing manga in general, really good read.
https://www.amazon.com/Manga-America-Tr ... publishing

I doubt Tokyopop will make that comeback, but who knows with Netflix, streaming etc. Still a lot of sadness about the whole thing out there though.

Re: The shambling zombie that was once Tokyopop moves again...

Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2017 1:58 am
by PinkAppleJam
OH Felipe Smith's "Peepo Choo" is the BEST trilogy book series, well worth a read if people haven't already - so bitter but also so pure! :mrgreen: