Fanime08: Dark Horse LiveBlog
I got a little lost on the way to Dark Horse’s panel but luckily for me it seems like they’re starting late. Whew! I even managed to get a power outlet. The other press folks are in the opposite corner from me; that must be why.
Well, anyway, legendary editor Carl Horn is now setting up. And the first thing he tells us is that this very month is Dark Horse’s 20th anniversary of publishing translated manga. Woohoo! They have a special painting by Yoshitaka Amano which is the 20th anniversary logo for Dark Horse Manga, which they’ll have available as a limited edition print.
He’s handing around some previews of upcoming releases including Clover, which they’re doing not just an omnibus but a “digital remaster” with newly re-scanned artwork. Sweet!
The usual spiel about how downloading isn’t bad, not buying is bad; if you can’t find Dark Horse in your store make sure you order it or ask for it; etc. More previews including volume three of Blood+ and Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service 7, Ghost Talker’s Daydream, and the new volume of Gantz.
Now for the list of 2008 releases, including announcements about things that they’re going to announce. For example, still no news about mangettes and the joint CLAMP/Dark Horse project…but Horn thinks they’ll be able to talk about it at San Diego.
They don’t have any new announcements; right now Horn is just going through the upcoming Dark Horse releases for 2008 and talking about certain favorites of his. One of those releases is the Domo-kun, whose “Polar White” version is due out May 11th, along with “Royal Blue.”
Horn just mentioned that Kikushi and the translator of the Vampire Hunter D novels will be guests at New York Anime Fest, and he hopes to get Amano out there too, it sounds like.
October 22nd is the official release date for Hellsing 9, and Horn suspects that there just may be some slaughter. Mwahaha.
They’re also going to release some mini-Domo-kuns in October, they’ll be 5½” tall.
Moving into the Q&A…they are releasing Translucent 4 and 5, even though they weren’t on his list. Horn isn’t sure why they’re not on the schedule and says it’s been popular. I missed the next question, unfortunately.
Someone asked if they’re ever going to reprint Dirty Pair and they’ve been giving it strong consideration. He’s not sure how long CLAMP’s mangettes story is going to be, besides it being at least three volumes.
A lot of talk about flopping now, which Horn has covered several times in previous panels I’ve covered, so I’ll just link to some of those.
Interestingly, someone just asked about Shadow Star– aka Narutaru by the creator of Bokurano, which was published by Dark Horse as a childrens’ title and which developed into a decidedly un-childrens’ title. But Horn says it’s really more about the sales.
That’s it! I’ll see you at Bandai Entertainment’s Gurren Lagann-specific panel at 5!
Tags: Dark-Horse, fanime08, liveblogging
May 24th, 2008 at 1:18 pm
“…which they’re doing not just an omnibus but a “digital remaster” with newly re-scanned artwork. Sweet!”
Agreement on the sweet! I definately look forward to it. Tokyopop’s release had pretty outsides but questionable quality inside. Scans/pictures of the preview when and if you can, would be really appreciated!
May 24th, 2008 at 1:22 pm
@Kuri: it’s really just a Japanese copy, not a real preview, and it just got handed around, so I don’t think I can get any pictures worth anything…sorry!
May 24th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
@gia: I wasn’t sure so I figured I’d ask ;) Many thanks again for the updates! Live blogging is really great for us who can’t be there (though wish we could!) so it’s always appreciated.
May 24th, 2008 at 4:39 pm
For example, still no news about mangettes and the joint CLAMP/Dark Horse project…but Horn thinks they’ll be able to talk about it at San Diego.
When will they be in San Diego, by the way? x.x;
May 25th, 2008 at 12:00 pm
Clover sounds like it’ll be fairly lush. Though I don’t think Shadow Star was ever marketed as a kids title- I think that’s just peoples opinions based on the opening chapters. Super Manga Blast always had a “Mature Readers” label on it.
Now I wanna go pick up more Hellsing manga….
May 26th, 2008 at 7:53 am
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May 27th, 2008 at 8:37 am
Cool to hear that Translucent is not canceled. I’ve only read volumes 1 & 2, but I had heard a rumor it was being put on indefinite hold after Volume 3. This is good news :)
July 4th, 2008 at 1:46 pm
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